Family names
17 October 2012
I love my family to death. I really do.
But let’s face it, we’re not very bright when it comes to naming our
offspring. The older generation had a
whole family name thing happening, which I was very happy to break free
from. I mean, seriously! How many Dan’s, Willem’s, Magda’s, Helene’s
and variations on Katrine can one family have?
For a while we had four
generations of Magda followed by Helene Magda, followed by Magda, followed by Helene Magda again.
Firstly Magdalene, my great granny, who was fondly called Ouma
Maggie. Then there’s my Ouma Helene,
christened Helene Magda. Then there’s my
mom, another Magdalene, simply called Maggie.
And bringing up the rear is me, Helene Magda. I love my names. A lot in fact and I’m named after awesome
woman, yet I felt the need to start a new trend with my kids. And in all fairness, not everyone played the
family name game either, so it was not like I was the first one to spring free
from the mould. And then, just for fun,
my sister named her daughter Honey Magda.
So very lovely and in hindsight I’m sorry that I didn’t give Amber a
little Magda at the end of her name too.
It actually would have been awesome to keep it going so to speak.
The Willem’s are really only
three. My Oupa Willem, christened Willem
Adriaan Lombard. My uncle, Willem
Adriaan Lombard, who for the longest time was called Willempie, until he
finally outgrew the “pie” as a teenager.
And my youngest cousin, Willem Adriaan Lombard, son of Willem-“pie” and
grandson of Oupa Willem. Ironically, the
last Willem Adriaan, never went by either the Willem or the Adriaan tag to his
name, and is called Attie, by all. Are
you confused yet? Oh, yes, and then I also have another cousin whose second name is Willem, so does that mean there's four Willem's?
Now the Dan part of the family,
is probably the longest chapter. And for
easy reference, though all are called Dan with the exception of one, when we
refer to them, we use different tags to identify exactly which Dan we’re
speaking about. There was Oupa Dan, who
is dearly departed, and is still spoken about often. Brother Dan, also called Bra-Dan, and even
though he’s technically my uncle, I’ve also used these tags to clarify its
him. Cousin Dan or Klein Dan, also
called Boetie Dan. And the youngest
addition, is klein Daniel. And going back
a bit further in the family tree, there was also long-Daantjie (obviously a
very tall Dan), Senator Dan, etc. A virtual
plethora of them.
Believe it or not, but my mother
and her one brother have the same second name, Nel. I know, huh??? But whereas Jac’s (christened Jacobus Gideon
Nel) refers to the surname, my mom’s (Magdalene Nel) refers to a beloved aunt,
my Ouma Helene’s sister. Are you sure
you’re not confused yet? Hey, I feel
your pain. I’m part of the family and I
need a slide rule at times. And don’t
even think about getting Grant started.
And finally there are about a
million variations on Katrine. Ostensibly, my sister, Katrine, is named after
my Dad’s mom, as the family naming rule dictates. But where my beloved Ouma Cathy’s birth names
are Catharina Louisa Frederica, my parents wisely decided to soften the name to
Katrine Louise. A fact I’m sure my
sister is ever so grateful for. I have
another Loubser cousin, also named after Ouma Cathy, yet she is actually called
Catherine, also choosing a softened version.
Funny enough on Grant’s side of the family, his Ouma is also called
Kathy, but stems from Kathleen. Then my
sister married her lovely Robin, whose eldest daughter is called…..Kati
Louise. I know! Go figure!
Too bizarre for words. And just
to make it that little bit more peculiar, when my mom married her Rob, she
gained a stepdaughter and I gained a stepsister, called…..Katarina! Wacky, hey?
Then there's my brother, called Albert, named according to the rule after his paternal grandfather, Albertus. Lucky for him the "us" got lost in translation. And then just in keeping he named his one daughter quite accidently after a great grandmother, Bella, and the other daughter after our father, Frankie. Well, not his birthname, but the name everyone called him by. Yip, we're not quite normal.
Now there is a marvellous fringe benefit to the naming debacle. Because at a family gathering if someone merely calls out “Dan”, about four people are likely to step forward. And the same goes for the other names as well. There are simply always two Helene’s present as well as a few Willem’s. And I still often get referred to as Helenetjie or little Helene. Too sweet for words. In fact, I wasn’t ever supposed to be Helene Magda. But when it came to registering my birth and my Dad had to hand over the completed forms, the lonesome “Helene” looked a bit sad to him, so on the spur of the moment and quite impulsively, he added the Magda along. I’m sure a delightful surprise for my mom when my forms finally arrived in the post.
Now there is a marvellous fringe benefit to the naming debacle. Because at a family gathering if someone merely calls out “Dan”, about four people are likely to step forward. And the same goes for the other names as well. There are simply always two Helene’s present as well as a few Willem’s. And I still often get referred to as Helenetjie or little Helene. Too sweet for words. In fact, I wasn’t ever supposed to be Helene Magda. But when it came to registering my birth and my Dad had to hand over the completed forms, the lonesome “Helene” looked a bit sad to him, so on the spur of the moment and quite impulsively, he added the Magda along. I’m sure a delightful surprise for my mom when my forms finally arrived in the post.
So, I’ve thought to myself. Apart from being named after my most amazing
grandmother, surely there have to be other benefits to carrying her name. And then I had a light bulb moment. Aha!
Of course yes!!! As the eldest
grandchild and a granddaughter at that, named after my gran, it only stands to
reason, that I inherit Cloetenberg, Kleinbaai and the Doll’s House. It makes perfect sense to me and I beg anyone
to disagree. First come, first served
and all that. And if having a great
grandson named after my grandfather would up our odds, I will gladly rename
both my boys Willem Adriaan too. We can
start by calling Luke, Willie to ease the confusion. And Cole will be called Riaan. All sorted!
So, I’m thinking, if I put my
Welsh Dresser in the downstairs lounge, then I can put my lounge suite in the
upstairs lounge. I will turn Oupa’s
outside office, into my study, and the garage will be perfect for the Jumping
Castles. Probably end up taking the bunk
beds to Kleinbaai and my extra dinner service as well. And just perhaps, I’ll move the Doll’s House
to my bedroom, so that I can lie in bed at night and admire it.
Hi Helene!!! Giggle giggle!!
ReplyDeleteI must say I still think it is a great tradition.
Now we have a Frank and Frankie, and Ouma Bella and little Bella too....all unplanned really.
As usual, loved your blog!
Fabulous as always! We have a Bella and a Katy too!!
ReplyDeletei just love this one! and yes, you should inherit everything! snaaks, ek wou altyd vir rebekka isabella genoem het....sommer net. vind laas jaar eers uit dat my ma se pa se ma isabella was en....wag vir dit....haar verjaarsdag is op dieselfde dag as rebekka sin....!really!
ReplyDelete