How I Got My Name

I get emails about my first name all the time.
I was asked yesterday why I have 3 names up there why not just pick one?
Well it appears that some prefer one over the other and I’m crazy enough not to care which one you use.

So here’s the rest of the story…..

It was not planned trust me.
Back in the Stone Age when I was born my parents being the ever good Italian Catholic parents wanted to have me baptized. However their church said, “Oh no you can’t have her baptized as Peggy.” My parents asked why and they were told that there was no Saint Peggy. (their church changed this rule a year later)

My mother loved the name Peggy. They knew that the nickname for Margaret was Peggy Meg, Maggie etc so they had to name me Margaret so that I could be baptized. Now if you hear my full name in Italian boy I can’t deny my heritage. (starting with Margherita) But you put Peggy in front of it and you think there may be a chance that something else snuck in there.

If you ever meet another old person named Peggy (and they are all old because only women of a certain age have that name) most are named Margaret.
I hated that name Margaret all through my childhood. When I went to Catechism classes the nuns would only call me Margaret. It reminded me of “dumb ole Margaret” on Dennis the Menace. (I know, most of you are too young to know that reference too) But trust me I hated the name Margaret as a child. And so did my Mom. So everyone called me Peggy.

Then in my senior year of high school I met my future ex-husband.
He said that Peggy didn’t suit me so could he call me Margaret.
Sure! Just call me was my thought!

When my youngest sister was 3 or 4 years old she asked me why he always called me that funny name. I told her it was my real name. She looked so confused and said, “NO, your name is Peggy.” The more I said that it wasn’t my name the more she got upset and then she began to cry. I was only 20-21 at the time but I figured out that this was upsetting and confusing to this poor little thing so I told her that he just liked to call me that. I told her it was in the same way that Daddy called her Jenner instead of Jennifer. So wisely she said, “But that name doesn’t sound like Peggy.” Oh brother this wasn’t going to be easy to explain.

Then as I went away to school and met others outside of high school and family it seemed more people didn’t care for Peggy. They would always find out my name was really Margaret or ask if it was really Margaret. Then immediately they would ask if they could call me Margaret. I was now used to it so I would say sure. Some people have a strong opinion on it and it would throw me for a loop. It became where all my friends called me Margaret but family and school friends knew me as Peggy.

At my last job my boss would only call me Peg. I would make jokes to her about it, like that sounds like a wooden leg, but she still insisted on calling me Peg. She would have my business cards sent to me and they would say Peg. When I was hired she had my email set up prior to me starting and it was Peg. So then everyone there called me Peg (wooden leg) and I got very used to that too. But there were a couple of people who I worked with that would ask me, “Is Margaret your real name?” And then next they would ask to call me that because they thought it suited me better. I always find that interesting. I have never thought when meeting someone that their name didn’t fit them.

Odd isn’t it?
Hello. Your name is Bob? Gee I don’t think that fits you may I call you Theordore?

What the hell? Did you ever think that? I know how names will take on someone you know. I know that when a friend wanted to name her new baby daughter a particular name I cringed because I knew someone with that name and she was a horrible little backstabbing troll. So that name to me always represented the troll. Thankfully her husband knew that woman too and that name was nixed. Whew!

The very first night I met Rick he asked if I had another name I went by.
I said yes, Margaret.
He said, I think that suits you much better may I call you Margaret?
Funny isn’t it that both really significant men in my life only call me Margaret?
Yet both always will introduce me to others as Peggy.

Last night I asked him if he remembered that conversation about my name. He said he did. I don’t recall him ever telling me why exactly it didn’t fit me. So I asked now.

He looked at me so seriously and said, “really? Peggy sounds like a kid don’t you think? You walked into that restaurant to meet me and you carried yourself like a classy strong confident woman. After talking to you for just a minute I thought that Margaret suited a classy strong woman better than a kids name.”

Okay I laughed and said, “I’ll sleep with you, you don’t have to suck up anymore hon.”

So that is how I have come to have 3 names up there on the top of the blog.
Everyone likes to call me something different. I answer to them all.
I have been asked if I have a preference. I don’t really. I think it sounds incredibly odd to hear Rick call me Peggy. Very strange. Think about it, if your significant other just started calling you a different name – weird right?

And over time some family members have gone to Margaret too and I find it cute. No mention of it they just did.

So apparently when I was young I was Peggy and now as an old broad I’m Margaret.
Either way I am a feisty old broad who will answer to most anything.

But here’s a tid bit I’ve never shared about names.
Both my husbands had the same first name!
Yep, that’s right I can’t scream out the wrong name in the heat of passion.