What's in a name?

Categories: books, life-in-general

Tags: name

Date: 15 September 2006 13:25:56

Some people are nickname and shortened name people. Others are not.

My family have always been one for changing names. They call me many different things, depending on their whim at the time. I usually answer to anything that rhymes with my shortened name.

Different people are allowed to call me different things and every few years I will decide that a particular form of my name is my preferred option. Different groups of people know me by different names and that is fine. I tend to keep different groups apart so it doesn't get too confusing.

There are times when it becomes more tricky - our wedding day was one. How should the vicar refer to me? In the end, I just picked the version that my oldest friends use (which happened to be the one that the church knew as well). The rest could deal with me being different. Sending out change of address cards last month was another. Mr Farli had amended our address database so each person in it was associated with a particular form of our names so we could mail merge it. In the end, that grew too complicated, so we just picked a form that is not too offensive.

Then there are pseudonyms - I have many different internet identities, some based on my real name, others not. Farli isn't.

Well there was a pointless post - talking about my name, without actually saying what it is. Daisy might appreciate it, but to most people, it will be rather pointless.

Pop quiz - where does the name Farli come from? I'll give you a clue - it is from a book.
Bonus points - where (ish) does the character from the book live and with whom?