(no subject)

[googlebee-ohmi.livejournal.com]

all of us have different styles of naming and most have a long list of names they like - but what about our parents?  what names were your parents considering (for the opposite gender and for the gender you are) and why did they go with that name over the others?

my name is Lauren Julianne ... they had a really bizarre collection of names that they wanted to call me.  here are some of the final cuts!
- Kellan Sophie (I do not know why my parents had this as the final choice - I mean they just dont seem like that kind of couple!  I wouldnt of minded being Kellan - it wouldnt have bothered me.)
- Rita Taylor (oi - no idea why my dad wanted to name me Rita - I am so not a Rita)
- Sera Florence (ehhh it is ok but not what I would see myself as)
- Rebekah Lynn (I would have been one of a million other Rebecca/Rebekah/Becca/Beckys in school with me.)

if I had been a boy I was going to be either
- Michael Francis or Michael James (it would of been more likely the first because my mom didnt want anyone call me M.J.)

I am Lauren Julianne because my parents were watching Casablanca a couple nights before I was born and they were talking about Humphrey Bogart and my dad all of a sudden said that they were going to name me Lauren after Lauren Bacall - and that is what happened!  If my parents hadnt watched that movie I would be Kellan Sophie!
are you happy they chose your name they ended up deciding on or do you wish they had gone with another of their choices?

Comments

[sunshinefleur.livejournal.com]

my name is Samantha Trudy Jean (the reason for the two middle names is that my dad said I couldn't be named after one grandmother, it had to be both).

my mom had a list of about twenty names she considered for me, but the most serious contenders were Faith, Anastasia (nn Stacy), Victoria, and Deanna. my grandmother vetoed Anastasia and Deanna (Anastasia because it was too frilly, and if she wanted to call me Stacy she should have just named me Stacy, Deanna because it's her name and she hates it for some reason), and she decided against Victoria and Faith for some reason. I'm glad -- I can't stand the name Victoria, and while Faith is a beautiful name, it's so not me.
oh, and my Dad wanted to call me Jennifer, but my mom said hell no. lol.

if I had been a boy I would have been either Cole or Jacob. they decided on Cole on a Saturday after watching Days of Thunder, and I was born that Tuesday. (I asked once why they waited that long to choose a boy name; my mom said she just knew I was a girl.)

both of my brothers would have been named Victoria if they were girls, and my brother Matthew was thisclose to being Jacob as well. (she decided he didn't look like a Jacob, but a Biblical name was fitting because it was pretty much a miracle that they both survived his birth.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

I ended up with Jennifer Neva (born 1989) and my sister's name is Emily Egan (born 1981).

Jennifer and Emily are really generic, and she also liked Caitlin (no idea her spelling preference) and Rose (too bad she didn't name me Rose!). They chose Jennifer because if my father was going to be a girl, that would have been his name (back in 1964)... I wonder if Jennifer would have been a completely unique name back then?

Neva was my grandmother's name and Egan is my mom's maiden name. I LOVE NEVA and will use it on a future daughter. I like Egan but I think it's really masculine personally. I wouldn't mind it for a middle name on a boy.

If my sister and I were boys we would have been named Thomas Edward, or some variation of those names. Her brother was Thomas who died when he was 15 and her father was Edward who died when he was 49.

All in all, I don't mind Jennifer (most people call me Jenn). The only thing I don't like about the name is that I grew up with like 6 other Jennifer's in my class. And I adore Neva. So... not too bad.

[so-there.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how common it was, but my husband's aunt is a Jennifer born in I think 1963.

[snoglobel.livejournal.com]

I have an Aunt Jennifer (Jenny) who is about 50 now. She's Jamaican though.

[th3-unicorn.livejournal.com]

Names my parents considered were:
Jacqueline (nn Jackie, after Jcqueline Kennedy and looking for a J name, as my mom is Janis)
Megan (after the character in The Thorn Birds soap opera)
Stephanie (after my dad Stefano)
Shelly (my granpa suggested this, but I don't why)

I lucked out with Jessica, which was picked on a whim by my mom after going through her book of names :) she says she closed the book, and Jessica stuck out.

If I had been a boy, I would have been Gherardo (nn Gary) or Riccardo. They hadn't given boy's names much thought because their wishful thinking always pointed to a girl :)

[sarahness.livejournal.com]

My cousin's daughter is Rebekah Lynn, spelled that way, too. She's 7. :)

I was always going to be Sarah. My mom didn't bother picking out boys' names for me, because she "knew" I was a girl. Named after her best friend.

