Meanderings ~ Not all who wander are lost: Rock-tober 03, 2021

In Filipino culture, you're gifted with a lot of names. Aside from the standard first and last, your middle name isn't random. It's your mother's maiden name. I've found it to be an effective way to trace family lineage considering record keeping in the hinterlands of the Philippine highlands may not have been particularly fastidious.

Along with a first, middle, and last, more than likely you'll receive another name alongside your first, creating a double first name. Being a very Catholic country, this meant a lot of girls were christened "Mary". This didn't seem to carry over to boys, as I personally don't know many Filipinos named Joseph. My full legal name is Gregory Wayne Comicho Capuyan, taking the Gregory from Dad. My parents, probably hoping to stave off the confusion of two Gregs in the house, had me go by Wayne.

Sharing a name with Dad still caused confusion. Periodically during his lifetime and immediately after his death, I received mail intended for him. Because "Gregory" is my legal name, certain institutions still balk when I identify myself as Wayne. One medical office almost canceled my appointment because my insurance card used "Gregory", but I signed all documents as "Wayne".

I'm actually not sure of how "Gregory" came to be associated with Dad's family. It wasn't his father's name, and I don't know of any other "Gregory" on either side of Dad's family. I think that's actually pretty cool - it's another unique bond he and I share. As for where "Wayne" came from, the family story goes that John Wayne was one of the family's favorite actors.

Before the birth of his son, my buddy Trevor asked me if there were any negative connotations in the tech world about IXP. I thought for a moment. "IXP? No. But Novell uses IPX. It's a networking protocol. Why?" He explained one of the contenders for his son's middle name was Xavier, and he didn't want to saddle his son with goofy initials.

This is a valid concern. In the '70s sitcom, All In the Family", Archie's first grandson was to be named for his two grandfathers with the other grandfather's name being Steven. Archie being Archie, argued for his name to be first, but his daughter wisely pointed out, "Oh, Daddy, you don't want your grandson to have those initials." Her married name was Stivic.

My high school classmate, Lisa, is a true southern belle with just the right amount of redneck (really, Lisa, it's a compliment). When her daughter, Marley, was born, she and her husband went all-in on the southern tradition of monogrammed everything. It turns out little Miss Marley Fraser had the most badass towels in the neighborhood.

It's not just family history and careful analysis of resulting initials that factor into naming a child. Current events and pop culture hold their sway, too (hence the "Wayne" in my name). Sometimes those influences last for generations. When was the last time you met anyone named Adolf? The pervasiveness or scarcity of a given name in any generation is a good gauge of who or what was hot in pop culture at the time. It's why we're up to our armpits in Brittneys and why I fully expect that one of these days I'm going to meet a Khaleesi.

Back in 2017, the staff at Babygaga tried to gently put up guard rails for parents considering the pop culture scene for their pool of baby names. Number 1 on their list were the protagonists in John Mellencamp's 1982 release and only #1 hit.

It seems Mellencamp himself could have used the site's guidance. Those in the know will remember when, on the advice of his manager, he went by Johnny Cougar. This was shortened to John Cougar. Along the way, he tacked on his last name and was known as John Cougar Mellencamp. He eventually ditched the "Cougar" altogether and wound up back with the name originally gifted to him by his parents.