7 Quick Takes Friday – It's All in a Name
Please join me and other Catholic Bloggers at Jen's Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes Friday. Today's Quick Takes is about names.
1. My married name is Hrkach. In fact, the original Croatian surname was Hrkac (with an accent over the c). When James' ancestors came to the USA, they added the "h" at the end. The name evidently means "baby rattle," but we can't confirm that. The Hrkach's in Canada pronounce the name "Her cash." The Hrkach's down in the USA pronounce it "Her kosh." 
2. I used to think George Foreman was strange because he named all his sons "George." But now I think he's got the right idea. These days, I almost never call any of my kids by their right name on the first try. I thought there was something wrong with my mother, who also had a difficult time calling us by our right name on the first attempt. She would shout out all my brothers' and sister's names before she made it to mine.
3. My husband and I both like old-fashioned names, so when we first came up with baby names (25 years ago), we decided we would use a biblical name for the first name and a relative's name as the middle name. Each of our five sons has a strong biblical name as their first name and a close relative's name as their middle name.
4. Of course, since we don't have any daughters, we didn't get to use any of the many girls' names we had already picked out. Now that I'm a novelist, I find myself using these names for my protagonists: Emily, Caroline, Elizabeth, Jenny.
5. Regular readers of my blog know that I've lost seven babies through miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. Naming our preborn children was a great comfort to me. When I was writing Emily's Hope, because I was changing everyone's name (including my own), "Emily's" five sons have different biblical names than my sons. However, two of the miscarriages described in my novel contain the actual names for two of our unborn babies: Mary Elizabeth and Seth.
6. I know some people don't like their given name, but I've always liked mine. Because the name is rather old-fashioned, it was rare for someone else in school to be called "Ellen." According to the baby books, Ellen means "shining light." My husband's nickname for me is Ellie.
7. My novel, , is currently back at the #1 position on Amazon Kindle in Religious and Liturgical Drama!
For more Quick Takes, visit Jen's Conversion Diary.
Copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
