Do you like your name?

[diamondfan]

I never went by any real nickname, which I think bothered me as my name felt too formal.

My middle name is Margaret so my mom said, hey, why not be Meg or Maggie or Margie or Peggy (which also confused me how one got Peggy from Margaret as there is no P in Margaret but oh well). None of those stuck either. I was just Caroline and that was it.

My friend is named, middle name, after her dad David. Her middle name is Davida.

 

[WishfulThinking]

Date: 7/9/2008 8:37:43 PM
Author: Independent Gal
Wow, that babyname thing is pretty interesting. It''s neat how the names I plunked in seem to peak once a generation.


My name, on the other hand, wasn''t even on the radar.

I mean, at all.


The other thing that was interesting was, after a discussion I recently had with DH about dictator names, sparked by someone we know who recently called their baby Franco, I plunked in ''Adolph''.


OK, people, as predicted, precipitous drop circa 1939. But who? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE who kept calling their babies Adolph well into the mid 60''s... ?!

I mean, it''s not a huge number, but it tracks.


Geez.

Sad that your name wasn''t on the list! I think stuff like that is the adult version of the "no interesting goodies with my name on it

" syndrome that many of us had as kids, and sadly the adults are those same kids!

I agree about Adolph. Talk about resigning your kid to a life of miserable teasing. I can''t imagine that''s pretty in the least.

Diamondfan- I always wondered how they got Peggy from Margaret as well! So odd. Cute name, though. I love your whole name with no nickname, though. It sounds so elegant and refined.

 

[arjunajane]

Wow, that baby name voyager thing almost deserves its own thread!
Interesting, my name made a small appearance around 1910''s/20''s, and then completely disappeared, and has only peaked up again since 2000..
fun thing!

 

[Delster]

Zoe I had two contenders for your sister's name - there's another county beginning with C that's a very common girl's name - but from your reply I know it must be the other one! I actually misread your post and thought your name STARTED with an E - hmmm, the plot thickens. And I can't advise you on whether it's 'Irish' or not as I'm still working it out!

Ciarán is the orthodox spelling of that name, although Kieran is also very common (it's the anglicised version). Have you ever heard the real traditional Irish pronunciation? It goes something like Kee-h-RAWHN and there's a very pronounced glottal stop on that middle 'h'. Anyway I like the name but then I like nearly all the traditional Irish names. OK maybe not Gobnait (GUB-nitt). I'm not sold on that one.

Here's a little name funny on Irish names. So the name Seán means John, we probably all know that already. But drop that accent on the 'a' (as is so commonly done!) and you've just named your child 'old'

Indy, Cian is a very popular name in Ireland too but here it's pronounced KEE-yan. The 'y' sound is almost imperceptible. Our 'Cian' comes from Cian Mac Mael Muad, who was the son-in-law of the legendary warrior Brian Ború. And Sinan reminds me of the Irish name Senan (SEH-nun), after a famous saint who founded a monastery on an island in the Shannon estuary.

I can only imagine that those parents who named their children Adolf after WWII had some long and cherished family tradition of using the name and that it must have outweighed the negative connotations. I wonder does that website count second names too? Maybe people kept it as a second name but didn't burden their child with that legacy as a first name? In either event I'm pretty sure those children probably never went by their full names!

diamondfan we use Daisy as short for Margaret as well. And Máiread (MAW-raid).

My name never features on any baby lists. There is another name that's very like mine and that does appear. And sometimes mine is there with a few extra letters thrown in to try and make it look 'fancy' or something. But never mine just as it is. Although I did just stick it in Wikipedia and it appears there!

As a surname

ETA - Most popular baby names in Ireland in 2006, in case anyone's curious!

 

[Julianna]

Date: 7/9/2008 9:45:30 AM
Author: Cind11
My name is Cynthis but about the time I hit school age, I became Cindy to everyone but my parents.

Ah! I love Cynthis! So pretty! Never heard it before, either. That one''s staying on my list, for certain!

 

[Lorelei]

I heard of a pretty Irish name recently, Evinn for a girl - pronounced Eve- inn. Is that a common one Del?

