Well in mine there are 20 letters not counting my middle names or maiden name. If I included all my names it would add up to 41. So the names you see on the blog are my first name and married name. The first name, Henriët, was created by my mother. It is inspired by a French name, Henriette, and given a twist: no “te” at the end and add an umlaut. The pronunciation still works: on ree et. I was born in an era in The Netherlands where all the girls were given French names. My parents named me after my mother’s mother but put a French spin on it. Enough about the first name.
My last name is Dutch but it is even unusual in Holland. It more or less means "sheep keeper" which is appropriate for a pastor, don’t you think? It’s long--thirteen letters. I’ve gone to the grocery store before--in the days when we still wrote checks--and have been asked by the clerk, “that must have been hard in Kindergarten?” I smiled politely. Did she notice there were two names on the check? His and hers? This is not my maiden name--duh! I did not have the privilege of spelling it in Kindergarten. But, I have the privilege of spelling it now! Both first and last name--it never fails. I try to get away with just giving my first name, but people insist on the whole thing. Hey, I warned them...
What's in your name?
