Do you like your name?

Yup. Bill is a GREAT nickname.

So I’m guessing you’re a “William”. Classical name indeed, Bill, Billy, Will, Willie…

Not really. They gave me my mother’s name, which is very old fashioned, and they never called me by it. I grew up being called by a nickname. I feel like my nickname is much more my name than my real name since it’s how I’m known, yet whenever people find out it’s not my real name, they expect me to justify using it. I’m seriously thinking about getting my name legally changed to the name I’ve always been called.

No. It’s Cristina, which is far too feminine and frilly for me and not really an appropriate name for an atheist! I go by Cris, always.

Not really. May be why I gave my daughter a less common, but still actual, not made up, name.

I do, and I always have. It seems to fit me more than it fits anyone else who has it—which is too bad for a lot of people, because I have a rather common name!

No, I don’t, which is why I’m in the process of changing it legally.

I do, but I didn’t when I was younger. It’s a relatively uncommon name, and people always spell it incorrectly, especially since there’s now a celebrity with the same name.

When I was little, I wanted to be Jodie from “Today’s Special”, and tried to get my parents to call me by that name. It lasted about a day.

Sometimes. I’ve given up on people trying to spell it right.

Well yeah. I’m Jon. How can you go wrong with that?

I dislike it.

I do. I didn’t always, but (as weird as it is) I’ve been complimented on my name quite a bit.

@kenmc Is it Ken?

It’s all right. I would prefer “His holiness (in filth and blasphemy!) Lord Gulag Amadeus Necrosodomizer”, but I’m fine with my name.

@papayalily That is my first name, yes.

@Michael_Huntington Your name is cool because your shortened first name combined with your last name sounds like your full first name.

My name if perfect for me because everyone calls me by it.

Yes. I couldn’t imagine having any other name.

The name my parents gave me is a lovely name but it doesn’t fit me at all so I picked my own and I really love that one.

No. My first name is too long, the shortened version is androgynous (which I am not…I don’t think), and my last name is a disease. My wife wouldn’t take my last name because of it.

A logical hybrid of my wife and my last names could be Rocketts. I actually toyed with the idea of changing my first and last name to Nick Rocketts when we got married, but decided that would look terrible on a resume.

No. I legally changed part of my name to include my stepdad’s name. I did that out of pure love for him. My first name wasn’t picked by my mother or father, it was dictated by a grandmother. I have no connection to my name.

I am unattached to my given name. The majority of my friends and family refer to me by one nickname or another, but none of those feel quite right either.

In general, I’m not too fond of names.

Oh, my last name as well? No, sir, I don’t like it. Not at all. Will change it soon enough.

Love both my first and middle name, especially together, but they’re a bit of a mouthfull together so I just go by my first. Last name I’m impartial about.
(I actually think my middle name fits the person I want to be better than my first, but my first fits the me I am right now.)
When I was in second grade everyone was changing their name so I decided I was going to call myself Jazzy, of all names, upon a random moment of inspiration that I at the time thought was brilliant. No one called me that and I started to miss my real name, so thankfully it didn’t stick…

Like my first name. Although it is a regular name, Catherine, not many people seem to have it. Also like my nickname, Cat. Just cannot stand it when people call me Cathy. They seem to automatically do this even when I say, “No, it is Catherine.”

@optimisticpessimist That’s because Cathy is a crappy, crappy name that no one should ever be called

@noelleptc So then what’s the PTC? Pakistani Tobacco Company? Philadelphia Toboggan Company? Pretty Tight – no, wait, that’s mean and crude…

@papayalily nice

@noelleptc All the hot young things on Fluther have pretty tight contraband

@papayalily I am so sad now. Kathy is my given name.
@optimisticpessimist, I am exactly the opposite – despise being called Kat.

No, I don’t particularly care for it. Mainly because I feel Katherine (or Catherine) suits my personality much better, but I was actually named the nickname. Plus, my mom decided to spell it just a little different from the norm, so I have had to deal with that all my life.

In fact, my name is the only word my daughter can spell other than her own name. I didn’t know it until she popped out with it one day. I asked her how she knew and she said that is what I am always telling people on the phone.

@Supacase It’s different with a K.

When your name is included in this song you’ve got to love it. Everybody sing along now…...

btw- it’s not Brad

@Supacase have no problem when other people are called Kathy, just don’t like it for myself

@papayalily Whew!

@jonsblond Brings up a good point. There are no good Kathy songs.

I have a song too!

@optimisticpessimist I totally understand. It sounds dated – might have been okay in the 50s.

I don’t like my first name.

@jonsblond Your name is Betty Monroe?

@kenmc, I never believed that was his real name. Just because of what it shortens to.

I love my name, Dominic. It’s strong-sounding (it’s not a coincidence that my name sounds suspiciously like “dominate”) and it has a nice ring to it. Plus it has Latin origins (it means “of the Lord”) and Latin is my favorite language…

I’ve never disliked my name, but I do wonder sometimes what it would have been like if my parents had called me “Avery”, which was the other name they were considering (that ended up becoming my second middle name). I still prefer “Dominic”, though.

I like my name, but my nickname became a constant joke to others. My parents gave me the nickname, since my real name is the same as my father.
It would have been nice to have the same name, but a different nickname. It’s too late, tho. All my oldest friends know me that way, and I am fine with it, but it would have been nice not to have put up with that abuse.

