I answer to many names.  For some reason, people like to give me nicknames.

When I was born, my parents named me LeeAnn Monroe Williams, Jr., after my mother.  I was born by cesarean birth and was round and pink.

My dad nicknamed me “Tunie” when I was a baby, which came from Petunia.

If you have asked me the origin of my nickname, I have told you one of two stories:

A.  That he used to call me his little petunia flower; or

[Source]

B.  That he used to call me Petunia, after Petunia Pig, who was Porky’s girlfriend in the comics.

[Source]

(There are a few of you that I may have told that it was because my brother looked like Porky, but I think I stopped telling that story in my thirties teens.)

If I told you “A”, well … I am sorry. I lied. The answer is B.

Don’t be quick to conclude that my dad missed the boat.  Here is another picture of me, looking much more like Petunia:

Tunie stuck with me. All of my relatives, with one exception, call (or called) me Tunie. My sweet grandma, who named my mom (and thus really liked the name LeeAnn) never called me Tunie.

At least fifty percent of the people in my life call me Tunie. If people meet me through my parents or my brother, they meet me as Tunie. If someone is a business acquaintance, I am known as LeeAnn.

Occasionally, there are blurring of lines – especially in Savannah, a small town. In a partner’s meeting at my law firm a number of years ago, we were discussing something and our managing partner turned to me and said, “What do you think Tunie?” I found out later that he and my parents have mutual friends. I used to worry that someone would call our receptionist and ask for Attorney Tunie.

And then there are a few variations of Tunie. My college roommate calls me “Toon”.  I am Aunt Toon to my niece and nephew.  After I repeatedly took all of their money at the poker table, key members of the men’s basketball team at Princeton called me “Toon-Monster”.

My first lawyer boss called me “Lee.”  Surprisingly, he is the only one that has ever called me that.  It used to make me laugh as it very much fit his personality.  He was always in a hurry and it always came out “Lee!”  Despite that, it never felt like he was being short or unkind to me; I think the use of the nickname softened it.  Maybe he did that on purpose….

You may have noticed at the beginning of this post that I was a “junior.”  I have had many males tell me that it is “wrong” to name a female “junior.”  That statement always made me mad.  My parents could have named me the fourth if they wanted to; junior was very logical as I was the second one with that name – and the first one was my mama.

For years in my legal practice, I would receive letters addressed to “Mr. LeeAnn Williams, Jr.”  Again, this would make me mad.  I really wanted to ask those people – “so, a male LeeAnn is more normal to you than a female Junior??”  C’mon.

When I got married, I took my husband’s name and, thus, lost the “junior”.  I don’t have to miss it though, as one of my law partners has called me “Junior” for fifteen years – passing me in the hall, in partner’s meetings, at the grocery store, etc.   And it always makes me laugh.

The final nickname is a little hard to explain.  When my older brother was thinking about colleges, he seriously considered the Naval Academy.  At some point in that process, I found out that the Naval Academy midshipmen were called “squids” and started calling my brother “Squid.”  In return, he called me “Squid” or “Squidlet” (I guess cause I am a smaller squid than he is?).  The nicknames stuck, even though he did not go to the Naval Academy.  To this day, we will greet each other with a “Hey Squid (or Squidlet)”.

So, to recap, I regularly answer to LeeAnn, Tunie, Toon, Aunt Toon, Toon-Monster, Lee!, Junior, Squid and Squidlet.

Sounds kind of confusing, doesn’t it?

I love them all.

To me, using a nickname is a sign of affection. So forgive me, please, if you are family or friend and I butcher your name into some sort of nickname.  I am only doing it because I love you.