May 08 2007
It Rhymes with Shannon
A week ago Saturday, we had Alvis and clan over for dinner. As is our tradition when not cooking in, he and I would go grab the grub while the ladies and kids waited.
We mulled over the menu that Alvis printed off Al Gore’s Internet. I called in the order.
“Thank you for choosing Chili’s, this is Rhiannon, how may I help you?”
“Did you say your name’s ‘Rhiannon?’”
“Yep.”
“Cool,” I said. Then I thought how that’s about the only word I know that rhymes with “Shannon.”
Don’t say, ‘It rhymes with my wife’s name,’ don’t say, ‘It rhymes with my wife’s name.’
“Okay, we want…” and I gave her our order. Chili’s isn’t the best restaurant in our area, but I like more things on their menu than anywhere else, and they have something for almost everybody.
Alvis and I took the convertible, top down. On the five-mile drive, we hit a stretch of road where I can cruise at about 60 mph. It puts us in a strong wind without imminent danger of an errant roof shingle or tree branch knocking out an eye. And we can yell our conversation without anybody caring. Glorious.
A young lady smiled and greeted us at the pick-up counter.
“So, are you Rhiannon?” I asked.
“No, I’m Stevie. My mom was a big Stevie Nicks fan.”
“So, Rhiannon took our order and you’re named after Stevie Nicks?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” she said.
“Fleetwood Mac’s all over the place up here.”
That got me thinking. What names crop up for the boys in their age group? Ozzy? Meatloaf? Axel? Leroy Brown?
Would you or have you considered naming your child after a song or a celebrity?
Not neccessarily Mark but our daughter Sadie has a few songs that refer to her name which I think is nice….and then of course I have people who have said…”oh Sadie, I had a dog named Sadie…” Why would I want to know that?!?!
Whatever. It was my great grandmothers nickname for her given name Sarah.
:) I like your new profile pic of you with your wife and son.
Nope.
But purely by coincidence, my son and daughter’s middle names, together is the full name of a best friend I had till he passed away around 2003. We never even thought about it. odd.
Well, at least it was a name born of inspiration, instead of the default name some babies get - it’s the only one that neither of my parents hated.
Cannon rhymes with Shannon. As does Dannon yogurt. Or pannin’ for gold. Or Tanin.
I was named after the lead singer of The Moody Blues. Not such a well known name these days, but Dad was a big fan in the day.
My wife is named after Marilyn Monroe. Her dad was a big fan.
I’ll second Anna: that’s a swell new About Me pic up there.
I had no idea that Rhiannon was a member of Fleetwood Mac. Weren’t they a band or something? Had a couple hits?
We never considered naming a kid after a song or celebrity, but I did suggest a girl’s name drawn from a character in a favourite book. Aliana. My wife didn’t go for it, and our having a boy nixed the notion anyway.
My mother knows a couple who are sort of into riding motorcycles, and their son’s name is Harley David. Poor kid.
Susan shot me down both times with the boys when I suggested we name each one Jean-Luc or Luke Skywalker Elledge. :)
Anna - That’s funny, because when I read about your Sadie, I think, “Shannon’s cousin had a dog named Sadie.” But, I didn’t say it. Points for that, I guess.
Anna and Simon - Thanks on the About Me pic. It was time for a change, and for something that showed the female parental unit.
Dave - An accidental homage. Cool.
Jay - Oh, I wasn’t saying it was funny. I was just trying to think of male names that one could use and not make one’s son sound ridiculous.
Moksha - It seems I didn’t exactly wrack my brain thinking of rhyming words. Good thing I’ve never written any rhyming poetry for her.
I remember the Moody Blues. Good thing the guy had a fairly “normal” name instead of some crazy stage name.
Curt - That gets me thinking about the ladies at work I’ve met named Marilyn. Hmmm….
Simon - I can only assume you’re pulling my leg with teh questions about Fleetwood Mac. But, to help anybody else, Rhiannon was a song. A lot of people don’t know the song’s title, but it’s one of the most recognizable of their tunes. Section:
“All your life, you’ve never seen a woman
Taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven
Will you ever win”
Harley David? That’s just cruel.
Alvis - Ha! Shannon says you could have just gone with “Luke” and that would have covered both guys (phonetically, that is).
Named our son after one of my favorite wide receivers (he ended up playing wide receiver too) and our daughter after my wife’s favorite actress.
Our son also has the male version of our daughter’s name for a middle name. Laura wanted to make sure it was used in case we never had a girl. Additionally, his initials are N.J. Krieg and hers are J.N. Krieg.
Have fun with all that information.
My buddy Oaf’s parents had a cool naming system for their kids. First name was always a figure from the wild west. Cody and Crystal, etc. Middle name was always a musician they both liked. Dylan, Page, etc. So, while Morgan Paul might not be obvious at first…by the time they had their fifth kid…it was pretty clear what was going on. I always liked that better than the aliteration my folks went with.
People assume we named Norah after Norah Jones…sensing a musical pattern with Arlo. But no.
Very interesting post and comments. My kids’ names weren’t celebrities’ except that I took Juju’s middle name from Lauren Hutton.