Tuesday, April 21, 2009
What's in a name?
From the first time I saw the LDS Christmas movie, "Mr. Krueger's Christmas," I knew that I wanted to name one of my daughters Clarissa. In the movie, Clarissa is the sweet little girl who leaves her mitten at Mr. Krueger's apartment and insists on going back to get it. She is so sweet and innocent that I just knew if I named my daughter after her, she would be the same. As for Chris, he was just glad that it wasn't Priscilla (from the book Johnny Tremain), or Evangeline (from the book Uncle Tom's Cabin), which were the other girls names I wanted. So we named our first daughter Clarissa without a thought as to how difficult of a name it is to pronounce for young children. Jared was 2 and a half when Clarissa was born and it took him a while to come up with a name for her. When he did, it was "Sissa." Of course, everyone thought he was saying sister, but in fact it was his version of Clarissa. Clarissa has had a difficult time pronouncing her name until just recently. It used to be that when people would ask her her name, she would just look at me to answer for her. Up until this year, she still said Curlissa. Krystal never had a hard time with Clarissa's name. As far as we can remember she was born talking with perfect elocution, but she is the exception in the family. Now that Amber is talking, we realize once again that Clarissa is not an easy name to say for the beginner. Amber's version is the funniest yet, she says something like "Ashla." This we have only recently discovered means Clarissa because it is so closely related to "shla" which means dress, or clothes. Who knows, maybe she considers her sister the fashion guru of the family and has devised this system of language to express that. Whatever the reason, we think it's cute and worth remembering.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I think the name Clarissa is beautiful. It may take awhile to say it, but it is name you'll never forget. It suits her!
That's very cute! We kind of have a similar situation. I wonder if it's the 3 syllable names that are harder. It would be cute if Ambers name for Clarissa became her nickname for her even after she could say it :)
Us too. I didn't think about how hard it would be for her to say her own name! Luckily, as she started KG, she also began to say her own name propperly; however, because Benjamin always calls her Sinny, that's kind of become her name. And Benjamin's name around here is Ben-Man or Ben-A-Men when Sydney's really mad because that's what how she said it at age 2 and it sticks. Very cute
OMG! I was just thinking and pondering over your entry and I'm assuming I could say MY name as a toddler. THAT was lucky that I was an early talker and pronounced everything like an adult as a child. CAN you imagine though? I mean the poor little Elizabeth's of the world! And that name is so popular. Even adults can't say it right! I am rarely E-Liz-A-Beth. It's more like, "lebess" or lizbeth, or "little-bit" or my personal favorite from HS "A-Lizard's-Breath." Aren't you thankful you didn't like the name "Clarissabethia!" Can you imagine!? I wonder if that name exists... But even then, it's very royal to have an exceptional name. The harder to say, the more important you can act. Maybe that's why I always seemed like such a snot.. or snob, I mean. I'd say, if she ever complains about her name like I've heard some teenagers do... Tell her Clarissabethia was actually your first choice... Ha! Very cute name and story, Jenny... and thought provoking.
Post a Comment