Origin of My Name

[Patrick Varin]

I was the first born. The experiment. The scratch paper on which my parents scribbled their rough ideas of parenting. I haven’t heard the story of how my name came about, nor do I know if there is much of a story to tell. Perhaps it was the first name that pleased my both of my parents’ ears; they may as well have stopped looking after they found one. It’s not easy to do—please both of my parents—not thoroughly at least.

My father had a single stipulation when it came to my name: It had to have a French translation. He is a funny character my father, my friends know him by Fred, or Fred-o. His full name is Frederic Jean Uge Varin. I’m not sure how his parents decided that Frederic would suit him, but it seems to fit. Uge came from the masculinization of his godmother’s name, Ugette, and he inherited the name Jean from Saint John when he was baptized. But I was given no such baptismal name. I received no name from any relatives. Mine could have been almost completely random.

My name is Patrick Jonathan Varin. I do know that Patrick has a direct French translation: Patrick. That must have been why my father liked it. My mother must have had an affinity for the name Patrick Jonathan because it has a biblical feel to it. Jonathan has heavy biblical undertones. The name Jonathan was mentioned in the Book of Samuel, he was the King of Saul and a friend of David. Another was mentioned in the book of Judges. Several more appear in throughout the Old Testament; one was son of a priest, another a warrior for King David. Patrick is not strictly biblical, but she associated the name to Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. I’m sure it hadn’t crossed her mind that I would have my own holiday dedicated to heavy drinking.

[cbehling]

The last line really struck me. It gives true insight into the type of person your mom is. This piece about your name seems to be more an analysis of your parents. I think that is really interesting. There is so much that can be found about people from the process of naming a child that i never realized before. Do you have any interest in asking your parents why they named you what they did? or are you content merely guessing from their personalities?