@filmfann Lemme guess: Your nickname is Gaylord.

Could just be Richard.

My nickname is Archie.

That’s not bad. My name rhymes with piss.

My name is spelled like a more common name than my own. But the pronunciation is different. This has confused most people who have met me! When being introduced to people for the first time I almost always feel compelled to explain…“Yes, my name is spelled just like _ _ _ , but the first ‘a’ is a short ‘a’. People often respond with something like, “Oh, it’s pronounced with a short ‘a’. Now that’s different. It is a pretty name”. Immediately followed by…“Nice to meet you, _ (long ‘a’) _ ”! Almost never fails!

@aLittleBit, you mean (as an example) like Dana, but instead of saying “DAY-na,” you say it like “Danna” (rhyming with “Anna”)—and people acknowledge this and then proceed to say “DAY-na”?

You might be able to avert this response if you quit spelling it for them. Get them to echo what you say instead of reinterpreting the letters they associate with a different pronunciation. Chances are they won’t be needing to write your name down, and if they do, that’s soon enough to spell it for them.

@Jeruba By George you got it…my name, that is!

No kidding! Well, it was the first thing that came to mind that fit your description. So why don’t you try omitting the explanation and just concentrating on the pronunciation?

The name my parents gave me was a girls’ name, and it’s not the name I have now. I chose my current name myself, and got it legally changed, so yes, I like this one. When I changed it, and announced the change at work, my department manager (my boss’s boss) said “Oh, that’s nice. Can we call you [short version that sounds like a girl’s name]?”

~facepalm~

Hi, you can call me AL…....call me AL…....man walks down the street….... excuse me I digress. Yeah, not really bothered one way or t’other, just a name. Although I do prefer it to what I was originally meant to be named. My Mum changed her mind at the last moment thank goodness.

I don’t dislike it.It’s just….there.
I know more animals than people who share my name.XD

@noelleptc I like it.

@noelleptc – Does she dance on the sand? Sorry. I had to.

@noelleptc I have a buddy in my a’capella group named River. We all just call him Rio, or Rio Grande for short. It’s a sweet name; props for being a cool parent ;)

I enjoy my name because I think it’s pretty unique. It’s not the traditional spelling, so even when I share a name with someone I don’t always share a spelling. However, it does lead to some pretty aggravating nicknames…

I like it, I don’t love it though and I prefer it to be shortened to Lee/Lea/Leigh. I wish my last name was a little more exotic but, again, I don’t hate it.

@jonsblond my name is Jan’et – thank you for posting that! I have not seen it in years!!
To answer the OP’s question, yes I like my name just fine… I’m liking it better now that @jonsblond posted that lovely video which is, I believe, the only song ever sung about my name!

@VS There is a song from the 70s but I can’t find it anywhere. I remember one of the lines from the song, “I’d like to get my hands on you, Oh Janet”. I remember exactly how the tune goes too, but all my searches end up with Janet Jackson songs. :/

I prefer my middle name to my first name, my surname isn’t my fathers surname even, I’m not fond of my first & last name…… both were the reason I grew up using my fists, a bit like the song..
:-(

I like my name, but that wasn’t always the case. Growing up, my name was unusual and no one could pronounce it or spell it and I hated it. I really wanted a ‘normal’ name like everyone else. I even went by Jenny in the 5th grade (my middle name is Jennifer), but the other kids found me out toward the end of the year.

I’ve come to appreciate my name since then, though. I’ve always liked my last name, which is very common and I don’t have to spell it. It’s my dad’s, though, and I have no relationship with him, so I’ve been seriously considering changing it to my mom’s, Falconer, which is just awesome. But the thought of having to spell out my first and last names is deterring me.

@MissAnthrope Falconer is a nice name but do people really have that much difficulty spelling it?

Ironically when I was a kid I hated my surname and I “couldn’t wait” to get married so I could change it. Now, 20 years later, I’ve changed it back.

@downtide – Yeah, people always think you’re saying ‘Faulkner’, so then you have to go, ‘No, not Faulkner, Fal-con-er, F-A-L-...’

My full name is Nathan Brandon Kyle Schroeder, but since I was born, I’ve been known as Kyle. For some reason, I think Kyle is a very immature name (I still don’t know why I think that). I like the sound of my first name Nathan because I think it sounds much more distinguished and mature.

I think Bianca is a pretty decent name. It’s easily shortened to B which is hassle free:) Simple really!

@Schroedes13 I love the name ‘Nate’... just saying :P

@Schroedes13 My middle son’s name is Kyle. I’ve always liked the name. It seems like a strong name to me. I’ve always associated it with baseball players for some reason.

@msbcd Thanks. But I really dislike the shortened name “Nate” even more than Kyle.

@jonsblond I played competitive baseball for 17 years.

@Schroedes13 cant quit laughing. I’m telling you, Kyle is very common for baseball players. lol

@jonsblond I always thought that Joshua/Josh was too!

I think the name Kyle is a very sexy guy name.
Oops, sorry Jonsblond, not your Kyle. :-)

@chyna I’ve thought the same about the name, but glad you said it for me. It just sounds weird saying my son’s name is sexy. haha

…...hhhmmmmm…....

@Schroedes13 will see how sexy it’ll get :P

according to eric cartman, kyle’s mom is a bitch :)