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?

Oh I like Elizabeth not keen on Betty. I know an Elizabeth but it was the wrong name for her. She’s a lesbian so she used to get teased saying she was Lizzy the le**y.😪I think you can guess the word. Some people are just vile. But she goes by a NN of her middle name.

Totally get what you mean. I dont like mine either but I think at my age it would be strange to change when work, friends etc know you as it. Mine is a K name so I do quite like Kay but even that feels weird asking people to use.

I hate my name, I never really felt it suited or applied to me, and I still get a jolt of 'are they talking to me?' when people say it, especially when strangers use it.
But it cannot be shortened and I have never found anything else I would like to be called. So I stick with it, but very few people use it anyway.

I wish I had thought of changing my name when I was young. it just never occurred to me !
My dad actually choose my name but then spent 50 yrs mispronouncing it.

I’m the same op. I so closely link the sound of my name with my mother screaming it in anger that i still kinda cringe and feel shame / fear when i hear it aloud. i go by a nickname instead.

My sibling did similar to your non-binary colleague, shortened their name but it's technically still a completely different name - it was a little strange at first but after calling them that for over two years it now feels strange that they were ever called by their original name.

I changed my surname two years ago so changed the spelling of my first name while I was there because I'd been using the preferred spelling for over ten years anyway - some people do still spell it the old way but the ones who know that it matters to me spell it correctly and that means a lot ❤

I know you feel a bit self-conscious about it but if it's bothering you that much, I would consider changing it. Life's too short to be called a name you don't like and if others find it strange, who cares? It's your name, it belongs to you.

I’ve known a few people who changed their first names. Initially it was a ‘REALLY?’ moment but they soon became their new name.

Humans are extremely adaptable.

I spent years hating the fact my parents didn’t give me the full name so I just have a diminutive and would sometimes tell people I was the full version. It’s a common name now in diminutive version for young children so nobody thinks twice, plus how would they know I wasn’t the full version on my BC? Nevertheless it was something I used to be conscious of, particularly as I’m an academic so a very MC arena. I don’t care so much now.

I have a colleague who has a beautiful Russian name but because he isn’t Russian and just had in his words “pretentious fuckwit parents”, he doesn’t like it. It’s a lovely name though so I always use it rather than the shortened British version he likes to go by.

Why don't you call your colleague the name he prefers? It's quite rude to call him something you know he doesn't like.

I hate mine ! Wish I’d changed it in my teens

Changed mine. Explained to people why, people seemed to agree good use of free will in your one go on the planet, literally no biggie 8 years on. Glad I did it. Does anyone secretly think thoughts about my choice? Who knows. No one saying anything to my face, certainly.

I reckon I might have the same name as you!

Mid 70s born. Hate my first name. Really hated my surname. Was a great source of misery and bullying even by teachers throughout my school life. I changed it via deed poll at 20 yrs old. Never looked back.

Even my own daughter doesn't know my original surname. My DH only knows it because I told him.

Back to first name, I was told that if I christened which I am, you can't change your first name via deed poll. I think I've read recently that's not true. But of course, internet wasn't around in the 1990s to find out this information.

I actually don't mind my middle name of Elizabeth. You can shorten in so many ways! Wish I'd started using that instead. Beth, Lizzie, Eliza all OK in my opinion. Don't like Liz or Betty though.

I changed my name by deed poll when I was 51, using an online application form. Really simple.
The pain comes when informing banks/ licenses/ utility companies/ passport etc of the name change.
Originally Susan Anne, new name Susanne, no middle name.
All my friends & family accepted the change, with a hint of amusement, maybe & I don't mind being Sue to those who've known me forever.

Go for it! X

I really dislike mine. It’s Jill.

it’s too short, one syllable.

It doesn’t have any good nicknames / diminutives. I don’t have a middle name so going by middle name not an option. I don’t feel it went well with my maiden name, and my married surname is also one syllable, so that’s not great either.

Too old to do anything about it. But never felt comfortable with it or felt it suited me.

Do you hate your name or do you hate your mother?

I primarily go by my last name as I'm not the greatest fan of my first name. The only problem is that I've met more than a few people who, upon learning that they've been calling me by my LN instead of my FN, revert to calling me by my FN despite my repeated protests! Have heard all sorts of awful excuses, ranging from how they think my FN is so pretty to how they find it off if everyone else is on a first-name basis except me.

What does the thread title say?

I admittedly wasn’t keen on my mother shrieking it but it hardly means I hated her

exactly this…my middle name is Louise…1980 here 🤣

I sometimes wonder if my mum had a bit of PDA! She rejected the traditional choices of Clare and Rebecca and other 80s classics. I guess that’s one plus point to my name: it isn’t dated at all.

You should call him by his preferred name. Very rude of you to override his wishes like that.

Thanks but he doesn’t mind. Not everyone gets as butthurt as people on MN, thankfully.

I’m a Clare…I hate it…

I know someone who changed theirs and I absolutely do still think of them as their old name, like "oh I must get in touch with Fran" but I'll use the new name when speaking.
It was announced on Facebook as "changing my name was cheaper than divorce, and while I was at it I changed my first name too because I never felt it suited me. My name now is Jasmine Jones! I don't expect you'll all remember to use it and thats ok, but it's how I'll introduce myself to new people going forward, so figured you all should know who that is 😁"

(not real names obv)

My name is the Scandinavian version of Christine. Hated it as a child as I was the only one (this was in the early 70s), but I like it now. I go by the obvious shortened form except for at work. Mum still uses the full version occasionally.

When I was little she used to call me Mabel Maud, and she still often refers to me as Mabel 🙂