What's In a Name?

Lately I’ve been seeing the ads for the long-awaited (at least for me) Sex and the City movie.



I feel like my dear friends are finally coming home again…and I haven’t seen them in so long. The ladies all look gorgeous (pronounced “goah-jus”) and it looks like all the favorite male counterparts are present as well….especially the dapper Mr. Big.



However, I must share with you my deepest concern…something that has troubled…nay, even haunted me since the demise of this fabulous series. It’s time I got it out in the open…for I can hold it inside no more:

How did the writers handle the name of Steve & Miranda’s baby??

For those of you that didn’t follow (there can’t be very many of you, I’m thinkin’), Miranda Hobbs and Steve Brady had a son during the second-to-last season…with no marriage on the agenda. Miranda decided to name her baby Brady…Brady Hobbs. Okay…so far, so good.


Except that Steve & Miranda got married in the last season…to each other.



So. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t this mean the baby’s name is now Brady Brady??! These are the little things that bug me, as a writer….you’re supposed to plan ahead for these possibilities. I will be curious to see if they address this issue in the upcoming movie…and I’m sure you’re as vested in the answer as I am…

Meanwhile, I’m thinking about names…how we parents pored over “The Big Book of Names” searching for just the right one, with just the right meaning. Like our kids have a clue what their names actually mean…and honestly, I don’t remember it either. I was too busy agonizing over whether we’d be able to live with the short version…the nickname…what if you love the name “Brad” but hate “Bradley”? Can you control what people call your child as they grow up? And is anyone taking into consideration how many times you’ll have to spell your name for people during your lifetime? Obviously, you can’t control the last name but here you’ve got OPTIONS. Do you go with tradition and stick with “Jason”, or are you taking a walk on the wild side with “Jaysonn”? And in the case of the latter, is it really fair to little “Jaiysonne”??

If your name is anything other than “Susan” or “Joseph”, you’re probably gonna have to learn to deal with the misspellings….or plan on spending a lot of time correcting people. My name can be spelled many different ways…there’s “Cathy”, “Cathie”, “Kathy”, “Kathie”, “Katherine”, “Catherine” and finally mine: “Kathryn”, which no-one ever gets right. There’s always a lot of cross-outs where my name is concerned…maybe that’s why I’m such a big fan of white-out.

So, here’s to all of us with the slightly-irregular spellings of our names…I suppose someday we’ll stop caring if they get it right. After all, it’s just a name.

Of course, tell that to Brady Brady.