Fearless Females: Day #3

Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

I wasn't named for anyone in my family history, but I do have a unique story about how I got my name. I was the sixth of my paternal grandparent's grandchildren. When my mother was pregnant with me, my paternal grandmother Joan, wanted me to be a brown haired, blue eyed baby. All her other grandchildren had blonde hair, but not brown. Grandma wanted a grandbaby with brown hair like her. Well, at 9:47 a.m. on December 14, 1966, I was born with brown hair and blue eyes. My grandmother insisted that I be named Polly Anna after the little girl who was always happy. As my parents discussed this privately, they decided that they just could NOT name me that, so they compromised and named me Paula Ann. To the day she died, she did not know that my legal name was not Polly Anna.

We have two other funny naming stories in our family. The first is with my maternal grandmother. When she was trying to get her birth certificate so that she could get a driver's license, she could not find anything. She had always been told that her birth name was Frankie Earliene Fogle, but she was not able to find a birth record in Wichita Falls for Frankie Fogle. Finally, the vital records people called her and asked if there was a chance that she was named Francis Earliene Fogle because they had a Francis Earliene Fogle in the register with the same birthdate and parents as my grandmother. She determined that she was that Francis Fogle and that whoever took the information took pity on her and named her Francis. When she called to tell my great grandma, all Mama Fogle could say is, "Well, I don't believe it."

The last of the funny naming stories comes with my mother's birth. My grandmother gave birth to my mom in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. She was only 17 when my mom was born and was going through a divorce from my grandfather. When my mom was born, she wanted to name my mother Vicki Jeanette Mason, but my great grandmother wanted to name her Janet Carol Fogle. When my mom was trying to get her birth certificate information - the state of Arkansas had no record of either of the names and my mom was confused as to what her actual birth name was because my great grandmother swore that she informed the state that my mom was born, but we have no idea what name she registered my mom's birth with.