Did You Notice my Name Changed?

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Don't worry, it confuses me too!

No. I did not get married and, no, I did not get unmarried.

"Maggie" has always been a nickname-- it's short for "Marjorie."

It's a bit of an unconventional nickname for Marjorie but it's traditional as "Marjorie" is the French version of the name "Margaret" (which is English-- and my spelling is the Scottish spelling, just FYI) so I'm totally allowed to use any of the nicknames associated with Margaret.

When I went into nails in 1992 I was 22 years old. For a long time I just went by "Marge" because it was really easy to tell people "Marge, like Simpson."

But what would peoples' first image be of a nail tech named "Marge" when they asked someone "who does your nails?"

Well the first image that popped into my head (in 1992) was Madge, the Palmolive lady.

Remember her?

I was a 22 year old newbie with lots of energy and passion for my new career. I was all about acrylic talons and loads of nail art!

The last thing I wanted people thinking of when they heard my name was a dish soap commercial from the 60s!

So I decided to go with "Maggie." Hoping it sounded younger, more fun, and more artsy.

It seems to have done the trick.

But how did my last name change? That's slightly more complicated:

Mom took her maiden name back when she got divorced, but she didn't want to pay to have my name changed so she never did.

I grew up using her last name and through a series of "things were different back then" circumstances with the Social Security Administration and a replacement SS card in my teens-- I ended up with her last name on all my documents...except my birth certificate.

So, in 2016, when my BFF and I decided to take a trip to Cartagena, Colombia (Like in Romancing the Stone-- we might be 80's girls) and I finally applied for a passport-- I hit a wall of post 9/11 Patriot Act bureaucracy that forced me to change all my paperwork back to my legal name.

For consistency's sake, I continue to use my known name (Maggie Franklin) as my working name (also, it's what I recognize and answer to,) but for legal reasons-- I am officially Marjorie Hare to the State Board of Cosmetology.