What's in a Name?
My name is Abraham Lincoln. I was born in a small village in Darke County Ohio in 1934. In those days babies were born at home and often without the assistance of a doctor. The midwife who assisted in my birth was our neighbor.
In my town I was the only child named after a famous person. As long as I stayed there where everyone knew me my name was not unusual but I soon learned how different it was when I went anywhere else.
Events seemed to force me into other communities. My parents divorced and my mother and I had to move to a larger town so she could find employment. There I had to make new friends and in my neighborhood the fun others had at my expense didn't last long. It was a real problem for me when I had to go to a new school for the first time and the teacher had me stand and introduce myself to the class.
Almost as soon as I said my name was Abraham Lincoln the children began to snicker and laugh. I felt embarrassed and wanted to cry but sat down and tried to act like everything was normal but it wasn't.
My mother had problems staying on very long at any one place and I had to move time and again and with each move I had to stand up and introduce myself again. Amid snickers and laughter and more humiliation I passed through my childhood.
By the time I was a teenager I had developed a severe inferiority complex and got red in the face at the slightest hint of my name coming out in public.
You might imagine how hard it was for me to yell my name in front of several thousand Army soldiers but that's what I had to do in 1955 when I stood on a dock at Oakland, California and yelled my name before I was permitted to board the USS Breckenridge for a trip across the Pacific to Yokohama, Japan.
They yelled, scoffed and laughed at my name and I moved up the gangplank trying to get on board and out of sight. That's how it was and it is still happening 68 years after I was born. I don't think my parents even considered the consequences of naming me after my half third cousin three times removed, President Abraham Lincoln.
Having this name has kept me honest all of my life because I understood that if I ever did anything wrong the newspapers would have a field day with headlines about dishonest Abraham Lincoln or something worse.
My name is easily recognized and understood everywhere in the world. So I did begin to use it to my advantage. If I write something and my name is on it then it draws more attention than it would if my name was something common. Because of my name I have been accused of fraud for using my real name as the author of books, articles and showing my name as the holder of US Copyrights.
There are plenty of people who think they are getting a bargain if they happen to see a book written by Abraham Lincoln at any price. They seem to think they can buy this book from some idiot in the Midwest who wants to sell it and then they have more visions of selling it as a profit. The same goes for art signed by Abraham Lincoln. They buy it and hope to make a bundle when they sell it but must not stop to think if it really was done by the 16th president of the United States.
If you are on the telephone to technical support and have waited an hour on hold waiting for a technician only to be hung up on when asked your name. How would you feel especially if you are paying for the call?
If your name is Doris I hope it isn't Doris Day.
In my town I was the only child named after a famous person. As long as I stayed there where everyone knew me my name was not unusual but I soon learned how different it was when I went anywhere else.
Events seemed to force me into other communities. My parents divorced and my mother and I had to move to a larger town so she could find employment. There I had to make new friends and in my neighborhood the fun others had at my expense didn't last long. It was a real problem for me when I had to go to a new school for the first time and the teacher had me stand and introduce myself to the class.
Almost as soon as I said my name was Abraham Lincoln the children began to snicker and laugh. I felt embarrassed and wanted to cry but sat down and tried to act like everything was normal but it wasn't.
My mother had problems staying on very long at any one place and I had to move time and again and with each move I had to stand up and introduce myself again. Amid snickers and laughter and more humiliation I passed through my childhood.
By the time I was a teenager I had developed a severe inferiority complex and got red in the face at the slightest hint of my name coming out in public.
You might imagine how hard it was for me to yell my name in front of several thousand Army soldiers but that's what I had to do in 1955 when I stood on a dock at Oakland, California and yelled my name before I was permitted to board the USS Breckenridge for a trip across the Pacific to Yokohama, Japan.
They yelled, scoffed and laughed at my name and I moved up the gangplank trying to get on board and out of sight. That's how it was and it is still happening 68 years after I was born. I don't think my parents even considered the consequences of naming me after my half third cousin three times removed, President Abraham Lincoln.
Having this name has kept me honest all of my life because I understood that if I ever did anything wrong the newspapers would have a field day with headlines about dishonest Abraham Lincoln or something worse.
My name is easily recognized and understood everywhere in the world. So I did begin to use it to my advantage. If I write something and my name is on it then it draws more attention than it would if my name was something common. Because of my name I have been accused of fraud for using my real name as the author of books, articles and showing my name as the holder of US Copyrights.
There are plenty of people who think they are getting a bargain if they happen to see a book written by Abraham Lincoln at any price. They seem to think they can buy this book from some idiot in the Midwest who wants to sell it and then they have more visions of selling it as a profit. The same goes for art signed by Abraham Lincoln. They buy it and hope to make a bundle when they sell it but must not stop to think if it really was done by the 16th president of the United States.
If you are on the telephone to technical support and have waited an hour on hold waiting for a technician only to be hung up on when asked your name. How would you feel especially if you are paying for the call?
If your name is Doris I hope it isn't Doris Day.
I'm just glad I wasn't named Georgetta, having the maiden name of Custer, I'm sure veryone would have been calling me Goerge.
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