I am just catching up with emails since my computer has been down for a bit. The name puzzle, where people were going by middle names instead of first names caught my attention. My mother goes by her middle name - Jean, because she does not like her first name, Helen. Her younger sister goes by her middle name - Maxine because she refuses to go by her first name - Bertha. She hates it. For years I only knew her as "Aunt Punkin", didn't even know what her real name was. My Mom's older sister goes by the name Pat, her first name is Eleanor and middle name is Marie......supposedly someone called her patsy when she was little and she started calling herself Pat. Jane H.