Monday, December 12, 2011

WHY DID PEGGY BECOME MARGARET?

I mentioned in my previous blog re my dual birth registration that on the second certificate my given name was shown to be Margaret and not Peggy.  On the original Ruston certificate the name WAS given as Peggy but there is a reason for the change.

I had never really liked the name Peggy/Peg nor the nicknames that came with it...Peg leg etc. The final straw was when in a letter from Mum's father who lived in London he made comment about my name (Mum always spoke or wrote of me as Peg) saying that he didn't much like my given name as it reminded him of a common household utensil!!!  You can imagine the effect this would have on a 'sensitive' child who didn't much like the name anyway so I immediately asked if my name could be changed to Margaret..."please Mum"!!!

At that time I was about to go to a different school and on the entry form for Perth College (a C/E school) there was a question that asked where had the child been christened.  As Mum had been brought up in the Baptist church in England where children weren't baptised until age 15 or more she had not bothered about it.  We didn't go to church and as Dad wasn't at all religious the subject had never arisen.  I guess I wanted to be the same as other kids at the school so off we went to meet with the Dean of St George's Cathedral in Perth to arrange for me to be christened.  In order for me to be christened Margaret, Mum had my given name changed officially.

It was thus that Peggy Anderson, Peggy Ruston became Margaret Ruston.  So this person has had various names:  Peggy Anderson, Peggy Ruston, Margaret Ruston, Margaret Lewis and now Margaret Elvis. I think I have managed to adapt to each name as I went along and am certainly more than happy with the name I now have as I share the surname with MOH which I am more than happy about as I love him so much.

2 comments:

  1. My Nana was always known by her middle name Jean as she disliked her first name Marjory. What a lovely story Mimsie, I do love your tales (and I also love how much you love MOH - I'm a sucker for a love story x)

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  2. Thanks PPMJ and yes I do love the old so and so very much. Speaking of names, I have a friend known always as Betty and it wasn't until she began school in England that she discovered her real given names were Florence Mary...the teacher had to tell her. Apparently she was named for two great aunts and her parents didn't really like the names so just called her Betty. As I said "a rose by any other name will smell as sweet" so what's in a name anyway?

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