Dear Jackrabbit,
Hi. It’s me again. Your dad.
Today, I’m going to tell you a bit about your name–how you were named, and where those names come from.
John “Jack” Eric Reilly Teehan
Bit of a mouthful, eh? I’ve seen worse. Be thankful you’re not royalty. Some of those poor bastards have names a mile long. You having four names, plus a nickname, makes you interesting, but not obnoxiously interesting. We did you a favor, kid. Enjoy it.
As for your first name, John, you are named after both me and my father. My father was John Dennis Teehan, and I am John Dennis Teehan. No “Junior” or Roman numeral or other nonsense like that. My dad (your grandfather on my side) was named for his uncle John (more commonly known as Jack) who, I believe, was a respected member of the constabulatory in Cork City in Ireland. The name of Dennis came from another uncle of my father’s who was a police chief in that same city.
You might have been named John Dennis as well, but I thought the full name was getting a little worn out, and it would have been greedy of me to claim all of your name while it was your mother who did most of the work growing you.
As for the “Jack” thing, that was both of our’s idea. For me, I had always had a secret yen for being called Jack instead of John, but it never took. I can at least pass that down to you. For your mother, it’s a way to tell us apart in conversation. Or if one of us is in trouble, we know which one if she suddenly calls out my name or yours. (I’m kidding, of course about that last bit. She’ll only call your name because I plan to plant evidence that diverts my petit crimes to you. Sorry, kid.)
As for Eric, you are so named for your mother’s uncle, Eric Nielsen. She has another uncle named John, but we didn’t think John John was a good fit. Eric is a nice name, don’t you think? Has a kind of Viking feel to it.
Reilly might seem like an odd second middle name. Sorry abut that. That one is on me. You are also named for one of my oldest friends, Christopher P. Reilly. He passed away a few years ago and I thought this might be a nice way to help carry on his memory. I usually called him Reilly as opposed to Chris, hence the way we named you. Reilly was a well-liked comic book writer. In our younger days, we were in a band together called Gothic Snowtire. (See? Not even a month old and I’m already embarrassing you!) I could tell you a lot about Reilly–and I may at some point–but at least for now you know where that name comes from. Someday I may even let you read some of his comics–even the ones that didn’t (couldn’t/shouldn’t) get published.
Now your last name… Teehan… what about that?
Well, it’s an Irish name, also spelled Teahan and Tehan. The Teehans typically came from Co. Kerry in Ireland (which it probably why we like polkas) but were also known to hang about Co. Cork (where the Shea branch of the family is from).
The name itself, according to Ancestry.com means this:
Teahan Name Meaning. Irish (Kerry): reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Téacháin ‘descendant of Téachán’, a personal name probably derived from teitheachán ‘fugitive’.
I can confirm that information somewhat from what I remember my father telling me. I also recall researching it myself the old fashioned way (with books in a library) that the name is an Anglicized version of a longer word that meant “Dane”, thus implying that our ancestors were Danish settlers or invaders who got chased southward. My father even suggested that there was an additional meaning to our name that meant “sheep rustler”. I don’t know how true that is, but I imagine if you’re a people being chased across Ireland, you might have to steal a sheep or two to get by.
It’s not the most common of Irish of names, but there are Teehans all over the country and all over the world. If you take in the alternate spellings of Teahan and Tehan, there are even more. You ain’t alone, kiddo.
There are a couple of ways to pronounce our last name. Probably the most common and most Irish pronounciation is TEE-Han with an accent on the first syllable and a voiced aspirative H at the start of the second. I tend to prefer a softer pronounciation where the accent is still on the first syllable, but the H is less voiced and there is a kind of “glidal” in between, i.e., TEE-yhan. It sounds less like two distinct syllables. I’ve seen some people mispell it as Tian or Teeyan. They’re missing the H sound. Monsters that they are.
It’s a good name you have there, boyo. I would say it’s just the right length, with just the right variety of sounds, with just the right origins.
And that is the explanation behind your name. There are a lot of other names associated with your family. There are Sheas, Blakes, Holts, Lowerys, Holders, Froiseths, Neilsens, and a bunch of others.
Welcome to the world.
Cheers!
–Dad
