Say Your Name

I never wanted to know anything about my name other than what Mama told me.  But, I decided to find out more after seeing a May 28, 2013 WordPress Daily Prompt idea to write a post in response to three questions:

“Question #1: Are you named after someone or something?

Mama picked my name after coming across photos of babies advertising Palmolive Soap and Colgate Toothpaste.  Featured in the photos were The Dionne quintuplets, Annette, Cercile, Yvonne, Marie and Emilie.

The five sisters were born from a single egg in 1934 and given the title, “Miracle Babies.”

I was given the name of two of the sisters, Yvonne Marie.

 

Question #2:  Are there any stories or associations attached to it?

My Two Names

For many year, people called me “Uhvonne” and not “Evonne.”   In my early teens, I tried to convince Mama that “Yv” is pronounced as “E.”  But, she firmly replied “I named you ‘Uhvonne and that’s your name.”   As a teenager, I decided life would be less confusing if I pronounced my name as “Evonne? “  Though, out of respect for Mama; in her presence I was always “Uhvonne.” 

 Yvonnes’ in the United States

There are 315,960,850 people in the United States.  Of this number 199,055 are named Yvonne.   It is now the 322^nd most popular name and 99.9% of people with the first name Yvonne are female.

Notable People Named Yvonne

Wikipedia listed twenty-four notable people with the first name Yvonne.  I chose to highlight four.

Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, Lawyer Politician and the first woman elected to Congress.

Yvonne Darlene Cagle, M.D., Colonel United States Air Force, and NASA Astronaut

  

Yvonne DeCarlo, Actress most noted for roles played in the Ten Commandments and Band of Angels.   In the 1960s, she was the character, Lili Munson, in the television series, The Munsters.

Yvonne Craig, former ballet dancer and actress.  She is most famous for playing Batgirl in the 1960s series, Batman,” and Marta in the episode of Star Trek the Original Series “Whom Gods Destroy.

Nicknames for Yvonne

Wikipedia reports the following common nicknames:  Vonnie, Yvie, Evie, Bonnie, Ronnie, Scone, Eve.  Other than my husband of fifty-three years calling me Vonnie, no one has tagged me with any of the other common names.

Question #3:  If you had the choice, would you rename yourself?

Definitely, no.   More than seventy years ago, Mama made the choice to name me — Yvonne.   Almost twenty-two years ago, my Eldest Daughter decided to give her first child the middle name — Yvonne.

Mama, is no longer with us, but her 70-year-old daughter and 22-year-old, great-granddaughter continue to honor and cherish the name she chose —Yvonne.