name changes

Posted: November 23, 2010 at 12:18 pm

I love holiday weeks! The husband took off this entire week and even though during the day he is busy helping his brother with some house work or working on a friend’s car, I still love that we can have lazier mornings together. We still both naturally wake up around 6 am and then just stay in bed talking and resting for an hour…usually joined by M halfway through that time. It’s certainly a special time.

Based on an article I read recently, I should expect to live to 200 years old! Okay, I exaggerate. The article discussed how having fulfilling relationships can extend a person’s life expectancy. Makes total sense to me and based on how blessed I have been feeling recently with my family, friends, all of you, and the many other relationships in my life, I feel like I should live forever.

And I totally just went off on a tangent. This morning, Peter & I were talking and have decided to change baby B’s name. This wouldn’t be the first time name changes have happened in my family.

Our dog Roxy used to be named Tinkerbell. My friend gave me the nickname Tinabell a long time ago and so when Peter got our dog as a birthday gift to me he named her Tinkerbell thinking I would love it. I hated it but was too embarrassed to tell him since he seemed so happy. About a year ago we both realized we hated the name and changed her name to Roxy. I think it confused M more than the dog.

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My name is actually Christina, but I much prefer Tina. My family always called me Christina so I didn’t think to call myself differently until college. Then, Christina was already in place with the exception of two of my friends. Peter and a few other friends call me Tina. I always think of myself as Tina.

Makenzie usually goes by Kenzie or M. We rarely say her full name. As long as she isn’t called Mak. I don’t like that nickname. My sister and Peter’s brother both love to jokingly call her Easy Mac.

Other family member’s names have been shortened and changed thanks to what kiddos call them. My grandfather was always Grandpa when I grew up. About 10 years ago his name changed to G-Pa because my cousin would only call him that. It fits him so much better though. He’s a rad G-Pa.

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My sister is now officially Ha-Ha instead of Heather thanks to M’s special term of endearment. She is quite funny so it works. Personally, I just like laughing at my sister. 😀

And now, baby B will no longer be Braedon Hunter. Instead,we have switched to Braedon Michael. Hunter is my G-Pa’s middle name and I intended to carry it on since I thought no one else had. Well, my little boy cousin above has Hunter in his name. Peter’s family is huge into Michael as a family name and when I mentioned it to Peter I could tell how much it would mean to him. So, Braedon Michael it is! Maybe it will help him live a longer life too with close relationship ties. 😉

  • Do you have any nicknames? What about family names?
  • Do you think relationships can have an impact on life expectancy?

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59 Comments to “name changes”
  1. Isn’t it funny what our nicknames often end up being or how we change other people’s names too. My mom calls me Grace or Rosie. My dad calls me Red. My dogs have so many names I’m sure they just come running b/c they’re so confused 😉

  2. nate calls me scooter, which i LOVE, and all of our nicknames for eachother come from the most random stuff! i love it!

  3. Astrid says:

    My dad is always giving me nicknames, but basides names in sports, nothing has ever really stuck. The professor I teach for and some of my students call me ARod and my boyfriend calls me babydoll, but Astrid has always stuck and doesn’t get shortened (becasue that would just be a bad word!).
    I believe that the happiness we feel from fulfilling relationships makes us so much healthier, so yeah, our life expency would go up!

  4. Jess says:

    I totally agree that being in happy relationships totally is a life extender! I’m with you – we’re both gonna live to the ripe old age of 200 at this rate. 😉

    So funny on the name thing – I’ve always been Jess to most people, though in one circle of friends I’ve always been “Jessie” but not to anyone else. Isn’t that funny?

    I love the name change for Braeden, especially since it clearly means so much to Peter. Love it.

    • Tina says:

      He only briefly brought up using Michael once so I didn’t think it meant much to him. Then when I found out Hunter was already in our family and I knew his family had Michael everywhere I asked him. I could tell how happy it made him. Then got onto him for not telling me before. LOL I’m glad we will carry on a name so special to him and his family.

  5. Not many nicknames to comment upon, but I go by my middle name instead of my first name.

    I definitely believe relationships can extend (if they’re good ones) or even shorten (if they’re bad ones) our lifespans. The amount of stress in our lives is very much related to our lifespan, and relationships contribute.

