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How Did Your Parents Pick Your Name?
- Feb 16
- 2 min read
Why Keith? In high school there was a Kieth, so at least my parents spelled it correctly. Although when I sign in with the hostess, she or he will often spell it Kieth. You know the whole i before e, yada, yada, yada. Anyway, I hated the name from day one. Well, not literally day one.
Last name Maynard, which we, the family, pronounce to this day incorrectly, but whatever. When I tried to pronounce it correctly, I received odd looks. On the school playground, students thought Barnyard was a clever option. I know not why.
Then there was Maynard G. Krebs, the sidekick of the title character in the United States television sitcom, The Many Loves of Dobie Gills, which aired from 1959 to 1963. A “beatnik” character unkempt, bohemian in appearance. His abhorrence of conventional social forms is signified by his comical reaction to three words: “work”, “marriage,” and “police.” He played the foil to the well-groomed, well-dressed Dobie. Maynard G. Krebs, or Maynard Walter Krebs, the G was silent (humor). em.wikipedia.org
Then in the 1980 we have the catchphrase “Good stuff, Maynard” created from a series of television commercials for Malt-O-Meal hot cereal that aired featuring a little boy and his imaginary friend Maynard.
And there was, are you related to Ken Olin Maynard, TV actor/producer, or Don Maynard, actor, or Don Maynard, football star/actor (yes, two Don Maynard)?
Middle name, a family thing? My dad. My great-grandfather.
But Keith, why? I doubt my dad cared about my name. My mother wanted either Michael or Kenneth. These names listed in my “The Book of Baby Mine” book, a gift from Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Wilson, who had Keith inscribed on the front cover in gold.
My grandmother (Thomas) wanted Keith. Shared frequently that she had known both a Kenneth and Michael and they were, apparently, not nice people. So, my parents did not pick my name! Grandma ultimately selected my name. It implies the “power” or control projected by the Thomas clan, which I long suspected was real.
Check out the ‘you tube video’… I agree.
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