The Girl Who Didn’t Like Her NameBy Agnes Thurner

Agnes didn't like her name; not one little bit. She complained about it all the time to her

friends. "Why couldn't I be named something special like Alison, or Katlyn" she would say. “Or maybe a

French sounding name like Nichole, Danielle or Michelle. Then at least I could have a cute nickname.”

She tried sounding them out loud to herself. “Nichole would be Nicky; Danielle, Danny; Michelle,

Mickey….

Maybe they’re a little too boyish, she thought; although one of her best friends was named Alex.

That was a pretty cool name. Or how about Andrea - she could be Andy or Rhea for short.

But Agnes! No one named their kids Agnes. That's cruelty to children? Agnes was an old ladies

name. Right up there with Beatrice, Bertha and Charlotte. The more she thought about it the more

depressed she became. And when she was depressed Agnes wasn't very pleasant to be around. She was

grumpy and moody and nothing pleased her. Her face was too round, her hair was mousy, her nose was

too pointy and worst of all her eyes were mud colored.

When her mother asked what was wrong, Agnes replied,

"Everything! Especially my name. I really hate my name! What were you and Dad thinking of when you

named me Agnes?

Her mother swept her blonde hair out of her eyes, laughing as she said. "Maybe you'd like to be

called 'sourpuss' or 'grumpy."

Very funny". Agnes stomped off to her bedroom to mope and wouldn't even come out for

dinner. Her mother, whose name was Connie, pushed her long blonde hair off her face and sighed. A

trim, attractive woman in her mid-thirties she was of medium build and stood only five foot two inches

tall. Connie thought about going after her daughter but decided it was better to let her stew.

Agnes had inherited her mother’s build and height. I do wish I had gotten some of Daddy’s

height, she thought. I hate being short. I don’t know how Mom handles it. Neither of us can reach

beyond the first shelf in the kitchen. Agnes had blond, curly hair, and she liked the dimple in her chin.

Her lips were full and her smile showed off her straight white teeth. Agnes spent a lot of time at her

mirror, primping, brushing her hair and admiring herself. If it weren't for her ugly name, Agnes thought,

the rest of me wouldn’t be so bad. The more she thought about it the more she pouted. And when

Agnes pouted she became quarrelsome with everyone around her.

One day her dad coaxed Agnes to come sit with him on the sofa." I think it's time we had a talk,

Agnes. I don't like you pouting and gloomy all the time. He ran his fingers through his short brown hair

and gazed at her, his hazel eyes fixed firmly on hers. What can I do to make you happy?"

Agnes frowned, "You can give me a different name. Agnes is such a yucky name." Her Dad

looked very sad. "I'm sorry you don't like it. I chose it for you because it had special meaning for me. I

named you after my Aunt Agnes. She's more than ninety years old now and I know if you met her you

would love her as much as I do."

"But don't you see Daddy, that's just the problem. Your Aunt's name is too old for me. Can't you

change it to something more modern", Agnes pouted. “After all, I’m only thirteen years old. You always

say I’ll grow into my name but when? I don’t want to wait until I’m an old lady before I’m comfortable

with it.”

"There are some nicknames for Agnes" her Dad said, chucking her under the chin. "How about

Aggie or Nessie? When you were a baby I used to call you my little Agnestle."

"Gross, yuck, barf" she replied. "I don’t care much for your choice of adjectives" said her Dad.

"But I don’t like you moping around the house all the time either. Why don’t we try this? You pick a

name you like and that's what we'll call you. If you still like it when you turn eighteen, I'll have your

name legally changed for you."

"Oh Daddy, you're wonderful. Thank you so much." Agnes gave him a big hug. "Thank you, thank you,

thank you."

The next day her Dad gave her a name book. It listed hundreds of girls and boys names and their

meanings. “I thought this might help you to pick out a name for yourself.” he said, giving her a hug.

Mom and I both want you to be happy, so choose a name you’d like.”

‘Thank you so much Daddy. You know I really love you and Mom. Most parents wouldn’t

understand how I feel.”

Agnes stowed the name book in her school bag. She wanted her friend Alex to look at the

names with her. At lunch hour she pulled the book out of her bag and began to browse through the

names.

“Look”, she said to Alex. “Believe it or not, Agnes means “Pure and chaste. It’s the name of a

saint of the middle ages. A saint - is that me or what,” she giggled. “Come to think of it though, our

Pastor once told me that Agnes meant Lamb of God”

“Here’s something else interesting” said Alex. “I printed it off the internet. It’s your name in all

kinds of other languages.”

“What is it in German and Czech,” asked Agnes. “That’s where my ancestors come from.”

“Here it is” said Alex. “In German its Agnethe and in Czech it’s Anais or Anezka.”

Alex went on; “In Italian it’s Agnola, in Spanish its Ynez. Aggie and Nessa are Russian.”

