What's in a Name?

     I have recently joined a small Baptist church, and I love attending there and being part of a church family again. Last January when I left my old church, I didn’t realize how taxing searching for a new church would be, and then how great it would be to finally find one.

     That aside, there are two, very sweet elderly gentlemen who are the greeters for my church. One is named Don Frank and the other is Gene Rettig. That’s all good and fine, but for the life of me, I couldn’t get their names straight. In my mind, Gene was Don and Don Frank was Frank. Don’t ask me how my brain did that, but it did.

     Just about every Sunday, I had to ask them who was who and then I would repeat their names after they said them so that I could remember them. Finally, the day came when I thought I had mastered this small feat in my life. I was walking up to the door at church and I could see Don ready to open the door for me.

     “Don Frank, Don Frank, Don Frank,” I said to myself over and over again as I approached. He opened the door, and I stuck out my hand with a big smile. “Hi, Frank!” I exclaimed and then groaned. Back to the old drawing board…

Lately, I have done a pretty good job of remembering Don and Gene’s names, if I do say so myself. Recently, however, my brain decided that it couldn’t be perfect in all areas, so I found myself calling my Bible study leader Paul, when his name is really Joe Paul.

 

     I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad about messing up other people's names because they mess my name up a lot. With a name like Evangeline, I shouldn’t expect anything else. I might take this brief opportunity to give instructions on pronouncing my name.

Here it is from the dictionary:

Evangeline (ē-văn-jŭ-lĭn) 1. Bringer of glad tidings 2. A fairly cool person of the female gender

 

(Okay, my name really isn’t in the dictionary, so I took the meaning of my name and a pretty accurate description of myself to compile my own definition. Bingo! It will be in the next edition of Webster’s. I just know it.)

Continuing on with the pronunciation of my name, I would like to point out how my name ISN’T pronounced.

It is not Evangelīne. My name does not rhyme with pine or whine. I just need to make that clear.

It is not Evangelēne. The only One I want to lean on is the Lord, and I don’t like lean foods because they don’t taste good, and I used to love to read about Mary and Laura Ingalls who used to live in a lean-to. However, that word is NOT part of my name.

It is not Evangelēna. This is a version that people like to add on to the previous pronunciation. Another variation of this is Evangelica, but only one person has the nerve to call me that, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t read my blog, so I didn’t feel the need to list that separately.

It is not Evangel. That’s a cool variation because evangel is synonymous with evangelist, but that’s still not my name.

It is not Avangeline. Some of my dear friends were quit shocked when I told them they were pronouncing my name wrong after knowing them for about eight years. Oh well…

It is not Vangeline. This variation happens after someone knows me for awhile and gets tired of saying four syllables, so they decide that taking off the first one is easiest.  At least its not the second or third syllable ‘cause that would just be weird.  

Some other mispronunciations of my name include, Evangelista, Evangelotta, Angela, Angelica, and Robert.

My name is Evangeline. (ē-văn-jŭ-lĭn ) I would change the spelling of my name to Evangelynne, but it's too much of a legal hassle. Just kidding. I like the spelling how it is.

To those of you who are sweating bullets because my name is so difficult to pronounce, I have a simple solution for you. I have lots of nicknames!!!!! Whoohoo!

Vange. This is the most commonly used nickname in use for my name. I respond quite readily to this one.

Vangie. I like this one a lot but only a few people use it. A variation of Vangie is Vangie-poo, but only four people call me that, and I’d personally like to keep it that way for obvious reasons.

Vango. This one is unacceptable. I only let my older brother call me that because I can’t get him to stop. The end.

Banjo. See above explanation.

Van. I was called this by one girl, but it kinda made me feel rather large and 15 passengerish.

Lynne. I was called this by one girl, but it never stuck.

Jo. This comes from my middle name of Joy, and fell out of use in my middle teen years.

Angel. A few years ago, I actually realized that this word was in my name. I thought it was cool, but it’s pretty clear why no one calls me that.

 I know that everyone has been on pins and needles waiting for a full pronunciation guide for my name, so I thought I’d end your suspense and give it to you today. You’re welcome.