My name used to be, "Wanda".

    My mom wanted Wendy but her sister took it when my cousin was born. Dad wanted Sonja but mom thought it, “too Norwegian”-she thought I'd get teased. They chose “Wanda”, since Wanda sounded like, “Wendy” and “Sonja” together-well, sort of. Also, Wanda Jackson was on top charts in Country Music-how bad could that be?

    Now wouldn't you know, I broke my nose in grade school. Classmates learned about Wanda the Witch stories and improved upon them. Hollywood didn't do me justice either, as most "Wanda" characters were either witchy, mean, or socially unacceptable.

    By the time I was in high school, "OH Wicked Wanda" was whipping and beating her men into submission in a Hustler Magazine cartoon. Some memories burn-like the time I was walking down the hall in school towards a group of smiling teens-"Huh, they look glad to see me..." I thought as I approached them. As they moved away from my locker I realized they were just standing around discussing and admiring my new locker posters of-who else? "Oh, Wicked Wanda".

    "I HATE MY NAME!!!!" Since grade school, I greeted my mother this way more days than either of us can count. Mom wanted me to, "change your name to the name your dad wanted"-but that is impossible where one grows up. No one would ever acknowledge it and it would probably lead to even more teasing!

I resigned to live with it. But, if I EVER got the chance.... 

When I moved to AZ eight years ago-I finally did get the chance-and more-I got my nose fixed too. I was working at American Airlines, had my own money and the prompting of my friends here. We needed a pseudo name on the reservation phones. My pseudo name was, “Sonja”. My co-workers said I should use “Wanda” for a pseudo name because, “Sonja should be your real name”-then they nicknamed me, “Soni” (sew-knee).

    I scheduled a hearing to get the needed court order.

    Unfortunately, when you are in your late 30's, and changing your first name-people who know you think you are having a mid-life crisis. When I meet new people, and they find out that I "had another name", they have been known to wonder if I am running from the law. If I’m not, then, there must be reason for suspicion.

    To add to their troubled minds, it all occurred about the same time I left a marriage of 20 years and got remarried-which changed my last name to a name that compliments my new first name.

Oh, mercy me!

    What was I thinking? Oh Mercy ME! Only actors get that privilege and respect…and….oh yeah! Writers do, too.

    Well, now, I’m a writer. So there!

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A Writer By Any Other Name PABlo (Super Administrator) 2007-05-30 18:46:17 The whole name thing is very interesting to me too. So, as a writer, telling the story is the thing to do...and getting paid for it, is the next step from here!

Jan (Author) 2007-08-31 17:56:56 My children decided when we moved to Tucson that they would start anew. My daughter changed her's to a nickname of her given name and then my son changed his to a shortened version of his middle name. This was my son's second time, when he as around 6 he went to everyone in the family (at Thanksgiving) and asked them to call him Bill not William. I thought it was very mature at the time, the thought that went into it and the way he did it. I still stumble over these recent ones, but I do recognize and respect their desires. It always struck me odd to have someone else name you, even though it's tough for a baby to do it.

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