Comments on: Are you your name? What would be better?

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 02:28:58 +0000

If you ask him what he answers too, it’s “Moggie!” or “you Idiot!”

“hey you!”

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By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 02:28:05 +0000

also, The Boyfriend has 4 first names and a few last names because he was adopted several times under the odd English system and thus, has a few “official” names (plus, no verifiable date of birth! fun!)He also got married at 16 and changed his name and took his wife’s last name, so now, at 34, he can answer to Stephen, St.John, Simon, or Jeremey, and about 3 different last names.

It makes paperwork hard.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:08:06 +0000

Fun story, my mom couldn’t name me for days. To hear her tell it, pregnancy was something that just sort of happened to her and she hadn’t gotten around to picking a name out before that whole “birth” thing. Anyway, she’s in the hospital and it’s been a while and the nice doctors keep telling her they need to put something on the birth certificate. Suddenly “Imagine” came on the radio and “John!” flew out of my mom’s mouth and bam, I got named after a Beatle.

Considering that her other two choices where “Donald” and “Kirby” (thanks dad) I think I dodged a freakin’ bullet.

For what it matters, every Jennifer I know goes by her last name, middle name, or Non De Plume.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:27:50 +0000

I am quite fond of my name, particularly my last name, which is rare enough that I’m probably the only person with my first + last combination in the world. I can’t imagine ever changing it.

By: synaesthetichaze

synaesthetichaze — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:35:36 +0000

I am a Ryan. This is a terrible name, in my opinion, bland and vaguely effeminate. I would prefer something like Invincible King Evil. I could call myself Ike.

By: Josh Millard

Josh Millard — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:53:45 +0000

I know surprisingly little about lard-milling.

I’m pretty okay with being a Josh. There were a lot of us being born back in the late seventies and early eighties, which is a little vexing, but still.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:59:09 +0000

Brandon means “one from a lighted hill” and I did play with fire as a kid…

By: kangaroo

kangaroo — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:21:39 +0000

I don’t like my name too much. It’s Amy and like Sara says, there are too many of us. It’s also a baby-ish sort of name. I’d rather have a name that can be formal or nicknamed, like Christina where you could be Chris, or Angela, where you could be Angie or Angel. I feel like for women, a lot of the names ending in “ie” or “y” make us sound like little girls even when we’re adults. It’s easier to take “Deborah” more seriously than “Debbie”. I’d like a name with a little more authority. If our child had been a girl, we were going to name her Caroline. Instead, he’s Jack. Well, actually he’s John but we call him Jack. See what I mean? He’s got a serious strong real name and an easygoing nickname.

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 08:02:39 +0000

I like my name. When I was growing up, I was the only one around, though it’s a fairly common English name. I think it’s more common in the states now, though it’s used as a stand-in for a typical “common schlub” name a lot in England, I think.

My wife has legally changed her name a couple of times (not when we got married, though, before that).

By: IndigoRain

IndigoRain — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:46:35 +0000

I go by Kat now because I don’t like Kathy… my uncle wore it out (Ambrosia’s not the only one with family issues!) Seriously… he’d walk around going “Kathy, Kathy, Kathy” in this nasally voice meant to irritate… UGH. And besides, the first syllable rhymes with math and I hate math. And I’m named after my cousin who I don’t like. My full first name is Kathryn which is fine.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:17:14 +0000

My name is Sara, and I love it. I wish some of those other Saras would change their names, though, as there are too many of us.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:09:43 +0000

wow, a dropped phrase: Billy sooooeeeeee’d “Amber Rae!” across the midway after a Trace Atkins concert at the county fair.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:43:43 +0000

Amber. No. Sorry, Mom and Dad, but it’s klugy at best – Dull orange petrified sap? The most worthless of jewelry stones? – and tacky at worst. Sounds like a stripper with a cold. I can’t seem to get away from it altogether, although Ambrosia does stick a bit, since I am just that showy, and Amber Rae, which sounds prettier and has a more charming sort of 1980’s Americana to it, still gets some use as well. I get ribbed for the time my Uncle HillBilly sooooeeeeee’d “Amber Rae!” but I would still rather be called that 100% than proletariat illiterate Amber. Wow, someone’s got family background issues!

My gal pals and I once theorized that any girl could be either an Alice or a Kate, and that for each, there was a correct choice. I would be a Kate. Kat even moreso.

If I get to pick names out of the air that would suit me better, I think the simple charms of Dana, Jenny, Ruby, or, my mother’s name, Amy, would all work well for me. Ruby sort of heads toward debauched Southern Belle names, which would also not be uncomfortable for me: Lulu, Georgia, Daphne, Gwendolyn, Violet, etc. I could bear a big femme name.

By: Phire

Phire — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:22:56 +0000

Haha, I picked my name when I moved to Canada. I lived in Germany before and had a fair stream of teasing about the hard to pronounce Chinese ‘x’ sound, plus I heard there was a (male) Hockey player with the same name as me, so I decided I had to blend in more.

Except I had this weird notion of ‘German names’ and ‘English names’ and I didn’t want to pick a name that was too German, either (I was 10). So I ruled out names like Anna, Sarah, Larissa, etc…. perfectly normal names. The only name I knew for absolute certain to be English were: Jessica and Jenny, because Jessica was the name of an American friend of mine who moved to Germany, and Jenny was the name of the British exchange student in my English textbook.

So I went with Jenny, because Jessica reminded me of Jesse, which reminded me of Pokemon, and being uncertain of how normal a name ‘Jesse’ was, didn’t want the ‘anime-freak’ angle thrown at me, either.

I also considered Lavender, Ginny, and Hermione.

In retrospect, I was an idiot. But it’s an amusing story.

If I had the chance to choose my name all over again, I’d probably either go for Anna or Alex(andra). I dunno why I’m so partial to the name Alex – it feels like a strong, doesn’t-take-crap name, whereas Jenny seems a bit… wishy washy. I had it legally changed to that a few years ago though, so I guess I’m stuck with it. Ah well