| The
Art of Baby Naming - Page 8
A
Tale Sad But True ..
The
following story will give you some idea of the forethought needed before
casually giving a name to a new baby!
I
was given the same first name as my father "Kevin."
Soon
after, to avoid confusion when speaking about "Kevin (the baby), everyone
referred to me by my middle name "John". I grew up assuming my name
was John Flynn.
Later
in life I had problems because my birth certificate showed my name as:
"Kevin John Flynn".
For
instance in my first school days I was considered "slow" during the role
call because when they called out "Kevin Flynn" I thought they were referring
to someone else and did not answer immediately. I was too timid to let
them know of
the
mix up but it was finally resolved in front of my class mates and much
to my embarassment.
In
hospital for an appendectomy at age 15, I was awoken by a Nun asking "and
how are you today Kevin?" I looked around to see if anyone else was in
the room, thinking maybe they had operated on the wrong person.
I
always had to explain why I preferred to be called "John Flynn" although
it happened to be the name of a famous Australian who was not related.
This in itself was an embarrassment - always having to admit that I was
not related to the famous respected man when I wished I was - just to make
life easier.!
My
original name was not a good choice according to some of the rules already
mentioned, but my present name was an even worse choice due to it's single
syllable sounds.
When
officials ask me to state my name, they often have to ask me twice because
I tend to mumble anyway and my name comes out as the indecipherable Chinese
"OnFin" or similar. Particularly when pronounced over the telephone. The
number of times I have been recorded as "John Slynn" could make my blood
boil as well.
That's
why I often use the "K" of my middle name to break the first and second
syllables apart.
Eventually
I had the name changed by Deed Poll to read:
"John
Kevin Flynn" and an entry was made on my birth certificate to that effect.
I thought I would be safe then.
That
didn't stop the foreigners though - In Switzerland the tax office still
calls me Kevin J. Flynn. They didn't read the fine print on my birth
certificate .. ..and I didn't even get out of paying my taxes!
:-)
John
K. Flynn
CEO
Xerostar Holdings
See
one
more page on the art of baby naming!
 
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