A President called “Mitt”?

With the 2012 US Presidential race apparently neck and neck with only one day to go, we wondered if the Contender’s first name could a factor in causing the electorate to decide one way or another.

Has anyone heard the name “Mitt” before? Is it short for something?

Wikipedia has this to say-

“Willard Mitt Romney – his parents named him after a family friend, businessman J. Willard Marriott, and his father’s cousin, Milton “Mitt” Romney, a former quarterback for the Chicago Bears. Romney was referred to as “Billy” until kindergarten, when he indicated a preference for “Mitt.””

Apparently then, the Contender could have opted for a variety of other self-selected names; such as-

Will Romney

Milton Romney

Bill/y Romney

Williard Romney.

Utilising the Theory of Names principles, we might have preferred the name “Bill” Romney. There again, “Bill” might remind voters of a Democratic President called “Bill.”

A President called “Mitt”? Are you having a laugh….