Day 30: Middle Names

Names are interesting things. We don’t choose our own names, for the most part… we’re stuck with what our parents chose.

I’m utterly ambivalent towards my name; I don’t know what that says about how I see myself!

I used to get teased at school: Vicky the Viking (there was a cartoon in the 1980s), Sticky Vicky… and now it often gets shortened to Vic, which I HATE AND LOATHE, because Vic is a greasy middle-aged dude in a string vest.

Victoria is for when I’m in trouble. And Vicky is just a bit… insipid.

(If you’re reading this and your name is Vicky or Victoria, this is no reflection on you and your name. This is about me, so don’t @ me.)

It’d be cool to have a splendid middle name to use instead, but… my middle name is:

Jayne.

Which is about as basic as you can get. There’s a little added glitter with the extra Y, I’ll grant you, but… meh.

Which is why I’m deeply envious of Joe’s middle name, which is Duthac.

I know right? Literally nobody else has that name except St Duthac and he died about a thousand years ago. Big ups for Catholic naming conventions, you end up with the weird ones.

I’m trying to persuade Joe that we should both choose a new surname to share, and that we should combine our surnames to become—wait for it—

QUASER!

I mean this is a plan with NO drawbacks, why would anyone not want a name like Quaser, and if you could write to him in support of this idea that’d be great kthxbye.

Now over to you: what does the prompt “middle names” get you thinking about?

Set a timer for 5 minutes and write—and then, when you realise how much fun that has been, book yourself a spot at the upcoming Write Night. Check it out right here!

Happy writing!

TTFN,

Vicky

p.s. Connect with me on Instagram and share your experience with the community. Share your writing if you want to—we'd love to read it! Tag @tinybeetlesteps and follow the hashtags #moxieAUGUST and #tinybeetlesteps

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Notes in the Margin

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About the Author Vicky Fraser

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