April 6 - Your Name
The Gaelic origins of the name suit me. I’m a pasty brunette.
Write about your own name. Who named you this and why? What would your name be if you chose it yourself?
I was supposed to be Sarah but at the last minute my parents went with Bridget. I’m not sure where they heard the name or why they decided on it—it’s a question I should probably ask them. Good thing they didn’t name me Sarah—there were three in my first grade class—one of whom ended up becoming my lifelong best friend.
The Gaelic origins of the name suit me. I’m a pasty brunette. When I was visiting Ireland, I asked a woman in the museum at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin if Bridget meant strong and she said, “strong-willed” which feels quite different than just strong. It was like learning that instead of my name meaning “powerful” it really means “pain-in-the-ass.”
My dad gave me a laminated wallet card at some point that had my name and it just said “STRONG” as the meaning. When I was in From Wikipedia - The name Bridget is an Irish female name derived from the Gaelic word "brígh", meaning "power , strength, vigor, virtue". It also has an alternate meaning of "exalted one". Its popularity, especially in Ireland, is largely related to the popularity of Saint Brigid of Kildare, who was so popular in Ireland she was known as "Mary of the Gael". This saint took on many of the characteristics of the early Celtic goddess Brigid, who was the goddess of agriculture and healing and possibly also of poetry and fire.”
Honestly, I love my name and all its associations and I don’t think I’d choose anything else. When I was a kid, I loved boy names because I thought they were so cool. Like to be a girl named Charlie or Alex but now that’s just every non-binary kid so it wouldn’t be cool at all.
My parents, I believe, named me together. However, I think my dad really loved the name and was advocating for it. Then, my mother had more of a say about how the name would be spelled.
Since this name is constantly misspelled, she says that she wanted me to be a “ten” and not a scrap of “tin.” At least that was her logic, which thanks for the self-esteem boost, Mom!
When I was a kid, I had this strange desire to just have the letter “A” in my name. Probably because I thought it would get me closer to the top of lists. I don’t remember ever wanting to change or alter my name. I get annoyed now when people spell it wrong, but I have dealt with that my whole life.
By the way, the only way I ever got an “A” in my name was when it was translated into Spanish, which is just, “Kristina.”
This one is easy. My mom named me after her sister. It was only the two of them and my mom was the younger one. I think she really looked up to and loved her sister. Bonus was my middle name is the same as my paternal grandmother’s name so she thought my mom picked it because of her. Mom just let her think that. 😂 I like my name as there aren’t many of us. I’m super grateful my mom didn’t pick Jennifer or Michelle as there are a million of those among GenX.