The Story Behind My Name
Anyone ever wondered why I spell my name the way it is? Probably not, but I’ll tell you the story anyway.
The name “Bailee” is somewhat of a family name. To my knowledge, there is no one in my family with my name, but there are many that have “Lee” as a middle name. My grandma was Linda Lee (which is probably the most mentioned family member ever haha she was iconic), then we have my mom Sherri Lee, my little brother Brandon Lee and we even named our first family dog Barklee (yes, like the dog off of Sesame Street but with our own little twist). Hence the two “ee’s” at the end of my name instead of the more traditional “ey.”
For a long time, I really didn’t like or appreciate my name.
Story time: So I always thought I had such a plain and basic name. Bailee Nicole Thomas. Three first names. Three VERY COMMON first names. Anyway, one day I was sitting in my chemistry class junior year of high school, and I mentioned how plain my name was to two of my friends. I told them how they were all common first names and that “Bailey” was a super common dog name too. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, one of my friends said, “Yeah! My dog’s name is Bailey!” (Shout out to him for that boost of confidence 😉 )
Another funny story about my name occurred because of a tragic event at church when I was little. Growing up, my dad always told me that no one else spelled their name like me and that is why it was so cool! Of course I believed him! But one Sunday, a group of kids went up on stage because it was their first day at church (side note: that is absolutely terrifying, especially if you are shy at that age or any age for that matter !!). They were supposed to say their name and a fun fact or something like that. A little girl, maybe age 6, had the AUDACITY to say her name was Bailee…spelled with two EE’s!! I was devastated and very upset with my dad for the rest of the day. Lucky for him, I’ve always been so bad at holding a grudge 😉
Eventually, I began to appreciate my name. ‘Bailee’ doesn’t really mean anything profound or great…I think I would really have to search and “spin” any definition I could find to really get that dazzle. I’m pretty sure it actually means “bailiff” if I remember correctly…maybe I’ve missed my calling!! ‘Nicole’ means “victory of the people,” which most would think is pretty cool, but I’m just thinking, “WHAT BATTLE AM I GOING TO HAVE TO FIGHT IN?!” I’m not sweating, you are. And ‘Thomas’ means twin. My mom is a twin so apparently my sister and I have a really high chance of also having twins (I allocate that blessing to my sister — still trying to wrap my brain around having just one baby in my stomach let alone two). I also always call each of my siblings my “twin,” which really makes no sense since there are eight years between the youngest and oldest, but I guess that’s just part of my charm.
ANYWAY, I’ve started to really enjoy my name now. “Bailee Nicole” – it’s solid, don’t ya think? It’s also the name of my YouTube channel in case you were looking for an added boost of comedic relief in your life.
I think anyone that has read this now knows way more about my name than they bargained for, but I appreciate it if you stuck with me through this whole journey!! If you’ve read this far, comment what your name would be if you HAD to change it. Mine would be…well I can’t tell you because…you’ll find out when I have a daughter. But for the sake of this post, I would choose Coralee because I’m a Southern belle at heart, AND this way I can still keep the family tradition alive.
