Deanaland

Friday, September 22, 2006

Explanation/Clarification

It has come to my attention that most people who read my blog and don't know me in real life don't know how to say my name. That's OK. I've been explaining it for 35 years. It usually doesn't bother me when people mispronounce it, except the OB I had during my pregnancy with Jenna. He kept calling me "Dee-Anna" until I finally said that if we were going to be so intimately involved, he had to say my name correctly. Then I wouldn't feel so cheap. He understood. Besides, his name was Dr. DeAyala. If I could pronounce that, he should be able to say my name, right?

Here's the deal: My parents planned on naming me "Dean" if I had been a boy. When I turned out to be a girl, they just stuck an "a" on the end. Dean-a. (Sounds like "Deena.") So there you go.

Also, another quick note. I am linked to "Slave to Target." I need to make it clear that Slave to Target is NOT my blog. Yes, I'm crazy about Target, but the women who run that site are just crazy. These women think nothing of going into Target "just to look" and then plunking down a couple hundred bucks on an assortment of stuff. I may fantasize about doing that, but I don't. In fact, I show STT to Chad occasionally just so he'll know how good he has it. The craziest I ever went in Target was well under $100 and I had a gift card helping me out. I'm CHEAP, remember?

Oh -- 15 days til my new Target opens!

posted by Deana Nall @ 6:25 AM  

12 Comments:

  • At Fri Sep 22, 07:40:00 AM, Blogger elizabeth said…

    You and my husband could swap stories. Perhaps there was something in the water 35 years ago that made mothers spell their children's names in strange ways? My mother-in-law liked the name Brian and thought it would be "cute" to end his name in "on" because hers did too, so Bryon has been subjected to a lifetime of people calling him "Byron"!

     

  • At Fri Sep 22, 08:35:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    The new Target near my house also opens on October 8. I'm so happy I may start crying!

     

  • At Fri Sep 22, 10:48:00 AM, Blogger Aggiema (Michelle) said…

    Totally understand about the name thing. My middle name is Adeane. It is pronounced "A Dean" and people can totally butcher it. At least I am no longer in school where every year I would hear "Adreane" "Andrea" and countless other names. The worst ones were the teachers that not only got the middle name wrong but would call me Michael instead of Michelle too! I have to thank my parents though it could have been a lot worse as Adeane was from my paternal grandmother and hers was spelled ADINE, no one would have ever got that right.

     

  • At Fri Sep 22, 02:48:00 PM, Blogger Diane said…

    I, too, can relate to the name butchering ... my maiden name was Parrott (like the bird) - For 23 years I had to spell it and say "like the bird"! I made sure only to date guys with simple last names, in hopes of relinquishing this task. I did, my last name now is Cook & I Never have to explain my name! YEA!

     

  • At Fri Sep 22, 03:02:00 PM, Blogger janjanmom said…

    Nice to me you DEEENA(Deana). I have a friend whose name is Diana(pronounced DEEANNA) and she uses it as a way to know if she has actually met someone or if they only know her through posts in our email group.

    I think in this day and age, no one expects to spell or say a name correctly anyway!!

    BYW, I am Janice, not Jan or JanJan.

     

  • At Fri Sep 22, 03:05:00 PM, Blogger WinSpin said…



    I am Deana's dad. That's Deana as in "Dee-na" or "D-na." And dad as in "daddy" or "old man."

    It was not the water but perhaps it was shell shock from wearing the name my parents gave to me.

    My dad was Woody Jefferson Hamby. My mother did not want me to have a funny name like Woody Jefferson but she did want me to carry on the initials WJH. So she named me Winston Jennings.

    All of my life I have been accused of being a Prime Minister like Winston Churchill or tasting good like a cigarette should. And everyone who said these things acted as though they were the first to come up with the "pun(s)."

    I thought about naming Deana "Happy Slapnoggin" but my wife wouldn't hear of it. And my son whose name is Brian nearly was named Hester. I still think Hester Hamby has a nice ring to it.

    Anyway we ended up with Brian and Deana and I think those are two pretty good names.

     

  • At Fri Sep 22, 03:15:00 PM, Blogger Deana Nall said…

    A side note -- We picked the name Jenna for our youngest after my dad's middle name. She just didn't look like a "Winnie."

    And -- Chad would have been "Derwood Dewey Nall III" if family tradition had had its way.

     

  • At Sat Sep 23, 07:05:00 AM, Blogger Cheryl said…

    I just recommended your blog to a friend today and when I wrote out your name I said, "I don't know how she pronounces it. But I think its Deena."
    Then I came home and found this entry in your blog :-). Were you eavesdropping on my conversation over here in East Africa?
    I am glad to know I was right being as how we were childhood playmates and all...
    I definitely understand name issues....and jokes people think they are the first to come up with...
    With a maiden name of Money and a married name of Cash...the jokes never end.

     

  • At Sat Sep 23, 10:28:00 AM, Blogger Beverly said…

    Have a great day, Darna..

     

  • At Sat Sep 23, 01:22:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hello from Montreal, Canada....my name is Wren.
    Nice to find a fellow cat lover on the web, as well as a christian.
    God bless you!

    http://z6.invisionfree.com/denominations

     

  • At Sat Sep 23, 03:54:00 PM, Blogger Deana Nall said…

    Cheryl -- I was behind the trash can. I can't believe you didn't see me!

     

  • At Mon Sep 25, 08:02:00 AM, Blogger Susan - said…

    SG explained to me how to pronounce your name. I thought of that recently when I met a woman in my neighborhood who spells and pronounces her name the same way you do. I had to explain it to my husband.

    Also, my maiden name was Holyfield. No one wanted to say "holy-field". It was always "holly" or "holla". People know it now thanks to Evander. (No relation.)

     

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