To dislike my name

[whyidontlikemyname]

My name has three syllables and honestly decades on I STILL hear my mothers voice screeching it with the emphasis on the second syllable and I really dislike my own name!

Wondering if anyone else hates their name?

@whyidontlikemyname

Yeah, I have to be honest and say if I turned up on the school run and said ‘right Jo, I’m now Sally’ to all the school mums I would feel a massive twat.

Why can you not just change your first name to a (shorter) diminutive of your longer name? Loads of people do this. Why would you feel like a massive twat?

For instance I know a woman called Geraldine, (she's 33) and she has been called Geri since she was at Uni. And an Evangeline (aged 46 who HATES her name,) who prefers to be called Lina (pronounced Leena,) and she's been called Lina since high school. Also a Cynthia, who is 50, and she gets everyone to call her CeCe. Has done for about 15 years. No-one calls her Cynthia.

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Hated it as a child. I have a traditional name - one that always comes up at least once or twice for suggestions of a classic or elegant name on MN - but in the 80s and 90s, it always seemed so formal and stuffy to me. I have grown into it though and learned to appreciate it from my mid teens onwards and I love it now. It was a case of growing into it for me.

The short version of my name is not very thrilling either!
My friend is called Dolores...shortened to Dolly which I think is infinitely better. So doe she!

I have never liked my name but now it’s actually used as an insult I like it even less. 😩

I hate my name! I’m 40 but it’s what I consider to be an ‘old lady’ name. To give context, my NDN has the same name, and she’s in her 80’s

To make it worse, my parents only named me this as a nod to the date I was born (significant public holiday)

I'm assuming it's a 2 syllable name that starts with K? (And rhymes with Darren)! 😬How annoying for anyone with this name. I know 2 women with this name, and they go by Kaz, and Kazza, even on Facebook. I think it's still a nice name, but very annoying for any woman who has it that it's been used to describe an angry rude entitled woman!

!

May? 😄 I think that's nice. You are entitled to not like it of course!

My name has a t in it which nearly ever man and his dog drops, especially in Scotland. It just sounds so ughhhhh. I’m a late 60’s child and my dad loved an actress with this name. I wanted to be Debbie!

My name is Holly and I don’t mind it.

@Journey1234 Holly is a lovely name,

Thankyou I’m 42 so I feel it’s quite a modern name for my age.

There are loads of people who loathe their given names and riff on a theme... In my acquaintances:

Cece (given name Sarah)

Vivi (given name Geneviève)

Cee (Celia)

Roo (Ruth)

Vivi (Vivien)

I prefer all the alternative names to their given names..,

Cazzy (Carolina)

Kaz (Karen)

Roni (Sharon)

I never liked mine. Ive always been called and known by the shortened bit of my name unless I was in trouble! The only person who ever called me by my full name was my mother.

Ive always hated it but funnily enough I would like it now if people used my full name rather than shortening it. A bit like being called Pat when you are called Patricia or Sam when you are a Samantha.

I don’t like my name and never have, I’ve only ever met one other person with my name but it’s not too unusual, it’s just that I don’t like it. I’ve never really thought about changing it because my DM would be really hurt plus I’m in my 60’s now so it’s a bit late.

I hated my name, I changed it via deed poll, everyone was understanding and went along with the change, wasn’t a faff for me.

Oh yes, I've hated my name since childhood. It's 'unique' - meaning no one's ever heard it before and the most common response is 'Excuse me?', followed by an embarrassed attempt to resolve it into something known that vaguely resembles it, often a noun that isn't a proper name given to humans. I was so annoyed when Starbucks started asking for your name to put on cups (although amused to see what the baristas came up with), and I quickly began giving my boring, normal middle name, or just making something up. Doesn't help that my surname doesn't sound like it's spelled, so I generally need to spell it out as well. I wanted to change my name to Jane Smith - the most 'normal' name I could think of - no one could possibly take the piss out of Jane Smith! - since I was ten, but somehow I never got round to it, and at 59 I no longer care. It helps that, during my lifetime, growing global migration has led to more people regularly encountering unfamiliar names, so younger people now generally don't even blink. BITD though, it was character-building!

Change it to one you do like. One of my former colleagues did just that. It was surprising how quickly we all got used to it.
My neighbour’s son has just asked me to call him by a different name. It’s fine. ☺️

As a Karen, yes I hate my name. 😔

No! Christine! 25th December 🤣

I’m not a fan of my name, it’s very old fashioned for someone my age and unlikely to come back into fashion.

My full name and shortened name are very different. Work colleagues and my mum use my full name, friends, partner and brothers and sisters use my short name. My dad used either depending on the mood. It feels very odd if friends or partner use my "official" full name.

Do you shorten your name or have a nickname you can use OP?

@Muffsies tbh it only lends itself to quite ugly nicknames and no ‘known’ ones (like Jo or Beth.)

I am surprised at the number of people who think changing your name is no biggie. I would feel idiotic telling DH I now needed to be called Rachel or Mary!

Change it, then.

it isn’t something I feel able to do at this stage of my life @DinoLil , which I’ve tried to explain repeatedly throughout the thread.

For the most part I don’t really think of it, it tends to be when I have to speak to someone new who gets it wrong (it’s happening now as selling property so speaking a lot to estate agents and solicitors who can’t seem to get my name right!) so it’s been on my mind a bit more than normal.

I do often think my life would have been different if I’d been called a more standard, dare I say ‘normal’ name.

I really like Christine.

ETA I was due on Christmas Day and I was going to be called Natalie. Really wish I had been called that rather than my actual name, even if it meant a Christmas birthday!