Naming conventions

Daily writing prompt

Where did your name come from?

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I was planning to take a day off from answering the daily prompt, but the story of how my parents picked my name is pretty cool. It’s way more interesting than my sister’s name, Patricia, which my mom said she just liked the name because it sounded like royalty. My sis went by the more androgynous “Pat” though, forever befuddling cold-callers – especially after she bought her first house and the salesperson would ask for a Mr. Pat B… Because, you know, women don’t buy houses. 🙄

It’s also less sad than my brother, who was named after my Uncle Jim, my mom’s younger brother that passed away when he was four years old. I wrote a more detailed account of the incident here.

My siblings were given Irish names and I was no exception. If I was a boy, I would have been named Brendan. But, since I popped into the world without the extra appendage, I was dubbed Brigid.

This name was significant for my parents because they first met at St. Brigid’s Parish in Detroit. My Dad’s sister, Aunt Liz (and my Godmother) and Mom sang in the choir together. My dad was a divorcé (a shocker in the early 1950’s), and my mom was approaching “Old Maid” status. My Aunt Liz couldn’t leave well enough alone – she introduced the two misfits, and as they say… the rest is history.

The church was established in 1924, the same year my mom was born. The Archdiocese of Detroit closed it in 1989, but is now occupied by a new religious organization – the High Praise Cathedral of Faith. I never got the chance to visit my namesake church before it closed, but I’m glad the building is still fulfilling its intended purpose.