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Which name would you have picked for yourself as a teen?

87 replies

KimHwn · 20/10/2025 08:06

Was just thinking about how much our tastes change as we grow, and as fashions change.

When I was in my mid-teens, I was desperate for a posh English name. I probably would have chosen Constance for myself, which would have been ridiculous- I am neither posh nor English. When I was in primary school and playing house, I always called myself Nicole. Again, I am not a Nicole at all.

What would you have picked for yourself as a teen?

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BauhausOfEliott · 21/10/2025 01:23

When I was a teenager I desperately wanted to be called Scarlett or Ruby. Neither of them were even remotely fashionable at the time, but I was very into 1930s black annd white cinema and gothic horror, and both those names felt like they would fit nicely into either of those worlds.

2025mustbebetter · 20/10/2025 22:40

I liked the name Angela when little Such a mum name! I also liked Jessica as I got older.

Would never have used either of these for my kids but as a child I loved them.

crumpet · 20/10/2025 22:26

Catriona (v important pronounced the same as, but definitely not spelled, Katrina)

Handeyethingyowl · 20/10/2025 22:20

Probably something like Tabitha after the daughter on Bewitched. I also liked Maren after a girl on my German exchange who seemed impossibly euro-cool.

TheeNotoriousPIG · 20/10/2025 22:16

I hated my name (long, usually misspelt, often mispronounced, judged as a 'naughty' name, and people tended to assume that I was male). People usually told me that I didn't suit it, and should have been called something like Rachel or Elizabeth instead!

I wanted something that was short, easy to spell, and indicated that I was definitely female (like Ella, Hannah, Anna, Leah, etc). Needless to say, I changed it to something along similar lines when I could!

JudgeBread · 20/10/2025 21:46

Oh god something hideous, I was a terrible little goth.

Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way comes to mind. Iykyk

PinkFlamingo888 · 20/10/2025 21:45

I’d have been an Ashleigh or an Evangeline, wouldn’t want to be either now particularly 😂

GreenClock · 20/10/2025 20:55

Abigail. I have no idea why. There was no famous person or character with that name in the late 1980s afaik.

I still like it, decades later.

AmethystAnnotation · 20/10/2025 20:48

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 20/10/2025 19:58

I was an almost silent teen, but inside my head I was a consumptive, pale and wafty ingenue who was waiting to be snatched up by an equally pale and gothic hero. I probably wanted to be called Raven Fox or something pretentious. Neither Raven nor Fox would have suited me at all, as I have a little round red face and short legs. I couldn't be willowy if I tried. Possibly the Fox bit might have stuck, on account of me sneaking around at night and eating all the chicken in the fridge.

Oh, goodness, I was just the same. Stocky wannabe waif😄

Threesmycrowd · 20/10/2025 20:45

Phoebe or chloe.

Ive never liked my name. It mainly used on women a decade or more older than me, dated but not "cool dated". But its not bad enough to change, and I dont know what id change it to!

bumwoes22 · 20/10/2025 20:35

I always liked Kelly (probably because I thought Kelly Kapowski from Saved By The Bell was the most beautiful girl ever).
Or Melanie. No idea why.

KittyRannaldini · 20/10/2025 20:08

TheFiveLakes · 20/10/2025 19:04

Something like Emma too - something something unfussy and classic.

I've always been fairly embarrassed by my name but never got around to doing anything about it, partly because I feel as though you don't choose your name - nobody names themselves (I know people do these days, but they didn't in the 1980s when I was younger unless they were "artist names" - it would have felt pretentious and forced and attention seeking to change it, and required justification for mortally offending my parents I think).

I always thought about changing my name. I've never met anyone else with my name! I got mercilessly mocked about it at school by pupils and teachers.
It was the 80s/early 90s and everyone was called Emma, Laura, Rebecca, Samantha or Sarah!

Moonface318 · 20/10/2025 19:58

Brody - I was obsessed with The Distillers

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 20/10/2025 19:58

I was an almost silent teen, but inside my head I was a consumptive, pale and wafty ingenue who was waiting to be snatched up by an equally pale and gothic hero. I probably wanted to be called Raven Fox or something pretentious. Neither Raven nor Fox would have suited me at all, as I have a little round red face and short legs. I couldn't be willowy if I tried. Possibly the Fox bit might have stuck, on account of me sneaking around at night and eating all the chicken in the fridge.

notanothernamechangemother · 20/10/2025 19:54

I actually really like the name my parents chose for me and have never wanted to change it 🙂

therewasafishinthepercolator · 20/10/2025 19:51

Pieceofpurplesky · 20/10/2025 08:21

Scarlett

Same.

Or specifically, Scarlett Cobain. 😆

jmh740 · 20/10/2025 19:51

As a team I wanted to be Michaela, I have a fairly boring name which is only really heard on 40+ women, changing 1 letter makes it a more classy timeless name so always wish parents had gone for that instead.

lorisparkle · 20/10/2025 19:50

when I was younger I wanted what would now be called a ‘gender neutral’ name such as Chris or Charlie. I was definitely what was called a ‘Tom boy’ and loved characters such as George in The Famous Five and the book The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tyler.

blankcanvas3 · 20/10/2025 19:50

Stacey for some reason. It’s bloody awful I don’t know what I was thinking

RaraRachael · 20/10/2025 19:48

I hated my name growing up as I was the only one in the whole school.
I would have chosen Carol, Susan or something 70s and ordinary.

Lucked · 20/10/2025 19:48

I want a long name that had a boys/unisex nickname like Alex, Toni or Dani. There was a girl who went by Fred at my school and I was so jealous.

NotMyRealAccount · 20/10/2025 19:46

Early teens: Alice. Mid teens: Octavia. Later teens: Elizabeth.

EmiliaRuusuvuori · 20/10/2025 19:39

TheFiveLakes · 20/10/2025 19:04

Something like Emma too - something something unfussy and classic.

I've always been fairly embarrassed by my name but never got around to doing anything about it, partly because I feel as though you don't choose your name - nobody names themselves (I know people do these days, but they didn't in the 1980s when I was younger unless they were "artist names" - it would have felt pretentious and forced and attention seeking to change it, and required justification for mortally offending my parents I think).

This is how I feel about my name.
I would have loved to have been called Eloise, I once mentioned this to my Mum and she said she had always liked that name.
Then why did you call me something hideous from the 40's when I was born in the 70's then 😡

GRCP · 20/10/2025 19:29

Something like Lauren or Kate or Jen. At one point Robin. I would also have liked something a bit unusual and rock and roll. I have a very 80s name I never liked.

BlindSpotForCats · 20/10/2025 19:27

I wanted to be called Sage.

Then I wanted to have as a first name one of our long-gone family surnames which was Moffatt.

Thankfully......