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.

I was the only one with my name in the whole of infant and juniors and when I went up to senior school there was one other girl with the same name. I was in year 10 by this point and her in year 7.
My name can be shortened but I don't like it to be shortened.
I often am known for first and middle name rather than just my first name to some people.

And first and middle name flow nicely together. Siblings all names fit around each other and again all unusual

Oh god, I would have loved to be Sarah E, or Nicola J at school. I'm an 80s baby with a name that is fairly popular now but not at all then. I have never met anyone with the same name as me

Although in the last few years I have heard parents calling to their child. I always look about because the only time I heard my name for 30+ years was when someone was talking to me

I have an unusual (outside top 1000) name and I love it! I was always the only one at school and at work so never had to add my surname initials or other adjective and n order to be identified.

It's unusual in the sense of not being used widely, but it's a classic easy to pronounce name. I really like it.

As a result we've tried to give our children similar classic but not popular names.

I had the most unusual name it got mis-everything they named me after someone who killed themselves young so I was living for two people utter crap and an awful burden for a young child.

Oh yes to every mistake being known so I changed it to an uncommon name which suited me better

My children have uncommon names but unusual is always a bridge to far

My name is Catherine. It was top of the Times list of birth names announced in its pages the year I was born. Interestingly, it doesn’t feel particularly prevalent, because many of the other Catherines are calling themselves Kate or Katie.

I didn’t particularly like being Catherine X at school, but I think that’s more because the other Catherine was not someone I liked.

The main issue with the name is the number of ways people spell it. And I don’t really get wound up about that. Oddly, many people who have been introduced to me will call me Caroline on their first attempt to use my name. That is annoying - but unforeseeable by my parents I think!

Hated my name as a kid. I wanted to be called Anastasia, Francesca or Bernadette, which sounded far more flamboyant and feminine. But I grew into my name, and now I love it; it's elegant, shortens nicely and goes well with my surname and Scottish ancestry. It has versions in other languages, including Greek.

Rock stars have written songs with my name in the title!

To cap it off, in a discussion on MN a poster wrote "(name) has always been cool." That was like winning the Oscar of names!

Can you guess my name?

My name was very common at the time and therefore my surname was always used too. I hated it.

I have a name that isnt that unusual but isn't really common either which I think is the right balance .
No one else in any of my classes had the same name as me but there was a girl with the same name in a different year group in primary and one other in my year group but in another class in my very large secondary school.
The only thing is now that I think it has dated , so I think if you heard my name you'd have a good idea of my age!
Tried to pick classic names for my DC that weren't in top 100 however my both my oldest and youngest dcs names have since become very popular and my eldest name can be spelt several different ways so she always correcting. My son has a more unusual name, teenager now but when younger was forever cross he couldn't get anything with his name on in a gift shop.

groover Are you called Fiona? I’m not sure it fits all the clues, but I’m keen to get the answer.

I like my Christian name, but my parents did not think through the implications of my initials with their surname, which ended up being something really rude that I got mocked for. I hated it and ended up hating my surname. I was very pleased to take my husband's surname when we got married!

I have an unusual name. I am 45 and have only met one other person with my name (about 2 years ago). Although it's so unusual it's a name people have heard of and know how to spell. At school I was occasionally teased for my unusual name but to be honest I was teased for many things. My name was the least of my worries! I think as a child I felt like a bit of an oddball and having an unusual name seemed to reinforce my feeling that I was different. As I got older I grew to love my name. Having such a rare name has made me feel unique. I just can't imagine knowing anyone else with the same name! It's an old fashioned, vintage type name but unlike the other vintage names it hasn't come back in to fashion. I'm really pleased about this. I want to keep being the only person with my name that people know!

@SallyWD - I had a similar experience. Got the odd bit of teasing for my name, but was bullied far more for having SEN than I was my name!

I was quite a shy child so I liked that my name was such a conversation starter. By the time I had explained my heritage I was eased into conversation.

On the other hand my husband who has a name which was very popular at the time we were born liked being one of several, and as a shy child would have hated to have had to explain his name to people.

You just can't tell how any one will feel about their name in advance. I wouldn't avoid giving my own child an uncommon name as it didn't bother me having one. They could just as equally wish they had an unusual name if they had a common one.

All you can do is avoid names you can easily predict problems with, like Jezebel (I went to school with one, she insisted on being called Jez).

Groover are you Deborah ?

My name is Sharna, and I like that there aren’t many Sharna’s but I hate that people call me Shauna

Wasn't keen on my name as a child, now I love it. It was always misheard though, even the mother of a friend kept calling me the wrong name for years. It's not very common where I'm from (Denmark).
My name doesn't match with my siblings names.

My name is very common in some countries but not so where I live. I have always been called, and answer to, a whole bunch of variations. As a teenager I found out who I was named after and it is a very sad story. Only I know, but it still hurts. That's why I rather be called anything else.

I think we may have the same name @Whatsyourflava

@freeingNora similar situation

I'm Clare I hate it. It's so plain and boooorrrring .There's no friendly short version, either. Which makes it worse. I've never truly forgiven my parents for giving it to me. Mind you my mum said The neighbour at the time thought my name was Gertrude, so I guess with Clare I did get off lightly
My sister is A imee. I was always jealous that she got the prettier name.

I have a name that’s very common for my generation (like Sarah, Rebecca etc) and I really didn’t like it.
I felt like my parents couldn’t be bothered to think of anything original or special for me.
I also loathed having a different name on the birth certificate to my actual known as name. I would never give my child a longer birth cert version no matter what’s said on mn.

@YesILikeItToo, no, I'm not Fiona, but I do love that name. So graceful. And I've liked every Fiona I've met, including my brainy and charming cousin.

@SirVixofVixHall, no, I'm not Deborah! Girls named Deborah are much cooler than I.

Think Elvis Costello, the Pixies, the Lemonheads ....

@Awwlookatmybabyspider, why did your neighbour think you were Gertrude?? Clare is lovely, btw. Makes me think of a wildflower meadow in Ireland.

Alison ?

I like my full name but dislike the diminutive which is now very commonplace amongst children. Neither my full name nor the diminutive were popular in school but I always hated the diminutive and resented anyone who tried to call me it.

I have a foreign name that is traditional for my home country, although a bit old fashioned now. It's practically unpronounceable for English speakers. Thankfully the shortened version is easier, and it's also a name in its own right (a bit like Alfie is short for Alfred but is also a separate name). I just use the short version for everything apart from official documents.
I've grown to like my name but always hated it when I was growing up as I lived in an area with mostly locals with local names. I'd cringe so much when new or supply teachers mispronounced it and the whole class sniggered. My own child will have an easy to pronounce name.