Today is Get a Different Name Day. My name is Janet. I happen to be very happy with that name. There are some famous Janet's: Janet Jackson, Janet Evanovich and Janet Leigh, just to name a few. A singer, a writer and an actress. No wonder I like to be crafty!
I had no say in my name. In my family, I have three sisters. All of our names begin with a "J" (Jo Anne - named for my mother, Josephine, and her twin sister, Antoinette; Judy - named by another one of the aunts; Janet - my name was picked by Jo Anne and Judy; and Jaye - named by the neighbors because it had to be a "J" name).
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I'm the cute one, bottom left. |
I didn't realize it until a few years ago but there is even a song, "Damn it Janet" from the Rocky Horror Show! I wouldn't mind getting confused with that Janet (Susan Sarandon)!
In my class during elementary school, there were 3 other Janet's and a Janis (I went to a Catholic school so we were together for eight years). Guess that was a pretty popular name around 1955!
While I did not change my name, I did go by the nickname "Jan" for a long period of time. I remember that I was in Bryman School for medical assisting shortly after high school and one of my classmates said I should shorten it from Janet to Jan because if a doctor needed me in a hurry, Jan was only one syllable, not two. Interestingly, I introduced myself to everyone as Jan after that. Even my husband called me Jan and our first mortgage papers show me as Jan. About 12 years ago, when I was starting my own transcription business, I went back to using my full name and found I really liked it. My Etsy site, Facebook page and craft business is "ASmile4UfromJanet."
So, given that today is a day that you can change your name if you want, what name would you pick? I can't think of anything I would rather be named. Any suggestions?