I get this question almost every time I meet someone new. In high school, it was to the point where if a teacher paused during role-call, I just raised my hand and said, "It's me."
Say it with me now:
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "That "Mou" looks fancy. I'm going to say it MOO, like a cow, because that is clearly how it is said." But no. Don't be tempted by that smiling U. It's trying to trick you. So let's say it
One more time:
One more time:
There we go. That's better.
But what does it MEAN?!
Well, I can tell you that it is, without a doubt, French. I think at one time it may have been spelled Jean-Mougin but when the fam moved over to the States they changed the spelling and we've always said it the other way ever since.
As to what it means, tell me if you figure it out. Despite having slept soundly through three years of high school French, I somehow never managed to picked up its origin. I'm sure I could research it online, but I probably never will.
I feel your name pronouncing pain. This is one of many reasons my byline is 'Folly Blaine' and not my legal name, which has a big, scary Greek word in the middle.
ReplyDeleteFolly Blaine is a pretty solid byline.
ReplyDeleteI thought about having a separate byline for kids' stories. Something crazy like "Runesprocket Fizzcrackle", but I don't know about the complications of publishing credits with two separate bylines.
Also, I'm not a gnome.
I heard -- but did not experience, at least I don't think I have -- of an editor who refused a story because the author's pen name was stupid. That made me nervous, but so far only one editor has asked me about my crazy name so I don't think it's affected my submissions.
ReplyDeleteThat said, lots of authors publish work under separate bylines to differentiate themselves across categories so I don't see why that would be a problem, as long as you always identify yourself in your cover letter and manuscript with your legal name. Kristine Kathryn Rusch comes to mind. Nancy Kress is another author who does that -- she writes young adult under a different name.
I can't speak to the gnome issue.
Your Grandma Jeanmougin always said it either was Jean the Merchant or Jean the Miller. I myself always thought it was Jean the Merchant because it sounds closer to Jeanmougin.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Jeanmougin too, though it's not my last name -- but it's the name of a maternal great-great-grandmother. I'm descended from André Jeanmougin who was born about 1637 in Amblans et Velotte, Haute-Saône, France.
ReplyDeleteIt's only my opinion, but I think 'mougin' might be a corrupted version of the word 'moulin' which is French for 'mill' OR a corrupted version of 'Moulins', a commune in central France, capital of the Allier department.