 | My mother named me Regina. I was born in the late 1950s and therefore was in school during the 1960's and 70s. Regina was a family name with religious meaning. In Latin, the language of the Catholic Church at the time, it means Queen of Heaven and is another name for the Blessed Virgin.
Well, that was all very nice, but in the 1960's and 70's, I was the only Regina nearly everywhere I went. And I hated it. It was not stylish, as it is now, to have an unusual name. Nearly everyone else had cutsie all-American names like Debbie and Donna and Kathy and Linda and Patty and Sue. I quickly caught on that new people were less likely to like me and accept me once they found out my name. Really, I'm not exaggerating. It can really hurt a kid to have a weird name. So, at about age 12 or 13, I asked my dearest friends to start calling me Gina and introduced myself as Gina to anyone I would meet. The difference was astonishing. I no longer had to "prove" that I wasn't weird just because I had a weird name, and was much more easily accepted by people I'd meet. So, there really is something to the psychology of names. In their quest to find unique, meaningful (to them) names for their babies, people should keep in mind that the child actually has to live with the name. So don't choose anything too weird.
By the way, now that unusual names are in style, I'm coming across more and more Reginas all the time...people are even naming their babies Regina again! I admit I'm happy in my adulthood, not to be just another Kathy or Donna or Sue, and am totally comfortable introducing myself as Regina these days! But it was tough when I was growing up with it, so take it from me, stay away from the really bizarre names. Mine wasn't even that bad but still it made me feel inferior and different at a time when I wanted to be the same and accepted by everyone else. |
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