I used to hate it. My parents had a son before me, and he died, and I think they were still grieving when I was born; his name was Julio. You see the problem? Sharing a name with a sibling you can't hate because you've never seen them, but he took my name, he ruined EVERYTHING...
I've grown to like it well enough since, but for quite a while as a very little girl I wasn't a fan. I didn't want to have to share.
I'm Katherine Jill but my mom's intention was always that I be called Kate. When I was little I wished do hard that my name was Sarah. When I was in elementary school I loved Nora for myself, after a character in a book. In middle school, we moved & I decided not only to go by my full name but to spell it Catherine...no idea why! In high school, I became Kat and it stuck for some friends. Just after high school I really fell in love with Kate. It's who I've always been to my family and really just feels the most like me.
Alicia. But I hate that everyone says Alisha, when it's pronounced Alissia. (yes, I know some people pronounce it the other way -- I don't, and I get sick of arguing the point with people who tell me I'm wrong!!)
If I could have any other name, it would be Catherine or Elizabeth. Something that's easy to spell and easy to pronounce. I also love the name May.
Went by Angie until high school. Most people shorten my name to Ang. My name story - parents were going to name me Nichole, but my dad's cousin named her daughter Nichole. Angela was a last minute choice because they had to give me a name before they could leave the hospital with me :o)
I like my name, never wished for another one. Born in 77, and only ever had one other Angela in my grade at school.
Melinda.Hated it when I was young because everyone around me had more common names. I remember telling my Mom that when I turned 18 I was going to change it to Mindy.
As an adult I love it and dislike when it is shortened to Mel or Linda. I think I like the way it came to be as I was supposed to be Winifred and Mom threw down the veto shortly after having me. She then took her name and my dads name and picked letters from each until she came up with Melinda.
I love it and always have because it just fits me. I couldn't think of any name that'd be better for me, even though I always had loooooots of trouble with it.
In Germany, the name wasn't very widely known until a few years ago. People expected me to either be Asian or a guy (it's a unisex name here) when they heard it.
As I said, it was a more or less unusual name up until a few years ago and I got teased about it a lot, but even then I loved it. To this day, I've only ever met 2 other Kims. I am more bothered by my three middle names: Sabrina Jennifer Blanka. I don't like any of them, least of all Blanka. Still, I wouldn't change them... they're part of me, and my parents chose those names with the best intentions and after lots of consideration. They thought that if I didn't grow up to like Kim, I could just choose one of my other names.
Also, my brothers name is Kai. So Kai and Kim, yeah I know, most people here hate matchy names. But seriously, it's about the only thing that connects us and makes people think we're siblings. Even if I didn't like my name, I wouldn't change it just because it ties me to my brother's name.
Stephanie Marie. I've never liked Stephanie, but I do enjoy being called Steph or jokingly called Stephy. I've never really picked out a name I'd prefer, but when I was in high school, my boyfriend at the time wrote a story with a character based on me and named her Sara, so I was stuck on that name for a while, but I've never really had a name that I'd really consider changing my name to.
I love Marie, though. I know people complain about it being a filler name or whatever, but I've always liked it. When I was in kindergarten, I was checking out some books at the school library and the librarian said in this kind of conspiratorial tone, "My middle name's Marie, too!" It seemed to imply that we were in a secret club, and I felt very, very cool. That's always stuck with me.
My last name is Coin. I hated that when I was little, from all the teasing, but now I love it. I've never met one (who wasn't related to me). Plus, Coin is a pretty badass woman in Mockingjay, whatever her flaws. I would have to be marrying someone with a very, very cool last name to consider changing mine.
I dislike my first name. I was always one of a million other Amandas, people were always calling me 'a man, duh' like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard. Plus, it really didn't mean anything to my parents. When I asked my mom why they named me Amanda all she said was, "no one liked Megan, which is what I wanted to call you." Now my name feels dated, you'll always be able to tell that I was born in the eighties.
Funny before I knew that my mom wanted to call me Megan, it was what I used to wish my name was. I think I had like 8 dolls that I named that. Then I had a whole procession of names that I wanted.
