What's My Name?
My birth certificate says it’s Maurice L. Hirsch, Jr.
Everyone calls me Bud.
My dad was Maurice L. Hirsch.
Everyone called him Maurice.
Very few call me Maurice, but I do answer to it.
The suffix of “Jr.” can cause computer database confusion as if it’s my last name.
It’s really long when I attach my academic degree to its end.
Some of my name badges are shortened to M. L. Hirsch, Jr. for lack of space.
My email addresses include two that are my full initials: mlhjr
I used my full name for everything I published during my academic career.
I have used my full name for my poetry to date.
It’s what I write when a signature is called for.
It’s what comes up with the most stuff in Google.
In one of my poems, “Accessory to the Second,” I discuss the whole “Jr.” thing and conclude:
• Yes, I know it’s not usual for a Jew to be named after someone who was alive at his birth.
• Even though Dad is gone, he’s Maurice L. Hirsch, not me. So, I keep the next-generation tag.
When I was a boy, I disliked my given name. Maurice was not what a guy was called in the 40s and 50s. I was always Bud Hirsch unless forced by some legal or parental reason to use my full name. As I grew up, I began to like Maurice. While I used it in business correspondence, around the time I went to graduate school I began to really like it as a name, its tie to my father, and its flow as a whole thing. Sure I was and am Bud to any and all, but my name is Maurice L. Hirsch, Jr.
Now I am faced with a different dilemma. My poetry coach says, with good reasoning and evidence, using my full name is just too long for editors. She asked me to choose between Bud Hirsch and Maurice Hirsch, to drop the middle initial and the suffix. And she asked me to register on some author sites with this new, shortened name. Given my protection and use of my full-blown name with all its length, two periods, and a comma, for all these years, changing this representation of my persona is hard.
I chose Maurice Hirsch, the other too informal for me for a poet’s/author’s name. I guess I’m Maurice Hirsch in any case and it’s no disrespect to or ignoring of Dad to be that name with no qualifiers. But only for professional reasons.
Everyone calls me Bud.
My dad was Maurice L. Hirsch.
Everyone called him Maurice.
Very few call me Maurice, but I do answer to it.
The suffix of “Jr.” can cause computer database confusion as if it’s my last name.
It’s really long when I attach my academic degree to its end.
Some of my name badges are shortened to M. L. Hirsch, Jr. for lack of space.
My email addresses include two that are my full initials: mlhjr
I used my full name for everything I published during my academic career.
I have used my full name for my poetry to date.
It’s what I write when a signature is called for.
It’s what comes up with the most stuff in Google.
In one of my poems, “Accessory to the Second,” I discuss the whole “Jr.” thing and conclude:
• Yes, I know it’s not usual for a Jew to be named after someone who was alive at his birth.
• Even though Dad is gone, he’s Maurice L. Hirsch, not me. So, I keep the next-generation tag.
When I was a boy, I disliked my given name. Maurice was not what a guy was called in the 40s and 50s. I was always Bud Hirsch unless forced by some legal or parental reason to use my full name. As I grew up, I began to like Maurice. While I used it in business correspondence, around the time I went to graduate school I began to really like it as a name, its tie to my father, and its flow as a whole thing. Sure I was and am Bud to any and all, but my name is Maurice L. Hirsch, Jr.
Now I am faced with a different dilemma. My poetry coach says, with good reasoning and evidence, using my full name is just too long for editors. She asked me to choose between Bud Hirsch and Maurice Hirsch, to drop the middle initial and the suffix. And she asked me to register on some author sites with this new, shortened name. Given my protection and use of my full-blown name with all its length, two periods, and a comma, for all these years, changing this representation of my persona is hard.
I chose Maurice Hirsch, the other too informal for me for a poet’s/author’s name. I guess I’m Maurice Hirsch in any case and it’s no disrespect to or ignoring of Dad to be that name with no qualifiers. But only for professional reasons.
posted by Bud Hirsch at 12:12 PM
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