Does anyone else not like their name?

[thetruthshallsetyoufreebutfirstitwillpissyouoff]

I mean your own name. Putting this in the baby name topic as not sure where else it would go. But I'm starting to come to the realisation that I don't really like my name - it's not hugely common but not 'out there' so nothing objectively wrong with it, but it feels quite jarring to me when someone calls me it. I'm not going to change it - I'm late 30's, two kids, career, friends, family so it would just confuse things. Anyone else? How do you get over it?

Mid 50s here and absolutely hate my name and always have. I like my middle name (husband uses it). We moved area years ago and I wish I'd asked people to call me by my middle name then. I agree with you about it being jarring when people say it - I inwardly cringe. My name isn't out there or weird either, nor is it pretty and feminine. No advice I'm afraid, just solidarity!

Yes! My name is also uncommon but normal and I have never ever liked it. Hate the full name and the shortened version is an old lady name to me. I am 40 and obviously wouldn’t change it now but do wish I’d been called something more classic. Anna or Emma or something. My name came from a popular 80s song (not Roxanne!) and I think most of the people with it are named so due to the song.

I don't like mine. I used to hate it as a child and teen but I'm used to it now.
It's very unusual, I've never met another. I got mocked for it by children and teachers at school. Even now I have to spell it every time I call the doctor etc.
I use my nice normal 80s middle name most of the time!

I have a very common name. There were six of us in my class all through primary, you’d find several in any gathering, and it made me feel generic. I never learned to answer to it if called, as it was usually someone else being hailed. To the point where I still remember, almost 30 years on, exactly where I was when I’d moved abroad (to somewhere my name was unusual) and someone called my name on the street and I responded instinctively because I knew it was me.

Yep. It’s a common name but very dated. Lots of people have told me it doesn’t “fit” me too. Not sure that I’ll ever do anything about it, but yeah. Hate it.

It's not Claire is it?! When I was in primary school there were 6 girls in my class called Claire. I think it's a lovely name btw.

I hate my old lady name which mumsnet loves. I hate the short version. I hate having to give my name on business calls. I hate the way people say it in the accent of my birthplace.

Poster above put it really well - I have a common name and have always felt very generic. Don’t really feel like people are talking about me when I hear it. Perfectly nice name objectively (and often seen here on baby boards) but I’ve never liked being called it.

I didn’t like my name growing up - I was the only one in my school even though it’s a name everyone would know, it was just just out of fashion. Then it had a huge resurgence and there’s a lot of teens / early 20s with it. I love it now as I’ve never (so far) worked with anyone else with the same name. It also goes really well with my married name. It’s not a “pretty” name, I don’t think, but it sounds nice and looks good in print.

I hate my name too 😪. Its very scottish/Irish. When I go for appointments where the receptionist doesn't know me its always pronounced wrong and it really pisses me off 😡.

It’s weirdly depressing, isn’t it? And in my case, my parents chose it precisely in order to be unremarkable, a policy they also followed with all my siblings’ names. That’s all they wanted. It’s also clear they never said it out loud with their surname, because it’s difficult to say them together.

I changed my entire name when I was 20, it was made easier as like many boys I was called Mohammad, so I was already known by a preferred first name anyway. I changed my surname to a white british sounding one as people without one are still less likely to be short listed when applying for jobs.

So for example Mohammad Shah who was know as James became James Mohammad Smith.

I've always hated my name. I was always the only one in school and people often don't know how to spell it.

I was also given my mother's maiden surname as my middle name which can also be a boy's first name so a double whammy of awfulness.

I like the name but I rarely get called it because very few people can say or spell it.

I don't like the name (diminutive and surname together) and don't think it looks or sounds nice. They're fine separately.

I have a name that isn’t unusual but not particularly common.
I often get called the wrong (but similar) name which is irritating.
I used to really dislike my name but, as I’ve got older, I like that I don’t know anyone with the same name. I’m always the only person at work with that name so there’s no confusion etc. I work with lots of Sarah’s, Kelly’s…

I hate all three of mine. ( two fore names and surname. ) Fortunately I have a nickname that I use whenever possible. What the fuck my parents thought of when giving me those names I can’t understand.
I am always needing to spell both my first and surname for people.

My name is Karen and I utterly hate it. Never been a huge fan, although I liked the Scandinavian connection. But now with all the internet hate it's a really, really difficult name to live with. I've thought about changing it, but it just seems insurmountable and nothing else really fits. It was the name my Mum chose for me and Iove her to bits, which makes a name change difficult too.
I don't have a middle name, so no options there.

No, I like my name, but my granny HATED her name. I think it's really sad to go through life with a name you hate. It's such an intrinsic part of you and how other people relate to you and actually judge you, so it seems a bit unfair really that you get no say in your own name unless you're prepared to go through the drama of changing it.

I hate my name. It’s quite a common one, but I feel it’s quite a popular girl / glamorous / fussy name and I am anything but.

I grew up with a different nickname but that one doesn’t work in adulthood. I’m thinking of changing it to a new nickname but with husband, children, career that’s easier said than done.

I can't say I hate but I am not keen on it. As for my middle name, it has links to big busted of the time bay watch actress so I could not use that too. I was named after the babysitter 😵‍💫

I loathed mine as a child as it was the source of a lot of teasing and bullying. I don’t mind it now but I do think I’d have had a very different life if my mum had given me a more ‘normal’ name, tbh.

The biggest problem is that as well as giving me an unusual name my parents also decided I was to be known by my middle make which has caused a fair bit of drama.

...as well as giving me an unusual name my parents also decided I was to be known by my middle name... Same here.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences- it's so hard isn't it! Interesting that those of you with really common names don't like them - both mine have top ten names but ones I think really suit them (both very young though so don't know what they think 😆)

@OttersideofthebridgeI totally get the issues with your name now, it's such a shame such a nice name is now used so negatively.

My grandparents did that to one of my parents.. lasted until school apparently when they were called the first name on the register (presumably they didn't ask for 'preferred name' in those days)

I never liked the name that I was originally given. It was surprisingly popular in that era, but it was often mispronounced to sound the same way as the boys' version. Throw in that part of it rhymed with a rude word, and school was an absolute joy not.

By 11/12, I'd already looked up how to change my name, and told my mother that was on my to-do list when I grew up, so I had a few years to think up a new name before legally changing all of it to something that I preferred. It took a while for other people to get used to using my new name, but nowadays, my previous name doesn't come up at all. Fortunately, my mother has said that she prefers my current name to the old one!