Post your DCs names and we'll tell you what we assume about you. Snark is obviously expected!
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Anonymous
| Lincoln, Nolan, Savannah |
Anonymous
| Anya and Margo |
Anonymous
Liam: an Irish name meaning "strong-willed warrior" and "protector." It's a shortened version of the Irish name Uilliam (which came from the Frankish name Willahelm) meaning "helmet of will." Liam is also a fun, modernized alternative to the traditional boy name William. Sela: Hebrew girls name meaning rock. Sela is a Biblical place name being the original term for the city of Petra, the "Red Rose City" in Jordan that dates back to the fourth century BC. You are a curator at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum with interests in the arts, history, and culture. You grew up in a working class family in the Appalachia. After reading, Hillbilly Elegy, you wondered whether the author J.D. Vance and you were related. Vance’s mother and her family were from Breathitt County, Kentucky. Their Appalachian values include loyalty and patriotism, despite social issues including violence, chronic underemployment, substance and verbal abuse. He details his grandparents' alcoholism and abuse, and his unstable mother's history of drug addictions and failed relationships. Vance's grandparents eventually reconciled and became his de facto guardians. He was pushed by his tough but loving grandmother, and eventually Vance was able to get out and attend Ohio State University followed by Yale Law School. Unlike Vance, you drew very different conclusions about the roots causes of poverty and downward social mobility in rust belt parts of America. As a woman, you know your individual work ethic alone can’t dig yourself out of giant sink holes. It sure helped you get ahead though. Like Vance, your tough talking Scottish American grandmother fought every step of the way to help you get out of your dying town in West Virginia where great privilege is considered having a full set of real teeth. You were a good student and highly motivated to get away from your opioid addicted parents, their squalid home, and constant screaming and fighting. Your grandmother would roast you for any minor signs of following in the aimless footsteps of dead beat youth in your town. As a first generation tertiary student, you earned a full ride to study museology and archeology at the prestigious Jesuit Georgetown University. Little did you know how tough it would be to get through studying along side UMC students whose greatest dilemma seemed to be how to do their own laundry. You had no money for fashionable clothes or indulging in the movies. But you are a tough cookie, and persevered by keeping your head down and not going out much. You hope you never have to eat another tin of refried beans again in your life. You went on to a Georgetown PhD program in art and museum studies with a focus on Appalachian ethno music. You worked as an intern at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. You eventually became a museum curator at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. You decided to have children alone and started applying for adoption within the US since you knew first hand there are many American children who need a good home. Unexpectedly, you met and fell in love with another woman during this process. You both dress and talk rather conservatively and have not faced any backlash among your friends. It did take you ten years to come out to your Appalachian family. As many of them are dependent on your financial support, there were no histrionics to your face. You visited Jordan on your Honeymoon fifteen years ago, and were enchanted by so many under acknowledged gems (the capital of Amman, the Dead Sea, the oldest Roman ruins at Jerash, the desert of Wadi Rum where Laurence of Arabia lived and the epic movie was filmed, Christian sacred sites along the Jordan River, and the city of Petra. The Red Rose City became one of the Seven New Wonders of the World in 2007 following a vote of 100 million people. The city's carved rose-red sandstone rock facades, tombs, and temples became known following its appearance in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade in 1989. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. As an archeologist and museologist, you find Petra extraordinary on so many levels. You like the ancient name for Petra, Sela, and it’s ancient meaning of rock. You greatly value steadfast, solid personalities whom you can depend on. You consider your rough around the edges Scottish parents as your rocks. So it was a no brainer that you would name your children Sela and Liam. Both names are associated with resilient durability. You do have an exotic streak in you as well, and also like to feel unique in unpretentious ways. Sela qualifies as it is the 10,317th in the ranking of most common names in the United States. |
