Wednesday, August 22, 2012

My Name is....



My name is Jo Anna Elizabeth George Landavazo. I have three given names, to my mother I am Anna, to my father I am Jo, but when they both want my attention immediately, it is always “Jo Anna Elizabeth!!”  (Emphasis on the exclamation marks) To all others I am simply Jo Anna/ JoAnna.
I was born in Texas and the name Jo for a girl is very common, so my father wanted my name to be Jo, but my last name is George so naturally I would be known as Jo George. My mother on the other hand did not approve that my name should sound like a boy’s so she added the Anna, as a second name, still respecting my father’s choice of naming me Jo. But I guess this wasn’t enough for both of them since they decided to give me a third name, Elizabeth, my paternal grandmother’s name.
I have looked up the origin of my name in various cases, and the way I do it is, I just look up Joanna, which means God is gracious. Elizabeth means Consecrated to God.
I really like my name, I like having options to how I can be called. Many of my friends call me Jo, as does my father and his side of the family. Some family members from my mother’s side call me Elizabeth, just because they like the name and others call me Juana, because of the “J” sound in Spanish. My mother simply calls me Anna most of the time, and occasionally JoAnna. I really like either name and I have always liked the name Elizabeth. I have noticed it is a very common middle name and it beautifully complements many female first names.
Some people do make comments about my name only when they learn that legally my first name is Jo, because they automatically assume it is just Joanna. Then I proceed to explain, briefly telling them this story.