“Oh Lord!” That’s what I think when I’m out in public and I hear somebody call me by my full first name. You surprised? Brooke is a shortened version of my name, which I don’t like at all. I’ve tried to make peace with it for most of my life to no avail. I think that is one of the reasons names and even nicknames fascinate me. Seriously, I love hearing the stories of how people have not only their names, but also their nicknames.
One example of this is my late mother-in-law. I knew this sweet lady as Sue. Family, friends, and neighbors always called her that. Naturally, I thought that was her actual name. It wasn’t. I think we were all were at a family gathering when somebody called her: “Lilian.” Being confused, I asked: “Why did you call her that?” Sue laughed and said: “That’s my real name and I don’t like it.” I almost asked why she picked Sue as a name, but I didn’t because I understood all too well not liking your name. After she passed, my sister-in-law Penny told the sweet story of how she came to be called Sue.
Before I proceed any further, Sue had Native American ancestry. Because of that she had beautiful large dark brown eyes. She had an uncle who said her eyes were so dark that they reminded him of the black in the middle of the flower Black-eyed Susan. Just in case, you’re unfamiliar with this flower, it has bright yellow petals around an almost black center
From that point on, he called her Susie. Soon, others were calling her: Susie. When she grew older, it changed to Sue.
“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM That I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Exous 3:13-14 (KJV)
This is one of my favorite scenes in the Old Testament. By telling Moses what to call Him, The LORD is demonstrating His eternal nature in that He was never created. He has always existed and He always will. Actually, if you think about it, it can be rather mind blowing. If you want to go further into this, look up how many times in the New Testament Jesus uses the phrase: “I AM.”
I asked my sister-in-law she got her name, which is Penny Sue. Of course, her middle name came from her mother’s nickname. As for her first name, it was a clever thought of her parents. When they were discussing names, they said that no matter how bad things became, if they named their baby Penny, then they could always say that they had a Penny. How cute is that?

Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.