What’s In A Name?

My name is Dorothy. My dad gave me that name. He had a little sister by that name. She died at the age of 4 from pneumonia. She was named after an aunt. Aunt Dorothy came home one night and surprised a burglar, who then killed her. I have to admit that when I found out these facts much later in life I was a bit rattled. But things seem to have turned out OK for me.

The name Dorothy is from the Greek feminine form of Theodore and means ‘gift of God’. There was a 4^th century virgin martyr named Dorothea of Caesarea. She is usually pictured carrying apples or roses.

Other famous Dorothys:

Dorothy Kilgallen. She was the first “real” Dorothy I was aware of, from ‘What’s My Line’ on TV. I was in 6^th grade when she died from a combination of booze and drugs. A boy in my class seemed to be rather gleeful when he mentioned that she had died and we had the same name.

Dorothy Lamour, the “Sarong Queen”. I loved watching her movies on the late night shows and afternoon matinees on TV. I still enjoy them whenever they’re on TCM.

Dorothy Parker. I was in junior high when I came across some of her work and enjoyed it tremendously. A couple of her poems were in a book we were using in English class. Those poems led me to read more of her work.

Dorothy L. Sayers. I absolutely loved her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. Read all I could get my hands on.

“Dorothy Gale” cannot be left out, since she is the very first Dorothy I became aware of early in life. I was 6 years old when I saw The Wizard of Oz for the first time on TV. And every year thereafter. At first I thought it was pretty neat that the main character had the same name as me. Not once I started school, though. I came to hate it when the movie was shown on TV because the next day at school I would really get the teasing. I still love the movie, though.

Nicknames: Dot, Dottie, Dottie Lou (my middle name is Louise), Dotsie (only my grandma called me that), DotKat (my online name).