“Oh, won’t you smile awhile for me, Sa-ra…”
Do you have a song?
Mine came on the radio as Wes and I were out doing rainy Saturday morning stuff. I claim the tune as “mine” ‘cause songwriter folks don’t much write about Courtneys. Perhaps I’m not that rhymable? Van the man, of course, sang about brown-eyed girls, but I must share that tune with more than 55% of the earth’s female population.
Daryl and John narrowed it down for me to less than 1% of American chicks:
SARA (note the no “h” - an important detail to us Saras) is ranked as the 225th most popular given name in the United States with an estimated population of 303,174.
This name is in the 99th percentile; nearly 0% of all the first names are more popular.
There are 95.08 people named SARA for every 100,000 Americans.
This name is most often used as a first name, 99% of the time.
Based on the analysis of 100 years' worth of data from the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Baby Names database, the estimated population of people named SARA is 353,535.
The SSA data also shows that SARA is used as a girl's name 100% of the time.
Thanks Hall and Oates. Thanks also to Sara Allen, Daryl’s main squeeze (and “stewardess”) of some 30 years, who I suppose, technically claims the tune that I borrow with some ~300,000 gals.
“Who was Sara?” Wes asked of my birth-given first name as we harmonized,
“It's you and me forever…”
She was my grandmother. Beloved Mamo. Sara Jane Mitchell Blum. That my parents honored her and paired it with my middle moniker fills me with deep family pride. (And may explain my innate urge to master fried chicken in the iron skillet.)
Do you like your name?
I do. I love it. Sara Courtney. To me, it rhythmically flows with four-beat syllabic perfection. I’m not boasting. I can’t take credit for it. I just happen to think it rocks.
Albeit perhaps not in song.
Mom explained simply, “I just liked the name Courtney.” Where had she even heard it before? It was rather an anomaly in the early January days of 1967 and didn’t actually become popular until the 90s.
The name derives from the aristocratic Courtenay family. In French, it translates directly to short nose.
(I also happen to like my not-so-short nose, btw.)
I knew only one other Courtney growing up. I babysat for her. Her mom Sally would distinguish, in her sassy southern sophistication: “Courtney Wood, dinner is in the oven and we should be home by 10.” Followed by, and to her own daughter, “Courtney Phillips, bedtime is at 8.”
Toddlers and their still-developing, simplified “fronting” speech tend to deliver my C as a T:
I’ve spent decades known only as Tortney at my home-away-from-home, the Webster household. George was 3 when he dubbed me so. He is now 49 and lives 2 miles from me with his young family.
My niece Jody nicked me Corch when she was tiny, and that too has remained. She is about to be a mama herself next month. I can hardly wait to get my hands on little Corch Jr. and her big pink bow.
And when my wee nugget next-door neighbor Sydney began to speak, it came out Turkey. (Her now not-so-little brother, upon hearing someone call me “Courtney” turned to his mama, precious Lizzie, and quizzically said, “I thought her name was Turkey?” He’d never known me as anything but deli meat and Thanksgiving dinner.) Sydney is now a nurse in NYC.
If I was in trouble, Mom shortened it to a very distinctive and disappointed “Cou-rrrrt.” somehow making two syllables out of one. I can hear her voice now.
My great Uncle Fuzzy called me by both names, Sara Courtney. It rolled off his tongue like the creative mastery and artisanship he was known for.
And don’t be confused by the word Courtesy, which looks an awful lot like Courtney, especially to a little kid (which I once admitted at work). Though I seldom bump into him, Mike Barrett would still call me Courtesy today.
They may not write songs about Courtneys, at least not often. But for now, I guess I’ll just “Smile awhile, oh…”
Because I think my name rocks.
A rando factoid: Captain Stubing’s nephew on The Love Boat (OMG how in the unsinkable world did I leave The Love Boat off of my list of TV shows in my FOAT two weeks ago?! Please forgive me, Julie McCoy!) was L. Courtney Stubing IV. I remember him to be about 7 feet tall, awkward, with unfortunate glasses. He wanted to be a ballet dancer. It is unclear why this is fact in my brain. But alas, Courtney is also a boy name.
🎶If you wanna be free, you know
All you got to do is say so♬
The reason your name rocks is because you're the one with it! Also calling attention to the less-than-common-but-more-common-in-the-south tradition of using middle names. We have one of those in our life. Fun read. Thanks!
Your name totally fits you!
Love, Kathryn Fiona