Sunday, August 12, 2007

A Rose By Any Other Name...

So, I mentioned before that I am thinking of legally changing my name to Jodi Beck. The only negative response was from my brother Jim, who felt the need to tell me the history of my name. I am well aware of the meaning behind it all, but I have to say that if it really were as important to everyone else, then they probably would have called me Joyce all my life. I do appreciate the history. I love the name Joyce (I've always thought it was beautiful) and I think it's cool that it was my great-grandmother's last name, but it's just not me. And I loved my grandpa (Lester) to pieces, but Jodi Leslie sounds dreadful. I briefly tried to go by my real name in college, but it only lasted about half a semester. Every time someone would call me Joyce I would think that they were talking to someone else. I think that some of my professors thought that I was deaf because I wouldn't respond. Just imagine their confusion when this over- confident, college freshman walks up to them and says, "Hi, I was wondering if you would call me Jodi. It's my nickname and I don't respond well to Joyce." I was taking a full load of courses and I said that to all the professors I had that didn't teach a lecture. I think it was four people and they all looked at me like, "Wow, this girl is deaf and a bit crazy." I also think its kind of funny that at my wedding when we arrived at the reception the sign said, "Congratulations Craig and Joyce" and people commented that it was strange to congratulate the groom and the groom's mother-in-law. It kind of makes me laugh...

So, I want your help to select a middle name. Mom, you get extra points for any names you come up with. The prize for the name selected will be that I will come visit you after I get it changed and we'll go to dinner, and I'll pay with my debit card and officially sign my new name on the line. Because this is a public blog and people I don't know may feel the need to comment, if the name you suggest is chosen, I will not meet you for dinner, so don't expect it. I'll send you a bottle of wine and you'll just have to be content to know that you named a complete stranger. I will update you on all the names suggested each week, by whom they are suggested, and after four weeks I will bring the list to my mother and she and I will decide on the top three. Then you can all vote for which name you want me to have. Sounds like fun, right? I think so! So without further ado....

The Give Me a New Middle Name Contest
Fill in the blank. Click on the comment button below and write down your idea in the space provided. If you want to give a brief reason for the choice, all the better!

Jodi _______________ Beck

17 comments:

Jodi said...

Joyce- It's a bit sing, songy, but its the only thing I could come up with on my own. Plus I keep a bit of the history of my original name.

Charissa said...

I will give multiple suggestions, I'm sure, but my first is 'Anne' with and 'e' - how freaking cool would that be??

Jodi Anne Beck

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Ok, now I am on a mission. I want to win this challenge. It is not every day that I get to name my sister. At this point I really like Jodi Elise (which is a French familiar form of Elizabeth which is a family name on dad's side which is Hebrew "oath of God"
but here's another one
Jodi Adelle Beck (French form of Adelaide which is Old German for "noble;kind"
Jodi Aileen (or Ailee) Beck (Irish/Gaelic)"light bearer
Love,
Jenny

Jodi said...

glad to see you are getting into this, Jen! And I think I mentioned it to mom in passing...

Anonymous said...

I don't think my comment was negative. I just wanted to be sure you knew...

:-(

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth...after your Aunt Betty

Anonymous said...

Jodi, I was thinking Jodi Twaleot Beck


Going with the scenario from the Dick Van Dyke show...

Rob and Laura Petrie had a son, Richie

His middle name?

Rosebud...

When he went to school, he had a problem and wanted to know why his parents named him Richie Rosebud Petrie. It was an acronym for all the 'helpful' suggestions Rob and Laura received...
"R" for Robert
"O" for Oscar
"S" for Sam
"E" for Edward
"B" for Benjamin
"U" for Ulysses
"D" for David

So, Twaleot--how about it?

"T" for Toupin
"W" for Wolfgang
"A" for Ann (Grandma Toupin's name)
"L" for Lester
"E" for Elizabeth (Aunt Betty)
"O" for Oscar
"T" for Tony

(Do I really have to explain the last two?)

Love you, Jodi T. Beck

(Of course you can also go with Harry Truman's answer to this problem--his middle name was just the letter 'S'--The reason for this oddity is that when Harry Truman was born, he had two grandfathers: Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. The parents couldn't decide which one to honor (Solomon or Shipp) so they simply left it as "S.")

Charissa said...

Ooooh... good ideas. I have a few more for you to choose from:

Jodi Maria Beck ("They call the wind...")
Jodi Maren Beck (Just neat)
Jodi Kendall Beck (A bit high class)
Jodi Anya Beck (Chekov)
Jodi Fiala (Fee-ah-lah) Beck (Like Fiona, but prettier)

jpb2525 said...

Jodi. I just don't know. My favorite names don't fit well..

Jodi Jaqueline Beck
Jodi Olivia Beck

Steve suggests:

Jodi Leah (pronounced LEE) Beck (he said its "vibrant")

Jodi Ellen Beck (he said it sounds sophisticated)

Jodi Michael Beck (he said it is "unusual")

Love ya,
N

Anonymous said...

names:
Jodi Colleen (Irish "girl")
Jodi Belle/Bella (French "beautiful")
Jodi Ava (Latin "birdlike")
Jodi Claire (French familiar for of Clara from the Greek "clear/bright")
Jodi Annette (Hebrew "graceful")
Jodi Grace/Grayce (Latin "graceful")

Anonymous said...

Here's more:
Jodi Blaire (Scottish/Gaelic "dweller on the plain")
Jodi Delaney (Irish "descendent of the challenger)
Jodi Layne (Mid Eng. "from the narrow road")
Jodi Gwen (Welsh "white/white-browed")
Jodi Paige (Old Eng. "child/young")
Jodi Lynne (Old Eng. "waterfall")

Anonymous said...

These are my top choices from the names I gave you:
Jodi Elise Beck
Jodi Delaney Beck (this one is cool)
Jodi Ailee (ay lee) Beck
and Jodi Layne Beck
Love ya!
Jenny

Anonymous said...

Jodi,
Elise is in the blog that followed the first one. And just FYI, my read it and thought it said Ellsie. I am not sure how you should take that :). Love ya,
Jenny

Denny said...

Hey Jodi,
I hope I am not too late to get in on this name game. I have given this some thought, and here is the conclusion I have come to. I was thinking something classic from history or literature perhaps, but in my opinion "Jodi Beck" already has the characteristics you would find in such a name. So, We gonna' go with a whole different angle. You see, "Jodi Beck" says so many things like strength, power, and wisdom. But it does not say
" HOT CHICK ". So I am going to recommend some "hot chick" names for you;
Jodi 'Hayley' Beck
Jodi 'Natasha' Beck
and at last my favorite,
Jodi 'Rachelle' Beck.
So what do ya' think?
I think it would be awesome knowing that you were walking around with the name I gave you. It would be like you having my baby, sans all the responsibility. When you do end up choosing one of my names, I WILL expect you to fly out to Cali' and buy me dinner.(Even if I don't win you should still fly out and buy me dinner)
Give me a call when you get the details of your flight and I will send one of my people to pick you up at The Lindberg Field Airport.
So I hope I have given you some help in this matter and that you are well and happy!
Always
Denny

Jodi said...

Thanks Denny! I hadn't quite thought about a "hot chick" name but I am quite intrigued. You make me laugh!

KL said...

I like Jodi Beck- simple.