I love my name, even though it sometimes feels a little hard to live up to. I've never wished I had another name, it was and is a constant struggle to get people to not call me Mira or Amanda or anything that isn't my name. It's so much my name I could never give it up.
Adriana, no middle name. The no middle name part has always bothered me but I like my first name though a lot of people have trouble pronouncing it and remembering it. I'm always called Adrienne or Andrea.
I know an Alicia who pronounces it Alissia, and I've always really liked that pronunciation. I can understand your frustration with the constant mispronunciations, though.
My name's Kayla and I've never had a problem with it. I love it, even, especially when I remember I was supposed to be a Stephanie, and while I don't hate the name, a few bad experiences with Stephanies have certainly tainted the name for me a little. I imagine I'd think differently if I actually was a Stephanie...Not much of a fan of my middle name, though, which is Dawn. I just don't feel lime it's me; that and I tend to get a lot of sunrise jokes or 'That's an old lady name!' when I tell people about it, which got old really quickly.
Michelle Adilfa. Given the option I wouldn't change it. Adilfa is my mother's name and I plan on using it as middle name for my (as of yet hypothetical) daughter. Adilfa is a name from a local legend in the tiny town my mother was born in.
My full name is Catherine Christina. I always wanted my first name to be Christina because it seemed much more young and fun than Catherine. Catherine always seemed like such a "big" name to me.
I had a teacher when I was 9 that called me Kate and an aunt that called me Katie, but I couldn't figure out how they got those from Catherine even though I liked them. I thought they were wrong but it did get in my head that I could use a nickname, so I started going by Cathy and eventually Cathee (which I've used for the past 10 years). Now I wish I had stuck with Catherine but nobody calls me that except my family.
Other than the nickname I never really put that much thought into what I'd prefer to have been named but every once in a while my mother will tell me she wishes she had named me Emma, Grace or Ruth. Recently she told me Millicent nn Millie. Love all those names and wouldn't have minded being called any of them but I always tell her "Don't worry, you still gave me an old lady name"
Growing up, I hated being the 5th Jenny in class. I've always loved my middle name even though people often pronounce it wrong. When I was a kid I always wished I was Alexia nn Alex... don't know why! Ha.
My mom was considering Ruth, Caitlin, and Rose. All are pretty, but I think Ruth and Rose would have been amazing. Caitlin is pretty but it's in the Jennifer category since I was born in 1989--lots of Jennifers and Caitlins!
Not particularly, no. It's certainly not a name that I would ever use. I'm really of two minds about it: on one hand, I do really like having an uncommon name, and I never went to school with another one and that was actually cool. On the other hand, almost every teacher I've ever had has pronounced it wrong at some point, and being a kid and having your teacher say your name wrong and having the other kids laugh...not fun.
Not really. Jerika was the only girl name my mom came up with, so it's not like I've considered other things. The only thing I've ever wished is that I'd been a boy, haha, because my dad picked out the name I would've had if I'd been a boy and it is much, much cooler (Braddock Seamus O).
I'm Jodie Marie. I was named after a dog on a detective programme just after I was born (throughout the pregnancy they thought I was a boy so they struggled to find "the perfect name". Marie was after my mums middle name and my great grandmother, Maria. The name they'd chosen was Adam John. They'd also considered Joshua John. Both of which I love, but are used by other family members now. Other names they'd considered were Abigail and Jessica. I like my name. I always have. Its not too common and it kind of fits me I guess. For a while I choose to use the pseudonym Abby Knight. I adore Abby and it's what my husband and I would have named our daughter had our last name not been Abbott. My sister is Sophie Rebecca. I chose the first name (and it's still my absolute favourite name). Rebecca is what my mum actually wanted to call her. Had she been a boy, my mum wanted to call her Joshua or Aaron (well she spelled it Aarron) and my dad wanted James/Jimmy. I much prefer James to joshua or aaron.
