Nicknames

That Little Voice

What’s in a nickname? I wanted to have a nickname when I was a kid, and tried to come up with one. But alas, I was just called Margo.

It is not clear why I thought I needed a moniker, but it was an unfulfilled wish. No funny or descriptive handle…just Margo.

As I think back to those days of innocence I don’t remember any of my friends having nicknames, so why did I crave to be called something other than Margo?

My gosh, I probably have only known six or eight other people who have that name, so it is unusual enough, wouldn’t you think?

Because I have always worn thick lens glasses, I tried ‘Magoo’ as a handle. How about ‘Magot’? But neither took hold. I was called Margo.

My folks would call me Gargo sometimes, but outside our household of five it didn’t catch on. I decided I was stuck with the unimagitive title of Margo.

Maybe I wanted something descriptive that would catch my essence, identify my personality, provide a clue about what made me who I was. But, either my classmates had no imagination or had no interest in renaming me, I made do with my birth name, and actually still do.

Michael Corker, years ago, dubbed me ‘mj’, and now that’s how I end letters, emails, notes, and whatever else I unofficially sign. It isn’t colorful or evocative, but I like it, so thanks, Mike.

But I keep asking why some people get nicknames and others don’t? Do we see something in a person’s behavior or personality that describes them better than the name that appears on their birth certificate?

Margo is a nickname for Margaret, as is Peggy or Marge, so maybe I was given a nickname but never knew it. I am amazed my mother came up with my name since I was born in a tiny room in a small house in a little town in southeastern Oklahoma to a couple who were unexposed to the greater world. How would they even know the name Margo? It is a bit more exotic than Sue or Jane or Mary.

Now that I think about it, at least I wasn’t named after my grandmother Edna. Oh, I really would have had to have a nickname if I’d been tagged with that one.

Margo has served me well for 81 years, so guess I’ll just keep it.