Once I asked her whether I could call her Polly. Before her answer was out, both of my parents chimed in unison, "No, you may not

In my family, she would have be Miss Polly or Aunt Polly, although for some reason we always called one couple by their first names.

I would have been William. I don't know of any debate about my name, because my mom wanted to carry on the Virginia from her grandmother, but my mother wanted to name my sister Amanda Lee and call her Mandy. Considering what would have happened after Barry Manilow came along, probably Elizabeth was a good compromise. My mother named her for one of her best friends; my father named her for the queen.

And then there's Tim's uncle Jerome, who is 70-something and has been called Pete for about 65 years. And his middle name isn't Peter, either. It was just one of those things. One of those *inexplicable* things, since Pete is not really an obvious nickname for Jerome.

I have a cousin named Fintan, and that's what the family calls him. He is known as Mike to the rest of the world.

My aunt was married to a guy named Expedite, who went by either X. or Howard (his last name.) I was in my 20s before I knew Howard wasn't his first name.

I'd have been Angus George.

Every Angus I've known has been awesome, so I am favourably predisposed to that name.

My friend agonized over the name of her 4 year old daughter. She wanted something not too unusual, but fairly unique for her cohort. She named her Adele, just before the singer started getting known. She's irrationally annoyed by her rise to fame.

In my family, she would have be Miss Polly or Aunt Polly, although for some reason we always called one couple by their first names.

See now, that's interesting, because we're more or less the same age cohort. Is it a southern thing? I noticed in Baltimore that some of my younger employees called me "Miss Jen," even after I said they were free to call me Jen. Is Baltimore southernish? Man, this kind of stuff is endlessly fascinating.

We did have two sets of courtesy aunts and unlces, but most adults were Mr., Mrs., or Miss. Definitely that way in Germany, but also when we came back with people my older sisters knew before my arrival on the scene. Hell, most of my college friends' parents are Mr. and Mrs. or Title and LN to me still.

I know I have rarely called anyone Mr. or Mrs./Miss FirstName, and definitely not until pretty recently. That one was new to me. And still feels funny when someone first does it to me.

Baltimore is southernish and I believe it is totally a southernism.

Speaking of names, seen on Twitter: Schadoh.

Shadow, I guess? With ridiculous spelling? ICK.

Yeeeaaahhhh, that makes me think of Homer and "D'oh!" That's unfortunate. I see a nickname in the offing.

If I even got started on the misnamings, etc, of Jamaicans. Or just my family. 'Tis epic.

I've been married for 115.88 Kardashians.

HUMPHRIES. Get heteronormative, will you?

Hey, what do boy fishes use to fertilise eggs, eh? I mean, is it something they could stick inside a girl? I'm trying to work out merman sex.

Aw, Kate, names are really, really hard. Hec and I intensely disliked each other's boy names and were cooly indifferent shading into mildly hostile to most of each other's girl names, including much-beloved family names. If Matilda had been a boy, she might still be nameless.

And I feel your pain on having to let go of a name you'd had your heart set on. It's trivial in the long run, but right in that moment it really is a little sad, especially if it's a name with a rich personal or family history.

Mr. Flowersocks sounds wonderful - you two sound like characters in one of your own stories (especially the one about the thrifter who agrees to help a nice stranger clear out his grandparents' house; if he has a secret locked attic or basement or a lot of startlingly random family treasures lying around, then obviously you have in fact written your own future).

I'm glad Byron is still hanging in there, beloved and loving. I hope all his days are happy ones right to the end.

I'm trying to work out merman sex.

Actually, how do mermaids get pregnant? Really special blow jobs?

Holli, thank you, and insent.