Reader mail

Here at the Nest we get all kinds of mail from our readers. My interns stay busy processing and responding to mail; some messages require a new blog entry, such as this one.

Curious question: a reader wants to know how my middle boy got his middle name, and what is the significance of this name.

The interns did some research and let me know that the meaning of this unusual name is "chaste". Well, I can tell you that is not why we picked this name for our second born.

You see, the middle name in question is Virginius. According to the "Think Baby Names" website, this name is not in the top 100 baby names. Surprisingly, it isn't even in the top 1000 baby names. Check it out here: http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Virginius

I say it's time for a resurgence of the name Virginius, a fine old southern name, almost as good as Atticus. And better than Septimus.

But none of those names would do for our son. You see, my mother's name was Virginia (Colussy) and when she died in 1981, we decided to name our next child after her. Was it our problem that the child was a boy?? It certainly wasn't my problem, as the mother doesn't determine the gender. We had no disagreement on the middle name, but I do recall a number of discussions about the first name. Paul got to pick that and I was uncertain about it until my grandmother told me that the first Colussy to come to this country was named Peter. So that made me happy. I like that family connection.

Peter Virginius Woody