I've always loved my name. I think it's beautiful, and it's always felt like the right fit for me. Even though Emily has always been very popular, I've never felt like "one of the Emily's." In fact, I didn't even meet another Emily until fourth grade, and then a couple more in high school, but we hardly ever shared classes. One time (and only one time), I was one of three Emily's in a class and I ended up being "Emily Star" because we had name tags and I dotted my "i" with a star. :) I've never worked with another Emily either. Currently, I'm employed in a county-wide library system with 18 branches, and I'm the ONLY Emily in the entire system! My middle name is a combination of my grandmother's names: Valeda + Patricia = Valecia. Pronounced Vuh-lee-sha. I really like it and I like that it's unique, but I have always been glad it's my middle name, not my first name, so I don't have to deal with mispronunciation. I get enough of that with my last name, which is Bolam.
I've never really wished to have a different name. I've always loved names so I've experimented with different names when I was younger and playing pretend, or when I got a bit older and was imagining myself into fantasy lands/stories. But I've never wanted to actually change my name.
Jessica Nicole. I hate how common my name is, which is why I'm trying so hard to pick an uncommon name for my kiddo!
I went by Cherie a lot - it was my online username and most of my close friends these days know me from then, so they alternate between Cherie and my real name.
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Date: 2012-08-28 10:46 am (UTC)I used to hate it. My parents had a son before me, and he died, and I think they were still grieving when I was born; his name was Julio. You see the problem? Sharing a name with a sibling you can't hate because you've never seen them, but he took my name, he ruined EVERYTHING...
I've grown to like it well enough since, but for quite a while as a very little girl I wasn't a fan. I didn't want to have to share.
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Date: 2012-08-28 11:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 11:35 am (UTC)If I could have any other name, it would be Catherine or Elizabeth. Something that's easy to spell and easy to pronounce. I also love the name May.
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Date: 2012-08-28 11:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 12:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 12:04 pm (UTC)Angela Nichole
Went by Angie until high school. Most people shorten my name to Ang. My name story - parents were going to name me Nichole, but my dad's cousin named her daughter Nichole. Angela was a last minute choice because they had to give me a name before they could leave the hospital with me :o)
I like my name, never wished for another one. Born in 77, and only ever had one other Angela in my grade at school.
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Date: 2012-08-28 12:07 pm (UTC)As an adult I love it and dislike when it is shortened to Mel or Linda. I think I like the way it came to be as I was supposed to be Winifred and Mom threw down the veto shortly after having me. She then took her name and my dads name and picked letters from each until she came up with Melinda.
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Date: 2012-08-28 12:30 pm (UTC)I love it and always have because it just fits me. I couldn't think of any name that'd be better for me, even though I always had loooooots of trouble with it.
In Germany, the name wasn't very widely known until a few years ago. People expected me to either be Asian or a guy (it's a unisex name here) when they heard it.
As I said, it was a more or less unusual name up until a few years ago and I got teased about it a lot, but even then I loved it. To this day, I've only ever met 2 other Kims. I am more bothered by my three middle names: Sabrina Jennifer Blanka. I don't like any of them, least of all Blanka. Still, I wouldn't change them... they're part of me, and my parents chose those names with the best intentions and after lots of consideration. They thought that if I didn't grow up to like Kim, I could just choose one of my other names.
Also, my brothers name is Kai. So Kai and Kim, yeah I know, most people here hate matchy names. But seriously, it's about the only thing that connects us and makes people think we're siblings. Even if I didn't like my name, I wouldn't change it just because it ties me to my brother's name.
TL;DR: Yeah, I like my name :>
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Date: 2012-08-28 12:31 pm (UTC)I love Marie, though. I know people complain about it being a filler name or whatever, but I've always liked it. When I was in kindergarten, I was checking out some books at the school library and the librarian said in this kind of conspiratorial tone, "My middle name's Marie, too!" It seemed to imply that we were in a secret club, and I felt very, very cool. That's always stuck with me.
My last name is Coin. I hated that when I was little, from all the teasing, but now I love it. I've never met one (who wasn't related to me). Plus, Coin is a pretty badass woman in Mockingjay, whatever her flaws. I would have to be marrying someone with a very, very cool last name to consider changing mine.
