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Anyone else have an Uncle Mellon? Or an Aunt Mattie Pearl?
Published: 12/8/2011 7:00 AM
Last Modified: 12/7/2011 7:26 PM


Other than a few hits for "Carnegie Mellon," I couldn't find any photos in the Tulsa World's system that matched any of the older family names I blogged about -- except for my Aunt Mattie Pearl. Here, a selection of Mattie Pearl's Bar-B-Que sauce, taken inside Oklahoma Style Bar-B-Que in Tulsa earlier this fall. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

Mamaw would cut my water off if she knew I was telling you this.

"Cut his/her water off" was a phrase she used time to time, typically in reference to someone whose actions either needed or were about to be stopped. Or, a bit more literally, in reference to the neighbor's dog who would run to her back yard to tinkle. I'll spare you the details there.

But she'd no doubt tell me to hush if I repeated an exchange she had with her younger sister, my Aunt Mattie Pearl. They were a hoot and a half to just sit and listen to when I was growing up.

Apparently, Mamaw couldn't keep Aunt Mattie Pearl's new son-in-law's name straight. It was Colon (or, at least, I think that's how it's spelled).

"Just remember a gut," Aunt Mattie Pearl said.

Theirs is a generation brimming with really cool, unusual names. Like Mamaw's, which is Valencia Murtis -- or maybe it's Myrtis. Either way, she doesn't like talking about her middle name, and she's gone by Val since before I was born. Distant relatives her age call her "Vuh-LENCE-ee."

On my Mom's side, Mamaw Walters -- whose name was Alice -- had sisters named Frema, Elladean and Katie, the latter of whom married Mellon D. From what I recall, the D doesn't stand for anything particular, and he never went by just Mellon -- always Mellon D.

I love these old names. They stand out from the crowd, for sure -- unlike Jason. Granted, a common name was one less reason I was harassed in school; but half the boys born in the mid-'70s seemed to have been named Jason.

Anyway, I love it when new parents name their kids something old-fashioned -- like Grace or Darcy, names that don't seem borrowed from early '90s soap operas or romance novels. Not that there's ANYTHING wrong with that, mind you.

When I moved from Mississippi to Oklahoma, it didn't take me long to figure out that the name game was played quite the same in both states. So what are some of your family's more interesting names?

Peace, love and Mellons ... XOXO


Reader Comments 3 Total
Retired TPS in Texas (last year)
Maternal aunts and uncles: Blanche, Jessie, Tom, Katie, Cotton, Jelly (Keith) no idea where those two names came from, Maxine, Earline, Nelle Ellen (my mom), Molly Sue, grandfather's name was Emmett, grandmother was Elzora. Paternal aunts and uncles: Jewel, Jay, Bert, Ollie, Geraldine, L.C. (my dad, no explanation for just having initials), Robert, Roy Lee. Grandfather was Callie, grandmother was Willora. Don't know how unusual a lot of the names are, but, that's a lot of progeny to name!
elleberg (last year)
Eleanor "Ellie" Viola - Paternal Grandmother
Philomena - Distant Maternal something or another
Gailen (female)- Mother
Irene - Maternal Grandmother
Miles - Distant Paternal something... passed to my brother

My son is Isaac which is old-esque.
futureview (last year)
Emma, Cecelia, Desi, Buster, Ida Belle, Bluey, Dwight...wonder if this could be the reason I'm afraid to venture very far back in the family history book...I heard there was an outlaw or two involved...ignorance can be bliss!

Double D
3 comments displayed


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Living Wright

While other kids were watching "The Smurfs," Scene Writer Jason Ashley Wright was tuned in to "Style with Elsa Klensch." By fourth grade, he knew he wanted to write, and spent almost three years publishing a weekly teen-oriented magazine, Teen-Zine -- circulation: 2. After earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi, he became the medical reporter and teen board coordinator for the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American, a Gannett newspaper. Eight months later, with visions of Elsa dancing in his head, he applied for the fashion writer position at the Tulsa World, where he began working on Aug. 3, 1998. He is now a general assignment reporter for Scene.

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