Monday, October 1, 2007

What's in a Name?

How Mom and Dad named me:
  • Nicholas - Dad has always liked the name Nicholas, and Nick Hurley has a nice ring to it. As my godfather-to-be Ed says, "Nick Hurley is the kind of guy who not only shows up to help you move at 7am on a Saturday, but he brings coffee and donuts with him." Mom liked it too, and they started calling me Nick pretty much as soon as they found out I was a boy.
  • Sean - One of Dad's best friends is named Sean, who is also going to be my other godfather. It's an Irish name, a heritage Dad's proud of, and it's also the name some other friends of his, including a friend of his from work.
  • Christian - One of Dad's other best friends shares one of Dad's middle name, Christian. (Funny enough, he has a son named "Christian Nicholas.") Also, Mom's middle name is Christina. Dad has four names, and they thought it would be a nice tradition to pass along.
So it turns out that my first name "Nicholas" is derived from the Greek "Nikolaos", which translates roughly to "victory" (nikē) and "people" (laos), or "power to the people." Guess guess where my favorite place to hold my arms is?Nicholas Sean Christian Hurley - how could I be anyone else?

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