What is your name and do you like it?

[Dyoulikeyourname]

Inspired by the thread asking if people don't like their names. As someone trying to choose a name for our upcoming baby, it would be so useful to know what type of names people tend to like throughout life and which they hate and why etc. I was surprised on the other thread that so many people disliked having a popular name!

I realise this is very outing if your name is very unusual so you may not want to say it. I've obviously name changed. I'll go first!

Nicola (nickname Nicky) I'm a mid 80s baby so Nicola was still popular amongst my peers but not overly so. It was even more popular in the 70s. There was a couple of others in my year at school. I didn't hate my name but I would have preferred a more girly name when I was younger. I didn't like that Nicola is a boys name in other parts of Europe.
The vast majority of Nicolas are my age or older which is slightly ageing, so I'm wary of that when choosing my own kids names. I MUCH prefer Nicky and I'm glad I have a nickname option.
Overall I'm fine with it and can't imagine changing it but I'd probably choose something different for myself.

Born early 80s. My name is Lee and I don't like it much. It is so bloody boring. My mum didn't want people to be able to shorten my name, but instead, they found ways to elongate it.

I like the meaning of my name though, which has links to nature such as a clearing or a meadow.

I’m Aerin. Hated it as a child (BOYS NAME!!!), but now I love it.

How is this pronounced? My DH has a cousin in Ireland and her name could be spelled like this, and it is pronounced Air-In. It is a beautiful name.

Thank you! Yes the same way!

Beautiful name

OR Brooklyn, or Paris, or Florence, etc. etc......

My name is Leigh which I like but prefer Leah but that means cow and Leigh means beautiful meadow! 😄

Danielle and no, I don’t like it
nobody can spell it or say it and I’m sick of being called Daniel
I have considered changing it many times

I'm a Natalie too, I was born a whole decade before you in 1969.

I like it, but im not keen when people drop the second A & it's natlie. I get Nat a lot, which I understand & don't mind, but it's not very nice 'name/sound'

I like the way my name was chosen too, so that.helps.

I dislike the American pronunciation which makes it sound like there's a D, in place of the T.
i like the french spelling Nathalie

in the infants there were a few of us, then we moved and I was in my 40's before I met another one & haven't met another one since (now 57)

I’m a Lindsey. I was born in 1970 so I’m an early one. I think there was an 80’s explosion after Lindsay Corkhill on Brookside 😂

I understand why my mum chose it as I think objectively it sounds and looks nice but I don’t like it, I did when I was little. It’s just a bit naff and there’s a lot of different spellings which is a minor PITA.

There’s always a risk when people reach for slightly unusual pretty or cute sounding names. They often soon become very common and if being uncommon was part of the intention then you won’t be happy.

I’d suit a classic name better. I’d like to be an Anna but I don’t look like one unfortunately. I probably look like a Felicity.

Despite not liking my name much, it doesn’t really bother me.

My name is Crystal. I was born in 1982, so there weren't a ton of other Crystals running around while I was a kid. I'm adopted and I was named after a chandelier because no one could think of a name for me immediately after my birth (true story!)

I hated my name growing up because I was a quintessential tomboy, and I didn't like how girly the name was. I also got teased and mocked for my name - in the stupidest ways - the kids would just stand there and chant "Crystal pistol Crystal pistol!" as if that was some kind of terrible insult. But when you're a little kid, any kind of teasing/bullying really hurts XD

It also didn't help that I wanted my nickname to be Crys (basically "Chris") but my mom only called me "Cryssie"! XD

It was so bad that I was determined that I was going to change my name as soon as I was 18.

Of course, by the time I turned 18 I was used to my name and I was over all the issues I'd had with it, ha. Now it's incredibly apt of a name because I love rocks and have a huge amateur geologist in me ;)

I do hate how everyone in the world seems to default to a "tragedeigh" type of misspelling of my name, though. It seems like everyone automatically thinks it's spelled Khrystle, or Kristal, or Christelle, or something. I generally introduce myself as "Crystal, you know, like a rock" now (or just automatically spell my name without being prompted.)

I guess long story short, it's a name I hated when I was a little kid but that I love now. I'm glad that I have a name that is a little bit unusual without being completely niche or crazy. (My older sister's name is Melanie and I've only met a few other Melanies in my whole life, but she's a mid-1970s baby.)

Jennifer?

Yes! I do have the inner rage when people reply to my emails with ‘Claire’!

Mine is an Eastern European/Jewish version of a popular Biblical girl's name. I go by a shortened, Anglicised version of it though mostly. I didn't like it growing up, as it felt very different to everyone else around me. I remember we had a lot of Sarahs, Jennifers, Julies, Rebeccas and Katies. I'm Scottish by birth and there were some traditional names like Eilidh, Catriona or Fiona, but very few "foreign" names like mine. As I've grown older I'm more comfortable with it as a connection to my heritage.

If you'd said 90s I would have said Chloe, which was extremely common at one point but not sure it had got there in late 80s? I wanted to call my DD Chloe (born 97), but so glad I didn't as there were 10 of them in her year at high school!!

Is Valentine your middle name? It's my dad's middle name, as it was his mums maiden name. Quite unusual.

Yup!

@SunnyWarrington oops,i misread your name as Valentine, just noticed that it's Valentina! Apologies, that'll teach me to not put my glasses on!

I love the name Crystal, it's so pretty! I'm a 70s baby and so was at primary school when Krystle Carrington was in Dallas, I thought it such a lovely name and I was so disappointed when I realised she "spelt it wrong". I only know one other Crystal (coincidentally she is also adopted) and she spells it the right way too.

On the subject of how you got your name, I know a Velvet and her mum says she was named after the curtains!

Valentina is the usual feminine version (beautiful name) although I think the heroine in The Count of Monte Cristo is Valentine so I think it's not unheard of as a female name, and also lovely. I can't remember properly but I think the character is French, maybe Valentine is used for girls in France. Does anyone know?

Dynasty not Dallas!

Yes, Valentine is used as a French girls name, pronounced Val - en teen. It's a very pretty name. It's latin in origin apparently 🙂

Knew it!! Emma is my first name too, similar age, my God it was overused. I gave up and started using my middle name because I couldn’t be arsed always being one of eight Emmas. There’s nothing wrong with it as a name but when your name is really common it just becomes a noise.

So now I’m Julian which I much prefer!

Yep same here, I’m also a Joanne, i had 3 others in my year at school, also think it’s quite a boring name and would have preferred Joanna.

My name is Victoria. Love my name. I don’t like the shortened version though.