[googlebee-ohmi.livejournal.com]

my parents preferred the traditional Rebekah spelling - they didn't use that name on me (obviously) and they were going to use it for my sister but my aunt and uncle had a girl and they named her Rebecca (Becks) so they couldn't use it.

[eeangel44.livejournal.com]

My mom always wanted to name a daughter Emily and that is the only name she even considered with me. My middle name is my mom's grandma's name. My dad wanted to name me Stacey. I am very glad I did not end up with that name. If I was a boy they were going to name me Ryan Michael. My brother ended up being Daniel Alan and tha was about the only name thrown around except my mom did like Michael but she didn't want my brother to be referred to as Junior by my dad's family and he would have been. :P

[katie-oo7.livejournal.com]

My name is Kaitlin Elizabeth. They chose Kaitlin because it was so unique (eye roll, I was one of six in my grade)and was Irish in case people couldn't figure it out from my very Irish last name.

My parents were considering Helen, Katherine, Adrienne, Desiree, and Guinevere (which they claim was my brother's idea). My mom is still really sad my dad nixed Desiree for which I am forever thankful. Helen was a family name on both sides. Growing up I would always laugh when I saw Guinevere circled in the baby name book, but I think it would have been kind of awesome. If I was a boy I was going to be Dylan.

And for reference my siblings are named Michael James, Whitney Samantha, and Annalise (Mom's maiden name).

[katie-oo7.livejournal.com]

Oops I managed to forget my other sibling Ryan.

[googlebee-ohmi.livejournal.com]

my older sister's daughters are Caitlin and Elizabeth. I love both of those names ... weirdly my niece goes by Katie - with a K - haha.

[kilobites.livejournal.com]

My name is Natasha Cecelia. They were also considering Elizabeth, Christina, Charlotte and Anastasia. Elizabeth wouldn't have worked with my last name, Christina was the name of an ex-girlfriend of my dad's, so as soon as my mom found that out she took it off her list, I would have been fine with Charlotte, and Anastasia and Natasha are from the same name, so it doesn't really matter one way or the other. I definitely think I lucked out though. I really like my name--middle more than first--and it works pretty well with my last name.

If I was a boy I would have been Nicholas. Middle name probably would have been Peregrine. I like Nicholas, but Peregrine? Not so much.

[gaspardgroupie.livejournal.com]

Peregrine is cute, but probably only because it reminds me of the falcon. And LOTR.

[googlebee-ohmi.livejournal.com]

that is exactly why I think it is a cute name too!

[so-there.livejournal.com]

my mom wanted to use less-common names, but she failed for all of my siblings, lol. I have the least common name of the lot of us, and it's still *kind of* common. though I've only met a few in my life, I know there's a lot out there!

brothers: matthew, andrew, david
sister: emily
me: adrienne

I don't know what the boy names she was considering during her pregnancy with me were, but the other girl name was cecelia. which, I mean, it's an ok name, but sounds pretentious to me. I'm glad I got what I got. it suits me well :)

[googlebee-ohmi.livejournal.com]

my parents ended up failing with that too! They wanted to name my older sister Charley, I was going to be Kellan (obviously that didn't happen) and then from that point they went pretty normal.

my siblings are Kelly Marie, Lauren Julianne (me), Kristin Michele, and Jonathan Edward. very traditional safe names...

[alas-earwax.livejournal.com]

My name is Alayna Renee (1987) and my brother's name is Beau Daniel (1985).

Other names they considered for me:
- Alayna Noelle: I was born the day after Christmas and my grandmom is from France, which explains all of the French names. My mom actually was deciding between this and Renee and accidentally wrote Renee, haha. She figures it was meant to be and it sounds really nice with Alayna I think.
- Carly as a first name: I'm happy they didn't go with this. I really don't like it and can't picture myself as Carly at all.
- Forrest, if I was a boy. I love it, but I'm happy it didn't work out because I'd be teased mercilessly due to Forrest Gump.
- Gabe - not Gabriel, just Gabe - if I was a boy. I like this. It sounds good with Beau, who was born two years before me.
- Paige Noelle: I'm indifferent, but I'm glad they stuck with Alayna.

[perchedoutside.livejournal.com]

My name is Asia Lynn and I'm really happy they gave me a unique name. I really don't think I would like the name Asia if I had never heard it before, but I'm so used to it being my name that I love it. The other option was Dawn and it's just an awful name in my opinion. Lynn would have been my middle name either way so Dawn Lynn? Sounds so weird...

One of my brothers is Slade Cole and I think his name is horrible. It sounds so soap opera-ish to me. My oldest brother is Matthew Gene. What kind of name is Gene? lol

My parents are just odd and bad at the whole naming thing I think.

