Why Edward Alexander?

Many people have asked how we chose Edward's names, when Doodlebug Starlight might be more in keeping with the slightly hippy nature of Eugene. Edward actually comes from more than one personal source, not to mention eight English kings, not counting Edward the Confessor and a bunch of princes.

I was very fortunate to have four godparents; they seem to have gone out of fashion now. Two of my godparents were Michael and Rosemary, brother and sister, and cousins to me through my Maternal great Grandparents. Michael sadly died young in a mountaineering accident before I was old enough to get to know him, but Rosemary and her family keep in touch, and she is probably reading this blog. Hello Rosemary and family!

Ann, a schoolfriend of my Mother's, was my second godmother, and she spent many summers with us when we had holidays in the English countryside in Baydon, Wiltshire, where we stayed in a cottage on a farm belonging to my great uncle Leslie. I recall those holidays with great happiness, and Ann's cars (a convertible Morris Minor, and later a Convertible Citreon Dyane) got us all around the local countryside, somehow cramming in my two brothers and me in the back, with my mother and Ann in front. Long walks and seemingly endless sunshine, high tea in the cottage garden (a sea of nettles for many years), my first taste of cider, visiting ancient bronze age barrows and having picnics on their tops, just a few of my memories of those golden Summers in the 1970s.

My second godfather was Ted, the father of a schoolfriend of my mother. Ted, or Edward, is thus one of my own Edward's namesakes. I've always liked the name Edward, probably because of my godfather Ted, who was always Uncle Ted to me. Sadly Ted and his wife Wyn, who was almost a third godmother to me, have both passed away now, but during my schooldays at Durston House in Ealing I would often drop in on my Grandmother and see Ted and Wyn at the same time as they lived in a bungalow at the end of my Grandmother's garden.

Beth's father was named Francis Edward, so there we have the second source. Edward has a cousin named Evan Francis, so Beth and Chris's father is remembered in both his grandsons' names.

Beth and I had actually settled on Edward as a name for a son, should we be blessed with one, long before we got married, so Edward has been a long time in the pipeline. Odd then, that I have been calling him Charlie, Joe, and Evan at various times over the last few days. I'm putting it down to new parent exhaustion, and I'm sure I'll get his name right by the time he goes to college.

As to Alexander, well it's just a name we both liked. I like names that have good nicknames, and with Alexander we have Al, Alex, and Zander, and with Edward we have Ed, Eddie, Ted, and Teddy, so our son will have various names to choose from. Not everyone I know uses their first given name, so Alexander provides a good backup.

As it happens, A A Milne, the author of Winnie the Pooh, was Alan Alexander Milne, so if you like it's a nod to the Pooh Books' author. Pooh was first introduced in the stories as Edward Bear, but became Winnie-the-Pooh by the end of the first paragraph, but as we know, all bears are called Edward, it's the law. If you don't like the Pooh books (is that possible?) then there's always Alexander the Great.