  6. I love that she is called Kenzie sometimes. What a great name!

  7. Becca says:

    My main nickname has simply been Becca instead of Rebecca since high school, but my parents have called me “boo” for as long as I can remember (I dont even notice it anymore!).

  8. Becca says:

    Yes ma’am! Rebecca typically gets shortened to Becca or Bec. Very few people call me Becky. Sometimes I’ll get BecBec (a friend’s nickname for me), but mostly Becca.
    My dad and his father share the same first name, Robert. Everybody calls Grandpa Bob, and Dad typically goes by his middle name. My grandma (Mom’s mom) goes by her middle name, too.
    We don’t have too many family names—with over 40 of us, having two of the same name would get confusing!! Although my sister and one of the little ones have the same middle name… 🙂

    I have to agree with Astrid on the life expectancy thing. 🙂 And on the flip side, if you’re not happy with your relationships, life expectancy could go down.

  9. i love the name!! it is still a great name, and means alot to your husband 🙂 my name is allison, but when i was little my dad conviced me to change it to alison, so my nickname is ali. now i spell it with 2 L’s again, which i guess confuses some people. my nicknames are ali, al, allen, albert, and ali mont haha

  10. Marcia says:

    Great change–they both sound nice though… 😉
    My nickname when I was a child was Baby Grapes! My aunt’s boyfriend used to call me that- not sure why!
    In middle school I was called Cia…..and as a joke my nickename hsa been Marsha ( since my name is mispronounced as that anyway). Matt calls me C.

    I think there is a direct correlation between relationships and life expectancy… 🙂 Here’s to a happy relationships and long living!

    • Tina says:

      Hahaha. I remember how you always had to put disclaimers on the first page of your journals on O2 that you were Mar-SEE-ya and not Mar-SHA. 😉

  11. So glad you are enjoying your mornings together! It is amazing how relationships impact our PHYSICAL HEALTH!!!
    My friends in high-school used to call me Nae-Nae

  12. Sami says:

    I love the name! Good choice 🙂 the family photo is so adorable!

  13. I’ve had several nicknames over the years! When I was younger I went by Terri – which I now HATE! But my sister insists on calling me “Ter” still. She’s one of only a handfull of people I let call me that! I also got named “Tro” and “T-bag” for a while by other friends. My dad used to call me Eggplant (thus my blog name!) and when I was little he called me Zelda for some reason. But these days I really only go by my full name.
    My hubby’s a different story! His first name is really Jeremy, but he goes by his middle name, Ryan with friends. His family all calls him “Jer” which is really weird for me when I see them because he’s so NOT a Jer or Jeremy to me! Plus, I call him Diggity!

    I definitely think relationships can have an impact on life expectancy. Good relationships = happy people = long lives!

  14. I’ve gone by my middle name since birth! My parents just always called me by my middle name for some reason 🙂

  15. It’s funny because all my nicknames are actually longer than my real name. You can’t do much with “Amy”… sigh…

  16. I love family names!! So special!

    Anna lends itself to one nickname very easily: Anna Banana. I’ve also been called, at various times: ninny nut, A-lo, and nana. Plus Ryan calls me “baby” like it’s my real name. Sigh.

  17. Can I confess that I have a secret love for Easy Mac?

    Because I do.

    I think relationships definitely extend life spans! They are so important to overall health and well-being.

  18. My friends and family call me Kris or Krista Joy…everyone else calls me Krista 🙂 I think relationships definitely have an impact on life expectancy! When you have people to live for, and who enrich your life, you are healthier.

  19. Woohoo! Does that mean I get to get my Striptease download?? Jason will be so happy haha.

    I love hearing about nicknames — mostly because even if you explain them 100%, you dont’ really understand the meaning, you know?

    My family mostly calls me Hi — or Hi Yintno — when my sister Kim was really little she could not say “Holly” — she said Hi or Hi-Yee. It just stuck. And my maiden name was Lintner, so we would say that in the same “language” as Hi and it became Hi Yintno.

