My name, as you may have guessed is Gretchen. It wasn’t going to be Gretchen, it was going to be Erica (or Daniel, if I’d been a boy). My mother was overdue, and they induced her but it wouldn’t take. In the hospital, the nurses discouraged her from naming me Erica, because of "that bitch" Erica Kane on All My Children. When I was born, ten days late, my parents looked at me and decided that I wasn’t an Erica after all — I was Gretchen.
The other Gretchen they knew? My great-aunt’s dachsund. I understand she was a lovely dog.
So, I was Gretchen. It’s kind of hard to imagine calling a baby "Gretchen," but it aligns with my own belief about names, in that an Adult Name will only sound weird for a short time, while a Cutesy Name might sound weird for all of adulthood. And, I was named after a dog. A HOT DOG. (My sister was named after my parents beloved Black Lab that died just two weeks after I was born. I am so not kidding.)
When I was a kid, I only noticed that I had an uncommon name when I checked the racks of personalized pens, barrettes, bicycle license plates, stickers, calculators, and other stuff that every Jennifer and Melissa in my classes had. When I did find something that said "Gretchen," I hoarded it. (Even now, I have a set of "Gretchen" stickers in a filing cabinet upstairs, from when I was about nine years old. I know.) My mom ordered peronalized stuff from Lillian Vernon, and my dad made a sign for my room out of driftwood and washed up rope from the sea, using finishing nails to spell out "Gretchen" in cursive. Even today, I have to check those racks. It used to jump from "Gina" to "Heather," but apparently the name Gina has lost momentum, because it’s not there anymore either. There are very few G names for girls.
I didn’t have many nicknames, as Gretchen is a diminutive, anyway, it’s hard to make it any ‘cuter.’ It did rhyme with "Wretched" and "Retchin’," and as I got older, some kids thought it was in close proximity to "Bitchin’," which could be good or bad. More dangerous for taunts was the fact that I was wearing glasses by second grade, and FourEyes was my Achilles heel. Or eye, as it was.
I love my name. Maybe more than I should. I kept my maiden name for many reasons, but one was that it just goes so well with Gretchen. My full name, which is German, sounds strong and independent. If I ever get that book written, it is a great name. Gretchen Gordon (my married name, had I chosen it)? Sure, it has some alliteration going on, but ew. Not like my maiden name.
I love having a different name. I never, ever, needed my last initial as an identifier. I can tell you who the other four Gretchens were in my county while I was in high school. We all figured out who the others were, because when we went to games and would be responding to someone calling "Gretchen!" only to find it wasn’t US, but another Gretchen. When I meet a Gretchen now, we always, without fail, have a conversation about our name. There’s one at our bank, and there was a four year old when I subbed at the daycare. (I was "Tall Gretchen" there, and it is the only time, ever, that Tall will be used as a descriptor for me.) One of my classmates in the online course I just took had a daughter named Gretchen. It’s a damn fine name, as those of us who have it can attest. I’ve never met a Gretchen that hasn’t loved her name. I am part of the International Sisterhood of Gretchen. It’s a great club.
And, I owe it all to a weiner dog from the sixties. Not bad if I do say so myself.
(PS, thanks for checking in — I knew some of you were here, but I was surprised to see some non-Digsters! Hi, and thanks for reading and stuff. :D)
I hear ya. I used to get a lot of stickers and license plates and stuff that said “Joanne”, which is close but still not my name. The first time I ever met another Joanna was freshman year in college, and I can still count on one hand the Joannas I’ve met since (even counting the ones who spell it Johanna).
I love that my name was a good kid’s name and a good adult’s name, and that it’s unusual enough that I don’t get confused with anyone else but not so weird that people can’t pronounce it. Like Gretchen.
My name used to be unusual. I still get “oh, what an unusual name!” on occasion, but clearly these people do not watch Disney movies. A few years ago, I met G’s now 95 year old Great Aunt (lives in England, very English), who, upon meeting me, said that she was very excited to meet another Jasmine. It’s her middle name. Weird.
I would hoard things with my name on it too! I still love things with “Jasmine” on them, even though everyone and their cat (like emmalola’s!) seems to be named Jasmine now. I absolutely love my name. The problem is with pronounciatioin. I really don’t like it when the ‘e’ gets dropped at the end, or when it’s pronounced “Jazzmeen” or “Yazzmin” or…ick, “Yazzmeen” …*shudder* I mean, they’re pretty names, but they aren’t mine.
I like the name Gretchen. It’s a good balance of different and normal, you know?
My sisters name is Gretchen and she likes her name too. Its unusal but not so unusual that it gets mispronounced. She used to be told “oh I have a dog by that name” when she was a kid but I think that has changed. I spent 3 years working in a veterinary hospital and never ever had a dog named Gretchen come in.
I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN, SISTAH!
Amy is such an uncommon name. I use to have people say stuff to me all the time. . .. “how do you say that? Is that Amy with an I or with a Y”. Sometimes people would get really crazy and spell it aimee. Which is, shit, way too crazy. . .settle down freaks!
I WAS the TALL Amy, and will likely be forever. When I wasn’t being called perky, or blossom. . . . AMY was just fine. And you know, growing up with a best friend whose name was GRETCHEN. . . . . . Amy was this dreaded three letter blahhhhhhhness. BUT, as an adult. . I really like my name. . . I LOVE my name. I was named after a friend of my mothers who died of cancer.
I guess she was a beautiful person.
I was going to be named JUDSON had I been a boy, so, yeah, AMy is good.
If I was called gert, or beatty, or olive, or angnus. . . I would still love it when someone calls me by my name.
Hi Amy. . . . . .
Just sounds nice to me! uncomplicated, simple, Amy.
PS. those stickers were overrated. . . . .
JStriz – I could have written your post. Verbatim. In fact, for a few seconds I thought I did! Joanne is the bane of my existence. We should form an International Society of Joannas!
From my own experience, Erica is a pretty cool name too. But would you believe there were only two Erica’s in the whole district and we were both in the same year at school.
Oh man, the name thing! I used to always search for those stickers and stuff too. And I was registered my freshman year in high school under the name “joanne” somehow… probably a typo. My parents were going to name me Karen. Thank god they got over that, because I like this name much better. Also I can always tell when the telemarketers are calling – is Gee-Anne there? Nope, sorry, no one here by that name. 🙂
so i was just digging into your site and noticed that you have a link to FBOFW. I read that comic daily. Actually, I read three comics: B00ndocks (written by a guy I used to go to college with; FBOFW; One Big Happy. But FBOFW is my favorite.
I’ve always liked the name Gretchen. Mine, on the other hand, I’ve never liked. It was a 1970’s trend name, seemingly. Every Dawn I’ve ever known has been right around my own age, and there aren’t lots of them, but enough to be annoying. I had one other Dawn in my class every year up until middle school.
I’m thinking of kicking it to the curb; seriously.