Monday, January 31, 2011

Peter-Peter, Bo-Beter


There was a guy named Peter Petersen. I didn't know him, but allegedly he was/is a real person.

I did work with a Tony Mahoney, though. I don't know why he didn't insist on being called Anthony. Maybe because it was fun to say: "Tony Mahoney!"

I met Tony while working on cruise ships. He was a fellow crew member. Duff was also a coworker at sea, although that wasn't his real name. His real name was Donald McDonald.

True story.

I heard about a girl named Krysty Lear. Her classmates were discussing middle names one day, and she told them that hers was Shandel. "That's pretty," a friend commented. "Wait a minute," another girl interrupted. "Is 'Krysty' short for Krystal?"

Krysty rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, my parents named me Krystal Shandel Lear."

I don't know if that one is true or not. But I did go to elementary school with a Virginia Mann. Her father wanted her middle name to be 'Bread' so that she could be called 'Ginger Bread Mann.' Fortunately, Virginia's mother interfered.

In 8th grade, my P.E. teacher had the first name 'Arvel.' I had thought about giving my son the same first name when I got older. Like Tony's first and last names, it would be fun to say together: "Arvel Varvel."

Maybe there's a reason I turned out the way I did, childless.

What are some of the more memorable names that you've heard?

P.S. Internet searches will show actual people with all of the same names, above. But not for 'Arvel Varvel.'

2 comments:

Cheryl said...

My sister's friend's mom, a piano teacher named Sharon, went through a bad divorce and wanted to change her last name. But instead of changing it back to her maiden name, she changed it to Muzik. She also changed her middle name to Mai. I hope she's still Sharon Mai Muzik today.

Peter Varvel said...

Cheryl, I hope so, too. That's much better than that drag queen's name, "Sharon Needles."