 

[mara54]

My name is different, it is DeeDee. I was not born as a DeeDee but called from birth a DeeDee. Are you all confused by now..lol My name on my birth certivicate was Darlene which I do not care for because I was never called it except by my grandmother. So my mom called me Darlene because her mom liked it, even my mother did not call me it. So the only one who called me it was my grandmother and even when I got older she stopped calling me it and started calling me by my right name DeeDee. My legal name is DeeDee, that''s right DeeDee. I went and legallized it for good, so there is NO longer a Darlene here at all. LOL!! So you all remember now to call me DeeDee as I do not answer to anything else..LOL

 

[LGK]

Well, I always did like my name for years- it''s common-ish, and easy for people to spell/understand, which is nice. I never realized how irritating it could be to have your name mis-pronounced *constantly* until I got married; my husband''s last name is mis-prounounced about 99% of the time. Oddly, *every* other girl I''ve ever met with my name has been a redhead or a blonde, never met another dark haired girl with my name.

However a couple years ago, my father revealed to me that he had named me after his first girlfriend he''d never gotten over.

My mom didn''t know. That *really* bothered me and I''ve had a hard time liking my name ever since.

Oh, and oddly enough, my DH is also named after his mother''s first love. Joy.

I can''t imagine doing that to my kid or my spouse, ew.

 

[sunnyd]

I'm a Meagan. Not Megan or Meghan or any variation you can think of (there's a million). No teasing, I got called Megz by my friends in high school, but no Meg or anything. I was named after the Meagan in Thornbirds. I'm just glad my parent didn't go with Meaghanne like they were going to!

Good lord I have enough trouble as it is!!!

It wasn't popular until I moved to Seattle from Montreal. Then I had 2 good friends named Megan, now my best friend is named Megan...and they're all different people. We stick together, apparently.

FF wants to name a daughter Rayne Trinity...my jury is still out on that one.

Oh yeah: it's 'may-gen', not 'mee-gen'. That confuses people too. Hee!

 

[Delster]

Date: 7/10/2008 12:07:32 PM
Author: Lorelei
I heard of a pretty Irish name recently, Evinn for a girl - pronounced Eve- inn. Is that a common one Del?

It''s well known but not super common. And there''s about few different pronunciations - EEE-VEEEN; eee-VEEN; eee-VANN; and eeevinn (probably this last one you heard).

Oh and it''s spelled Aoibheann or Aoibhinn

. It has it roots in the Irish verb for ''to love'' in the sense of to like something (to love a person is a different verb).

One of the former Roses of Tralee is called Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin and is a bit of a minor celebrity over here (TV pundit; science ambassador; sean nós singer). YouTube linky with her name so you can hear it!

It''s a lovely name I think!

 

[jcrow]

Date: 7/9/2008 6:41:10 PM
Author: julabean
I''ve always liked my first name - Julia. It''s classically old-fashioned, but not mainstream enough that everyone has it. I only really got teased starting a few years back when The Wedding Singer came out and everyone called me Julia Gulia. Funny thing was, I didn''t see that movie until YEARS after everyone teased me about it. I recently changed my last name and now my entire name sounds very English and formal. I don''t think it''s a name I could be president with, but definitely a Duchess!

hehe, i SO remember that. i got julie goolie out of it.

 

[pixley]

This is such an interesting thread, especially given today''s trends towards the more unusual baby names. Yesterday, we were eating dinner and an outdoor cafe and a lady screamed, "Audrey! to her friend whom she recognized from across the room. I looked up to see who had the same name as me and it was an old lady!

My husband took the opportunity to razz me and whispered, "Ahh, now I know what kind of name "Audrey" is! Hee hee!"

I''ve never disliked it, and it''s nice to have something different, but it does feel a little old lady-ish to me. I named my daughter "Marina", which is the neighborhood my DH and I lived in in San Francisco and she LOVES it more than any nickname we try to impose on her. It suits her perfectly; she adores being out on the ocean with my DH and I also like that the name translates well and is familiar in many languages. It''s different without trying to hard to be so, which I like. Naming another human for the rest of his or her life is a pretty daunting task, especially when everyone and their dog wants to weigh in on things before the baby is born.

 

[aprilcait]

My name is Caitlin... I like my name. When I was younger it was very rare. The first time I met a person with my same name was when I was 12. After that, there was one other Caitlin in my all-girls Catholic high school, but that wasn''t exactly shocker. Now, there are a ton of little Caitlins (or Kaitlins or Kaitlynns or Kaitlyns or Katelynns or Caitlyns or...) under the age of six running around. It''s weird walking through Target hearing a mom call my name, then I see a little toddler girl rushing by. Still, it''s a relatively rare name (at least in my age group and above), and I like not having to share my name.

I like my middle name too... it''s my mom''s maiden name but also works as new/"cool" girl''s first name.

