What about your name?

[Quizeerascal]

I'm always curious about whether the questions and dilemmas people raise on baby name threads actually matter in adulthood. Does it bother you if you were one of three Sarah's in school for example and were always known as Sarah E? Does your name match with your siblings' names and if not does it bother you? Do you notice if your first name flows with your middle name or not? Does having a full name like Charlotte rather than a shortened name like Lottie matter to you?

I have a slightly old-fashioned name for my generation and I occasionally felt self conscious about this growing up but generally I liked having an unusual name for my peer group. I also like that it never gets shortened. Interested to hear others' views.

My name has been a burden tbh.
Growing up it was very unusual so EVERYONE knew who I was. Every fuck up....yep....everyone knew it was me.
Kids would snigger about it and make up rhymes about it.
As I grew up people would ALWAYS comment on it....usually making the exact same jokes.
I have only ever met one if two people with the same name.

As an adult I have come to terms with it but its not something I would ever name a child and I would warn others about it too.
I was determined that my kids would have names that others have and they do...ds2 is one of three mates all with the same name. Doesn't bother him at all and doesnt cause any problems.

That's interesting Bigearrings as lots of posters seem to be searching for a really unusual name and don't want their DC to be one of many with one name but in your experience the opposite seems to be preferable.

Yes this is interesting @Quizeerascal @Bigearringsbigsmile

I’m an 80s baby. My name was very common (akin to Sarah but was actually even more popular than sarah at my school). There was always someone else with my name in my class, even in the smaller classes. I didn’t hate it though and I actually really like my name now. My husband also has a really common name and loved that. He couldn’t stand anything even remotely unusual. His middle name is similar to Martin (so probably a top 100 name but maybe not top 50) and he found his middle name too embarrassing at school (he wished it was another top 10 type name)! Made me not want to be too unusual

My name is very popular in my region- there were about 3/4 of us in my class. It didn't ever bother me

I have a very classic, timeless English name - I like that it doesn’t pigeonhole me into a class, that it’s incredibly well known so easy to spell, that it has never been fashionable so there weren’t others in my class, and it can be shortened.

Mine’s a good all rounder. There were plenty of us in school but that’s because it’s a nice name. It’s waned a bit in popularity in recent years but it wouldn’t sound dated on a baby.

I love my name long version and diminutive. And it’s nice that it gets a lot of positive response on here. But it’s not as unusual as my parents thought it would be at the time and there are a few around.

If I didn’t have my name I’d like something more unusual. Unlike others I like to stand out and be only one. I guess it depends on size of your ego.

There were always other Erins in my classes. I even have a new coworker who is also Erin right now. It's okay- you get used to it. To me it was surprising that out of all the gorgeous names out there, there are so many Erins! But I always felt like I bonded with all the other Erins and I find people named Erin are usually really sweet people so I guess I feel like I'm in good company!

I personally try to like names that aren't super common and if they become really common it usually turns me off, like Olivia or Sophia.

But I have a few i love despite popularity like Violet.

Then there are the ones that are used in my family already that I really cant use even though it pains me a little like Vivienne and Evangeline.

I think you should try to avoid common names where you can because it's a little eye rolly when you always run into people with the same name but if you're in that category you do get used to it and befriend those with the same name! One of my best friends is an Erin and we just laugh about it.

I love my name too. It was quite unusual growing up in the late 80's/early 90's. I could never find a magnet, pen, bookmark with it on. I got called really random things when the school register/bus register was called. I got called Liver & Bacon once because this bitchy girl 'couldn't pronounce it'. Older people always comment on how pretty it is when I introduce myself. I've only ever met one other of me in my age group and still only a few younger ones.

And now it's the top girls name in the Uk! And gets lots of comments of 'its boring' and 'overdone' on here.

And there we go! 'It's a turn off' is a new one for me 😂

I have a popular 80's name, I have met 6 others with the same name in my life but there are lots of us and we all seem to be early-mid 30's!

I like my name but I do have a less common spelling which means I'm always correcting people which does get tiresome.

I like that it can't be shortened and that it's not particularly out there. I was 1 of 2 in my year at school and I'm 1 of 3 in my small work team of 20 people. It's never bothered me being referred to as "yatapina X".

I have 3 siblings and can't say that I've noticed whether our names 'go' or not because they're all just normal names of people who happen to be related - they don't need to go any better than random class groups would surely?!

I've applied all of my likes to my kids names and they're happy with them.

I was named after a dog who didn't have a human name. It caused me so much misery. Even teachers used to join in the laughing at it. People still make jokes. I use my middle name now.
My siblings all have nice normal bible names so I don't know why I didn't.
My daughter has a name that's fairly popular and won't make her stand out too much, and if she wants to, her middle name is unusual.

I’ve never met another person face to face with my name; it’s very old but indeed a name. As a child I disliked it and wished I had the more common names of my siblings, there were rhymes made up and oddly enough I really disliked compliments on it from older people. As an adult I love it and am glad I was given it.

