What’s in a name?

Growing up in my family was always a little confusing when it came to names.

Both my parents had two names. Family called my father Tommy, but he was known to his friends and co-workers as Cliff. My mother’s family called her Betty, but at work she was always Joyce. Turns out she did not know her name was Joyce until she graduated from high school, and discovered her full legal name was actually Joyce Aileen Martin.

My grandmother Martha was often called Tea by her friends and sister, her name was actually Elizabeth Taylor.

My first husband’s name was Wolf Peter Klein, but he chose to go by the name Peter, which is what his father was also called, but his father’s name was actually Gotthilf Klein. My Peter changed his name later in life to Hans Bhack.

My aunt Evelyn was called Lyn, which is understandable, but when she used her full name it read Evelyn Culver Lennox Medina Tufts. She kept her maiden name along with all of her married names.

My great-grandmother was called General Taylor, her name was actually Sally.

Last names were confusing too.

My maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Goins, which I guess was one of her married names, since my mother’s maiden name was Martin, but all of my grandmother’s family were Reeses.

My son Steve was actually named Demian. His cousin Michael is actually Maile. Neither one liked their names when they were 5 years old, so they changed them.

Growing up I always wanted a nickname, but never got one. Until one day my boss and my husband Frank both started calling me CC, which is where I got the idea to use cc de leo.

With all the divorces and remarriages in our family I think our Family tree would look something like this: