How many of you are actually fond of your names, I mean true names?

I am. I changed my first name legally when I was in my 40s. I picked my new name myself.

Good job, Marinelife!

My father wanted me to have his full name, but Mother objected to my name ending in junior. The compromise was to give me the same initials but with a different middle name. Father’s was Edwin and mine is Eric. I like my name and always have.

I like my name. My name was very popular for many years. I meet people with my name all the time. We trade a smile or have a little giggle and it’s all good.

I don’t like my name. It gives too many opportunities for terrible nicknames and the name itself is young and when I hear it I think of a 9-year-old.

In school, I always felt my last name stuck out like a sore thumb among the Waspy ones, and my first one was too easy to rhyme and make fun of. I don’t think I’ve ever completely lost that bit of insecurity.

I use my full name professionally (in writing) because I think it looks appropriate, but in actual (verbal) use, I barely pay attention to what people call me. My first name feels like a cypher to me. I don’t relate to it at all. In fact, I often miss it when people call me by my first name. They probably think I’m ignoring them. After I hear my name a couple times, I wake up and think, “Oh right, that’s me”.

I relate much more closely to my nickname, which is just an abbreviation of my last name. Old friends call me that, my wife calls me that.

I relate most closely to my parenting name, which is an interpretation of the Chinese word for “father”. My daughter calls me that (‘natch), and my wife has taken to calling me that too.

If no one ever called me by my actual first name ever again, i’d be okay with it.

My legal name is not common and I have the same name as my father and am a 4th in fact and my son is a 5th. It is a cool name I am quite fond and proud of.

Meh. It’s OK.

First name is an alternate spelling of an Elvis Costello song title. My middle name is the most common middle name for a girl born in the 1980s. Dad got to pick the first name, Mom got to pick the middle.

I’ve always like my given first name, as it it uncommon without being note-worthy and it is the surname of my mother’s family.

I was nearly the III of a hideous name on my father’s side.

I like my name. Laurie Rowena. But as a child I was called Roweenie! lol

I just took my birth name back. I am very happy to have made the change but it will take a while to fully get used to it.

As a child, I hated it. I was teased. Now, as an adult, I can appreciate it, but I still get some ribbing now and then. My first name is Juliet. Before anyone asks, Romeo is fine.

I like my name. It’s Lyndsey Brooke. No one ever spells it right, but I like it just fine.

Very few nicknames, aside from Lynds, came out of my name. My husband calls me Lyndsey Bear (and I call him Joshy Poo, as does my entire family) and my childhood nicknames included kid, “bay-gee-doo” (no clue how you’d spell that), squilt, and squoot. I had a weird family, but for the most part I was just Lyndsey.

@Coloma, Roweenie, HAHAHAHA! Thanks for the laugh. That’s actually cute.
I changed my name, and I’m glad I did.

My middle name is my grandmother’s maiden name, It was awkward when I was a kid and puzzling to people until I was in my thirties. Only in the last ten years have people said it’s a classic name, which I think is because there is a famous comedian with the same name (although he spells it a little differently.)

My middle name is Gervaise.

I’m okay with my name otherwise, except my initials (PGA) caused a bit of teasing,

@Jonesn4burgers Hey, don’t laugh at my childhood trauma. lol

I told my ex MIL who was very snobby, when I was pregnant with my daughter, that if the baby was a girl I was going to name her “Beulah Lou” and a boy ” Brooke Trout”. haha
The look on her face was priceless as she struggled to gargle up a response…” Ooooh, well those are certainly unusual names.”

I have a really long name that is always shortened. It’s even shortened when I sign my name. Everyone refers to me by the nickname and I even fill out forms using it (depending on the importance). In fact, I know a few people whose names are only the short version of my name, so a lot of people are surprised when they discover my whole first name.
I like both, but I’m so used to the short one that I have come to prefer it.

<<< The man with no name :)

^^Do you ride a horse with no name?

No, I like to call her my wife.

Through a desert with no name?
Did you see plants and birds and rocks and things? lol

Okay, I used to hate my name, largely due to this bloody silly teacher at school who would have all us kids sing our names at her as some sort of horrific greeting ritual.
I’ve liked my name ever since, nowt unusual about it, just that it grew on me.

It’s okay, sounds a little girly and hippy-ish for my tastes.

I love my first name. I really feel like I am my name and my name is me.

It’s not that I inherently dislike my given name; it just doesn’t seem to suit who I am anymore. My middle, however, I have always abhorred. No offense, mom! I love you!

I have thought about changing my entire name when my significant other and I get married, to just assume a completely new identity. But even though my given name doesn’t fit me, I don’t know what name would fit me better. Nothing has clicked just yet.

I like my name. Though the spelling gets annoying, because people always try to pronounce it “AshLay” when it’s pronounced “Ashley”

I like my name, though I should because like @marinelife I chose it myself. Although it wasn’t the one I was originally going to use. When I was about 10 I asked my mum what I would have been called if I’d been born a boy (yes I was obsessed with my gender even back then) and for decades I was certain that was the name I would use. In the end though, I picked something different; a male variation of my original middle name. Partly the reason for that is because the name my mum chose is a very common name and I already hated that my original name was also very common. Also I started using the other name online and realised I liked it better.

My new middle name is very unusual but is a traditional name that has been used as a middle name for boys in our family for many generations. Oddly though, there weren’t any instances of it in my generation and I wanted to keep the tradition going. Not telling you what it is but here’s a hint; it makes people think my birthday is in February.

I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to choose my own name, and I think it’s rather sad that most people don’t get that chance.

I love my surname (even though it’s not at all unique), so much so that I wouldn’t change it if I ever got married. My first name, Leanne, I don’t like so much, I think it’s boring. I prefer people shorten it to Lee/Leigh.

I used to hate both my first and last name, but now I don’t care much. Most people don’t even know what my original first name is, oh I love my nickname :)

I like it. I didn’t as a kid, but I do now. I like my sister’s names too. We are Valerie, Alexis and Rebecca.

My son’s name is Chris. I named him after my boyfriend in 3rd grade, but didn’t tell my husband that. :) My husband’s (ex) name is Robin. So I wanted to name my son Christopher Robin but my Mom said “No.”

I don’t why my parents named me Briannineteenfortysicks- it’s so cumbersome! ;-)

Once I was free from their dominion, I shortened it to Brian, and that’s just fine with me.

I am fond of my name. It fits me well.

@Bluefreedom Your name sounds like a racehorse.
Annnnd in the lead it is Blue Freedom by 3 lengths, followed by Insipid Dreamer and Bozos Rose. lol

LOL @Briannineteenfortysicks!

And Sting Weed Smoker is closing in on the leaders like a freight train @Coloma!

I love being Dominic. There are times when I think maybe, as an agnostic atheist, a name that means “of the Lord” might not be so appropriate, but I think it’s a strong masculine name and I wouldn’t trade it :)

My last name is Russian and it gives away my Russian heritage and that is something I am not going to be ashamed of, no matter what the United States’ view on Russia is :)

@muppetish, How about Abby K. Dabbey? Grover Winnie Newer? Stacey Pat Whateveryourmarriednamewillbe? Sam I. Am? Wendy Tiny Flanders… so your initials could be WTF?

I had a horrendous past and often wished I could change it. I was thinking as I was reading this, that I have moved countries so why not just use a nickname, this is a very cool idea to me. Perhaps it might help with letting go?

@LornaLove You could become LoveLorn. lol

(Coloma is on a roll.)

@Coloma. Never thought of my Fluther name in that fashion but I like your reference. Brought a smile to my face when I needed a bit of uplifting. Thank you. =)

I really dislike my name, I’m thinking of legally changing it.

@downtide Yeah, I wish I could have had the chance to chose my own name. (without paying 500 bucks to change it I mean) Although as a kid, were I allowed to do this, I probably would have chosen something stupid like Cookie or Desdemona. So I guess Gisèle it is. I like it fine though, no real complaints.

^ As a kid? Maleficent.

If I ever have a daughter, I’m gonna call her Violence.

THAT IS AWESOME.

I know a kid whose middle name is “Danger”. Not even kidding.

Danger? That’s also awesome.

Speaking of all this shit, reminds me of something…the stuntman for Halloween 5 who plays Michael Myers, know what his name is? Don Shanks.

Shanks. For those who don’t know, shanking someone means to stab them with a knife. I thought that was pretty hilarious.

*snort * that’s really funny.

Naming a kid Violence is terrible!

No. Naming a boy Guy is terrible.

I think our ex-Gov named his daughter Violence Guy Schwarzenegger. ;-o

Actually the word Violence makes a kind of pretty name, and if it didn’t mean what it means, I think it would be quite popular. It’s one of those words (like cellar-door) that’s pleasing to the ear.

It would probably be about as popular as Violet.

Guy is only bad if you pronounce it Gee

There’s no excuse for the name Adolph.

@downtide Yeah, I think it would be a cool name if it didn’t mean what it does. Works really good in French too. Unlike Gee. Lol. I know like seven guys named Guy. Fuckin French people.

Reminds me of how the French word for violin is pronounced the same way as the French words ’‘let’s rape’’. Seriously.

I’m going to me Let’s Rape lesson now, mom! See you later!

I like my first and middle names. My last name, not so much. Only because it is often mis-pronounced in very ugly ways. When it is said incorrectly, it sounds like some kind of ridiculous thing and people like to make fun of it. After 50 years of hearing the wrong name (and wrong misspellings that go along with it) and being made fun of, I’m not so thrilled.

I’ve had 3 last names. My maiden name was Henson, no problems. The other two were fraught with the same problem @Kardamom. My current last name especially, which is Billionis.

I didn’t even think to respond to this Q regarding my last names. Both my maiden and my married surnames are mispronounced all the time. Doesn’t bother me at all. My married name I actually paused before taking it thinking I would be the first one dead on a hijacked plane (I got married in ‘93 so it has nothing to do with 9/11, just has to do with being a very recognizable Jewish name). My maiden name is Jewish also, but my married name is Jewish from the middle east. Funny enough my married name gets compliments all the time. People think it sounds cool or something.

There is one thing that is frustrating about my married name. I don’t want to give my last name on fluther, but imagine the name is Mispen. When people ask me my last name and I say it before spelling it, they start writing without listening and start with a P. It would be like if I asked someone their last name and they answered Ms. Smith. I don’t understand why so many people screw that up. Who answers the question, “last name?” With, “Ms. Smith.”

@Dutchess_III

“My current last name especially, which is Billionis.”

That’s 1,000 times better than Millionis. ;-)

Every time I try to spell “Dillons,” which is the name of our grocery store here in town, I always write “Dillionis.” :D

My last name is awesome. People spell it wrong ALL THE TIME though, and it’s annoying. It is a little long, but it’s spelled like it sounds.
Those of you who are in the Jelly Group on Facebook already know my last name, and it isn’t hard to find, so I’m just going to say it: Pendergrass.
People like to spell “Pentagrass” or just leave out the second s. Like, come on guys. It’s not that hard to spell.

Oh, last names?

I had two last names pre-marriage. Nelson and White. The first was okay, but I hated having a last name that was also a color. During my tanning bed days, I’d just walk up and say “White” so they could look up my name – I always expected some smart ass to say, “Yes, you certainly are.”

My last name now is Reed. I’m happy with it.

@AshLeigh – Did you grow up in Florida, and do you have a brother named Andrew?

My mother worked as a labor and delivery nurse for years. Once she had a patient that barely spoke any English. The patient heard the word chlamydia in passing. She thought it sounded beautiful and was determined to use it as the name for her soon-to-be-new daughter. The nurses had a hard time explaining that it was an STD and not a good idea for a name.

@Seek_Kolinahr, nope. Born and raised in Alaska, and my brothers names are Justin and Jason. Haha

Funny. The only other person I’ve ever known with that last name lived next door to me in the mid-90s.

I’m just glad no one asked me if I’m related to Teddy Pendergrass. XD