Hello My Name Is ...

There's something you need to know about me: I have several names. Well, actually it's not all that many but there are guidelines you should know about when using my name. Before you get the 5 Rules of Donny's Name though, you need to know my names:

• My birth certificate name is: Donald David Vaughn
• My familiar name is: Donny Vaughn

Ok, now here are the 5 Rules:

1. When casually talking me, I prefer Donny. (or "Smooth Johnny" if you really want to make me feel special !)
2. On all my official looking kind of stuff like paychecks, bills, etc., I prefer to use the following name: Donald D. Vaughn
3. I will allow Donald David Vaughn to be used when necessary - like for my recent passport where it had to match my birth certificate but only if Rule #2 will not work.
4. I will not allow my formal first name to stand alone without the middle name or initial. In other words, no Donald Vaughn !! (Note: I actually spent 15 minutes on hold one time to change the name on a credit card I had years ago because it did not include my middle initial) There's something about my formal name that needs to middle name or initial to complete itself. Otherwise, it just looks "stuffy" to me!
5. I will not allow my familiar name to be mixed with my middle name or initial. In other words, no Donny David or Donny D. Vaughn! Yuck! Pew-wee!! It's a complete disaster of naming rules to mix formal with familiar in my opinion. Right now, I'm in the process of trying to change my social security card which has Donny D. Vaughn on it. I'm not sure what my parents were thinking back in 1968 when they did this to me! Of course, maybe they didn't know the rules yet!

Thanks for abiding by these rules !!! Nine days til we leave for Africa - can't wait !!

God bless you all,

SJ