How I Got My Name: Bryan Bertón Tanner

The following is an excerpt from my Mom's journal, two weeks before my birth:

I am due with my second baby in a couple of weeks and cannot wait to have another little person around- and also to be delivered of this 35 pound mass around my middle! If this one's a boy, we have decided on Bryan Berton. If it's a girl, we like Angela, Sabrina, Allece or Michelle- but we'll probably have to bring her home and try out the names for a week. This has been a very easy pregnancy. I didn't get sick at all until my 6th month -off and on I'd feel nauseous or lose my breakfast. At this point I feel like one of those 2 ton sea elephants. I have a very hard time getting in or out of bed and putting on or taking off shoes and socks.

One interesting observation on the activity of this fetus as compared to Heather: this one seems so gentle and mellow, I'd hardly k now anyone was there but for the frequent hiccups. In fact, I was very, very worried from about 3-5 months as I never felt any real stirrings at all! Heather, as I've noted, was not far from violent with her hands and feet. I wonder if this indicates anything about the actual future personality of our new addition? [sic]

Regarding the addition of the accent over my middle name, my entire family convinced me that my Mom's father (after whom I was named Berton) was an Indian chief.  His origin story was unclear, but as far I could tell, he was the son of a French trapper and Indian princess.

In reality, Berton Farley Jones was a flight instructor for the Air Force after the War, and then spent the balance of his career working for the FBI.  Since he needed a backstory, I suppose he figured he might as well tell a whopper!

BONUS THOUGHTS:

Learn about Q on Wikipedia.

If my Mom were a Trekkie, I think she would have wither named me Riker or Q, after the demigod/alien featured throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation.

“Judges have overturned a legal ban on science fiction fans naming their son ‘Q’ after their favorite Star Trek character. The parents, from Jamtland, Sweden, appealed to the Swedish Supreme Court after two previous hearings upheld a court order saying the name could cause the boy “mental anguish”. Appeal judges have now lifted the ban saying there was no proof the boy – now nearly one year old – would suffer because of the name.”