What's in a Name?

So, as everyone who happens upon this little site on the "Internets" knows, I go by the name of Topher. Topher is short for Christopher. I've been called Topher my entire life, the story I've been told it traces back to my mother's pregnancy when my father would tease her that "she was so big she was going to have twins, and name them Christina and Christopher and call them Tina and Topher." I'm actually the fourth generation "Chris-themed" name in my family. My great-grandfather was named Chris, his daughter (my grandmother) was named Christine, her son (my father) is named Chris and I'm a Jr.

I love the name Topher. It's me. I don't see anything strange about it at all, and a quick google search will show that it's actually catching on quite a bit, and yet I'm constantly having to re-pronounce it or explain it. Every year at school was always an adventure trying to explain "Topher" to new teachers who constantly wanted to revert to the comfortable "Chris" abbreviation. I even had one teacher who refused to call me "Topher" all year long because she thought I had said my name was "Toker." She finally called me Topher on the last day of school. I didn't see the humor. Just a few weeks ago as we made our way to Carp for the 4th of July celebration, we stopped at McDonald's for a quick lunch. While there my name got mispronounced at "Tayfer." Just the other day I received a letter which was addressed to "Tather."

I plan to keep the Topher love going as it gains in popularity. The thing that strikes me the most is that the very same people who are so thrown off by, "Topher" would have absolutely no problem calling Christina, "Tina."

I have no idea how many people are walking around this great planet giong by the name of Topher, but I guarantee it's growing. Although we may not be the biggest fans of his work Topher Grace is owed a debt of gratitude for increasing the exposure of the name.

The reason for this particular blog comes from Dale, who passed along this site earlier today, http://topherdavis.wordpress.com which is written by another person who shares my unique name. Apparently there is also a Topher Davis out there who is a musician.

The world had better watch out, because Topher's are coming to take over the world. Remember the name.