 

[Delster]

Date: 7/10/2008 4:56:27 PM
Author: aprilcait
My name is Caitlin... I like my name. When I was younger it was very rare. The first time I met a person with my same name was when I was 12. After that, there was one other Caitlin in my all-girls Catholic high school, but that wasn''t exactly shocker. Now, there are a ton of little Caitlins (or Kaitlins or Kaitlynns or Kaitlyns or Katelynns or Caitlyns or...) under the age of six running around. It''s weird walking through Target hearing a mom call my name, then I see a little toddler girl rushing by. Still, it''s a relatively rare name (at least in my age group and above), and I like not having to share my name.

I like my middle name too... it''s my mom''s maiden name but also works as new/''cool'' girl''s first name.

Is it pronounced ''Kate-Lynn''? That pronunciation is creeping in over here now too. The traditional - and more common - pronunciation is ''CAWWtch-linn'' or ''CAWWtch-leen''. I think the American way is much prettier!

 

[Independent Gal]

Date: 7/10/2008 2:51:58 PM
Author: LittleGreyKitten

However a couple years ago, my father revealed to me that he had named me after his first girlfriend he'd never gotten over.

My mom didn't know. That *really* bothered me and I've had a hard time liking my name ever since.


Oh, and oddly enough, my DH is also named after his mother's first love. Joy.


I can't imagine doing that to my kid or my spouse, ew.

Well, how about this one? I have a friend who discovered after Britain changed its adoption information laws, that she had an older brother in the UK. He got in touch. She was rather shocked! But even more shocked when she realized he had the same name as her other brother, with whom she'd grown up. Then she quickly discovered that SHE was named after the MOTHER of this boy! Apparently, this older brother had been conceived while my friend's dad was taking a trip around the world just after he was engaged to my friend's mom.

So my poor friend's mom discovered that both of her children had been named for this fling her good for nothing husband had had right before they married.

What a jerk.

 

[Selkie]

Indy, yikes! What a slime.

The Baby name voyager tracks US names, so if your name is more common in another country it still may not show up. Also, are you sure you were checking female names (or both)?

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 7/10/2008 4:05:15 PM
Author: pixley
This is such an interesting thread, especially given today''s trends towards the more unusual baby names. Yesterday, we were eating dinner and an outdoor cafe and a lady screamed, ''Audrey! to her friend whom she recognized from across the room. I looked up to see who had the same name as me and it was an old lady!

My husband took the opportunity to razz me and whispered, ''Ahh, now I know what kind of name ''Audrey'' is! Hee hee!''

I''ve never disliked it, and it''s nice to have something different, but it does feel a little old lady-ish to me. I named my daughter ''Marina'', which is the neighborhood my DH and I lived in in San Francisco and she LOVES it more than any nickname we try to impose on her. It suits her perfectly; she adores being out on the ocean with my DH and I also like that the name translates well and is familiar in many languages. It''s different without trying to hard to be so, which I like. Naming another human for the rest of his or her life is a pretty daunting task, especially when everyone and their dog wants to weigh in on things before the baby is born.

Pixley I love the name Audrey!! I think it''s cute. I also like Audra.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Date: 7/10/2008 6:01:17 PM
Author: sunnyd

Date: 7/10/2008 4:05:15 PM
Author: pixley
This is such an interesting thread, especially given today''s trends towards the more unusual baby names. Yesterday, we were eating dinner and an outdoor cafe and a lady screamed, ''Audrey! to her friend whom she recognized from across the room. I looked up to see who had the same name as me and it was an old lady!

My husband took the opportunity to razz me and whispered, ''Ahh, now I know what kind of name ''Audrey'' is! Hee hee!''

I''ve never disliked it, and it''s nice to have something different, but it does feel a little old lady-ish to me. I named my daughter ''Marina'', which is the neighborhood my DH and I lived in in San Francisco and she LOVES it more than any nickname we try to impose on her. It suits her perfectly; she adores being out on the ocean with my DH and I also like that the name translates well and is familiar in many languages. It''s different without trying to hard to be so, which I like. Naming another human for the rest of his or her life is a pretty daunting task, especially when everyone and their dog wants to weigh in on things before the baby is born.

Pixley I love the name Audrey!! I think it''s cute. I also like Audra.

I like that name too, it seems right now a lot of babies are being named that, at least where I am at.

 

[choro72]

Date: 7/10/2008 5:49:06 PM
Author: Independent Gal

Date: 7/10/2008 2:51:58 PM

Author: LittleGreyKitten


However a couple years ago, my father revealed to me that he had named me after his first girlfriend he''d never gotten over.

My mom didn''t know. That *really* bothered me and I''ve had a hard time liking my name ever since.



Oh, and oddly enough, my DH is also named after his mother''s first love. Joy.



I can''t imagine doing that to my kid or my spouse, ew.

Well, how about this one? I have a friend who discovered after Britain changed its adoption information laws, that she had an older brother in the UK. He got in touch. She was rather shocked! But even more shocked when she realized he had the same name as her other brother, with whom she''d grown up. Then she quickly discovered that SHE was named after the MOTHER of this boy! Apparently, this older brother had been conceived while my friend''s dad was taking a trip around the world just after he was engaged to my friend''s mom.


So my poor friend''s mom discovered that both of her children had been named for this fling her good for nothing husband had had right before they married.


What a jerk.

Both of these stories made my jaws drop...

I think I will demand to have my name legally changed.

 

[pixley]

Date: 7/10/2008 7:00:11 PM
Author: LtlFirecracker

Date: 7/10/2008 6:01:17 PM
Author: sunnyd

Date: 7/10/2008 4:05:15 PM
Author: pixley
This is such an interesting thread, especially given today''s trends towards the more unusual baby names. Yesterday, we were eating dinner and an outdoor cafe and a lady screamed, ''Audrey! to her friend whom she recognized from across the room. I looked up to see who had the same name as me and it was an old lady!

My husband took the opportunity to razz me and whispered, ''Ahh, now I know what kind of name ''Audrey'' is! Hee hee!''

I''ve never disliked it, and it''s nice to have something different, but it does feel a little old lady-ish to me. I named my daughter ''Marina'', which is the neighborhood my DH and I lived in in San Francisco and she LOVES it more than any nickname we try to impose on her. It suits her perfectly; she adores being out on the ocean with my DH and I also like that the name translates well and is familiar in many languages. It''s different without trying to hard to be so, which I like. Naming another human for the rest of his or her life is a pretty daunting task, especially when everyone and their dog wants to weigh in on things before the baby is born.

Pixley I love the name Audrey!! I think it''s cute. I also like Audra.

I like that name too, it seems right now a lot of babies are being named that, at least where I am at.

Aww, thanks LtlFirecracker and sunnyd!

 

[diamondfan]

Delster, I LOVE Daisy as a nickname. Think it is too cute. But would want a more formal name to use as well.

 

[galleygal]

I love my name, I always have and always will. I have never once thought about having a different name. Growing up I only knew 2 other girls that had the same name, but I see it becoming a more common name now. My name is...Abby.

 

[asscherisme]

Nope, I hate it. Don''t want to share my real name hear but my name is pretty unusual and totally out. You never never hear anyone under 35 named what I''m named. I joke with my friends my name will one day be like Edna or Bertha, very old and dated. I think it is dated already. It does not have any cool nicknames as well. I hope my kids like their names, I picked carefully since I hate my name so much.

 

[oceanlove]

Hm it's interesting reading what everyone thinks of their names...my own name is a variation (I guess?) on a common name--Jessie. NOT Jessica. My parents originally intended to call me by my first and middle name, but the middle one dropped off pretty quickly. I hated my name when I was younger, so I shortened it to 'Jess,' which I still go by, except for when occasionally a family member or old friend calls me Jessie. I've only met one other Jessie-not-Jessica, although she spells it 'Jesse,' which is how most people who don't know me spell MY name, if they haven't already assumed it's Jessica. Oh, and my last name is incredibly strange, and even though it's spelled phonetically no one EVER spells it right, ha.

I always find it kind of off-putting when someone calls you something that you didn't introduce yourself as. I always introduce myself as Jess, and probably 90% of the time whoever I've met proceeds to call me either Jessica, or, if they've seen my full name written somewhere, Jessie. Maybe I'm just sensitive though since I've encountered this so much.

Good luck naming the Cub! Maybe I'm crazy, but I've already got a whole list of names in my head for way in the future when we start having kids

...it must be so hard to choose one though!

ETA: I forgot to add, I don't hate my name anymore, although it doesn't sound very "adult" to me. I'm still in school, so it's not quite an issue yet, but I'm not really sure what I'll go by when I enter the professional world.

