Baby Girl
by Robin MacDonald-Foley
Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII (image on postcard) Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1854. Painting in the Louvre, Paris.
My parents and relatives carried family names over generations, some choosing to name their babies after saints. I have two first cousins named Joan, one is younger than me, the other older. Aside from Joan; Mary and Monica were popular girl names in our family. There were also four Roberts, which included my dad, brother, and two nephews. I became Robin Joan MacDonald. Robin suits me well.
Sometime during my adolescent years, my mother told me about Joan of Arc. And I often wonder if she wanted to name me after her? I later learned this heroine had multiple names, her birth name remaining something of a mystery to this day. The name Joan became part of my identity, and I like that my mom thought to tell me about her. Maybe I would be a fearless leader, a rebel, a famous heroine some day!
It was my dad who wanted to name me Robin. But I never asked why. These type questions were not important in the life of a teen. My dad and my brother are both Robert J., although they have different middle names. And as Robin Joan, I became an R.J. as well. Robin, derived from Robert, is both feminine and masculine. I’m often called Rob, same with the many Roberts in my family, although most of them go by Bob or Bobby.
It wouldn’t be until I was an adult that I’d learn I came home from the hospital without a name. It was a surprise to see my name on my birth certificate as Baby Girl MacDonald. I can’t recall exactly when I went for a copy of it, but that’s what it said. Receiving the small paper document without a proper name is a memory that I won’t soon forget.
After all these years, I’ve developed a fondness for the name Baby Girl. I met my stray cat in 2017, and it took two years for her to warm up to us. I named her Raven at first because she was a black cat and full of mystery. We don’t know how long she was on the street, but she isn’t any more. After a while I began calling her Baby Girl. I just can’t help it.
