Embarrassing Nicknames

When my aunt was pregnant with my now 16-year old cousin, I remember them being torn on what to name their baby girl. The first choice was Elizabeth and their second choice was Shelby. My aunt and uncle were afraid that if they named her Elizabeth, classmates would call her "Lizzie the Lezzie with a Woodcock", becase Woodcock was their last name. I bet Shelby is very happy that she wasn't named Elizabeth.

My aunt and uncle basically gave me my first lesson on how to name your child. When we chose the name Mikayla (because it is the feminine form of Michael - my father) we went through the possibilities of embarrassing nicknames. Thankfully, we weren't able to find many, and the ones we did think of weren't really that bad.

When I was pregnant with her, I called her my womb-mate. When Mikayla was teeny-tiny we had lists of nicknames that we called her: Mik, Mik-a-Nik, Mikelodeon, Kayla, Mickey, Mik Mik, Monkey Toes, Monkey. For the most part, these were pretty cute nicknames, nothing that would cause harm.

Leave it to Nana, though, to cause emotional scarring by calling her...drum roll, please..."Cooter Pooter"! We think, and she says, that she really meant to say "Scooter Pooter" all those times. Just think about that one: Cooter. Pooter. Poor kid.