All About Names

Discussion Questions:
1. Who gave you your name? How did they choose it?
2. Do you have a nickname? What is it? What does it mean? Who calls you
by this name?
3. If you have children, how did you choose their first names?
4. Does your first name or your surname have some meaning in your language?
Explain it. (You can also talk about of someone elses name.)
5. Do you like your name? Why or why not? Would you change your name if
you could? Explain. What name would you choose?
6. What are some names that have special meaning for you? Why?
7. Every culture has a different tradition about last names (family names). Talk
about last names. Is your last name your fathers or mothers name? Do
people change their last names when they get married?
8. Do people use middle names in your culture? Do you have a middle name?
Writing: (due Sept 24th)
Write one or two paragraphs about your name. You can answer some or all of the
questions above, or you can write about something else related to names.
My Name
My parents chose the name Elizabeth for me because they liked the sound of
it. Nobody else in my family has this name, but its a very traditional, common
name. The main reason they chose Elizabeth is that it has many different
nicknames. They decided that if I didnt like the name Elizabeth, I could choose
Liz, Beth, Eliza, Lisa, Betty or another nickname. I was their first child, and they
thought a lot about the responsibility of giving me a name that I would keep for the
rest of my life.
From the time I was born, people rarely called me Elizabeth. When I was
little, everyone called me Lizzie. As I got older, I decided to shorten my name to
Liz, and now almost everyone calls me Liz. Of course, some of my family
members and old friends still call me Lizzie. I only use Elizabeth on official
documents like my drivers license and my health records. I like the name
Elizabeth, but I prefer to use Liz in most situations.