“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare nor Juliet knew

The quote, “What’s in a name” is from William Shakespeare’s play, “Romeo
and Juliet,” and there’s more to it: “That which we call a rose, by any other name
would smell as sweet.” Translation: Juliet is saying that a name is nothing
but a name and it’s a convention with no meaning behind it.
In this column I will attempt to prove Juliet as well as William S, completely
wrong. Because there is meaning and a story in a name.

J.C. Gaspard

Nathan Gaspard who lives in Moncla with wife Susan Shore, tells the story about his father, J.C. Gaspard’s name. “My father was the youngest of 14 children and
his parents had run out of names, so they just called him J.C.,” Nathan said.
“When J.C. was in school his teacher asked him his name and he answered
‘J.C.’ She hammered him for his full name and he told her his only name was J.C..
She then said, ‘Alright then, I’m going to come up with a name for you: Jack Charles.’ And she started calling him that. J.C. was not too
pleased.” At this point Susan took over with a very quirky side story note.
“Maybe 10 years or so ago, Nathan and I went through a phase of watching
old westerns on Grit TV. One night our jaws dropped as we were watching the
1966 Roger Corman film, “Five Guns West.” There is a scene that essentially is an
exact detailing of J.C.’s naming down to the large family, the name J.C. and
running out of names.” Susan did a little digging and discovered that director
Roger Corman had been in the U.S. Navy during World War II from 1944 to 1946,
which happens to coincide when J.C. Gaspard was also in the U.S. Navy.
“Is it possible,” Susan wonders, “that their service overlapped and Roger met
J.C. or heard his story. Corman being a storyteller, filed it away for later use. We’ll
never know but what a coincidence.” Nathan’s cousin, Leslie Couvillion-Temento, had her own answer to it being a coincidence. “Not only is it the same story but it’s nearly identical phrasing of the story I’ve heard my whole life! I’m just going to pretend it’s not a coincidence because that is much more fun.”
J.C. Gaspard owned a bar in downtown Marksville located next to the Union
Bank. Eventually the building the bar was in became an addition to the bank
building.

Georgianna Kendall

Georgianna Kendall of Marksville has an unusual name with a history behind
it. “Back in th late 1940s there wasn’t any way to tell the gender of your baby,”
she began. “But Mama was told by the way she was carrying her baby in the womb,
it had to be a boy because it was low.” The plan was to name this baby boy after the
grandfather, George Normand. Everyone but Georgianna was surprised to learn
it was a girl, so Mrs. Coco kept the George and added some femininty with “anna.”
Continuing, Georgianna said, “And there’s more. All my life I’ve spelled my
name wrong, with one ‘n’ where it has two. “And not only that, my middle name is Catherine which I had been spelling with a ‘K’ and only discovered that when I applied for a passport.” So all her life, Georgianna has been spelling her name incorrectly. Now I understand; years ago I was proof-reading at the at
the newspaper and saw her name spelled both ways, 1-N; 2-Ns. I called her to get the correct spelling and she said it didn’t make any difference. Yes, now I get it!
Georgianna didn’t even know how to spell her own name!

Minnie Lafargue

Minnie Lafargue of Marksville has a nick name, “Pa-poose.” She
said there’s a very simple explanation. “My mama, Nell Laborde, carried me on her
back like a papoose because she was carrying my older brother, Ronald, in her arms. We were 11-months apart.” Because of Minnie’s dark hair and skin and being
carried in Nell’s makeshift backpack, she did resemble a papoose.
“That name stuck,” Minnie emphasized, “I could not get rid of it!” When she went off to college she was Minnie but when she came back to Marksville, “That name,
Papoose, came right back.” Being in all phases of music, Minnie directed plays at the Fox Theater. at Marksville High School and directed choir. “At the Fox Theater, I was Miss Papoose, at Marksville High, I was Miss Minnie. Sometimes the kids
at school would ask me if I knew Miss Papoose. They thought there were two different people. I’d tell them that yes I knew Miss Pa-poose.” Her given name, Minnie Celeste, came from her two grandmother’s. But the
name, Minnie also had it’s burden. “I was Minnie Mouse, Minnie the Moocher
and Minnie Ha Ha. “

Does your first name have a story to it? We are interested.

Email:

donna@avoyellestoday.com