    I think Braedon Michael is adorable 🙂

  20. Lindsey Ann says:

    Oh, I have nicknames galore! The most popular is “Fifi”, given to me when I first started taking French classes.

  21. Katie Smothers says:

    I just love nicknames. I think its cute, especially when Reagan has come up with these names on her own… we just kinda went with them. My mom is “Na,Na” my dad is “Pa Paw”, and Kelli is Aunt Ya Ya. And of course we call Reagan Roo Bear, and Bear for short. Dont know where it came from, just kinda stuck one day!!!!!

    • Tina says:

      That’s a cute little nickname for her! When M was small we called her Chubby Bunny because of her cheeks. I bet she’s happy that one didn’t stick. LOL

  22. Anna says:

    Well, my nicknames are either ma, mommy or honey depending on who in the house is addressing me =)
    Savannah’s nickname is SaVann (what her sisters call her-Hubby and I ALWAYS call her Savannah)
    Ariel’s is Airz -sisters gave it to her, but hubs and I use it sometimes too
    Skylar is Skiz, Skizzaroo, Roo, Reese a Roo, Skizzarooni…yep, shes got a lot =)
    Jaidyn’s: Jaidy or J
    Joshua is Josh, Joshie, Destory Boy, Mr Mischief, Little guy or Little Mister =)

  23. I definitely think having a fulfilling relationship(s) can have an impact on your life!!! I would love to say I love lounging in bed after I wake up, but once I’m up, I’m UP! I have to get out of bed and start moving!

  24. Hallie says:

    LOL I was just thinking about writing a post about nicknames because I think they are so fun. And I love the stories behind them. You beat me to it! Most of the time I’m Hallie, but some people shorten it to Hal. Then the weird ones…my dad calls me Baba, like “Hallie Baba and the 40 Thieves” and when Mitch heard that, he started calling me Baba Ganoush which then got shortened to just Ganoush. And I don’t even like Baba Ganoush (the food)! Mitch also started calling me Hey or Hey Hey, so that’s what a lot of his friends call me.

  25. Yay! I’m so excited about the exercise video downloads! I was literally just telling my husband last night that I need to add something different to my workouts! (I’m starting to burn-out) So cool!

    On the name thing…I don’t have any children yet, but, our pets have a bazillion different names! I don’t think they actually know their “real” names? 😀

  26. Melie says:

    For a moment I thought that you were going to change the Braedon part of the name, which would be kind of sad because I really liked the name! Reminds me of Ireland and I really love Ireland! 🙂

    My official name is Melpomeni. I personally believe it’s a horrible name, cannot get what my parents were thinking! Thankfully nobody ever called me with my given name, including the aforementioned parents, friends, teachers and professors. I only answer to Melina and lately to Melie (for only selected blog friends ;-P). To avoid writing a comment as long as your post, let us say that my parents, both my sisters, pretty much every single one of my friends and even my cat have a shortened version of their names at best or a random nickname at worst. Is there anyone who goes with a single name their entire life??

  27. Angela says:

    I like the name switch!! My grandpa on my dad’s side always went by Papa, and when my sister was younger I tried to tell her that his name was Andrew and she started bawling!! On the other side of my family, my mum’s dad is called G-pa – so I have one too! 😉

  28. Marg says:

    It’s funny where some nicknames come from I have a lot due to a long name. Marg, Margy, Ree-Ree, Margaret, Margarita, Marge, I could go on but those are the most popular off of my name.

    Me and 2 of my sisters all have family names for middle names and my brother is a Junior. Only one sister didn’t get a family name.

  29. Therese says:

    Ok not to throw another curve ball at you, but this story sounds a lot like the trouble my parents had naming my little brother. They wanted to call him Bradley Michael but didn’t want his initals to be BM…you know…bowl movement.

    So instead he is Micael Bradley! Maybe my parents just have potty brains though…

  30. My Dad always seems to have a nickname for everybody! He calls me dolly and I used to hate it but now I’ve just accepted it hahaha

  31. Heather says:

    I somehow totally missed the name to begin with. Lame slacker 😉

    Love it & wanted to wish you guys a Happy Turkey Day.

