December 1, 2007

Dear Piper,

I love your name and I'm thinking of naming my baby Piper. I'm worried about kids making fun of the name. Did kids make fun of you and if yes did it bother you?

--Kim

Dear Kim,

Viper, sniper, hyper, diaper, griper, wiper. Did kids make fun of my name? Yes. But kids will make fun of anything that's different about another kid. In hindsight, I'm glad to have been name Piper, though, because it was the easy target...had I been named Dawn (the runner-up name my parents were considering) then the kids would have probably made fun of my unique physical characteristics: the big mole that used to be on my nose, my lack of height, my badunk-a-dunk. So, my name kind of saved me.

As an adult, I have to say, I love being a Piper. There are no pre-conceived notions about what a Piper should be. A Tiffany should be girlie. A Kate should have a good head on her shoulders. Candy, well, she's gonna spend a lot of time on her knees. But when you have a name that comes without a stereotype, you get to make it your own. It's the ultimate exercise in creativity. So please, go right ahead and bring another Piper into the world.

--Piper