So, what’s a "greeblemonkey" anyway?
A few of you have asked.
You may know that both “greeble” and the ubiquitous “monkey” were Declan’s nicknames while he was in my belly.
But did you know that “greeble” is a word that Bryan made up? And that it is actually one of Declan’s middle names? On his birth certificate and everything?
It was actually a compromise.
Because, Bryan REALLY wanted to name our son with a noise.
Like ppppbbt. {squirting sound}
Because he always thought it would be awesome to lower the tension of the moment when you sternly call your child by their full name by having a sound in there.
JOHN MICHAEL PPPBBBTTT SMITH, GET YOUR ASS IN HERE NOW!
See? Can’t help but smiling.
As to where Bryan came up with the word “greeble,” I have no idea. You really have to crawl into my husband’s brain to understand that one – and I promise it would be a slipperly, sloppery, fantazmatron sort of experience – and you probably wouldn’t figure out where it came from anyway. Come to find out, it’s actually a thing… and interestingly enough, it has to do with special effects – but I promise you… 6 years ago, Bryan had not started playing with 3D at all and just pulled the word out his ass to put a nickname to the little bean growing in my belly.
Some members of the extended family were less than thrilled when they heard our choice. Which only made it more AWESOME.
So, yes, Greeble is really Declan’s middle name. Most people think it’s my maiden name when they see it on his forms.
If they only knew.
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I’m so relieved to have this information. I didn’t want to assume that Greeblemonkey was your last name–I didn’t want that for you.
I definitely used the “how will it sound when they’re in trouble” test for my guys middle names. I have to say I’ve been very satisfied with the result.
I have known you for nearly 5 years and just now did I know this! Absolutely wonderful tale.
That is awesome!!
We called Claire, “Nebulona Roku” before she was born. Our families were so upset with us for not sharing the “real” name we chose. They’d ask where Nebulona Roku came from, and we’d say, matter-of-factly, “Nebulona is the female form of Nebulon, and Roku is Japanese for the number 6. Duh.” Heeeeeeeeeee heeeeee. In reality, it came from inside my hubby’s brain, which is also a dark slippery place in spots. 😉
Nebulona Roku – that rocks!
Now *that’s* a story.
*This* post is the reason why I love love love reading your blog!
🙂
You could have done worse. Dave Barry did a piece a while back on Charles Gerba, a microbiologist who gave his son the middle name “Escherichia,” after Escherichia coli, the fecal bacteria. (He said if it had been a girl, she would have been “Sally Salmonella.”) “Greeblemonkey” sounds downright staid by comparison.
Here’s more on Professor Gerba.
My daughter’s name is McKenna but we’ve almost always called her Coco. And when I was in high school and I heard that Kurt Cobain had picked Bean as the middle name for his daughter I thought it was hysterical, so my daugther’s nickname is Coco Beans, which gets a lot of rolled eyes from family. We just tell them it’s because she was born in Hershey, PA.
Of course, it’s better than some of the other names that have been thrown around in the family like Stinkapotamus, Crabocerous, or my son’s favorite for EVERYONE: Ham Sandwich.
“Owen come pick this up!”
“Sure thing Ham Sandwich”
“Stop calling people Ham Sandwich!”
“Okay Ham Sandwich!”
and so it goes.
But Greeble is a great middle name.
Yes, the family not liking it would clearly just give he go ahead flag 🙂
i would have assumed it was your maiden name…
you guys are totally awesome 🙂
Melissa, it’s so funny you mention that, because “Bug” is the nickname the has stuck. Both Bryan and I call Declan “Bug” 9 times out of 10 – I never call him Greeble, and only sometimes call him Monkey. My mom calls him monkey more than I do. In fact, by the time I (re)named this blog (greeblemonkey was not the original name) – I came close to naming it Greeblebug, but it didn’t seem true to the original intent of the names we called him in utero. And we also had purchased the greeblemonkey URL right after he was born, so we had it already! 😉
My middle name is Ona…..
I think that it’s actually sweet…. I mean, you’re right… it takes some of the tension out of it.
That is such a great story. I’m Kellan, nice to meet you and the greeblemonkey!
I like how Bryan thinks!
Then again, I names my son Bryan … spelled the same too =)
Pfftttttttttttttb
What a great story. I love the whimsy of the name, and I think it’s fabulous that it’s one of your son’s real middle names.
One of my daughter’s in utero nicknames was Smudge. Named after her appearance on the early ultrasound. I had reported to my husband that I’d seen “a smudge and a flicker.” We haven’t called her that in a while, though…
Hey, welcome to you delurkers!!!
And Smudge! I love it!
that is SO awesome. i couldn’t help smiling. you’re right! you guys crack me up. 🙂
Holy Christ you guys are just too damn awesome for words.
I love it!!!
My husband (Mr. Lemony) really really wanted to name our son Declan!
I think “greeble” is one of those perfect words. There are just some words like that. You know what I mean!
Sometimes I call her peanut, but she thinks that the real name for penis, so there’s been some confusion in my house about that.
I love that mamma was worried about your last name!
Wicked Awesome!
We called the boys “lefty” and “righty” when they were inside of me.
Little lady didn’t really have an in utero nickname.
I love that story.
That’s awesome. My favorite nick names were the ones my father handed out. He and my mom had us when they were in college in the early 70s. My dad would come home from classes and watch Sesame Street with my brother and I. He loved the Twiddle Bugs so we all became some variation of a ‘Bug’. To this day, he calls me ‘Missabug’. Now that I think about it, it’s so cute I want to cry. I think I am PMSing. I need to go find some chocolate.
I LOVE it! I did always want to know.
If my son had been a girl, we were going to give her a middle name derived from the in utero nickname my daughter came up with (Ginger –> Virginia).
ha ha. I am loving all your stories.
The word ‘doppelganger’ comes to mind. Nathan wanted desperately to name one of our kids Pi or Infinity so their name could just be a symbol. Scary shit!
You guys are awesome. 🙂 We called Zoe, Zocon when she was in my belly. Daniel combined our choices for names (Zoe & Connor) and that’s what he got. Family & friends were a bit worried we were going to stick with it.
That’s adorable! And however he came up with Greeble, it’s a good one! It does sound like a surname!
great story!
Oh my word. That is seriously funny. And warped.
Wackado… I wouldn’t say hip.. demented maybe. 😉
I am not going to take any more sh*t for calling my son by his middle name . . . on purpose.
I, too, have known you for a long time and am just learning this little nugget! Knowing you though, it wouldn’t be right for Declan to have a normal middle name. He was meant to have that name! I’m not surprised. 🙂
BTW, Mia’a nickname is “Munch” (my mom started that – it’s short for munchkin).
Whew! That’s much better than anything my imagination could come up with… *evil grin*
Just when I thought that you and Brian could not possibly be any cooler or more hip…you go and share something like this. I’m in awe.
Nebulon Ham Sandwich. That would be a perfect name. Next animal we get is going to be called that.
I am so glad you didn’t think of that 6 years ago.
That is so hilarious! I love the whole naming your baby after a sound thing… and ooooh would it ever make my relatives mad! (even better reasoning to do it if/when I have kids of my own!)
Jules
House of Jules
lol – love this! it’s a perfectly brilliant name and an awesome strategy 🙂
Dude, That Pbbbt.. sound is the sound that Ralph makes to start his motorcycle. 🙂
We called our daughter “Pizza Hut” before she was born. In the midst of much foot dragging over selecting a name, she demanded a suggestion from me. Since she was keeping track of her maternity progress on a Pizza Hut calendar…