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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Would you have chosen the same first name for yourself as your birth name?

79 replies

glovestrains · 24/04/2023 22:53

no for myself

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HeadIssues · 07/05/2023 20:56

Yes love my name! So sad to see so many people don't.

Mine is a little unusual but in a good way, got complimented on it all my life and still do. My parents did good!

Sapphire387 · 07/05/2023 19:14

It always surprises me how few people change their names. If you really dislike it, why keep it?

I have changed mine legally to the diminutive I have always used. The longer version (my birth name) is hideous.

tedgran · 04/05/2023 20:51

Never met anyone with my name, ir was chosen because it works in both English and German, my mother's nationality. It was given to a character in a comedy that was popular in the eighties.

Eightiesgirl · 04/05/2023 20:45

Yes, my name suits me and I love it.

CABxo · 04/05/2023 20:44

No, I am always mistaken for a boy and have to correct the spelling.

Although I wouldn’t know what to name myself otherwise 😅

PumpkinsAndCoconuts · 02/05/2023 12:27

As a kid: NO!

Now? I actually really like it.

One issue I do have is that the surname is very rare (not made-up, actually a family name, but genuinely unusual). Due to cultural associations it's even rarer with my surname.

This makes me very identifiable. Knowing my first name, area of work and general area of the country has been enough for a complete stranger to identify me/find professional adresses etc. Which can be unfortunate. (yes, it has happened....)

DucksNewburyport · 01/05/2023 21:38

Yes, I like mine.

inspiringjam · 01/05/2023 21:37

yes I have the most unusual name and I love it

23Elfie · 01/05/2023 21:37

I've only ever met one other with my name and it's nothing 'out there' at all - so I like it but it's a long (ish) name and I've pretty much always been called the short version. That said I do actually like being full named!

Lizzt2007 · 01/05/2023 21:21

No. I've never used it and strangely enough neither have any of my family! Parents agreed on a name, then dad (English teacher) decided name with surname was too long to learn to write, so they stuck a short family name on the front as a first name, used chosen name as a middle name and proceeded to call me a shortened version of said middle name all my life!

DustyLee123 · 01/05/2023 21:15

No.

Derrymum123 · 01/05/2023 21:14

Nope. Very 1960s. Absolutely awful.

Pencilsaremylife · 01/05/2023 20:59

No it’s so common for women my age I can’t go anywhere without meeting another one, it gets silly at times and it very much of its time . My parents were spectacularly unimaginative with my name and my youngest sibling’s names and they didn’t give us middles names either. My next youngest sibling has a lovely classical name, lucky her. My youngest sibling hated her name so much she actually changed it legally. I had boys so couldn’t use the name I would have liked to be called,

Daffodilwoman · 01/05/2023 20:58

Yes I would. I didn’t like it growing up as it was unusual and I was very shy and wanted to be mousey and have a common name the same as everyone else. As an adult I like it. It’s unusual but a proper name. I’ve only met a couple of people with the same name who are my age.

Lovelynames123 · 01/05/2023 20:46

I didn't like mine growing up as it's uncommon and I wanted to be a Nicola or a Vicki (80s child)

Now I love it, people remember it although I normally go by a shortening version, and it's often on the suggestions on baby name posts as something classic

depre · 01/05/2023 20:39

No. It's a horrible name and I changed to the shorter version when I was around 11, then changed it officially when I was an adult.

Beachywave · 01/05/2023 20:37

No it's really common for my age. It's okay now I'm older though.
Prefer mine to my sister's though, silver lining!

SkaneTos · 01/05/2023 17:54

Yes.

Sprogonthetyne · 01/05/2023 17:50

No because I grew up with a lisp and it starts with an S, so it wasn't a good combination. To be fair to DM, she couldn't have predicted that and it is otherwise an OK name.

MrsCharlieD · 01/05/2023 17:40

I go by my nickname which I love but wouldn't have chosen my birth name as it does not suit me at all.

botheritsgone · 30/04/2023 23:22

I like my name but I see it often on lists of names that will die out. I don't like how my name is pronounced in some accents though. The vowel sounds all elongated- it sounds horrible.

MMBaranova · 30/04/2023 22:58

I’ve always felt my names trailed after me like a line of ducklings. Being used to them, I wouldn’t change. My parents argued over what to call me and, for once, my father more or less prevailed. The leading one is a variation on the mother of Jesus.

BigFatMummyOnTheCeiling · 30/04/2023 22:50

I’m a Lucy. I don’t mind it but if I could have chosen my own I would have picked something a bit more exciting like Anoushka or Bianca

COPPER3 · 30/04/2023 21:46

Love the longer version of my name...hate the shortened, popular version...
Secretly hoping, one day, I will have a Grand-daughter with my name as her middle name....Or even her first name!

SunnyLion · 30/04/2023 20:54

Yes, its timeless and I don't know many with the same name.
It would have been a contender for my kids if i wasn't called it.