February 19, 2001

Journal Entry 12

Nicknames

I can’t even count how many nicknames I’ve had throughout my 18 and a half years of life. Only three of them immediately come to mind when I think of my nicknames, though. My first nickname was Karly. My parents gave me this nickname and it is what I went by all the time until 5^th grade. The majority of my extended family members still call me Karly. I like this nickname and some of my friends have even started calling me Karlie (with an alternate spelling). Around the time I started going by my full name again, my oldest sister Sarah decided that a good nickname for “Karleen” was Kaly (pronounced like Callie). She and our other sister, Beth, both started calling me Kaly all the time. When I started doing things on the Internet, I used the name Kaly for my email addresses and chat names. From there, many of my friends started calling me Kaly. Even my parents call me Kaly now, so much that it sounds weird if they don’t. I would say that it’s my favorite nickname. However, I really like KalyAnnaMariaLouisianaWeitzel just because of how silly it is. I believe that was also given to me by Sarah, although I’m not sure where it came from. I haven’t been called that in quite a while, though. I wasn’t even called it much when she first thought of it, but it was unique enough to stick with us. In informal relations with friends and relatives, I prefer to be called Kaly; however, in more formal settings and when I’m just starting friendships, I prefer my full name.