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Original poster

Do you know anyone whose name doesn't suit them?

161 replies

Louwheeeeeze · 03/04/2023 20:15

I name-changed for this, since I'm about to reveal my actual real name...

I'm a Louise, and I've never felt that I look like one. It just doesn't suit me! I think of it as quite a feminine name and I'm a big clumsy oaf who can break things that other people wouldn't consider to be breakable. But at the same time, I always think that Louise sounds ugly, with all the emphasis on that "wheeze" sound at the end. It's just about ok when French people say it, but alas, I am English.

Do you know anyone who has a name that just doesn't sound right on them? I sometimes see on the Baby Names board comments like "We were going to call him George but when he arrived he just looked like a Sam" and I wish my parents had had that sort of ability when I was born.

OP posts:
hadenoughofhisshit · 04/04/2023 00:07

BobGalaxy · 03/04/2023 23:50

I'm another with a name from the previous generation. It's a Donna/Karen/Tracy type name. I'm 35 😑

Sharon? Alison? Deborah ?

Sugarfree23 · 04/04/2023 00:16

I've come across a girl with a previous generation name it definitely didn't suit her.
And when I spoke about her people assumed she was much older.

Mercy1968 · 04/04/2023 00:19

My mother wanted to call me Melanie. My father didn't like it and I m glad.
I m not a Melanie. I think of the frail dippy one in Gone with the wind.
My actual name suits me much better.

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Families
Mercy1968 · 04/04/2023 00:21

And my friend is an Emily. That reminds me of a victorian lady who faints a lot and looks like a China doll.
My friend is a stompy heavy footed woman who has a heart of gold and the grace of an ox.

ShowsLikeThese · 04/04/2023 00:24

A Charmaine and a Charlotte.
Now I'm realising that maybe I have something about 'ch' names 🤣

Littlebummybums · 04/04/2023 00:37

I must have been at school with @VickerishAllsort

Barleysugar86 · 04/04/2023 00:40

Haha yeah. A young attractive DJ called Nigel.

hadenoughforever · 04/04/2023 00:45

icanneverthinkofnc · 03/04/2023 21:27

I've got a typical early/mid 50s type name that signals that generation but was born 10 years later. Women with the same name are nearer to my mother age. I've always hated it. I prefer the pet nickname , but only DM and my brother call me it.

^ same here

MerryHen · 04/04/2023 01:11

My name doesn't feel like mine.

I think because my family and some friends have always called me by a shortened version which is a male name so I feel like that's my name. DH's family all call me by my actual name and it always sounds odd.

My name is feminine (despite its male shortening), classic, well known but not overly popular or faddy iykwim, and generally well liked here on MN, I just don't feel an affinity with it.

I'm also the only one of my siblings to not have an Irish name, and don't feel my name goes with our very Irish surname so that might also have something to do with it.

I have a lovely, unusual Irish middle name that my mum considered as my first name but decided against since she knew I'd probably grow up in England but I've always wished she'd used that!

It is what it is though and despite all that I can't imagine changing it!

Goldenbear · 04/04/2023 01:36

My aunt is a Martha, she is an arty, bohemian hippy, I don't think this name conjures up that image!

Goldenbear · 04/04/2023 01:38

My friend is a Marie-anne, she is 39 so I think it seems old for that generation. She looks more like a Jessica.

Geppili · 04/04/2023 01:42

I absolutely adore my name. Everybody loves it and you rarely meet any.

ImOnTheGoodListActually · 04/04/2023 01:49

A colleague called Leanne. Until she started stomping around the office, talking loudly on the phone and punctuating with either expletives or the word like I never met a Leanne I didn't er, like.

GayforMoleman · 04/04/2023 02:01

Louise was my middle name. It always stuck out to me as boring and clunky whereas my other names were very unusual. When I changed my surname via deed poll I got rid of that too. I stuck with unusual, suits me much better.

CatherineTheOccasionallyGreat · 04/04/2023 02:07

I'm a Catherine, which is a name that is so pervasive it suits almost everybody. But various family and friends call me Cath or Cathie which I personally don't think suit me, but perhaps they do, which is mildly disappointing. I always think of Caths as being about 50 years older than I am. I'm sure my Nan had at least 2 mates at the retirement village named Cath

DPotter · 04/04/2023 03:50

Me

I'm often called Dawn by people I've just met. You know the situation - you're introduced and a short while later someone says 'It's Dawn isn't it ?'

weird

SpareHeirOverThere · 04/04/2023 04:14

WeWereInParis · 03/04/2023 21:33

I always think naming a child after a trait (Joy, Grace, Patience, Faith etc) is a bit risky. I went to school with a very impatient Patience.

This.

The only people who do not suit their names are named after a characteristic they do not share.

The rest are personal perception, preference and associations.

OP, just change your name. No harm in it.

PopsicleHustler · 04/04/2023 04:24

My son.

Unfortunately, I chose a name for him which was unisex and at first sounded great.
Originally I wanted to call him Josiah or Joseph, But picked a different one. And as time went on, it just didn't suit him at all. He then converted to Islam and found an Islamic name which is very similar and so he changed it by deed poll. It was very simple by changing the first name from just the change of the first letter. Like Barry to Harry. Or kaiden to jaiden. He's very happy now and his Muslim name suits him very beautifully and it has a strong meaning in the religion.

JKisrolling · 04/04/2023 04:29

A rather unattractive but more importantly nasty woman named Aurora, which I felt didn’t suit her.

EvilHerbivore · 04/04/2023 04:48

dreamingofsandytoes · 03/04/2023 22:15

My name is Lynsey and I'm 24.
I hate it because every other Lynsey is at least 10/20 years older than me and the only way to shorten it is Lyn which is a very old lady name.

I know a young Lindsay who goes by Linney

ButteryBread · 04/04/2023 05:24

I know a Mavis. I expect a prim and proper, bookish type who loves gardening.
The one I know looks like an Instagram influencer - long blonde hair extensions, lip fillers, heels, crop tops and jeans and loves taking selfies. Lovely girl but she ain't no Mavis! She goes under the name of Mae.

merrymelodies · 04/04/2023 05:42

My mum's name is Joyce and she loathes it, so much so that after her parents passed away, she changed it to Sasha. Which really doesn't suit her but...

MotherofBingo · 04/04/2023 05:58

I feel like my children should have switched names 😂 one's name I'd associate with being quite timid and delicate - she is a whirlwind of energy with no fear, the others name I've seen suggested on boards for strong, independant characters - she is extremely shy and quiet. They can always use nicknames/middle names as they grow up - or they might grow into their names.

garlictwist · 04/04/2023 06:08

I have been saddled with a very ugly Welsh name which I hate. I went to school with a Joelle which I always thought I'd like to be called.

ThomasinaLivesHere · 04/04/2023 06:32

I wish I was the more unusual name that my parents thought of but they went with a top 5 name. I’ve never met anyone with that name and it’s not so obviously pinned to a generation.

I think not suiting a name is usually tied to virtue names which is one reason I’m put off them.