[mudinherblood.livejournal.com]

Are you asian at all? Just curious, haha. %3Pr

[gaspardgroupie.livejournal.com]

I'm Georgia Jacqueline.

Other names my parents considered
- Georgette, Georgine, Georgiana etc etc
- Harriet (gutted they didn't call me this, I love it!)
- Miriam (now my littlest sister's name)
- Katriona (my dad's family are Scottish)

My middle name is Jacqueline because that's my mum's name.

If I was a boy, I would have probably been George. Imaginative, I know!

My (non scottish) grandma was going crazy trying to think of Scottish names, to honour my dad's family. She came up with Keith. I am glad that my mum hated it.

[googlebee-ohmi.livejournal.com]

I also love the name Harriet ... but that is probably because when I was little I loved Harriet the Spy!

[freezemyazaleas.livejournal.com]

My parents were considering:
Stephanie
Blair
Marnie
Marley
Natalie
Marissa
Jacqueline
Emily
Brian or Neil if I were a boy

I got called Karlie in the end. But I was thisclose to being a Marissa.

[ifancylust.livejournal.com]

i'm hana jane (HAH-nuh, not hannah)! my parents also liked karen and emma. my mom's guilty pleasure was eureka and my dad's was euphemia. D:

if i was a boy i would have been aidan george. this was way before the huge aidan/jayden/etc trend. george is for my paternal grandfather. they also liked adam.

[jordle.livejournal.com]

My great grandmother was Euphemia Isobel but went by Bel.

[ifancylust.livejournal.com]

my dad wanted to name me euphemia, but call me effie.

[mudinherblood.livejournal.com]

My dad's chosen name for me was Ashley Elizabeth, which is what I got. I asked why they picked such a common name and he claims he had never heard of another Ashley at the time. v.v My mom's chosen name was Chelsea Marie, and as much as I hate Ashley I'm forever grateful that I didn't get stuck with Chelsea.

Anyway if I was a boy, my mom claims I was going to be Damien/Damon Christopher. Christopher would have been after my dad's brother that died when he was 21. I don't like Damien, but I love Damon. However, my dad claims that if I were a boy I was going to be Christopher Damon, or Christopher Michael.

Overall, I guess I'm happy that I didn't get named Chelsea or have the middle name MariPr

[pegasus2o5.livejournal.com]

My parents' kids:
Misty Lynn
Laura Elizabeth (me)
Amanda Michelle
Rachel Susanne
Christopher Randall

Lynn, Laura, Susanne, and Randall are all forms of our parents' names. They also considered Heather for Amanda.

Misty's name obviously sticks out stylistically; my parents spent their honeymoon at a lake cabin and named her after the mist on the lake. So even though she knows the name is a little silly and doesn't fit her at all, she stills like having that romantic family history in her name.

Amanda is the only one to not have either name a form of a parent's name. Instead, her middle name was the name of my dad's favorite gun! She's not very happy about that. :)

I like my name pretty well, except that they decided to call me by my middle name, so I've had paperwork problems and had to constantly correct people on that. It's a huge pain and I hate that they did that to me, but I like both of the names themselves. Laura is a family name--it's my mother's name and it was my great-grandmother's name. Elizabeth is the middle name of my honorary aunt, and also the name of a magic doll in a book my mom loved as a child. So yes, I'm partially named after a doll. :) I think it's cute, though, and I like being named after family as well.

I don't know why my parents chose one name over another, for the most part, except for Rachel. They were also considering Rebecca for her, but when she was born with a full head of red hair, they went with the more Irish-sounding Rachel. They gave her the middle name Susanne after my mom, Laura Susan, but my dad later said he wished they'd gone with the Irish Kathleen instead, because she has such an Irish temperament!

[hoochiehoops.livejournal.com]

if i was a boy i would have been kenneth earl jr. my dad like the name tara (tah-rah). my mom just alwaysa loved the name ashley and my middle name is noelle because i was born on christmas but if i hasn't been i would have been ashley marie or ashley elizabeth.

[brittmarie.livejournal.com]

My dad wanted me to be a Heather and I'm actually happy my mom said FUCK NO and went with Brittany. All the girls I know named Heather I have despised, except one.

They chose Jordan for a boy because it was my mother's maiden name.

[let-letitbe.livejournal.com]

My name is Hunter Michelle. Michelle was always going to be my middle name, but they were considering Trinity as a first name. I am SO glad that I wasn't named Trinity. I do NOT like that name.

