What’s in a name?

Some of us have plain Jane kind of names, Mike, Dave, Sue, Debbie. Others have exotic names, China, Cion, Jovan, Denzin. Some get family names, Clifton, Sergio, Veryl. A lot goes into a name, they can be thoughtful, profound, spiritual, and empowering. Your name might take into consideration where your family hails from, what they did for a job long ago, where they’d like to live (Dakota, Antonio). And then you have nicknames, Buddy, Bambi, and initials, TJ, AJ.

That pretty much just leaves the crazy and the made up names. This is probably where most people just give themselves a nickname, unless your parents gave you a legal nickname.

I’m working on a lot of reports that have lists of employees. Sometimes the guys are listed by their nicknames and for reporting purposes I need the legal name. So I call them (many for the first time).

“Hi, is Sugar Ray there?”
“Yeah, this is him.”
“Ah, I’m calling from the corporate office and I’m working on the Operator Qualification program. I need to get your full legal name for the report.”
“Ok, its Sugar Ray, R-A-Y.”
“Ahhhh, no middle initial?”
“Nope”
“Great, thanks for the help.”
“No problem”

“Hi, is Tony Muniz in the office?”
“This is Tony.”
“I’m calling from the corporate office and I’m working on the Operator Qualification program. I need to get your full legal name for the report.”
“Sure, its Curtis A. Muniz.”
“Wait, is this Tony?”
“Yeah, but my legal name is Curtis A. Muniz.”
“So why are you listed in the directory as Tony Muniz?”
“I just liked the name Tony better.”