natasha maria worswick
I really like my middle name but I never use it. Not sure why but it just fell away at some stage in my life, much like my full first name. Only when in trouble do I get called Natasha. Otherwise, Tasha, Tash, Nats, Taccy.
My parents decided that my mum would be allowed to choose my name if I was a girl, and my dad would get to choose if I was a boy. (I’d have been called Jonas - and Milo was very nearly called this but he just didn’t look like one.)
My mum went to see West Side Story at the theatre while she was pregnant with me, and she fell in love with the main character Maria. It was the first musical she ever saw on stage and was completely captivated by the story, the dance and the music. She did want to call me Natalie, after Natalie Wood who played Maria in the movie version, but didn’t like it enough. So Natasha was similar enough to work for her. Maria became my middle name as homage to the character.
I always knew the name was important to my mum as I remember her singing “Maria” to me since I was a small girl. She’s a bit of a soppy one, and I know that the film still makes her cry.
