My dad and brother's middle name is Pinkney. My brother was in Kindergarten before he realized his middle name was not Picnic (no kidding). Years ago I would try to comfort him over this name by saying a famous Colonial Era family had the same name. I said he was probably named for the great statesman of that family named Charles.
One day my brother called in a forlorn spirit. "John, the famous family spelled their name with a "c". That's not in dad's and my names." Oops. Found out he was right. So much for my theory.
This raises a question. How did Dad and Charles Jr. get their middle names? I found out Dad was named for Pinkney Puckett, the man who raised my grandmother after her parents died. He in turn was named for his Uncle, who was a twin. Those two boys were named Pink and Ruff. Yes, it's true. You can't make this stuff up.
Now I try to comfort Charles by telling him he should be grateful that our great great grandpa Puckett was named for Pink, not Ruff. I don't think knowing this helps Charles much.
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