By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
BEING a Smith means never having to spell your name.
Your surname, at least – Bannockburn’s Cherry Smith still has to tell everyone her given name is “like the fruit”.
Cherry and husband Andrew Smith are namesakes of what is still the most popular name in the Geelong region, according to the latest edition of the White and Yellow Pages.
Having enjoyed a more distinctive maiden name – Dorain – Cherry said the transition to becoming a Smith was “horrible”.
“I’ve gone from having quite an unusual name to the most common name in Geelong,” Cherry laughed.
“My first experience using my new name was picking up the wedding photos – they couldn’t find them at first because they didn’t know which Smith I was.
“Getting confused with other Smiths is a hazard. There are times I’ve regretted the change – I should have kept a hyphenated name.
“I’m lost, I’m less memorable now being a Smith. People can’t find me anymore.”
Cherry said being a Smith had never fazed Andrew “but he never had a choice”.
She said to add to the common name theme, Andrew’s mother was originally a Jones and worked at Brown’s Mensland.
“Thank God for Facebook – at least I retain a bit of identity there,” she said.
For the record, Wilson has just supplanted Jones as the second most common name in the region, followed by Williams and Taylor.
Anglo-Saxon names filled all top 20 places despite the region’s level of multiculturalism.