Anonymous
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DS: Dweezil
DH: Moon Unit |
Anonymous
Whoops should read Scottish grand parents not parents as the personal rocks for the Mother of Sela and Liam. |
Anonymous
Oh boy, we have ghosts! |
Anonymous
My imagination cannot improve the improbable and colorful backstory of Moon Unit and Dweezil. I (SAHM) could probably use their family’s help channeling my creativity better. Moon Unit’s and Dweezil’s father was of Sicilian, Greek-Arab, and French ancestry, and their mother was of German and Portuguese descent. So we might expect names like Antonio, Maria, Vito, Allesandro, Bruno, Lucy or Carlo right? Moon Unit Zappa (born September 28, 1967) is the daughter of American musician Frank Zappa. Born in New York City, the eldest child of Gail (née Sloatman) and musician Frank Zappa. Moon Unit has three younger siblings: Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva. Dweezil Zappa (born Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa; September 5, 1969) is an American rock guitarist and actor. Dweezil Zappa and Steven Volpp team together to empower artists, content creators, and producers/engineers with Reward Music, a Humane Technology business. Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an avant garde and satirical edged American musician, singer, composer, songwriter, and bandleader. Zappa's 1966 debut LP with the Mothers of Invention is thought to be the first concept album. The double album mocked the then burgeoning hippie culture. "Who Are the Brain Police?," It was a sonic freak-out and didn't chart. 'Valley Girl' From: 'Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch' (1982) was Zappa’s only Top 40 hit? It hit No. 32) and featured his then 14-year-old daughter Moon on lead vocals, running through a bunch of early-'80s "valley" speak. "Valley Girl" is a biting satire of West Coast vapidity. 'Cosmik Debris' From: 'Apostrophe' (1974) song from Zappa's only Top 10 album Apostrophe, and the track that follows the "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow suite. Zappa narrates the story of a promise-sputtering guru over a springy jazz rhythm that steps down for a killer guitar solo. A mid-'70s slam of leftover '60s "mumbo jumbo." Montana' From: 'Over-Nite Sensation' (1973), Zappa returned to the studio with a new band of Mothers. "Montana" closes the album with six-minutes of Drum fills, blazing guitar solos, funky time signatures – and - with Tina Turner on backing vocals. But unless tripping on psychedelic drugs, why would anyone inflict these bizarre names on their kids? There was some method in the madness. Dweezil was supposedly was a nickname his father had for his wife's pinkie toe. “Dweezil was just a pet name Frank had in his head that stuck with him and popped out of his mouth when his eldest son was born. His first born, Moon Unit Zappa, was a daughter who was either going to be named Moon or Motorhead. She was named Moon, and "Unit" was actually her middle name, referring to her birth making the family a "unit." (https://www.dailyherald.com/insights/20180511/ron-onesti-it-was-hard-for-me-to-get-past-dweezil-zappas-name). Dweezil goes so far as to brag that he was never teased for his unique name at school. “Actually, everybody thought our names were cool. Most of my friends wished they had creative names like us.” (https://www.dailyherald.com/insights/20180511/ron-onesti-it-was-hard-for-me-to-get-past-dweezil-zappas-name). So here we have a Classic Catch 22. Some of Zappa senior ‘s most celebrated edgy music skewered LA trendy cultural voids. And yet in most other US subcultures where celebrities are not de facto royalty, children with the names of Dweezil and Moon Unit would likely have endured merciless bullying. This may be a small,price to pay for the privilege of having a creative genius as a dad. |
Anonymous
Interesting take, thank you ! I have never read any Jane Austen and I'm also the furthest thing from English, I do have a connection to Ghana, where I traveled to once because I figured my family likely had roots there, recent DNA testing confirmed this. My husband has been to the UK, but not as a Rhodes scholar, though he is a bright man. We're both terribly average, but do work in healthcare and are pretty passionate about science. DH is Catholic, I am not. DH's first wife was also Catholic, and a lover of Brit Lit, DH also has a thing for religious history thus their children's names. Yes, I am a stepmom. Thomas ,James ,Mary Catherine and Charles DH had with his first wife, who sadly passed away, Annie is ours together, and was very much planned, but she is everybody's little ray o sunshine. We do enjoy cheesy movies together as a family and building lego kits. |
