How Radical Ralphie Got His Name
When I first introduced my little Boy Fashion Blogger: Radical Ralphie, I shared the story of how it all came to be and how he very effectively branded himself Radical Ralphie. His blogging name aside, I am often asked how both of my kids got their names. They do have somewhat unique names for this modern generation of children, so I will explain.
Ralphie’s older brother Archie is named in full Archer James Herling. Their father, Jeff, comes from a family that loves to hunt. I was all about the name Hunter to honor this family tradition. But as often happens when new parents are deciding on a name, disagreements ensue. Jeff had a bad name association with Hunter…you know how that goes, you once knew someone with that particular name and they were complete morons and you will forever think of that moronic status when you hear that name. So, it is natural that you would not want to name your child after a moron. This naming business is very intimidating work. I mean, the child has no say in the matter, yet we can torment them for the rest of their lives with one bad decision. (Which I did, by the way, but I will get to that in a moment.)
We began tossing around names that had a hunting association and we settled on Archer, Archie for short. Because little old man names are really cute on babies. His middle name, James, came from one of Jeff’s dear friends who committed suicide and it was a heart warming way to honor the memory of his friend.
And then came boy number two. My father’s name was Ralph. Ralph Frank Montoro III to be exact. When my younger brother was born, I fought so hard with my father to name him Ralph Frank Montoro IV. My father was not having it. His exact words were, “Over my dead body are you naming my son Ralph.”
Fast forward a lot of years later, my father passed away in 1995, and we have boy number two on the way. We had briefly considered the name Ralph for Archer, but we quickly dismissed it. We just weren’t feeling it. But now we had one little boy with a little old man name and Ralph seemed like the perfect choice for Archie’s little brother. So over my father’s dead body, just like he said, I named his grandson Ralph. And then I laughed and laughed. However, it turns out the joke was on Ralph. Because his momma sometimes doesn’t think ahead. Wait for it…
Ralph is named in full Ralph Joseph Herling. His middle name Joseph came from our next door neighbor. We had moved into our first home just before Archie was born and the loveliest couple, Jeannette and Joe, lived next door. They were in their 80’s and probably the best neighbors we have ever had. Unfortunately, Joe had a stroke and passed away just a few weeks after we brought Archie home. His wife, Nettie, adored our little boy. So to honor her husband, Ralph has Joseph for a middle name.
Are you still waiting for the joke on poor little Ralph?
Take out the middle name…Ralph Herling.
Did you get it yet?
I didn’t see it until his first birthday, the poor thing. I named my child Puke Puking. Maybe this is why he torments us! It’s a payback and paybacks are hell.
Anyway, names are quite a fascinating thing, in my opinion. And I do love when a name has a story. And when a blog post has a connection (Ralph is wearing a hunting outfit inspired by his brother Archer). He decided that all of his camouflage (pants, top, and boots) were the perfect combination for his new red plaid jacket thrifted from Classy Kids, our local kids’ consignment shop. Because he wasn’t radical enough…now my kids supports thrifted fashion in the best way! He is very frugal with his money so thrift shopping is totally his jam.
Do you have fun name stories? I would love to hear them.
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.
Shop Ralph’s Outfit…
Outfit Details: Pants-Old Navy / Top-Target / Boots-Walmart / Coat-Classy Kids (Old Navy brand-Thrifted)
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
20 Comments
Nancy
I don t know what Puke Puking is but I loved the story! He is quite a model isn t he!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you, Nancy! So the word “puke” is slang for vomiting. Other slang words for vomit are ralph and hurl. So his last name Herling sounds like hurling, or vomiting, or puking. I guess I could have said Vomit Vomiting. But you maybe didn’t know that ralph and hurl were words that also mean vomit in American slang.
xoxo
Shelbee
Tamar A Strauss-Benjamin
Love the outfit, kiddo! Such great meaning behind their names!
I know someone whose name is Aviv Maayan (2 hebrew names) but translated they mean Spring Spring (season and the body of water)!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Tamar, thanks so much! I love that Hebrew name…there is something sort of refreshing about the Spring meanings.
xoxo
Shelbee
LuAnne Rowsam
My first two children hold family names Eliza Jane after my great grandmother and mom, Aaron David after my brother and his A’s father’s. Fast forward to 16 years later, divorced and remarried to what has become my best friend we decided to have a child together. I had my two children from my first marriage and he has 3. Their names in this order give us our son Marte, if it was a girl it was still going to be Marte. Mark, Aaron, Ricki Tom and Eliza. Do you see it?
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Gah, LuAnne, I love this! You are a very clever and creative woman, my friend. What a special meaning behind your son’s name! Thanks so much for sharing with me. See you Thursday, I hope!
xoxo
Shelbee
mireille
That is so funny about his name but thankfully most kids won’t think about it! Love his outfit once again! My boys have cute pairs of camo cargo pants but the have yet to wear them this year. Still sweats around here!
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Mireille! I agree, I don’t think too many kids these days use the words ralph and hurl to mean vomit or puke. So at least he has that going for him! He will wear his cargo pants, but Archie will wear nothing but sweatpants.
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
I have nothing as humorous as that. However, when I was named, my mom wanted to call me Michelle, and my dad wanted to honor my mom by naming me after her. So they decided that my first name would be Suzanne (my mother’s name) my middle name would be Michelle, and they’d call me Michelle. It wasn’t much of a problem until computerization. No way to put S. Michelle like I did on paper forms. So one day, I was kind of ribbing my dad, “You couldn’t have just changed the names around? Michelle Suzanne sounds just as nice and still would honor mom.” His response? “I was 19 years old. Give me a break.” LOL!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Haha, Michelle! That is a super cute story and it is very funny. See what I mean though, naming babies is really intimidating! My parents were certain I was a boy and I was to be named Michael, added to the hundreds of other Michaels in our family. When they were surprised with a baby girl, Michelle it was because they had no back up plan. But my father started calling me Micki from the day I was born because I looked like some little bald comic strip character from the 70’s whose name was Micki. To this day, my entire family calls me Micki.
xoxo
Shelbee
jodie filogomo
I would never have put that together with his name. But as I always say…we are so much more than our names…haha!!!
XOOX
Jodie
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Ha! Thanks so much, Jodie! Have a fantastic day, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Laura Horton
Love seeing pictures of your little model and he has quite the taste in style! Thanks for linking up with The Style Six!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Laura! He does love being the center of attention!
xoxo
Shelbee
Claire
Lovely post. His outfit is great. Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at The Wednesday Link Up.Hope to see you tomorrow for The Weekend Link Up 🙂
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you so much, Claire! He loves being the center of attention!
xoxo
Shelbee
Alice
I do isn’t know either to laugh or cry when you said, “over his dead body!” Lol. Great sorry but I think Radical Ralph is a suitable name for him. My kids were both given names from movie stars, Mila Reece: From Mila Jovovich and Reece Witherspoon and Evelyn Naveen: middle name comes from Naveen Andrews, an actor from the TV show Lost which we were binge watching at the time.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Alice, you were supposed to laugh, not cry at the reference! LOL. I deal with all of life’s tragedies with a big ole side of humor! I love that you gave your kids movie star names and such pretty names they are!
xoxo
Shelbee
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