Why Leelu?

Why Leelu? It was my nickname as a little girl.

I am the youngest of four children and the caboose. My nearest sibling is 6 years older than me with two older than him. When I was a little girl, for some reason, I was called Leelu or sometimes Lulee. I asked my mother today why that particular nickname. She didn't know why. Just because. So, now big brothers and big sister, do you remember why I was called Leelu?

My earliest memories are tied up with that nickname so it must have started when I was very small. I never really wondered about it before but now it's starting to bug me a little bit that I don't know where it came from. Why did I have a nickname?

Why do some people get nicknames and other people don't? One of my good friend's daughter is named Savannah and they often shorten the name to Sav. My grand niece is also Savannah and often gets Vannah. Shortening a name I understand. When I lived back east in Massachusetts, everybody had a diminutive of their name. Everybody was Bobby instead of Bob or Jimmy instead of Jim. It felt like a real cultural issue.

But what about those nicknames which have nothing to do with the real name? My uncle's name is George after his father but he goes by Bud. Go figure. Where did that come from? I have a cousin whose name is Vernon but we grew up calling him Butchie. To this day, I have to think to myself "Vernon" when I refer to or speak to him.

So, what's in a name? New parents will often agonize over a name. I know we did when my son was born. He went three days without a name because we couldn't decide and then we gave him three names. Other parents want a name that's very different and unique. If you spend any time in elementary school, you'll see just about any combination of sounds as a name for someone.

Names are generational. If you hear a certain name like Shelley or Anne or Julee, chances are that person was born in the late 50's or early 60's. Rachel & Sarah and Emily have made a huge comeback in my daughter's generation. But Jessica reigned supreme for years. Michael is a perennial favorite.

In fact, there is a website to see how many of you there are in the United States according to the last census. It's really very interesting. Click here to visit the site. Using my maiden name, there were only 2 of me. Pretty unique. Using my married name, there are 828. When I was in college, I accidentally picked up one of those people's pay checks because there were 3 of us working for the university at the time.

So my daughter says names are weird. I have to say I agree some of the time. Some names are pretty weird and some are traditional and some are just fun. So, why Leelu? I don't know but it's a fun name, don't you think?