Little Dorothea

I've spent some weeks doing online searches. I didn't keep a record of every website I read, every phrase I searched on, etc. 

I wasn't doing this to make my case in the court of public opinion. I was doing this for MY edification, so this post is from memory and will few sources.

I always knew Doreen was potentially Irish in origin. It also can be attributed to being Greek in origin.

The Greek name meaning is gift and my father wanted four children, my mother told him "You will be lucky if you get two out of me." and I was a surprise package who arrived nearly 4.5 years after my parents were advised my mother was incapable of having more children. So I always assumed I was named "gift" in Greek because I'm a surprise package.

Historically, I read that the Irish name meanings included blonde and moody. I trend blonde but:

1. At birth, my hair was black.

2. My hair grows in brunette and bleaches out blonde from environmental factors, like sun exposure.

On my German mother's side of the family, I have several cousins who, like me, were blonde as children and turned brunette in adolescence. I'm the fairest of the three kids.

I don't know when I was named and issued a birth certificate. Sometimes, babies aren't named immediately at birth.

My child who has the same medical condition I have also had black hair at birth and it turned blonde after a washing or two. If I wasn't named immediately, it's possible my hair turned blonde after giving me my first bath but before being named and issued a birth certificate.

I've always been moody, probably because of my genetic disorder. My mother called me Shirley Temple as a little girl because of my blonde curls and sunny disposition -- when I wasn't channeling Wednesday Addams, my alter ego.

I recently read that the Irish name Doreen is most often an affectionate diminutive for either Dora or Dorothy. My mother's middle name is the German version of Dorothy.

The name meanings that readily come up when I search for Doreen don't typically talk about it meaning blonde and I'm seeing sullen listed in place of moody as the Irish meaning. If I specifically look for it, I can still find information indicating Doreen suggests a blonde child.

Doreen is my first name. Some big name actress I never heard of before who was a star when my father was young may be the origin of my middle name, Michele. Because I seriously doubt the explanation for Michele with one L is "Daddy was an ignorant farm boy who was too stupid to know to spell it with two Ls" given that he taught college ROTC at one time and continued to take GLEE well into his old age in taking a red pen to the grammar, spelling and punctuation of notes sent home by college educated school teachers with both his children and grandchildren.

My sister and brother both have Irish first names and middle names that aren't Irish. This suggests Doreen was chosen as an Irish name and supports the hypothesis that I was affectionately named after my mother and I'm "Little Dorothea."