Week 3: Nickname

Nicknames.  Naturally there are many people in my vast family tree that were known by a nickname at some point during their life.  For many, it was a case that the individual chose to go by their middle name and sometimes a nickname for the middle name.  My father, William John Allen, is one such example as everyone knew him as Jack.  And of course there is the very common use of Minnie, Jenny Cassie, Kathy, Katie, etc.

But the one I want to focus on this week is my mother: Pearl Mary Eveleen.

My mother was named after her two grandmothers (Pearl and Mary), and because she was born on an Aunt Effie's birthday, her parents added Eveleen to her name.  However, her sister (15 months older) had trouble pronouncing her name and would refer to her as 'Sisser' for sister and it became abbreviated to Sis.

Growing up in a small rural community, everyone knew her as Sis.  In 1949, she married a local boy, so my father and his family already knew her as Sis.  So even as a married woman, she continued to be known as Sis.

In the mid 1950s, my parents moved away from the small community due to my father's work.  My mother decided to "grow up" and use Eveleen as her name as she started to met people in her new town.  One time when visiting, her brother heard a neighbour call her Eveleen.  He teased her about "Oh, Big Town Girl now".  He did have grounds to tease as, even in adulthood, he continued to use his nickname of Bud rather than his given name of Harold.

Growing up, if we answered the phone and the caller wanted to speak to our mother, we knew whether it was extended family or friend by how they asked for her.

In honour of my parents' 40th wedding anniversary, I had made a cross-stitch sampler with their names and wedding date.  Even after my father's death in 1990, Mom continued to display it on the wall.  One of my cousins and her family were visiting one time and she expressed surprise that Sis was not my mother's given name.  She had never known that Sis was not the real name.

Mom never indicated that she did not like the nickname, beyond vague comments about it being a childish name.  She did comment one time that when my older brother was born, she had started to refer to him as Sonny.  She stopped the practice when my father pointed out that if people became accustomed to the name, he would still be called Sonny as an adult.

Two years ago, when Mom was hospitalized with a stroke, staff had trouble with the correct pronunciation of Eveleen (Eve Lynn).  She would tell them to call her Sis if it was easier. Now that she is in a nursing home, the staff have managed to learn the correct pronunciation.  When cousins have contacted me about visiting my mother, I have to remember to advise them to use her given name and not the family nickname.