 

[GoingCrazy29]

My name is Cameron and I''m a girl. I always hated it growing up because I thought it was a boy''s name (which 92% of Camerons are male). I''ve always gone by Cami and now I LOVE having the option to go by Cameron or Cami professionally. Typically its just Cami and I get tons of nicknames (Cam, Camster, Cam the Ham (because I''m outgoing, not chunky

). My mom wishes she had spelled it Camryn, but I''m happy the way it is now! I get tons of compliments, especially being a female named Cameron!

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 7/11/2008 3:48:43 AM
Author: oceanlove
Hm it''s interesting reading what everyone thinks of their names...my own name is a variation (I guess?) on a common name--Jessie. NOT Jessica. My parents originally intended to call me by my first and middle name, but the middle one dropped off pretty quickly. I hated my name when I was younger, so I shortened it to ''Jess,'' which I still go by, except for when occasionally a family member or old friend calls me Jessie. I''ve only met one other Jessie-not-Jessica, although she spells it ''Jesse,'' which is how most people who don''t know me spell MY name, if they haven''t already assumed it''s Jessica. Oh, and my last name is incredibly strange, and even though it''s spelled phonetically no one EVER spells it right, ha.

I have a cousin whose daughter is Jesse. He wrote a book and dedicated it to his family, using each of their names, while his wife was pregnant with their last child, Jesse, whom they didn''t know the sex of at the time. He was bound and determined that baby was going to be Jesse whether it was born male or female. She''s darling, and her name suits her.

 

[Mannequin]

My name is Courtney, and I have always loved it. I was made in the 80s, when this name was in its peak for girls, even though it is traditionally the male spelling of the name. As a teacher now, I run into a girl or two every year who shares my name or a variation of it, but I don''t meet many people my own age with my name. I like that it''s a bit unique.

IndyGal, good luck picking a cub name! I don''t look forward to that at all! It seems that by being a teacher, every name I could name a child comes with some kind of connection (sometimes positive but mostly negative) to a kid I''ve had in class or one of their parents.

 

[Lauren8211]

My name is Lauren, and I''ve always liked it. It''s common, but not TOO common. I think it''s pretty.

However, it bugs the crap out of me that you can''t nickname it. "Laur" doesnt really fly, and Laurie and Laura are different names all together. So really it''s just "as is".

My middle name is Helene (Huh-lean) and I HATED that growing up because it was different. I really have grown to like it as an adult, however.

 

[aprilcait]

Date: 7/10/2008 5:05:11 PM
Author: Delster

Date: 7/10/2008 4:56:27 PM
Author: aprilcait
My name is Caitlin... I like my name. When I was younger it was very rare. The first time I met a person with my same name was when I was 12. After that, there was one other Caitlin in my all-girls Catholic high school, but that wasn''t exactly shocker. Now, there are a ton of little Caitlins (or Kaitlins or Kaitlynns or Kaitlyns or Katelynns or Caitlyns or...) under the age of six running around. It''s weird walking through Target hearing a mom call my name, then I see a little toddler girl rushing by. Still, it''s a relatively rare name (at least in my age group and above), and I like not having to share my name.

I like my middle name too... it''s my mom''s maiden name but also works as new/''cool'' girl''s first name.

Is it pronounced ''Kate-Lynn''? That pronunciation is creeping in over here now too. The traditional - and more common - pronunciation is ''CAWWtch-linn'' or ''CAWWtch-leen''. I think the American way is much prettier!

It''s pronounced Kate-Lynn.

 

[westjenn]

Date: 7/10/2008 4:05:15 PM
Author: pixley
This is such an interesting thread, especially given today''s trends towards the more unusual baby names. Yesterday, we were eating dinner and an outdoor cafe and a lady screamed, ''Audrey! to her friend whom she recognized from across the room. I looked up to see who had the same name as me and it was an old lady!

My husband took the opportunity to razz me and whispered, ''Ahh, now I know what kind of name ''Audrey'' is! Hee hee!''

I''ve never disliked it, and it''s nice to have something different, but it does feel a little old lady-ish to me. I named my daughter ''Marina'', which is the neighborhood my DH and I lived in in San Francisco and she LOVES it more than any nickname we try to impose on her. It suits her perfectly; she adores being out on the ocean with my DH and I also like that the name translates well and is familiar in many languages. It''s different without trying to hard to be so, which I like. Naming another human for the rest of his or her life is a pretty daunting task, especially when everyone and their dog wants to weigh in on things before the baby is born.

My daughter is a year old and named Audrey! I obviously love the name and the fact that I don''t hear it very often at all. The first thing that came to my mind when my husband brought it into the pool of baby names was Audrey Hepburn, of course.