What's the story behind your name?

They'd never met anyone with my name, thought it was pretty, unusual and interesting. I think it is pretty, but every third girl I met when I was growing up shared my name, so they failed on the second and third counts. I was nearly called Margaret, because my father admired a not-very-well-known-but-up-and-coming-female-Tory-politician.

Ivy yeah that's the one, although I think it should come with some kind of Health Warning

b52, my dd1 and dd2 would have both been Christopher if they where boys, I didn't have another boy name I liked but would have probably used Fred for the second boy rather than christ and christopher.

my great granny had an Elizabth and an Eliza

this gilbert o sullivan song?

When my mum had me, she was next to another woman in the hospital ward and they got very friendly.

Mum had really been expecting a boy - so had settled on a well known boy's name while pregnant.

The other woman was convinced she was having a girl - so had settled on a very complicated and unusual (in England) girl's name while pregnant.

As it turned out, they were both wrong. But they agreed to simply swap the names they'd planned.

Mum never kept in touch with that woman or anything. Have always wanted to meet her so I could say thanks for lumbering me with such a corker, which I have had to spell out or explain probably every day of my life.

I was given a name that couldn't be shortened to a nickname. Or so my folks thought. :o

Bertie that is such a sad story. It was lovely that you mum honoured her memory with your name though.

My mum wanted to give me a name that reflected my indian roots (she is not indian) so I am named after a common herb but with the indian name, after she saw it on a shop shelf!!

My first name is after Amy Johnson because my mum thought she was an inspiring female figure (I quite like that)

My second name is a sadder story. I'm named after my mum's cousin (the relative she felt closest to) who fell pregnant at age 16 to her boyfriend, who was black, (cue big family scandal in the 70s), they were running away together and the car crashed and she died. :(

@ take! I'd have divorced him!

@ take WTF did she do...

{grin] @takeresponsibility

Think my Mum just gave me a name she liked the sound of. It was the most popular Girls name for a few years.

My sister was named after the Gilbert O'Sullivan song

A woman I used to work with sent her husband along to register their second child when he came back with the birth certificate she was furious. He has got the names wrong. Se asked him why and he was puzzled, I'm sure thats what you told me, they look very familiar.

That's because they are the names of our eldest child!

I'm named after Catherine Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights. It is also a paternal family name, so mum and dad were both happy! My dad has his grandfathers surname as a first name, it is usually a girls name, but is spelled differently. In Scotland, apparently, it's traditional to name a son after a grandfather. They picked the surname rather than the forename, as said grandfather was called Archibald! A lucky escape!

I was named for the villain in a georgette heyer novel!

My sister was going to be a Mark if she were a boy. I was going to be a Mark if I were a boy. Wonder what would have happened if they'd had 2 DS instead of 2 DD? Mark One and Mark Two I suppose.

My parents just liked the sound of my name - I only know of a couple of others so feel fairly unique. It's Hilary.

My mum heard it in a song on the radio and I think she may have fancied the singer.

With my brother, me and dad heard the name in a pub (dad must have taken me to the pub when mum was in the hospital!) and we rushed in to tell her to name the baby.

They just liked my name I think - shame really as I don't and they are now the only people who ever refer to me by my full name!
I almost got named after a song but my mum changed her mind at the last minute, again that was a shame as I really like that name.

If I had been a boy I would have been named after my great grandad.

My mother had her workmates write a name on a piece of paper and I got the one she pulled out the bin. Had I been a boy they had plenty of ideas and it would have been after a family member.

I hate my first name, it is apparently very unlucky, no kidding.

Dts2 was named after a favourite uncle of my dad who he was very fond of and who was quite a character! Dts1 had the name from a contestant on The Amazing Race, shown when I was pregnant as the contestant was really nice and every time the name was said ex and I thought it sounded better. Plus it means "the champion" but not of the wonder horse type.

My Dad was from a Scottish family who had moved to England.

My name is very very unusual - am named after a small Scottish island, and my brother is named after another nearby island, but which is a more common name.

When DH and I first met we went on holiday to Scotland and he took me to the island that I was named after as a surprise. Only it's so small there is only one boat there a week, so we just camped on the shores of the mainland and I would look at 'my' island every morning.

dh named after the sexy 60's actor, so we have to keep correcting people when they start to use stephen...

dd2's name quickly changed when no one could say it (my mum is from the far east and can't do r's despite being here 40 yrs!)
luckily 2nd choice name was a success and she looks like one, although she's not keen on my nan's popular victorian name for her middle!

mentioning my nan...somehow she managed to give my aunt my grandfather's name as a middle name!

chaos I too was named after a great aunt and have never met or heard of any with the same name. You seem sad about it? I love being unique and know that once someone has met me they will at least remember me because I had an unusual name and they could not pronounce it.

Pop star and a Nazi rebellion
Now that's got you thinking, I bet.