The Name Game

image from art.co.uk

The Name Game

“Experience is simply the name we give our

mistakes.”--Oscar Wilde.

I have many names. They were\are me, and they

are not me. I had to grow into them, try them on

for size, tweak them--before discarding some. The

first name I answered to was Butch--a badass baby

nickname; all boy, all bulldozer. What’s left of my 

family still call me that.

In 1943, my mother was 15 and pregnant, and was 

forced to get an abortion. Continuing her rebellion,

at 16, she was pregnant with me. She dated a lot

of servicemen during the war. She managed to 

convince a soldier she was dating that I was his

spawn. Arnold Bryden was his name. They got

married before he shipped out. He named me

Arnold, after himself, with Glenn, after his brother,

as my middle name.

I was Arnold Glenn Bryden. Arnold is Germanic/

Englsh, from Arnuff--eagle ruler. Glenn is 

Irish/Scottish/Gaelic, from Gleann, meaning 

“valley”. Bryden is English for “near the valley”.

But old Arnie was a womanizer and wife beater,

who shot himself in the foot to get out of the 

Army. She divorced him after five years, and

I had a younger sister. She remarried within a 

few months to a sailor in 1949. His name was

Wayne Stilwell.

I became (Butch) Arnold Glenn Bryden-Stilwell.

Stilwell is an Anglo-Saxon name after a region

in Surrey. In kindergarten, I wanted to be called

Butch, but nicknames didn’t count. I would not

answer to Arnold, but I liked the sound of Glenn.

But old Wayne was an unstable bipolar alcoholic

with pedophilloic tendencies. My Mum divorced

him in 1952, adding a little brother to the brood.

In 1953, she married a dashing handsome bad

boy, Arthur Buttkus. He drove a 1950 Mercury

coupe just like James Dean. He rode a Harley,

wore leather jackets and engineer boots just

like Marlon Brando. But he made a good living

as a machinist, and turned out to be a keeper.

Buttkus is German, from Bootenmacher--boot 

maker. Old Art was not a saint, but he did adopt
we three kids. My name was changed legally to
Glenn A. Buttkus. I never did find out who my

real father was, or what his name was. I did 

find out from a DNA test that I am 68% Italian/

Greek.

“My name is Alexis Zorba. I have other names...

if you are interested.”

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub