Sadie has acquired an impressive number of names, first and/or middle:
Sadie
Rose
Zephram
Veruca
Rory
Just
Shayro
Obviously there’s here given name, Sadie Rose, and I didn’t even include in the list our sometimes reversing it to Rosie Sade. There’s her own poor enunciation of iy we won’t let her forget, Shayro. And indeed, she thinks of herself not as Sadie, but as Sadie Rose, almost as one word.
Zephram Rose is the alternate name we dubbed her with ages ago. We joked about her inventing FTL (faster than light) drive. In the Star Trek universe, the guy who invented warp drive for humans was Zephram. What the heck, it could also be a girl’s name, right? Kind of like Leslie. Or, for that matter, Rory. The only Rory I ever knew was male.
Veruca is my name for teasing her when she is being a brat, from the spoiled girl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She hates being called that, seeming to know what the point is, even lacking the context.
Rory is what Valerie calls her. We have no idea why! Or where it came from. It’s so persistent, though, it verges on becoming a true alternate name in the family, and everyone knows who Valerie means when she refers to Rory. Despite being fully aware her name is Sadie. Too much watching of Gilmore Girls in utero or as an infant? It’s weird. So now I sometimes call Sadie things like Veruca Rory or Zephram Rory or Sadie Rory or Rory Veruca or Rory Shayro or whatnot. Or the entire string of them. Which makes her say “Just Sadie Rose!” So I joke that her name is Just.
Mostly, though, the whole Rory thing is a kick. Valerie is so matter of fact and unswerving about it. Maybe she had a sister that name in a past life, or expected to be born into a family with that name in it, or had a dream.