"What's in a name"
By Elizabeth Hendrix
On a cold, 1973, Saint Patrick's day in Druid City Hospital, my mother and father argued over my name. My mother wanted to name me "Leila Patricia" after my father's mother and his sister-in-law who had college degrees and were well educated according to my mother (who never went to college). However, my father could not stand her idea. Although my grandmother did have a college degree when women did not dare to have a "higher education," she (as well as my grandfather) objected to my father and mother's marriage. My mother was part Cherokee and came from an impoverished, large family, and they judged my mother based on her family and her relatives' behaviors and attitudes instead of her own.
In order to reach a compromise with my mother, who almost lost her life and mine in childbirth, my father told my mother to choose any other names, and he would be happy. She did; she chose "Mary Elizabeth." In 1973, unbeknownst to my mother, "Elizabeth" was the thirteenth most popular name for female babies, and interestingly, "Mary" was ranked fourteenth that same year. Over many years, I have met many females with both names.
Thus, today, I am "Mary Elizabeth Hendrix." I also like that much better than "Leila Patricia"--especially after discovering the stories and real histories behind the names. As of 2007, I even graduated with a Ph.D., so you do not have to be a "Leila" or a "Patricia" to have a university-level degree.
By Elizabeth Hendrix
On a cold, 1973, Saint Patrick's day in Druid City Hospital, my mother and father argued over my name. My mother wanted to name me "Leila Patricia" after my father's mother and his sister-in-law who had college degrees and were well educated according to my mother (who never went to college). However, my father could not stand her idea. Although my grandmother did have a college degree when women did not dare to have a "higher education," she (as well as my grandfather) objected to my father and mother's marriage. My mother was part Cherokee and came from an impoverished, large family, and they judged my mother based on her family and her relatives' behaviors and attitudes instead of her own.
In order to reach a compromise with my mother, who almost lost her life and mine in childbirth, my father told my mother to choose any other names, and he would be happy. She did; she chose "Mary Elizabeth." In 1973, unbeknownst to my mother, "Elizabeth" was the thirteenth most popular name for female babies, and interestingly, "Mary" was ranked fourteenth that same year. Over many years, I have met many females with both names.
Thus, today, I am "Mary Elizabeth Hendrix." I also like that much better than "Leila Patricia"--especially after discovering the stories and real histories behind the names. As of 2007, I even graduated with a Ph.D., so you do not have to be a "Leila" or a "Patricia" to have a university-level degree.
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