View Message

My mother's one and only name was Beatrice. Her mother was Florence Beatrice, her father was Thomas; both their children had one name each.

---

She didn't mind her name at all, but mildly resented the fact that nobody ever used it. She could and did live with Bea, but couldn't stand Beattie - which itself sometimes shortened to Beat! Nobody ever tried Trixie, Trissie or Tris, luckily for them.

---

When our first daughter was born, we wanted to use our late mothers' names as mns. This was fine, but left us stranded when that daughter died. We managed to have a second daughter, and used Beatrice as her fn, with Elizabeth and Anne as mns, also both family names. Note spelling of initials! I'm probably the only person who actually calls her Beatrice, simply because Bea to me still refers to my mother (who would not have encouraged us to use her name, had she lived to see it, but nor would she have tried to impose her opinion on us); to everyone else, she's a happy Bea.

---

My father wanted to name me Sarah Anne after his late mother; my mother vetoed Sarah in the nicest possible way, and graciously allowed him to keep Anne as a mn. Thanks, Mum! I really dislike Sarah.