how did your parents choose your name

Ahhhh, how lovely that she was wathing the soap and gave your father a choice! As to the tombstone, was it one with a guardian angel on it, what drew your Mother's attention to that one? You have a really unusual tale there, don't you?

Oh, that is surprising, I wondered if the stone stood out in some way. It is really nice to have a family cemetary even though it is a bit sad to be seeing so many dear ones lost in one place. I found out that an aunt of mine who always was "Auntie Ethel" was in fact "Constance, Lydia, Ethel" and I thought these other two names really lovely, elegant names and wondered why she always chose Ethel. Of course it is a question I shall never have the answer to.

I have seen the tombstone. It is in the family cemetery. There is nothing special about it. Mom just reads tombstones as she peruses the cemetery.

That is interesting, you are the first person to reply with this tradition, and I do not think many people know this who live outside of the Philippines. What a lovely thought to be a Gift of God, must make you feel very special. To continue the tradition with your own family is also really lovely, I suppose you started with different letters so that you had different names for your generation?

As long as you can see the funny side, that is fine, I must admit a couple of the combinations did raise a smile with me. There are similar mails about Irish names and spellings. I think we must all be able to laugh at ourselves, and it is a good job, because actually we Brits have more silly things we do for others to make fun of than anyone else lol. I did enjoy your mail and if mylot is still running in years to come it would be interesting to see how many of your children keep up the tradition and which letters they choose.

thanks for the nice words, shelagh77! Initially, I didn't really plan on continuing the tradition of naming kids using the same first letter(s) but I guess it just happened. No regrets, however, since my kids' names are as lovely as my kids. While on the subject, I tried to dig into my e-mail box and successfully retrieved an email sent to me months ago by a friend. It was a forwarded email about "A Brit's observation of the Philippines". It included, among other things, a nice observation about how Filipino parents name their kids. The email makes mention of some of the conventional / traditional methods by which Filipinos name their children - this time from an outsider's (Brit in this case) point of view. Some of the Filipino naming conventions mentioned were: 1. Nicknames that sound like doorbells such as Bing, Bong, Ding, Dong and combinations such as Bing-Bong, Ding-Dong; 2. Repeating names such as Len-Len, Let-Let, Mai-Mai, Ning-Ning; 3. Names begin with the same letters such as Janice, Jimmy, Jun, Joy (bingo! - see above post) 4. Composite names: Jejomar (for Jesus, Joseph and Mary) or Luzviminda (for Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao). I really found the observations (in that email) funny but am / was not insulted in any way by it. There are more funny observations outside of just names. I could share with you a copy of the email if you like.

That is unusual, does your Mother's cousin have a special bond with your Mother? Travelling around your Mother's cousin must have heard many exotic names.

it is so beautiful when two people love each other so much they combine their names for their child! It must have given you such a warm feeling to have all that beautiful love around.

That is awesome i like that you also have an inventive name such as i do!! I think that it is interesting when you find out where your name in fact came from and yours is als very unique!!!

There is no fathoming men, is there, lol. Your Mum must be a lovely lady to have allowed that, but at least you got a lovely name from the deal.

Being named for auspicious places must be fun, as there is so much history to research about them. Do you like your names?

Yes, I know the song, it is a lovely song. Quite a few people were named Misty for this song as it is a very popular one. You are lucky the popular song had such a nice name, really when you think about it :-)

Do you like your name, and has it proved that T is a lucky letter for you.

Umm, if you think that is simple, you must be a very clever person. I think it is extremely clever to work out an unusual and attractive name such as this.

That is a lovely story for you to tell your children, isn't it? It is also nice to have an unusual name, as you are never stuck for an "ice breaker" in conversations with new people. Do you actually like Kitkats, they are one of the most popular chocolate bars in the UK.

Wow! You were very lucky with their choice of name, weren't you? Have you made your career in a creative field, as you sound as if you must be gifted in that area.

Joseph has been a very popular name for centuries, so you have all tradition in that lovely name. Did you decide to work in the wood trades, or did you forge another career?

Yes, it is an unusual name but at least it has a very good meaning. Do you find you are an authoritive person?

Wow! Lots of people are named after a very well known person, but very few of those actually have a parent who KNOWS the well known person they are named after. That is a very good piece of information for conversation, isn't it? Did you follow the same job as the well known person, or are you in a different area of work altogether?

That is a really lovely name and a really lovely story. It must have been almost predestined for you to be born, for your Mother to pick that name so early on in her life. To have a very honoured family name as a middle name is almost the icing on the cake, I am not surprised you would never change this lovely name.

i dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnno

That is a lovely way to get a name! To have your cousin named for you is also a very big honour, so you must really live up to your strong name :-)

A big honour indeed, I just hope that I justified something for them..

Yes, sometimes when a couple can not agree on names they make an arrangement such as this, and then everyone is happy. Did you like the name your Father chose for you?

ha ha, I bet it was not the first name that came into their heads! I bet subconsciously they had worked away at it for some time and then the ideal name suddenly surfaced. It may be a simple basic name but that sort of name has stood the passage of time and is a nice, dependable, comfortable name. Did you decided to give yourself a contrasting nickname when you were going through adolescence or did you always keep the same name.

oh dear, I wonder what your Mother thought about that! When did your Grandmother tell you that little gem?

That is a lovely name, and unusal when placed together, so you have a lovely name and an original one, which must be really nice for you.