I was named for the moon.  Literally.  My parents, Betty and Chuck, could not agree on a name for their soon-to-be-born baby.  Each of them had names they liked but not one they could agree on.  While Mom was  pregnant with me, my parents watched men walk on the moon for the first and second times.  It was an exciting time for the United States and my parents followed the lunar landings with great interest.

My parents met Alan L. Bean shortly after his return from the Apollo 12 mission.  A family friend on Dad's side of the family, he expressed interest in the baby about to be born.  (That's me!)  He signed a photograph with this message:

Admiring their photographic souvenir at home, talking about the upcoming birth of their baby and browsing through a baby name book, my parents came upon the entry for Cynthia.  It said that Cynthia means moon goddess.  (Specifically, Cynthia is a Greek word and another name for Artemis.)   Inspired by current events,  both  instantly liked the name.

Nell is a family name.  Go many years back in the family tree and  you can find at least one woman in each generation with Nell in her name.  (I passed it on to my daughter as well.)  So, my parents named me Cynthia Nell.  What they didn't realize is that Nell, another Greek name, means light.   So my name literally translates into moonlight.  No wonder I would rather revel under a full moon than play under a hot sun!

If you're curious about my last name, James Catalano, go to our name and shield page.

Return to Cynthia's Page.