The Name Game

Corky Travis-
Yes, his real name is Corky. The first time we met and he told me his name, I said "is that your real name, like on your birth certificate?" (I was so tactful, right?) The story goes that his dad came home from some army training, at Ft. Irwin of all places, and told his mom that their next son would be named Corky. Apparently Corky's mom and Grandma Ruby (Corky's grandmother) fought him on that name for a long time but to no avail. Apparently the compromise was Jean, his mom, could pick whatever she wanted for the middle name. Travis seemed normal enough to balance out the first name I guess.

Morgan Velette (pronounced vull-(rhymes with full) et (rhymes with pet))
My first name is after the famous model from the 70's, Morgan Fairchild. My dad had a big crush on her and really like her name. Growing up, I wasn't a huge fan. Even though I always knew I was named after a woman, I still felt like Morgan was more of a boy name. I don't care too much anymore. My middle name is my mom's middle name and my great-grandma's middle name. At least I wasn't name after her full name, her full name was Bertha Velette Skilicorn. I definitely didn't like it growing up, but I liked that my middle initial was a V for some reason.

Gracey Mae
I have had this name picked out for my first-born daughter since I was about 12. Corky barely had a say in it. Luckily he liked it or else we would have had issues. For some reason, ending Gracey with an "ey" just seemed a little more girlie girl to me and something inside me knew that Gracey would be a tomboy, so that was intentional. Her middle name just seemed to flow with her first name. My grandmother's middle name is also Mae, so I figured I could spell it the same and to tie them together somehow.

Emily Velette (see pronunciation above)
This name is a little more random. All while I was pregnant with Emily, I thought we would name her Rachel. I LOVE the name Rachel but will admit now that something wasn't sitting well with me everytime I would tell people we were naming her Rachel. I hated that because I loved the name so much. One day when I was about 8 months pregnant with her, Corky came home and said "A name came to mind today that struck me. What do you think of Emily?" It was seriously like a weight was lifted of my chest. I responded, kind of sighing "Ohhh, I like it!" She was Emily Velette from there on out. What's kind of funny is the girl that I was a nanny for in Connecticut was named Emily, but I had never considered that name until that day Corky mentioned it. So its kind of fun to have that name tied to a special time in my life.