I recently got into a conversation about a lady named Julie. It turns out there were two Julies in the same office so the person asked me which one I was talking about. ‘Smiling Julie’, I answered. And they knew instantly which one I meant.

In the UK we tend to be named after our ancestors’ occupations (Coopers, Fletchers, Taylors, Smiths, etc)...

And, if this tradition continues, I wonder if in a hundred years from now we’ll have the Webmasters from Wolverhampton? Or the Facebookers from Falmouth?

In Africa they do things differently. I’m a big Derby County fan and we once signed a Nigerian player called ‘Blessing Kaku’. Which intrigued me.  And, get this, the president of Nigera is called ‘Good Luck Jonathan’. How cool is that!

And I can’t help asking myself whether they got those names when they were born or acquired them through habit? And, to take this a little further, if your name was synonymous with your personality traits would you be ‘Michelle Nightmare’ or posh double-barrelled depressive  ‘Johnny Doom-Monger’?

Much better to be ‘Smiling Julie’. Or ‘Pete Optimist’, ‘Brilliant Sandra’ or ‘Fab-to-be-with Felicity’.

I think Larry* had it about right?

So, think on it folks. And better still, this Christmas, act on it

Have a superb holiday, ‘2%er Andy’ x

*as in 'happy as'!

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