a fun last name
Every time I've joined a new technology community, I get funny looks for my last name. There's always a few folks that are convinced I've picked a pseudonym in order to live through an alternate persona. It’s one of those things I’ve gotten used to and it gives me a pretty big smile as I watch folks try and figure out if I’m for real. Given this is the blogosphere, where we can’t see each other’s faces, here’s a bit more data on my last name.
Flaming is pronounced with a short a, (Flàm ing). Many incorrect spellings when pronouncing the short a (Flamming, Fleming, or Slamming are most frequent) so I'll often add 'spelled like Flaming' (said with the hard 'a' for clarity). The family legend for this name goes something like: originally the name was spelled Flamming but there was a feud in the family and a portion of the family dropped the 'm' from their name. I have no idea if it’s true but it’s not unheard of in other families as folks tell me they had something in their family like this too.
Of all the resources I’ve seen on my family name, What we know about the Flaming Family from ancestory.com plain rocks. The density on the map traces exactly the history of my family. Three generations ago, my family was concentrated in Oklahoma. Two generations ago, there was a big move from Oklahoma to California. Last generation, my father moved north from California to Washington specifically to work for Boeing. Thanks to my role at Microsoft, I remain in Washington with my family.
For those that remain unconvinced, that’s OK. Given the nature of the web, it’s completely natural to not trust anything on face value. I don’t mind that much really. I have mostly gotten used to
