[Fearless Females: Prompts for Women’s History Month, March 3rd–Do you share a first name with your female ancestors?]
I don’t think I’ve come across any Melody’s among my female ancestors. That makes me one of a kind. And, originality wasn’t in my ancestors’ genes. I’ve got a whole host of Maria, Barbara, Brigitte, Margaret, Catherine, and all their regional variations filling up my family tree. I swear they must have checked off boxes on the birth forms to give their daughters names. “Check if you’d like to name her Mary, Maria, Margaret, Barbara…”
My middle name is a different story. Some may conclude I’m just one of billions of women with Ann as their middle name. While it may be common, my parents didn’t give it to me because they lacked creativity.
I was given the middle name Ann to honor both my Grandmothers. My Dad’s Mom was Anna (Mazeres) Lassalle and my Mom’s Mom was Anne (Jackson) Shellabarger. Between the two, my parents came up with Ann. I guess in that way they kept the peace without any Grandmother getting too many bonus points. LOL