Anonymous
You are welcome! 😃 Wow /I am amazed that anything was remotely accurate and actually assumed your family was more likely to be Catholic but I wanted to have fun with the British stiff upper lip and former African colony angle. So Cool about that Ghana connection. Have you read Homegoing by Ghanaian-American author Yaa Gyasi (2016)? It is astonishing in its breadth and depth. Each chapter in the novel follows a different descendant of an Asante woman named Maame, starting with her two daughters, who are half-sisters, separated by very different circumstances. One marries a British governor in charge of Cape Coast Castle, while her half-sister is held captive in the dungeons below. Subsequent chapters follow their children and following generations through three hundred years and cover the Anglo-Asante wars in Ghana, slavery and segregation in America. It brings to life the horrors of slavery but in very human ways as you can easily imagine and feel for the characters. Also cool that you are both in health care and science lovers. I try to tie stories back to DC and know that it has been very challenging for many scientists and doctors working at NIH and other medical centers. So much Lunacy to deal with. Thank you for your health care work. I love that Annie is your collective sunshine! Such a happy name. 🌞 |
Anonymous
Vivian: Latin origin and means "lively” from the Latin name Vivianus, which was derived from Latin vivus, meaning "alive". You are originally of French descent and perform in live children and adult live theater venues across the DMV: Wooly Mammoth Theater, Arena Stage, National Theater, Ford Theater, Shakespeare Theater, The Kennedy Center, Round House Center, Glen Echo Adventure Theater, and Imagination Stage. You have a particular soft spot for pantomimes and interactive theater but the pay is terrible and you do have a family to provide for. Since the Pandemic, you have been getting by hosting creative children’s birthday parties over zoom. You named your daughter Vivian rather than Vivien/ Vivienne to distinguish her from the most famous Vivien/ Vivian in history Vivien Leigh (1913-1967). However, you love the fullness of life and self expression captured by the name Vivian. Your favorite comedian is the adorable multi-talented Melissa McCarthy who named her little one Vivian in 2007. Your Vivian came five years later. Most people associate Melissa McCarthy with more commercial broad slap stick movies such as Bridesmaids (2011), the Heat (2013) and Ghost Busters (2016). However, for you nothing compares to her performance in The Nines (2007). The Nines follows three separate stories, each starring one of your favorite comedic actors Ryan Reynolds, about men drowning in existential crises. And in each, McCarthy pops up. She’s the hotshot PR agent to Reynolds’s actor character. In another, she’s his wife. The Nines wrestles with art, commerce, life, the existence of God, and other hard questions. McCarthy reminds you of yourself trying to deal with being “vivus” (alive). McCarthy is a revelation as she gallops across the full gamut of human emotions. You met your husband at a select liberal arts college with a strong performing arts program in New England. You both love music and theater. He runs his own beer brewery and recently made it into the list of top ten breweries to try in the DMV. The pandemic has been a Godsend for his business. You both agreed the name Vivian is fun, vivacious and life affirming. |
Anonymous
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Will try and get to these names this week. Is #2 (7 names) all in one nuclear family?
1. Sebastian and Eliza 2. Addison, Madison, Caleb, Sabastian, Olivia, Lola, Chloe 3. Maeve, Henry, and Grace 4. Luke, Mara, Olivia 5. Henry and Helene 6. Marisa, Mallory and Marnie 7. Claire 8. Peter 9. Lincoln, Nolan, Savannah 10. Anya and Margo |
Anonymous
😂😂😂 |
Anonymous
| Daniel, Zara, Dean |
Anonymous
Addison and Madison are whole siblings. Their dad is married to Caleb and Sabastian's mom so the four oldest are stepsibings. Addison and Madison's dad and Caleb and Sabastian's mom had Olivia together and then adopted Lola and Chloe from China. (These are my neighbor's kids' names btw) |