What's In A Name?

A fellow journaler asked if Eler Beth is my daughter.  She is.  She was named after both of her grandmothers.  I realize that "Eler" is an unusual name.  It's my mother's name.  She was named "Eler Frances" after both of her grandmothers.  About three years ago I met a lady in her sixties who said that her best friend in elementary school was named "Eler".  And aside from "Aunt Eller" in the musical OKLAHOMA, those are the only people I know of with that name.

Thomas' mother's name was Elizabeth Louise, and she went by "Louise".  For some reason she never liked "Elizabeth".  As soon as we were married I had decided that if we ever had a daughter I wanted her to be named "Eler Elizabeth" and call her "Eler Beth".  Our first child was a boy, and we named him after Thomas (Thomas Andrew Helms II).  Six years later we had our Eler Beth.  I like that she is named after both her grandmothers and her grandmother Eler was named after both her grandmothers.  I hope it will be a tradition that is carried on. 

My middle name is Frances, after my mother, so Eler Beth shares her first name with one of my Mom's grandmothers and I share my middle name with my Mom's other grandmother.   When I was little my father's mother used to call me "Franki", and my sisters did too.  I found out when I was older that it was because my grandmother had known my great-grandmother Frances, and knew that she had been called "Franki" by family and friends.  I like knowing that I had shared a nickname with that great-grandmother that I never knew.

"Eler Beth" is hard for some people to pronounce or understand when she is first introduced to them or when they see it in print.  It is pronounced "el' - uhr", just how it's spelled; short e sound, and "er" as in "her".  She likes her name, especially since she is very close to my Mom. 

Well, my washer just stopped, so bye for now, and more later!