Moron Names (More On Names)

I have one or twice addressed the matter of my name, Calder. I was, as you may recall, named after Alexander Calder, an artist of note. Having that as a first name made it even more distinctive than it would have been as a last name, and considerably more so than Alexander would have been as either a first or a last. It took some time to come to terms with the name, but I eventually became very fond of it. It still seldom appears anywhere, though it is a touch more common than it once was.

I have met another Calder (online, if that counts), which was an odd but not unwelcome experience. It being a woman made it more peculiar still, though it's hard to say that it ought only be a man's name considering it's primarily a surname in the first place. She appears on Facebook by a derivative of Calder presently, which makes it easier to take. It was rather jarring every time I saw it before, and I don't know when that was going to improve.

There's another unusual thing currently ongoing. My namesake has an exhibit at a museum here in Los Angeles. I'm planning to go at some point before it ends in the summer. What's interesting about the thing is that they have signs all over the metro area that just say "CALDER". That's a very strange thing for me. Other people have had to share their name with someone more famous, but I must imagine it's easier for them to take.

For me, it's very amusing and novel still for these other Calders to be out there in some fashion. I wonder if they will find it so when I go to the museum. I will certainly attempt to make something of my connection to the artist, and I will be just devastated if I find from some docent that many people have come along saying the same thing. I have always felt a need to be unique. Perhaps there is something in what they say about names making the people who bear them.