Baby Names

I don't really get the Katie thing. I mean if you TELL people to call you Katie, you're only going to get called Katherine every now and then. I'm Jennifer and EVERYONE calls me Jenn or Jenny (my family calls me Jenny and people I grew up with, only). Even if I hated Jennifer, I wouldn't feel so stuck with it, like I would a name without nn options.

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I had a friend whose mother named her after a porn star. I wish I remembered the porn star name, but I don't. When my friend was 12, her mom told her where her name came from and my friend got so upset that her mom let her pick her own new name. She named herself Heather Paige and her mom had it legally changed for her and she's gone by Heather since then.

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Even though people call you by your nn, all of your official documents (passport, license, insurance), etc. have your legal name, right? If I hated my name as much as Katie did, I would probably have it changed too just so I wouldn't have to see it on everything.

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I understand what you mean. However, there was never a time, ever, that anyone called her Katherine. And, especially after finding out that your own mother hates your name, I can understand wanting to just make it what everyone calls you anyway.

I understand what you mean about keeping a longer name, though...it gives you a lot more freedom for nicknames. We call her Kate and just K sometimes, but she's pretty much Katie through and through.

I think Katherine is pretty...I don't understand the hate!

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OMG! I would have swiftly made a change as well! And she picked a great name, especially considering that she was 12.
At 12, I would have gone with probably Clarissa or Blossom or Alex Mack (all favorite TV shows of mine at the time). And then I would have had to change it AGAIN later. =)

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Well I think there will always be someone out there who just hates their name... you can't get around that. I'm just saying AT LEAST she had nn options. Some people are stuck with a name they hate and they have to just call themselves something completely different. Most people (if Katherine is anything like Jennifer) will say to you, "Hi Katherine, do you prefer to be called something else?"

I get that she hated it, but it just seems nit-picky to me. But if she hated it, then whatever, I'm sure she's happy now that she doesn't have to be referenced by Katherine every now and again.

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I'm not sure if she picked her new name all by herself, but I like it too! :)

Alex Mack! That would have been great!

My cousin's name is Clarissa (born in the early 80s). She goes by Cocoa... I think because her younger brother couldn't say Clarissa when he was little so, Cocoa it is!

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This is true. But I don't think you really look at those documents THAT much, but if you hated it I suppose it would be a burden.

It would be a burden just to change all that shit though too. XD

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HA! When you said nit-picky, you nailed it on the head. Katie is a VERY particular person, with very specific likes and dislikes. Some (including me, shhh) would even call her a snob.

Amazing what you can learn by something like a name! ha!

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Haha, well then that makes sense! To each their own... I mean who would have thought you could go SO HORRIBLY wrong with a name like freakin' Katherine? It's a classic name that always seems "fail proof."

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It would be worth it if you're OCD like me. Ha, ha!

Changing your name does suck. I had the worst time when I got married. My last name is Schulze (and it's pronounced with T sound at the end). No one can EVER spell it right, not even my own mother after three years! When I went to the SS office to get my new SS card, I made sure to spell it out, letter-for-letter and have the guy repeat it back to me, letter-for-letter.

What was on my SS card when I got it a few weeks later? Shultz. Are you kidding me? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I was so annoyed. Biggest pain ever.

Oh, and some of my favorite misspellings have been Schultze (get it all in there!) and Sholts.

Edited Date: 2011-06-03 02:18 pm (UTC)

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LOL wow that sucks! I'm in the process of changing my last name right now and it is a pain. I went from one kind of odd last name (Wiedel, which NO ONE can pronounce right, they always say "weedle" and it's pronounced like "why-del") to Morovic (which even within the FAMILY people pronounce it differently--I say "More-oh-vic" and others say "Muh-row-vic"). Uh.

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Ha, ha! I mispronounced it! I said "weedle" because that's what they teach you in German: pronounce the second letter in any ie/ei combination. I would probably say "muh-row-vic" too. I just screwed up all your names! :(

I have a friend with the last name Geyen. I always want to say "gay-in" because that's what it looks like to me, but it's pronounced "guy-in". Fail.

Edited Date: 2011-06-03 02:22 pm (UTC)

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Oh, I can SO relate. My married last name starts with an Sh, but is German-sounding (I will say Shaffer, which isn't it, but protects my anonymity hehe).
So everyone...EVERYONE makes it Sch, no matter HOW many times I spell it out for them.
I've taken to saying "My last name is Shaffer-S-H-A-..." all in one breath so that I can interrupt them before they write that pesky c!

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I always try to spell my name out, too. But I HATE it when they interrupt me, because five second later they ask me how it's spelled. Well, moron, if you wouldn't have interrupted me you would know how it's spelled! :P

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I too said Weedle (actually, Veedle bc I too speak German) and Muh-ROW-vic in my mind. =(

But both names sound nice with both pronunciations!

I DID get GUY-in right though! And I've never seen that name before.

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Luckily the "Muh-row-vic" pronunciation isn't THAT weird or different--Wiedel being pronounced like "Weedle" was always annoying (although you're right, it totally makes sense, I even took a few years of German). Even at my High School graduation my principal got it wrong when announcing my name. He said BOTH my names wrong. My full name is Jennifer Neva Wiedel (pronounced like Jennifer (of course) "Nee-va" "Why-del") and he said it like Jennifer "Neh-vuh" "Weedle." That was a bummer. My whole family was like wtf.

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That is a major WTF moment. He should have taken the time to confirm pronunciations of any students' names he was at all unsure about!

I went to a wedding last weekend where the DJ couldn't pronounce the new happy couple's last name. It's polish, and the spelling is a bit confusing. It's pronounced Gra-BAR-check. The whole night, he kept introducing the GARBAGE-checks. Not kidding.

People, people. When you are going to be publicly announcing others...take the time to learn!

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LOL OMG GARBAGE-checks is making me laugh so hard.

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My husband's middle name is Wilhelm. People always same Wil-helm... but it's pronounced Vil-helm. :) His dad was born in Germany and his name is Wolfgang - Vulf-gong, but he likes to go by Wolf.

I don't know how! I guess my brain says, "Gey" should sound like "Hey" so "Gey-in". *lol*

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Oh boo! :( Didn't they have pronunciation cards at your graduation? That really stinks!

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This is too good! :-x

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It's one of those things that, I'm sure in the years to come, the bride and groom will laugh about. But you should have SEEN their faces when they were entering the ballroom and being called garbage. Classic!

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kjerlandsen.livejournal.com

All throughout my first pregnancy, my son was going to be Ezra. I was young (16/17) and everyone gave me these awful looks when I told them the name. About a month before he was born, I was having serious doubts about the name. I was then leaning towards Caleb, but not completely sold on anything.

While in labor, I was given Demerol, which is an opiate. I was high as a kite when he was born and declared him to be Lukas. Which is a name I never liked. Every Luke I've ever known has been a tool. My now 11 year old goes strictly by Lukas. For a while, I called him Lu, but he recently informed me that he doesn't like that.

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