All in a Name

I have a daughter named Olivia. I have to admit we didn't put much thought into choosing her name, we kind of just liked it. But I've discovered a few things about Olivias. They seem to have a specific personality. I haven't met an Olivia that doesn't have a fierce determination to be better than everyone else in the room. They are loud and energetic. They are giggly and boyish. In fact, they are just like that little pig, Olivia, made famous by Ian Falconer.

Apparently, it was Shakespeare who made up the name Olivia, for a wealthy character in his play, The Twelfth Night. It's derived from something to do with olive trees and is seen to symbolise fruitfulness, beauty and dignity. That sounds nice doesn't it.

Now, Olivia the pig has a TV show that my daughter had taken delight in watching. It's a lovely little show where Olivia gets into some mischief and has to put the world to right by the end of the episode. A couple of days ago, Olivia discovered that there was another Olivia in her class. Oh, no! So she changed her name to Pam so that there would be no more mixing up. Eventually, piggy-Olivia realises that there's nothing like your own name, so she changes it back to Olivia and prepares for her next adventure.

My daughter is yet to meet another Olivia at school. But she thought the idea of changing her name was attractive, so she announced that from now on her name would be Pam. Now I'm not saying Pam isn't a nice name, but it conjures up images of a middle-aged line dancer, not a 7 year old. After all, Pam as a first name reached it's peak in the 1940's.

Now Pam means to be sweet like honey, but I can tell you there's been nothing sweet about our little girl as we've been trying to get used to calling her Pam. We've been so frustrating that I think she's just about given up hope of getting her name changed and is about to accept that Olivia isn't so bad after all.

I can't decide whether it's the name that makes Olivias so distinct, or whether little Olivias aren't really any different to other girls, they just do it a bit more loudly. But I'm looking forward to having my Olivia back, because a Pam is not the same.