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Date: 2012-08-28 12:37 pm (UTC)I dislike my first name. I was always one of a million other Amandas, people were always calling me 'a man, duh' like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard. Plus, it really didn't mean anything to my parents. When I asked my mom why they named me Amanda all she said was, "no one liked Megan, which is what I wanted to call you." Now my name feels dated, you'll always be able to tell that I was born in the eighties.
Funny before I knew that my mom wanted to call me Megan, it was what I used to wish my name was. I think I had like 8 dolls that I named that. Then I had a whole procession of names that I wanted.
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Date: 2012-08-28 01:20 pm (UTC)It means admirable.
I love my name, even though it sometimes feels a little hard to live up to. I've never wished I had another name, it was and is a constant struggle to get people to not call me Mira or Amanda or anything that isn't my name. It's so much my name I could never give it up.
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Date: 2012-08-28 01:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 02:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 02:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 02:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 02:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 02:44 pm (UTC)I had a teacher when I was 9 that called me Kate and an aunt that called me Katie, but I couldn't figure out how they got those from Catherine even though I liked them. I thought they were wrong but it did get in my head that I could use a nickname, so I started going by Cathy and eventually Cathee (which I've used for the past 10 years). Now I wish I had stuck with Catherine but nobody calls me that except my family.
Other than the nickname I never really put that much thought into what I'd prefer to have been named but every once in a while my mother will tell me she wishes she had named me Emma, Grace or Ruth. Recently she told me Millicent nn Millie. Love all those names and wouldn't have minded being called any of them but I always tell her "Don't worry, you still gave me an old lady name"
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Date: 2012-08-28 02:58 pm (UTC)Growing up, I hated being the 5th Jenny in class. I've always loved my middle name even though people often pronounce it wrong. When I was a kid I always wished I was Alexia nn Alex... don't know why! Ha.
My mom was considering Ruth, Caitlin, and Rose. All are pretty, but I think Ruth and Rose would have been amazing. Caitlin is pretty but it's in the Jennifer category since I was born in 1989--lots of Jennifers and Caitlins!
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Date: 2012-08-28 03:27 pm (UTC)Not particularly, no. It's certainly not a name that I would ever use. I'm really of two minds about it: on one hand, I do really like having an uncommon name, and I never went to school with another one and that was actually cool. On the other hand, almost every teacher I've ever had has pronounced it wrong at some point, and being a kid and having your teacher say your name wrong and having the other kids laugh...not fun.
Not really. Jerika was the only girl name my mom came up with, so it's not like I've considered other things. The only thing I've ever wished is that I'd been a boy, haha, because my dad picked out the name I would've had if I'd been a boy and it is much, much cooler (Braddock Seamus O).
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Date: 2012-08-28 03:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 03:48 pm (UTC)I do, yes. I prefer my nickname. It makes me vaguely uncomfortable to answer to my full name.
At times. I think when I was a kid I was in love with the name Melanie.
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Date: 2012-08-28 03:54 pm (UTC)I've always loved my name. I think it's beautiful, and it's always felt like the right fit for me. Even though Emily has always been very popular, I've never felt like "one of the Emily's." In fact, I didn't even meet another Emily until fourth grade, and then a couple more in high school, but we hardly ever shared classes. One time (and only one time), I was one of three Emily's in a class and I ended up being "Emily Star" because we had name tags and I dotted my "i" with a star. :) I've never worked with another Emily either. Currently, I'm employed in a county-wide library system with 18 branches, and I'm the ONLY Emily in the entire system!
My middle name is a combination of my grandmother's names: Valeda + Patricia = Valecia. Pronounced Vuh-lee-sha. I really like it and I like that it's unique, but I have always been glad it's my middle name, not my first name, so I don't have to deal with mispronunciation. I get enough of that with my last name, which is Bolam.
I've never really wished to have a different name. I've always loved names so I've experimented with different names when I was younger and playing pretend, or when I got a bit older and was imagining myself into fantasy lands/stories. But I've never wanted to actually change my name.
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Date: 2012-08-28 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-28 04:20 pm (UTC)I went by Cherie a lot - it was my online username and most of my close friends these days know me from then, so they alternate between Cherie and my real name.