I love my middle name but I think it's a filler middle name also: Renee.

Its pretty and I couldn't imagine any other middle name but I wouldn't reuse it for my daughter because I think while it works for me, it's gotten boring. When I meet others with my first name I feel like my middle name makes my name the better one! They do flow together really well.

Something that weirds me out though is my moms name is Karen so why did she name me Erin? They rhyme and it super bugs me! My dad is Martin and my brother is Dustin so my mom always said we were the IN family which didnt fully make sense because hers is EN. But I guess that was a theme. I personally dont like that but I may have the same challenge because my husband is Alan and most boy names I like also end in n too 😂

I'm a sarah and there were at least 5 in my year, we were just referred to by our full names.Db is James and our names were in the top 3 of boys and girls lists 1980/1982.

I like mine - it's 'classic' but not overly popular (certainly not now, I'm an 80s child), only one or two others at school and never in my class.

My gripes with it has always been - it can't be shortened, there are no diminutives. I would have loved the choice, in a "is it Rebecca or Becky?" sort of way, rather than being stuck with it as is. (Not that I dislike it, I just would have liked some options!). It also has spelling variants, so I am forever getting emails with it spelt wrong - particularly irritating from colleagues who should definitely know better.

All that said, neither of my children have names that can easily be shortened either... But at least they only have one possible spelling!

I know lots of people who have the same name as me. (1st and middle). Its never bothered me. We thought it was funny most of the time. Eg phoning a friend (in the days where teens used landlines) and saying to who ever answered "hi its Sarah. Is Sarah there?"

I used a shortened version as a teen, but use the full version now.

IMO my name does match with my siblings, but then I've spent 30 odd years with siblings, so I'm used to them being together iyswim.

My own dc have top 100 names.
Ds1's was 80 something the year he was born.
Ds2's was 2nd I think, although I've actually only ever met 1 born the same year as him.

@vampirethriller what is your name? I'm genuinely curious. You have such an interesting story. I'm sorry even teachers taunted you - that is really wrong.

Very posh, often mispronounced name that is hard upon the ear. I grew into it but detested it as a child. Although the altenative was Petrova which would have been far worse.

DD has a simple classic name but hated the fact there were always three in her year.

Perhaps we are never happy with our names.

It bugs me though that so many teachers and nurses had a snigger. Our last name is quite comolex although English. The number of nurses who have said. "Ooh that's unusual/funny" I have lost count of. They wouldn't say it to a person who was Indian, Chinese, Nigerian, etc, so why be so rude to a middle class white woman? Never fails to amaze me.

I have a common surname and common first name for the time I was born. I hate it to this day and go by a less common nickname.

I was always the only one in my class but I didn’t like the fact it was common regardless of how many others I knew!

I do like that my middle name flows well but I also like that my name has an even number of letters so I’m a bit odd 😂

I love my name .only met two others through all my education.
Rarely come across another now.
Gets shortened by my family only, to my initial, which is in itself a name.
Occasionally gets lengthened by someone adding a -y- or -ie- to it.
Doesn’t really ‘go’ with my siblings name.

I have an incredibly popular name for my generation. It mildly bothered me during my teens when i wanted to be cool not commen.

As a young child i liked having the same name as others - including my best friend.

As an adult, i mix with people from 20 - 65 at work so the fact my name had a good 10 - 15 years of being super popular doesnt matter as much as we have olivias to susans represented. Although i have always worked with at least one other.

The only thing i would say is mine is classic rather than trendy and crossess social divides. Its a name that goes in and out of fashion for hundreds of years. I think i'd be less keen on a really popular name that was specifically associated with one decade and one social group.

I don’t like the fact that my name doesn’t shorten. And there are three in my friendship group which does cause confusion. I can’t even find a good nickname to help. It’s not a major burden but it does bug me a bit. My kids all have normal but rare names.

I really don’t like my name. It’s old fashioned for when I had it, it’s doesn’t sound at all pretty, I don’t like any of the meanings and the meaning is really not me, so I can’t even cling to that for a connection. The name I really wish I had was the one my parents were going to use right up until the last minute! On the upside, there aren’t many of us about in my generation, so from a practical perspective, that’s good.

I grew up in London the 80s and 90s with a very Irish name associated with Irish Republicans. Nobody could spell it or pronounce it in London, which was a bit of a pain. I used to wish as a kid I had a nice English name like Emma or Gemma.

But I grew to love it! Firstly, because I started liking having an unusual name. It was still unusual when I was in my 20s and early 30s (in the UK).

Then it became more well known (Suggested on MN baby name boards, even!) and the connotations and history became a bit better understood, so it was seen by Brits as ‘an Irish name’ rather than a weird collection of letters .

I’m glad I’m not Emma Gemma now. Although I unknowingly tapped in to the zeitgeist and gave my DD a babe which wasn’t common when she was born 12 years ago but is now top 20 in the UK. So...