My name...
Monday, March 8, 2010 by Mac Senour
What IS in a name... well... I think we know how the rest of that goes. But my name is not rose...
My legal name is Robert and my legal middle name is McKee. Robert is my fathers name as well. My sister believes that it was pure ego that made him want to name me with his name. I'm not sure, I think there were several Roberts in the family tree so having one more wasn't unexpected. My mother believes it was tied to him wanting a basketball player for a son, so he could hear people cheering for "Bob Senour" and dream it's for himself.
I don't know and frankly I don't care about the reasons. My name is my name, simple as that. I certainly have had my fun with it and then I changed it...
I was Bobby growing up. My grand mother on my fathers side called me Rob from time to time. But most stuck to Bobby. I started in a new school when I was in second grade and the teacher asked all the new kids to write their name on the blackboard in big letters. I wrote mine, Bobby, and turned to tell the teacher. While my back was turned, the new girl next to me erased it. I called the teacher over to try to show her, but she didn't see my name so told me to write it really big.
I thought I had gone nuts, so I wrote it again, the girl erased it a second time. this time when the teacher came over, and didn't see my name, she asked me if I knew how to write it. I assured her I had written it... so I tried a third time. This time, I caught the new girl picking the eraser. I tried to stop her, but she was bigger and explained to me: "That's not your name". It me took until I was 21 to realize she was right.
1982, I was about to finish my first video game for a big publisher and the box people came to me to ask what name did I want on the front. I thought about it, and "Robert" seemed too formal, and at the time there were already two "Bob" game authors so I told them I'd think about it. My mother reminded me that weekend that she and my sister had liked the name Mac, from my middle name, and that I hould use that.
I went in the next day and forever changed my life by saying: "Use Mac on the box".
I often joke that I changed it from Bob because with my frequent use of chat rooms, I was only one typo away from having "Boob" as my nick name. That's not true, but its a good line.
I was always told that I had an uncle "Mac" and that's how the idea that my name comes from the name "McKee" which is my fathers mothers maiden name. I was told his first name was Francis, and no one would call a man that, so people called him Mac from his last name. I was also told that the reason for using my grand mothers maiden name was that she was the last of the "Mckees".
None of that is true.
My grand uncles name was George and there was a Francis but she was my grandmothers sister. There were 5 in the McKee family including a brother who has disappeared. He might have kids... I have no idea. But my grandmother was hardly the last of the family branch.
I never really intended for people to start calling me Mac, but once they saw it on the box it started a trend. When I changed jobs I put Mac on my resume so potential employers could call and ask for a reference for the right guy. I found out the hard way that once people get a name in their head they tend to keep it there.
The only problem I ever had was when my girlfriend answered my phone, and one of my long time friends asked for "Bob" and she said: "No one here by that name, learn how to dial a phone", and hung up. I called him back and explained to my friend that she didn't know I had gone by Bob...
Only once have I worked at business that another "Mac". There were actually 3 of us. After working there for a short time, there was a massive layoff, and the other two were laid off. I always call that "Seiko's Mac layoff".
I love my name, I have grown into it and I can't ever see myself as "Bob".
My legal name is Robert and my legal middle name is McKee. Robert is my fathers name as well. My sister believes that it was pure ego that made him want to name me with his name. I'm not sure, I think there were several Roberts in the family tree so having one more wasn't unexpected. My mother believes it was tied to him wanting a basketball player for a son, so he could hear people cheering for "Bob Senour" and dream it's for himself.
I don't know and frankly I don't care about the reasons. My name is my name, simple as that. I certainly have had my fun with it and then I changed it...
I was Bobby growing up. My grand mother on my fathers side called me Rob from time to time. But most stuck to Bobby. I started in a new school when I was in second grade and the teacher asked all the new kids to write their name on the blackboard in big letters. I wrote mine, Bobby, and turned to tell the teacher. While my back was turned, the new girl next to me erased it. I called the teacher over to try to show her, but she didn't see my name so told me to write it really big.
I thought I had gone nuts, so I wrote it again, the girl erased it a second time. this time when the teacher came over, and didn't see my name, she asked me if I knew how to write it. I assured her I had written it... so I tried a third time. This time, I caught the new girl picking the eraser. I tried to stop her, but she was bigger and explained to me: "That's not your name". It me took until I was 21 to realize she was right.
1982, I was about to finish my first video game for a big publisher and the box people came to me to ask what name did I want on the front. I thought about it, and "Robert" seemed too formal, and at the time there were already two "Bob" game authors so I told them I'd think about it. My mother reminded me that weekend that she and my sister had liked the name Mac, from my middle name, and that I hould use that.
I went in the next day and forever changed my life by saying: "Use Mac on the box".
I often joke that I changed it from Bob because with my frequent use of chat rooms, I was only one typo away from having "Boob" as my nick name. That's not true, but its a good line.
I was always told that I had an uncle "Mac" and that's how the idea that my name comes from the name "McKee" which is my fathers mothers maiden name. I was told his first name was Francis, and no one would call a man that, so people called him Mac from his last name. I was also told that the reason for using my grand mothers maiden name was that she was the last of the "Mckees".
None of that is true.
My grand uncles name was George and there was a Francis but she was my grandmothers sister. There were 5 in the McKee family including a brother who has disappeared. He might have kids... I have no idea. But my grandmother was hardly the last of the family branch.
I never really intended for people to start calling me Mac, but once they saw it on the box it started a trend. When I changed jobs I put Mac on my resume so potential employers could call and ask for a reference for the right guy. I found out the hard way that once people get a name in their head they tend to keep it there.
The only problem I ever had was when my girlfriend answered my phone, and one of my long time friends asked for "Bob" and she said: "No one here by that name, learn how to dial a phone", and hung up. I called him back and explained to my friend that she didn't know I had gone by Bob...
Only once have I worked at business that another "Mac". There were actually 3 of us. After working there for a short time, there was a massive layoff, and the other two were laid off. I always call that "Seiko's Mac layoff".
I love my name, I have grown into it and I can't ever see myself as "Bob".
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