Chris Christie.
Say it fast. Say it again. Say it several times.
The name is both alliterative and somewhat repetitive. And it works that way even when you say Christopher Christie.
It's a catchy name. You tend to remember it.
But you also may be wondering: What the hell were this guy's parents thinking when they named him?
That question is answered in the excellent new biography by Bob Ingle and Michael Symons entitled Chris Christie, The Inside Story Of His Rise To Power.
According to the authors, here's how it happened:
Chris Christie arrived a month ahead of schedule on September 6, 1962. A superstitious method of predicting a child's gender told his parents (William "Bill" and Sondra "Sandy" Christie) that they were going to have a girl. So, they had not focused on male names. But at the last minute Bill Christie suggested to his wife that in the event the child was a boy, they might name him after Bill's dad, James Christopher. This was also the name of Bill's older brother who became Chris's godfather. Still thinking she was about to deliver a girl, Sandy said "yes" to her husband's request.
But then Bill worried that his brother (whose wife was also expecting) might name his first child James Christopher as well and Bill thought that could be confusing. So, Christie's dad switched the order of the names from James Christopher to Christopher James. And that's how Christopher J. Christie came about.
As the story goes, it wasn't until after the name was chosen and they heard the name repeated that the parents realized they'd planted the monicker "Chris Christie" on their child.
Was it hard growing up with a name like that?
Well, for the answer to that question -- and lots of other great, inside stuff -- you'll have to read the book, available now in bookstores or at Amazon.
We highly recommend it!
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