One of the questions I get asked a lot is …
Is Pinky your real name??
I also get asked these questions about my name
- Is Pink your favorite color?
- Were you pink when you were born?
- Was your pinky finger showing when you were coming out?
- Is your name short for Pinkerton? Pinkmeister?
Actually Pinky IS my real name! It is on my birth certificate. It is on my driver’s license. Pinky really is my name! It’s not short for anything. I don’t think I was pink when I was born, maybe the normal light bloody color (ewww) and I didn’t come out pinky finger first. Liking the color pink – well yeah of course!
So here’s the story behind it…
My mom named me after this actress/singer from the Philippines. My mom believed back then that if you name your child after someone you idolize, they will grow up and become what they are. BUT if that were true, I’d be the next J Lo. My brother would be the DEAN of a college, and my other brother would be….the DEVIN ….. Knight Rider’s boss?
Pinky seemed to be a common name in the Philippines. Not sure which Pinky she named me after, but I remember one of my bride’s father asked me if it was after Pinky de Leon because he was also a fan of her. I thought that was funny.
Growing up, I HATED my name! I was teased because of it….A LOT! All the way until senior year in high school. Seriously.
- Thumb
- Pointer
- Green
Or anything that rhymes with my name
- Pinky
- Stinky
- Dinky
- Borinky
- Kinky
Kids are mean!
I once asked my mom if I could change my name. I put a lot of thought into it. I told her I wanted to change my name to Toni or Brittany. I thought it sounded cool. She said if I still didn’t like it when I turned 21, then I can change it myself. I was looking forward to it!
When I started college, things were different. No one thought twice about it. They even thought it was cool and different. It was strange. I guess teasing in college would be childish. I even bumped into Paul Walker here once at Dave and Buster’s and asked for his autograph. He asked me what my name is and I’ll never forget it…he said ‘COOL NAME!’ It made me the happiest and luckiest person to have it! Because Paul Walker said so. It’s mine and its REAL! … my name…. PINKY! haha!
When I was thinking of names for my son, it was hard because I wanted a simple name that wasn’t an easy ‘target’. Have you ever seen that old SNL parody with Nicholas Cage and Julia Sweeney? They were thinking of baby names and Nicholas Cage kept tearing apart every name she thought of. I felt how ‘Azz-wee-pay’ felt and wanted to make sure we chose a good non-teasable name. Check out the video for that ‘Baby Name’ parody, it’s pretty funny…and you find out how they really pronounce ‘Azz-wee-pay’.
I ended up going for the name from my favorite TV show ‘Charmed.’ Cole…the handsome dreamy one. It’s safe right?!
On to now…. I thought having my name as part of my business name would be un-forgettable. I also wear pink most times…so it’s pretty easy to remember, don’t you think?
‘You know, that photographer….who wears pink…whats her name? Oh yeah Pinky’
So now you know … yes it’s just Pinky, and you can call me Pinky when we meet up. Just don’t start calling me thumb, unless you want me have a flashback episode on you. haha! I kid. Sorta.
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