Namely Marly

Gregory Peck began his journey in life in 1916 with the name Eldred. Like a lot of people he used the name given to him by his parents until he moved away in his early 20′s. I don’t know what it is about those college years, but it seems to inspire more than just higher education, it can also be a time for some to shed youthful monikers. Mikey becomes Mike, Candy becomes Candace, etc.

Peck earned a BA in English from Berkely, headed off to New York city, and shed that childhood name. “I never liked the name Eldred. Since nobody knew me in New York, I just changed to my middle name,” said Peck.

A combination of talent, looks, and a good name (I had to throw that last one in), led him to one of the most successful acting careers in the US. With all the famous roles throughout the years, he still considered Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird his favorite. “Hardly a day passes that I don’t think how lucky I was to be cast in that film,” Peck said in 1997 . “I recently sat at a dinner next to a woman who saw it when she was 14 years old, and she said it changed her life. I hear things like that all the time.”

Peck died in 2003. Brock Peters who played Tom Robinson in the Mockingbird movie spoke about Peck at his funeral. He said that “Atticus Finch gave him [Peck] an opportunity to play himself.”

He had a career studded with accomplishments from Academy Awards to the National Medal of Arts. I like to believe his name was just one part of that successful career.

This is such an unusual and touching name-change story that I had to share it. You may recognize this actor, Dylan McDermott, but you may not be aware of the circumstances that caused him to change his name.

He was given the name Mark Anthony McDermott when he was born. By all he accounts he had what could only be described as a difficult childhood. His parents divorced while he was a toddler and his mother was killed when he was only 5, causing him to be raised by his maternal grandmother. A little luck finally came his way, however, when his father married Eve Ensler, a then unknown playwright (who eventually came to author The Vagina Monologues). Eve took to McDermott and immediately began encouraging him to become an actor. Yahoo Movies describes how even though Ensler was only 9 years older than McDermott herself, she legally adopted him when he was in his late teens and became his “personal cheerleader, life-coach, and mentor.” She also gave him roles in her plays.

Ensler became pregnant and named her unborn child Dylan, but the pregnancy ended in miscarriage. These are the circumstances under which McDermott changed his name from Mark to Dylan, possibly as a sign of endearment to his step-mom. Even though she eventually divorced McDermott’s dad, she and Dylan remained close.

I loved the movie Steel Magnolias where McDermott played the husband of one of the lead characters. He has since expanded his acting repertoire to include In the Line of Fire, Home for the Holidays, and the successful TV series, The Practice for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. I think this actor has lived up to a name to which both he and his step-mother can be proud.

Famous name changes are, of course, interesting, but today’s post is one is one of my favorites. It’s the amazing story about how Caryn Elaine Johnson became Whoopi Goldberg. Can you imagine with me Caryn Johnson? I bet she would be funny. In fact, she’d probably be hilarious. One of those people that you love to run into at the office break room; what a lucky day to be getting your cup of coffee at the same time as Caryn. Always cracking jokes and finding funny ways to look at things. After the weekly staff meeting she would crack jokes about the company’s latest and greatest strategic direction. Maybe she would say things like, “How many chiefs does it take to develop that strategic direction? Only one, but he has to have one executive assistant, a private jet, and a $50,000 compass!”

But Caryn Johnson as world-famous actress, comedian, radio disc jockey, author, singer-songwriter, talk show host, and activist? I don’t know. It’s not impossible, but definitely more of a stretch. How would Caryn Johnson fit in with the rest of the women in The View? And actually, that would be part of the problem. Caryn Johnson would probably be trying to fit in, whereas Whoopi seems very comfortable in her own skin. That’s one of the things that’s so great about her!

So how does someone like Caryn Johnson transform to Whoopi Goldberg? In a 2006 interview, Whoopi said, “If you get a little gassy, you’ve got to let it go. So people used to say to me, ‘You are like a whoopee cushion.’ And that’s where the name came from.” She continued that Goldberg came from Jewish ancestry in her family. She said she changed her name recognizing that her birth name was too boring.

Whoopi is anything but boring now! I think Whoopi Goldberg picked the perfect name for herself and for her life!

Do you look at the posts about names on this site and ever ask yourself, what is the big hullabaloo about names? It’s not like there are a lot of people changing their names out there. Right?

Well, the truth is, there are a lot more name changes going on than you realize. I think it’s a bit like buying a new Mini-Cooper and feeling so unique until you start passing one after another out on the road. Name changes are like this. I thought I was so strange when I decided to change my first name. I thought I would be the laughing stock of my friends, family, community, work, etc. It took a lot of courage for me to take the leap, but once I did, I was surprised to learn about so many other people who had changed their names. People I never suspected!

Name changes are woven throughout the fabric of our nation as well. For example, getting a name right is crucial—even for fictional characters. Margaret Mitchell in writing the book, Gone with the Wind originally named the heroine Pansy. At the editor’s request, the author spent months going through names for the feisty main character—everything from Nancy, Peggy, and even Margaret, before finally settling on Scarlett. Getting Scarlett’s name right was an important first step for one of the most successful novels in history.

The thing is, you may not realize how prevalent name changes really are, because you may not realize how many people have changed their name. The table at left demonstrates the pervasive nature of name changes in our culture. In the course of my research, I’ve talked with people around the country about their names and also conducted an online survey. One respondent indicated that she never liked her name, but she didn’t feel comfortable changing it. So she chose instead to give her daughter a name she would have liked for herself. Maybe parents are searching for something more than a unique name for their baby; maybe they’re looking for something unique within themselves as well.

I was in the check-out line at Macy’s recently when three nearby women (all of a similar age) noticed they had the same name, Rosemary. They talked about nicknames, spelling, and their frustrations about the name. I was left thinking about the name Rose. It reminded me of the words of Shakespeare. “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” The name Rose hit a peak in popularity in 1960 and has plummeted since then, leaving women with that name anchored to a certain age and image.

Why couldn’t a rose change her name? It worked for Eileen Edwards who changed her name to Shania Twain. It worked for Leslie Lynch King, Jr., who as a young adult changed his name to Gerald Ford (yes, the US. President).

What’s in a name? Apparently a lot.