[cremepuff.livejournal.com]

My mother knew from the start (somehow) that I was going to be a girl, so her and my dad never picked any boy names. As for girl names, they didn't have very many picked out, either--my mom was dead set on naming me Kathleen (after the Irish folk song 'I'll Take You Home Kathleen'). My paternal grandmother really wanted me to be Margaret Mary (after her and my aunt), but my mother wasn't having it! As much as I'd like to think my middle name Marie was a compromise, I suspect my parents used it simply because it was the Filler Name Du Jour of the 80's.

[babyjess8.livejournal.com]

My mum had two favourite names before she had us kids - Jessica and Matthew.

I was first to come along, and got Jessica. My middle name Maree is the same as my mum's. Other names she liked were Rebecca and Cynthia. Dad vetoed both. He liked Sarah and Jane. I'm fairly happy with Jessica. If I were a boy I would have been Matthew Kenneth, which is my deceased maternal grandfather's name.

My next brother should have been Matthew Kenneth (or Jaimee Lee if he had been a girl) but mum thought it didn't suit him. He got Jamie Kenneth instead. Strange, becasue my Dad's mn is James, but he doeesn't like that name so they went with Jamie instead. I'm fairly sure Jaimee Lee was for Jamie Lee Curtis :)

My last brother finally was Matthew. His middle name, Francis, is the same as my paternal grandfathers middle name. If he had been a girl he would have been Courtney Lee. I don't know where the Lee came from... I think my mum just liked it :)

[relevancedenied.livejournal.com]

my name is lyndsey ann, and up until my mom left my father mid-way through her pregnancy, i was going to be amber lynn (his choice, clearly). when my mother went into labor she had just finished watching a lindsay wagner movie on tv, saw the name in the credits, and loved it. unfortunately for me, she spelled she spelled it "lyndsey" and claimed for years that lindsay wagner spelled it the same way. well done, mom. she always told me that she never picked out a boy name for me, which is strange in that she didn't see a single doctor until she was in labor.

and a bonus- my boyfriend, andrew stephen, was almost harley david. his father had made a pact with his best friend that one would name their son harley david and the other jack daniel. andy's mom said hell no, but the other guy actually went through with it, and there's some poor kid walking around called jack daniel.

[serendipitous13.livejournal.com]

My name is Rebecca Michelle. If I had been a boy I'd be Adam. My mom also liked Miranda, but my dad didn't like it much.

My brother is Nathaniel Thomas. If he'd been a girl he would be Katrina Suzanne.

I LOVE my name and I'm glad they picked Rebecca over Miranda.

[hemlockheart.livejournal.com]

My Mom was a science major in college when she got pregnant w/ my sister and she wanted to name her kids after elements, like Hydrogen or Argon or something... awful, glad she didn't. My dad got to pick all the first names and my mom picked middle... my sister is Dawn Renee, he picked dawn because he thought of her as a new beginning, and my mom picked Renee 'coz she was taking French class and liked the sound of it. My brother died at birth, his name was Jason Robert, dunno why Jason but they liked the initials "JR", Robert was after my mom's childhood best friend. My name is Margaret Ann (Maggie) because both of my grandmas were Margarets, and Ann was my mom's aunt Rachel's middle name. I don't love my name, but love that it's after good people. If my Mom had picked my name by herself, she liked Sarah Jane which isn't really better, Sarah was pretty common when I was born ('82). They didn't have a boy name picked, I was high-risk so they had amnio and knew I was a girl early on.

[bluedano.livejournal.com]

If I'd been a boy my name would have been Karl, because my dad has a degree in Theology and wrote a book about Karl Barth. He held onto that name, but ended up with four daughters. :)

[littlem0tel.livejournal.com]

My older brother and sister got to name me, I always always referred to as George while my mum was pregnant and she was rather round so they always sung "Georgie is a rubber ball". I'm guessing they didn't know whether I was going to be a boy or girl.. So I got named Georgina Mary. Georgina from the above story and Mary is a family name (it's both my grandmothers middle names, their mothers middle or first names and so on..). The other options where Brittany Louise, Tamsyn.. and I'm sure there was one other. If I was a boy it was going to be Cameron James. Siblings are called Amberley Jane, Jonathan Craig and Alistair Howard. Howard is also family name as we originate from the House of Howard!

[cupcake-loveyou.livejournal.com]

My name is Taryn Alyson. My mom was gonna name me Alyson or Katy(thank god she didnt!!!) Sometimes I like my name, sometimes I don't. I think it doesnt really fit me but nothing else really does either :p My brothers name is Spencer Todd, which I love. My mom said if I was a boy, she would have named me Oliver Westen, I like the first name, not so much the second! If my brother had been a girl, she would have named him Aysha Nicole.