What's up with your name?

"Where did your parents get your name?"
This is possibly the most asked question I get when I meet new people.

For most of my life, I didn't know the answer.  All I knew was that my name, Saxon, came from some book or some movie that my dad read or watched before I was born.  For at least 21 of those 23 years, that was the extent of my explanation.

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In the past couple years, I've managed to determine the name and basic plot of the film my name came from, a film called The Bay Boy.  I still have yet to watch this movie because it seems largely unavailable on youtube, netflix or other movie databases.  I've merely read a plot description.

The character I am named after is Saxon Coldwell.  I know she is the love interest of the movie, but I guess to know more I need to find a way to watch it!

Seems kind of sad when you're 23 and have never seen the movie that gave you your name.



I thought it would be fun to share that little tid-bit (most people are curious when they hear such a rare name as mine), and now I would like to offer some of the various misconceptions I've heard about my name.

Prepare to laugh.

A lot of people misspell my name.  It may seem easy, but alas, people here in Oklahoma have a tough time with it.  Here are some misspellings I've seen:

• Saxton
• Sexton
• Sackson
• Zach (The Starbucks barista was obviously confused on this one...)

My childhood (well, some people still think these are funny) nicknames were:

• Saxophone
• Anglo-Saxon
• Saxy (people thought it was funny because it sounds similar to sexy....NOT funny!)

People often ask me questions about the origin of my name, and more often make assumptions before they actually ask me.

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The most common assumption is that I was named after Saxon Math, a textbook publishing company here in Oklahoma.  Oddly enough, I'm probably worse at math than any person you've ever met.  I'm not joking.  The irony of this statement stings every time someone asks me if I was named after Saxon Math.  And since I was forced to use this textbook as a child, I stand as proof that it doesn't work.  Thanks, Saxon Math, for ruining my life.

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The obvious assumption many people make is that I was named after the Anglo-Saxons.  While they were pretty beastly and good at conquering things, I don't think that's what my parents had in mind.

I've encountered a few people who thought I was named after a British 80s hair band.  Definitely not, and I'm just at a loss for words about those guys.

On the note of people's assumptions about my name's etymology stemming from the Anglo-Saxons, they also assume that I am a man.  I receive so many emails at my job starting out with Mr. blah blah blah.  My motto is this:  if I am unsure of the gender of the person to whom I write, I specify no gender at all.  It should be everyone's motto.

That's all about my name!

Please, tell me about assumptions people have made about your name, or the story behind it!