Georgia Carol
Georgia on My Mind
Georgy Girl
We had occasion recently to ask some young people if their name had a story behind it—perhaps a special reason their parents named them that particular name. One boy was able to say he knew his name was from the Bible. That was all. The others didn’t seem to have a clue.
That made me doubly grateful there are not one, but two, stories about my name.
My mother’s brother George was about four and a half years older than she was, but they were childhood friends while growing up on their ranch in southeastern Idaho. He showed her how to ride a horse, played on the teetertotter with her, and taught her to dance when she was finally old enough to go to the Church dances.
They were close as children and for several years after they grew up.
Even though he died as a young father with small children, and she had already moved to Utah, George was still her favorite brother.
He was playing on the local baseball team in his town when he suffered a ruptured appendix. George died from the ensuing infection since there were no antibiotics at that time in the late 1920’s.
I was named Georgia because of my mother's fond memories of George.
Carol was a pretty special choice for my middle name, as well, because of an event during my mother's hospital stay after my birth.
I was born on Sunday, December 2, 1945, at 1:16 a.m.
Because I was born in December, and time in the hospital for mothers and babies was quite lengthy during that time, carolers came one night and sang for the patients at Carbon County Memorial Hospital in Rawlins, Wyoming, where I entered the world. My mother said she felt such a wonderful holiday spirit during that occasion while they sang familiar carols. It was almost like a Christmas lullaby, she said.
So, my mother wanted my middle name to be Carol in view of the fact Christmas carolers had come to the hospital during her lying-in.
I have to admit, though, there was a bit of time when I was in elementary school that I wished my name was one of the popular girl’s names at that time like Mary, Jane, or Susan instead of Georgia.
However, one day I took a look around our classroom and realized that I was the ONLY Georgia in the class. In fact, I was the ONLY Georgia in the whole school. And I was probably the ONLY Georgia in the entire town I lived in. I didn’t meet another person named Georgia until I was in college, although I was familiar with the names Georgia O'Keefe, artist, and Georgia Gibbs, jazz singer while I was growing up.
Then I got smart!
I began to appreciate the uniqueness of my name, though some articles about the frequency of my name say that Georgia was popular in the early 40’s, before it declined in use. Didn’t seem so to me. I was the one—and ONLY—Georgia.
Plus, it was fun to have some popular songs featuring my name, as well.
When I was a little girl, a lot of people would call me "Sweet Georgia Brown", later the theme song for the Harlem Globetrotters. In 1960 Ray Charles' iconic ballad "Georgia on My Mind" was a whole different sort of style to identify my name. Later in the 60's, when I was in college, a British band The Seekers had a pop hit "Georgy Girl". It was a bouncy tune which epitomized that whole rock scene. I liked all of them. I also felt special when my older sisters began calling me "Georgia Peach" from the time I was just a tot.
I am pleased both my names have a story behind their choice. I truly feel my name matches who I grew up to be: a "Georgia Carol".
