What's in a name, Craig?

What's in a name, Craig?

I grew up hating my name.?I distinctly remember begging my parents to change my name to Steve --as in Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man, not Stone Cold Steve Austin, the pro wrestler—but they never gave in.?My disdain for my name started when I was about five years old. ?My brothers both had cool little license plates with their names on them that they got on our family vacation to Geauga Lake Park that they got to hang off their bike’s banana seat.??But before I even spun the retail display that held all of the license plates, I knew what I would find with my name on it—nothing.?Sure, there was Greg—the Brady Bunch was all the rage—but never ever a Craig.?Not on a license plate, not on a key chain, not on coffee mug. I should note that it didn’t matter that I didn’t have any keys and didn’t drink coffee, the slight was still real and heartfelt.

To pile on, just before kindergarten, a new kid moved into the neighborhood and guess what??His name was Craig, too.?He was tan, with dark hair, an amazing artist, he had a big German Shepard named Duchess—and he even went camping with this dad! My father, a WWII veteran, disavowed me of any notion that we would ever go camping.?“I went camping,” he would say, “In Italy.?From 1942 to 1945. I’m never sleeping in a tent again.” So not only was I not even unique because I was named Craig, I wasn’t even the coolest Craig on my own block! The shame of it all.

By high school, I got to a good place with the name Craig. ?I learned that it was a name of Scottish lineage. It’s derived from the Gaelic word creag, which roughly translates to “rock” or “rocky.” It also comes from the word “crag,” which describes a steep, rugged cliff that makes for a stunning sight on the Scottish coast. From that perspective It sounded semi-tough. And by high school, all I wanted to be was semi-tough.

By college, I’d embraced the uniqueness of my name.?Even though that same Craig from my childhood neighborhood went to the same college as I did (we also went to the same grade school and high school together), I liked my name more, as over the years I’d been keeping a mental list of all the cool Craigs I’d met or heard of.?There was the Craig in my dorm at Kent State who was from outside of Detroit and played bass in a band.?There was Craig Elho, of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Or actor Craig T. Nelson. Even people with the last name Craig made the list, like Jim Craig, goalie of the Miracle on Ice Olympic team, and eventually, James Bond himself, Daniel Craig (yeah, turns out not too many famous Craigs).

But it wasn’t until I landed my job at Eaton that I came into my full Craig-ness.?Here, the name Craig carries a different level of reverence.?Mention the name Craig, and Things. Get. Done. ?For those of you who don’t know, Craig Arnold is the CEO of Eaton.?And because of the chair he occupies, his given name is often used by itself.?Like Madonna.?Or Pele. It’s use carries weight. At Eaton, “Craig suggested you take a look at this,” really means, “Please give this your full attention.?It shall not fail.” ?Here, my head is on a swivel, because I have never in my life been in a place where my name (our name) is used so often.?

I have to admit, working in a place with a Craig as a CEO could have its advantages. ?For example, if one of my co-workers on a project wanted some special consideration or to ensure a timeline was met, they might mention in an email, casually, ambiguously, that “Craig wants this done,” which of course, I did, and our sincerest apologies if you mistook that Craig for the Craig. ?Of course, I could never do this, because I’m not the sort of person who would speak or write in the first person.?If I were to write, “Craig wants this done,” it must surely mean the big Craig, because who would talk about themselves that way, right??

So ironically, even though I’ve come around to owning the name—my name--, in all its glory, it still has no actual advantage for me.?I’m still occasionally called Greg. I still can’t find a bicycle license plate or keychain or coffee mug with my name on it, even though I have many keys and drink coffee by the gallon. But at work, at least Craig (the name) gets respect, which is nice. ?Don’t get me started on Coffey.

Becky McDermott

Executive Director & Yoga Teacher

1 年

Love this! 2 comments: 1) I now tell people they can remember my name by "OMG Becky" OR "Becky with the good hair", otherwise, they are on their own for help remembering. 2) No one was happier that "Karen" came on the scene than "Becky". Hope you have a great week -- I look forward to your next post! :)

Jennifer Zick

CEO of Authentic? | Fractional CMOs who help growing businesses Overcome Random Acts of Marketing?

1 年

Hey Coffey. My maiden name was Fudge. We could write a whole piece together on that fun. ?? But at least I could find “Jennifer” on every piece of swag. Most common girl name of my generation!

Elton Mayfield

Author | President @ ER Marketing | B2B Marketer | Speaker | Results Focused | Strategist | The Brand BuildER

1 年

Awesome post Greg :) . How about having an an extremely famous name that you can only find merchandise at an elton john concert. I’m named for my grandfather not Reginald BTW Great to catch up last week.

Chris Schermer

President/CEO @ SCHERMER | ANA 2024 B2B Agency of the Year, Finalist

1 年

OMG! I too wanted to change my name to Steve, in honor of the $6M Man! No joke. I even practiced the signature - Steve Schermer. No wonder we get along!

Tom Timon Jr

Licensed Sales Producer at Allstate

1 年

Wait a minute. So, all these years I could have been calling you Rocky? Rocky Coffey. I like it!

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