“Oh no! That’s going from bad to worse.” sighed Agnes. “I kind of hoped I would find something

I liked in those other languages. Let’s check out some more names. Look up Madison and Morgan; I kind

of like those.”

Alex flipped through the book. “Okay. I found Madison. It comes from England and means "son

of Maud, she read. The way it’s used the name can be for a boy or girl. Morgan is the same way except

it’s from the Irish and means Fighter of the Sea.”

“I don’t think I like either of those. People would be sure to use Morgy as a nickname.” added

Agnes. Gross! She flipped through the pages of the book. Hey! Stephanie isn’t bad. I could be Steffi or

Stevie.

“I read a book once where the girls name was Kirby. That’s kind of cute”. How about Portia”,

continued Alex. “or Jordan. It can be for either boys or girls too. Jordan means to flow down or flowing

down. It’s a Hebrew name.”

“That’s kind of cute. I wouldn’t mind being called Jordy.” smiled Agnes

“Don’t you like Portia,” Alex persisted. “It’s strictly a girl’s name. I always liked it.”

“It would be okay but you know how mean other kids can get. I’d be Porty, Portly or maybe even

Porta Potty.”

“Yeah, that’s true.“ sighed Alex, her round face blushed as she thought about how names could

be turned about and used to torment others. Alex was just the opposite of Agnes having a chubby body

and dark brown hair. The two girls had been friends since Kindergarten.

“I kind of like Kirby or Rylee too. I’ve guess I’ve always liked boy’s names.” mused Agnes.

The girls went back and forth discussing and rejecting names. Soon the lunch hour was almost

gone and they were no closer to choosing a new name for her than when they had begun.

Finally Agnes said “we’d better put it away for today and finish our lunch. We can think about it

overnight and try again tomorrow”

“Good idea,” said Alex. There are a lot of names we haven’t thought about. And you don’t have

to come up with something right away.”

◘

The next day Agnes met Alex at their lockers. “Guess what” Agnes said eagerly. “My Dad had a

letter from his Aunt Agnes in Germany. She’s coming to visit us.”

“You’re kidding” said Alex. “Isn’t she like 90 years old or something? Is she healthy enough to

take a trip like that?”

“Well she must be because she’s already on her way. She’ll be here on Friday. That’s tomorrow.

Dad said he and Mom would pick me up early from school and we’ll meet her at the airport. I’m so

excited. My Dad has talked so much about her; I can’t wait to meet her. He said she writes poetry and

stories and play a mandolin. I hope she brought it with her. I’ve never seen a mandolin.

Friday dawned with a promise of rain in the air. “Oh dear” said her mother. “I hope it doesn’t

spoil the trip for Aunt Agnes. Dampness isn’t good for older people.” Agnes remembered reading

something about seniors getting bronchitis and even pneumonia in rainy weather.

“Don’t worry” said dad. “She may be elderly but from what I’ve been told she is strong, healthy

and feisty. She might even be able to out walk you.”

Agnes rolled her eyes. “Oh Daddy, stop teasing. I can’t imagine a little old lady walking faster

than I can.”

“The plane will be landing in six minutes,” interrupted her mother who had been studying the

arrival board for the flight. “Let’s get to the gate so we can see the plane land.”

Almost all the passengers were off the plane before her Dad said “There she is, the little lady

wearing the blue print dress and sweater.” He hurried toward her and gave her a big hug, his six foot

frame towering over his Aunt. He turned to his wife and Agnes with a big grin on his face as he proudly

introduced her.

Aunt Agnes greeted them with a big smile and hugs. “Ach”, she said. It iss so gut to be here and

meet you all at last. Especially you Agnes, because you are my namesake. Und I’ve alvays vanted to visit

America.”

Her great aunt looked just as Agnes had pictured her. She was short, plump and her thin gray

hair was pulled into a bun at the back of her head. Agnes noted that she was a little stooped over. The

family hurried to baggage pickup to get Aunt Agnes’s suitcases before climbing into the van for the trip

home. Aunt Agnes took her hand and squeezed,” You are such a lovely pupchen. I’m so proud to be your

Great Aunt.”

“Dad” whispered Agnes. What does pupchen mean?”

“It means little doll” he chuckled.

Her dad took the long way home so he could show Aunt Agnes some of the highlights of the city.

He pointed out the Art Center, the baseball stadium, the world’s largest four-faced clock.

Aunt Agnes murmured appreciatively but her eyes were getting droopy and she seemed relieved

when her nephew announced they were turning onto the road home. He pulled into the circular drive to

let the family off at the front door.

“Ach, Josef, you didn’t tell me you lived in a schloss! How do you keep such a big place clean?

You must have help, yes?” She questioned Connie, putting her hand on her shoulder sympathetically.