    Much love to you guys!!!

  32. I was destined to be Audrey until the last month of my moms’ pregnancy, pretty happy that she changed her mind! I’ve never shortened it to anything. A few people have tried to call me Lanie before but I absolutely wouldn’t tolerate it.

  33. Cute post love! I have a ton of nicknames, but nothing can get shorter than my real name “Kris” so people usually call my Krissy or Krissybabe {thanks to my nana!}

    I used to get asked all the time if my name was short for anything like Kristina or Krista, but nope, just Kris!

    I love the name Michael as it is huge in my family too!!

    xxoo

  34. I like the switch!!!

    My mom isn’t into nicknames…she always said she wanted to name her children exactly what she wanted them to be called. So my full name is Katie, not Katherine or anything like that.

  35. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tina Reale, Tina Reale. Tina Reale said: name changes: I love holiday weeks! The husband took off this entire week and even though during the day he is b… http://bit.ly/ebjtu3 […]

  36. We always have nickname craziness over here! My names vary from Bomb, Bomber, JBomb, J, J-do and many many more. Once my friends have nicknames from my brothers they are considered part of the family! 🙂

  37. jen says:

    My husband’s last day of work for the week is today, Yay!!!

    All of our kids have crazy nicknames, and most of them my dad came up with.

    jen

  38. Nichole says:

    When I was little, I named my first Cabbage Patch Hunter, both my dad and brother are Michael – good choice.

    I go by Nic:)

    My hub’s dad had a BIG dog 110+ lbs and it was named Skittles when we rescued it – he changed it to Sweetie. Every time I saw her I called her Skittles to throw him of, haaa.

  39. Susan says:

    I like the name change! Girl, I have too many name changes to even start!

  40. I love the name Braedon Michael 🙂 I actually have 3 friends who named their babies Braedon but spelled different, 2 Brayden’s and a Braden. 🙂 It’s a cute name! I have had way too many nicknames, but most people just call me Emy. My family always calls me Lee but I HATE that haha

  41. It makes total sense that fulfilling relationships increase life expectancy! They probably lower stress and do a bunch of other great things, but I also think that they make life worth living. Without human connection, how alive can you really feel?

  42. My name is my Mom’s middle name, and my middle name is a distant relative’s name. I wish my parents had switched my first and middle names, but maybe if I have a daughter I’ll give her my middle name, Calista, bc I love it!

  43. i legally changed my name a couple years ago after not liking the name i was born with. i think names are sooooo powerful. so glad you guys are thinking it thru and going with what works for you!

  44. My nicknames are Jessie, Heh, and Dozzy! Kind of weird ones…my middle name is Luann, a combo of my two sister’s middle names- Louise and Ann.
    And I love the name Michael!

  45. Lee says:

    Lee is a nickname! Lots of people don’t know that. I bet you can’t guess what it stands for!

  46. What a cute name! and your name changing history in the family is so interesting!

    I used to not have nicknames but since I’ve been with my current bf I’ve gotten tons.. and they’re cute 😀

    Also, I have a lot fo friends who have babies and I always wonder how can you possibly choose only 1-3 names for the baby when there are so many lovely names in the world! I guess, you just know when it’s right 🙂

  47. My parents changed my name after I was born- from Danielle to Gabriela. Long story, but basically there was family drama because my aunt was “saving” the name for her first daughter. My nicknames are Gabby, Gab and Gabs, and while I really don’t mind friends and family (or other people I like) using them, it makes my skin crawl when people I don’t get along with use nicknames. If I have boys I definitely want to name one after my father- he was a IV, but my mom doesn’t like his name so they broke the tradition for my brother. I think it’s neat to have the same name as your grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great grandfather and great great great grandfather!!

    • Tina says:

      That is cool that there is such a long line of names in your family. And yea, nicknames really are only nice coming from people you know pretty well.

  48. Kristy says:

    I often think how IMPORTANT it is when you choose a name for a baby that you never met! Their nams defines alot about who they become in my opinion.

  49. My dad calls me Squirt. I have a friend that calls me Saran (like Saran Wrap, get it?) I think relationships (good ones) can certainly prolong your life!

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