Names

Do you use your given name or a nick name?Do you use a contraction of your name ? Really,you had little to say about either. No say in fact ! Hence,your given name.
I was given my fathers' name. Austin Bennett Reichart. A rather formal sounding name. My Dad never used that name and neither have I. He was always called Ben. I was little Ben. I still use Ben to this day. After all,it is my name. I can remember looking at some cards,similar to baseball cards,that had pictures of cars on them. One was an Austin Healy. My Mom told me that was my name,Austin. I learned how to spell that name from that card. I remember being somewhat fascinated by the fact I had another name. I continued however to call myself  Ben.
All through school I was know as Ben or Benny. Occasionally a teacher would call me Austin. I would correct her quickly and hope no one else heard. I didn't want to be Austin. I wanted to be Ben. Little Ben perhaps,but Ben. Like most boys I wanted to be my father. He didn't like the name Austin and so I didn't.
Then I joined the Navy. In the service you almost always go by last names. So for the most part I was just Reichart. Those that you formed a friendship with would call you by your first name. I always used Ben.
I'm sure some of those friends never knew my true name.
The other day I was thinking about all this and wondering how this came to be. Seems as though my father got his name from a friend of his father. His father was great friends with a man named Austin Bennett. I looked this name up in the U.S.Census records and he did in fact live next door to my Grandfather. This man went by the name Ben most of the time as well. So my Grandfather named his son ( second born) Austin Bennett Reichart. His first born son got his name,Elwood,so I'm undecided as to who got the better deal.
At any rate,my Dad was out when they asked my Mom what my name would be.She replied Austin Bennett Reichart Jr. So there it was. My father always said he would not have named me that but never offered any other name. His best friend was a George, maybe I should have been George.
I wonder if I would have been a different person had I used the name Austin. It wasn't a very popular name then but I hear it a lot now. My Grandson goes to school with at least two. I don't remember meeting any Austins until this occurrence. I tried to emulate being Ben. What if I tried just being Austin. I think it may work like the Emperors New Clothes. Well, a leopard can't change his spots now can he. I'm Ben,always will be. Maybe if I win the lottery I could buy an ascot,wear a blazer with a fancy emblem and call myself Austin. It is a matter of perception is it not ? But the question remains, why do your parents name you one thing and then call you another ? Happens all the time. Don't we all subconsciously form a judgement about a person as soon as we hear their name ? ie: Poindexter,Bart and Leslie.  Which one is the nerd,the cowboy or the girl ?
I have thought about going somewhere where no one knows me at all. I will call myself Austin. Make a fresh start. An interesting social experiment. Problem there is I need a time machine to develop the Austin persona.
It is fun to think about. I have no regrets in being Ben.