What's in a Name?

My full name is Kati McCall (Lindquist) Howard.



Let me tell you how it came to be that.



When my parents found out I was going to be a girl they tried to come up with some girl names-- like everyone who is expecting a baby does. My mom always said they didn't agree on many. She liked the names Marren and Claire, while my dad preferred something different. One of the only names they could agree on was Katie.



If I back up a little, I'll tell you the reason why they settled on Katie. When my mom was little her grandpa, my great-grandpa, said she was just as cute as a little Katidid bug. Now, I'll have you know that I googled an image of an actual Katidid bug, and I must say... cute wasn't exactly the word I would have used to describe it. However, this little pet name he came up with for her was special because he died when she was in her youth.



Flash forward 20 years and my parents agreed that they would name me Katie, but Kati.... no E. ** This proved to be difficult for teachers and friends... as they always spelt my name with an E. It use to bother me and I would tell them my name isn't Kati-E , it's Kat-I. Eventually I got tired of correcting people and just let them spell it however they thought it was.... unless they asked in which I case I told them how to correctly spell it. And so it was decided upon I was going to be named Kati.



Today I thought it would be interesting to google my name and see what popped up. These are all the images that came up from just typing in Kati..... although I had to search a few pages into it. Most of them pictured many other Kati's.... some old, some young.



Kati:

Here is another Kati's Blog header.... I thought she had good taste... very pretty and all.

Did you know there is a modern furniture line in Finland called Kati?

And these beautiful Cymbidium Orchids were picked by Kati... my kind of gal.

And here is Kati's plane.... pretty cool. Bet you didn't know I had a plane, huh?

And just look at these lovely Kati fish!

Here is a retro looking rack to hold books, it's called... wouldn't know it.... the Kati rack.

And, wow look at those tasty looking Kati rolls, who knew my name looked so yummy?

And here we go, just to show that the name Kati isn't all frills and fluff... it's the Kati tank! Watch out boys.

Again, some lovely dishes.... the Kati line.

This picture cracked me up... it's from Kati's Star Wars blog! Featuring these lovely Star Wars Cupcakes....this Kati has too much time on her hands!

And look, it's Kati's violin. Ironic....I used to play the violin.

I thought these nature pictures were pretty, Kati's Cliffs and Kati's butterfly.

Upon finally agreeing on a first name, my parents had the fun task of choosing a middle name. I know some people never get middle names, but in my family they did. :o) Now my middle name was easier chosen than my first name... after all your middle name is predominately used by your parents, when you're in trouble in most cases. My parents were set on Kati Nicole. However, as you all know my name didn't end up Kati Nicole..... "how did it become Kati McCall?" you ask?

Here's the story.... my mom's mom, we call her Nanny, was on the phone with my mom. During their conversation she told Nanny they were going to name me Kati Nicole. To which my Nanny replied.... "Oh Kati McCall, what an interesting name." They went back and forth with my mom saying, "No, Kati Nicole...." and of course my Nanny would say back, "Yes, Kati McCall, I like it. It's so unusual." So here I am today.... Kati McCall.

Here are the Google results for McCall......

McCall:

You could all go to camp McCall, I've never been myself, but the sign looks creepy enough with that roaring fire, bright full mom and a cross that appears to be hanging from a tree... what?

Or you could own one of these lovely little McCall dolls.

Here is the McCall home.... pretty colonial style if I don't say so myself.

And here's a great shot of the mountains near McCall.

I've actually been to this lake... and have a picture quite similar to this one.... it's in... McCall, ID, duh!

And here's a classy cartoon picture of a McCall car. Very retro.

Who could resist ole' Cash McCall music? I've never heard of him.

And on the flip side.... who HASN'T heard of McCall's sewing patterns? I swear my mom alone owned tons of them. That's probably the only place I ever saw my middle name until I moved to Idaho.

Here's a great picture of my favorite weather station, Channel 7.... "We're first, live, local."

And here's a pretty picture of McCall park in D.C.

Don't worry.... I've only got two more names left. :o) Lindquist as you all know was given to me from my dad, although I've now taken on the last name Howard. I remember after Tyler and I were first married how weird it sounded to say Kati Howard, or how purely by instinct I would sign Kati Lindquist on accident... I mean I only wrote it my whole life. It always sounded weird being called sister Howard, doesn't everyone know that's Tyler's mom? Now that Tyler and I have been married for almost 3 years.... I no longer feel strange to my "new" name.

The google results for Howard were more predictable.... funny how the majority of them are African American people. I wonder how many generations back Tyler's family was all black.

Howard:

The famous baseball player Ryan Howard of course.....

And who could forget Dwight Howard in this classic superman dunk?

And wouldn't you know it Howard University came up, as did Howard Interior Design Co, and Howard Stern.... probably the only white man to come up under the Howard google search.

I was just thinking about names and such because a girl in our ward, Jessica Cranny, is pregnant and we were talking about names. She and her husband are having a difficult time deciding/ agreeing on one. To some people naming a child is pure instinct, other's are named after family members. Jessica told us how she once knew a girl named Rose Hedges.... who does that to their child? While I was looking online I found a website called: http://www.funnynames.com/. It had lists of all the absurd names people have. One listing I found was A. Hah......... Cheesy I know.

I remember when we finally agreed on a name for our baby boy.... Quincy, obviously, ...... we couldn't pick a middle name. I liked the name Taylor, but we decided that having the initials Q.T. would be a little much for a teenage boy or even a grown man. Thus he became Quincy James.

I know their are people out there who dislike their names.... but not me. Every part of my name is special. It reminds me of people I love.