Joe laughed.” It’s a big house but hardly a castle. Unless you’re talking about the old adage that

a man’s home is his castle. We have four bedrooms and three and a half baths so you will have your own

room and bath all to yourself. We had hoped by now to have more ‘kinder’ to fill the rooms but God has

blessed us with just one so far. He motioned to Agnes.“ How about showing your Great Aunt to her

room while I get her luggage out of the car.”

“Right this way, Aunt Agnes. Do you mind if I leave off the Great .. it makes your name so long.

We thought you would like a first floor room so you wouldn’t have any stairs to climb. I hope you

brought your mandolin” she added” Agnes showed her great aunt to a large bedroom at the end of a

hallway.

The room was painted a pale blue and the queen-size bed was covered with a fluffy down

comforter in a blue floral pattern. A dresser and matching night stand helped to fill the room. A

cushioned rocker with attached foot rest sat near the window.

“This is beautiful.” Aunt Agnes sighed as she seated herself in the rocker and put her feet up.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t bring the mandolin but I have a tape with mandolin music. You will be able to hear

how it sounds.”

“You look like you could use some rest.” said Joe as he brought in her luggage. “The plane trip

must have been tiring. Why don’t you just relax for an hour? We’ll be having dinner around 6:00 o’clock”

Agnes brought her Aunt a hand-crocheted throw and covered her with it. “I don’t want you to

get cold.” she said. I’ll come get you when we’re ready to eat.”

◘

“Good morning Aunt Agnes. Did you sleep well?” Agnes asked. “I hated to wake you but it’s

almost nine o’clock and we thought you might like to go to the mall. It’s the weekend so I don’t have

school.”

“Vas iss das ‘mall?” Aunt Agnes questioned.

”It’s a big shopping center with all kinds of stores. It has a food court so we can eat lunch right

there. It even has a movie theater so we can see a movie if you would like.”

“I don’t need much but I would like to see this shopping mall,” said Aunt Agnes. I could use

some stockings.” she added. “I heard there is something like a mall in Munich, but I haf never been

there. And our little village is too small for a lot of stores like that.”

They had a wonderful time at the shopping center. It was fun for Agnes to see her great aunt

oohing and aahing over the abundance of items in the stores. When she began to get tired her mother

rented a wheelchair for her and Agnes took over pushing her from place to place.

Although they spent many days at home just visiting they still had time to show Aunt Agnes

many sites of interest. They took her sightseeing to Lake Michigan, the Wisconsin Dells, Green Lake,

Door County and Port Washington.

One day near the end of her visit, her great aunt invited Agnes to her room.

“It’s coming close to time I must leave and I vanted to talk and get better to know you. You are such a

gut little machen, taking your old Tante to all those vonderful places and keeping me company. Maybe

you vill come visit me in Germany ven you are older.”

“I would love to visit Germany” said Agnes, as she gave her a big hug. “It would be such fun to

see where you live. Oh, I can hardly wait. And I promise to study German so I can talk to you in your

language.”

“Dere is someting else I vish to speak of. Your Daddy tells me you don’t like your name. Ven I

vas your age I didn’t like it either. But I vant you to know dat your Daddy, he chose the name for you

because he was so fond of his Tante Agnes. He gave you name as honor to me. Of course I vas pleased

that he felt so about me. Promise you vill tink better about changing your name, okay?”

“Of course I promise,” said Agnes. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I won’t say that I’ve changed

my mind but I will think about it some more. I’m so glad you told me why my Dad named me Agnes. It

has helped me to understand his reasons.”

On the Sunday before Aunt Agnes left for Germany, the family all went to church together as

usual. Agnes was still undecided about changing her name. She decided to ask God for help. She said a

prayer asking Him if she was doing the right thing and to help her choose a good name.

Although she hadn’t been paying a lot of attention the pastor’s voice broke into her reverie. He

was reading from the book of Isaiah, Chapter 49: Verses 1-26;

Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations:

Before I was born the Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my

name.”

From Daniel Chapter 10: verses 10-14 and chapter 12: 1-3 we read” Everyone whose name is

found written in the book will be saved.

Agnes thought excitedly “I think God just answered my prayer. “ I can’t choose a different name

knowing that God himself gave it to me. That’s the name He will call me by when he comes to take us to

Heaven; the same name He wrote in The Book of Life. When we studied the Old Testament, we learned

that the Book of Life holds all the names for the roll call of God.

All the people who are considered righteous before God are recorded forever in His book,”

Agnes remembered. “Every one found written in the book shall awake to everlasting life. If I change my

name I might not recognize it when He calls me. I can’t wait to tell Alex.”

As they left the church her Dad took her mother by the hand and turned to his daughter. “Let’s

take Tante Agnes out to brunch since it’s her last day.”

“That’s a good idea” Agnes smiled. “And why don’t you start calling me Aggie from now on. But

to make it original, leave off the ‘e’ at the end. That’s the only change I’m going to make. I’ll spell it

Aggi.”

Aunt Agnes smiled to herself and gave Aggi’s hand a squeeze as they walked to the car.

***