What's in a Name? Part II

After writing the previous post, it was suggested to me by a friend that I should give a tutorial on my last name. I think that is a brilliant idea, so I decided to do implement it.

Before I begin, I would like to add in a couple of nicknames that I left out of my previous post. It wouldn’t do to leave it incomplete, so here they are:

Evange: A friend of mine started calling me this and I thought she just hadn’t caught on to the whole Vange thing. However, she purposely left the ‘e’ in front to be different. Not bad. A+ for creativity.

Evan: This is not pronounced the way you would pronounce the boy’s name. It’s a long “ē” sound, making it sound like the beginning of my name with the rest chopped off. Maybe people will start calling me Evan Almighty…(Btw, I never watched that movie)

Eva: This one kinda sounds like an old lady’s name, but I don’t mind it too much.

Okay, now that I’ve exhausted just about every name people can possibly call me, I’d like to take a closer look at the last name of Rupp.

The name Rupp has its roots in German. In fact, my dad is pretty much all German and my mom has some German in her, so I’m mostly German. However I don't speak German. I don't even speak Pennsylvania Dutch for crying out loud.

When people see the name, Rupp, they automatically pronounce it Rŭpp. This is NOT correct.

At least not for my family. There are Rŭpps around, but I am not a Rŭpp. I am a Rupp, pronounced like Roop. It rhymes with loop. Please don’t make up a rap song about my name either. Already had that done…

The way we pronounce it is the German way, and I’d like to keep it that way. Pronouncing it Rŭpp would just not be loyal to our roots. I’m all about loyalty. I mean, I guess.

I think all of us Rupps and Rŭpps come from the same families who settled in this area back in the 1800s. (I’d have to verify that fact with my mom who is the family genealogist, but she’s not here right now, so I’m going with it.) However, some of the Rupps were traitors to the name and switched over to the dark side. Because of this, it gets really confusing who are Rupps and who are Rŭpps. However, I have a little expression that will help you all keep it straight.

“The Rŭpps have all the money, and the Rupps have all the kids.”

In my experience, this has held true. Maybe I should change my name to Rŭpp…

Just kidding

 

Honestly, the only bad thing about my name is spelling it out loud. Go ahead, try.

See what I mean? I’ve started saying “double p” at the end just to get away from that. Moving on…

So, are you ready for this???? Here is my full name and you now know how to pronounce it correctly:

Evangeline Joy Rupp

If you need a whole tutorial on how to pronounce my middle name, I’ve got nothin’ to say to you.

 

You know, my mom had the freedom to give me a long first name because my last name is really short, but what if I marry some guy with a super long last name? (Side note alert: Okay, so me getting married is HIGHLY improbable. If you question that statement, then just read this whole blog. It’ll clear things up for you pretty quickly. I mean, who would want to marry someone who does cartwheels at work and whacks guys in the face with kayak paddles? Exactly.) But all the same, what if I married a guy with the last name Neuenschwander?  

Evangeline Joy Neuenschwander

Wait, is it already 2014?

 

What about Snodgrass?

Evangeline Joy Snodgrass

That girl sounds scary

 

How about Drozdovandropopozgiopanatzakis? This is a real last name and here is the link if you don’t believe me: http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/the-man-with-the-long-last-name/article_5c9a63e4-2d01-11e1-a2ab-001871e3ce6c.html

 

Poor Evangeline Drozdovandropopozgiopanatzakis. Three years after the wedding, she was finally able to write her last name without her husband’s help. Ten years later, she was able to pronounce it correctly. Maybe one day, she'll be able to pronounce it with a Russian accent. Who knows?

 

Maybe, I’ll just stick with Rupp. Yea, I like Rupp.