Mine is kind of boring and mainstream, but I like it fine. “Bob.” 3 letters, 2 of them the same. Not terribly flashy, no. But you can always trust a Bob, eh?
I’m used to it. It’s kind of a random exotic name and many people tell me it’s pretty. But EVERYONE mispronounces it. (I always hated roll call the first day of school.)
Technically my legal first name is what I use as my middle name (thanks, parents). It’s also exotic and foreign but more mainstream. I’ve thought about using my middle name but it would be hard to change. (I’d make a rotten spy. Think, “Hello, Mr. THOMPSON,” “I think he’s talking to you!”)
Yes, I would change my name. It isn’t horrible or anything, but I don’t think it suits my personality. Someone at work told me my name conjures up someone who is vivacious and sensual–two things that I’m not. Plus, people always think it’s a nickname when it is not.
I’m thinking I’m more of a “Freda” or “Linda”, although I wouldn’t mind something like “Aurora”. The last one wouldn’t go with my last name very well, though, because my last name is very boring and pretty commonplace. So I’d probably do the celebrity thing and just go by “Aurora”.
I like it – common enough that people don’t go “WTF kind of name is that?” but not so common that everyone knows a bajillion people with it.
My last name is uncommon and often misspelled/mispronounced by people encountering it for the first time, but once you’ve both heard and seen it, it makes sense, so people don’t continue mangling it after the first time.
Yes, I like my name. I always had a back-up name or alternative if I could have an alter-ego, which is just my middle name and my mother’s maiden name. Oh, I am so creative.
I go by my middle name, Mike, which I like. It’s a nice strong name. I’m not particularly fond of my given first name, but my parents have been calling me Mike since birth, so maybe it’s some sort of comfirmation bias.
Now my last name is slightly ethnic (Polish, but not a “-ski”) and I grew up in a small town in northern Maine where everyone had a French last name. So as a young lad I felt very out of the mainstream. Then when I became a snotty teenager, I realized the coolness of a unique name.
It’s a pretty spiffy last name anyway, so, yeah, I’ve grown to love my name.
I’m a Jennifer too, but I like it. I don’t often meet other Jennifers. My middle name is Ruth, and I think the two work will together - not that anyone ever calls me “Jennifer Ruth”, or even Jennifer - I’m always Jenny or Jen.
I wouldn’t change it. I’m still trying to get used to my married name, and that changed nearly two years ago. I still think of myself as Jenny Maiden Name.
Due to the anti-German (Polish? Prussian?) sentiments going on in the city in WWII my father’s parents changed their last name from Butkiewicz to an Americanized, bland sounding name. I thought having that last name would’ve been pretty cool. If there was a button that I could push to make it change back automatically I would do it, but I’m not so bothered by it that I would actually take the time and money to go switch it back.
If I could change one thing about my name, I’d make the most popular spelling the spelling I use. I prefer the spelling I’ve got to the most popular spelling. Some of that may be familiarity . . .
But generally, my name is common enough that everyone knows how to pronounce it (though they usually get the spelling wrong) but not so common that other people are being called by my name.
I’m Sara, born in 1980 along with every other damned Sara(h) in the world. I work with four or five. I used to hate it, but I’ve grown to love it. I just wish all those stupid Sarahs-with-the-H would go away!
I used to yell at my mom for giving me such a stupid name - there aren’t even any nicknames for Sara unless you count Sally which I don’t. I wanted a name like Catherine or Elizabeth which have so many nicknames you can pick from two dozen names to suit your personality, and what did she give me? She claimed its virtue was its brevity. (She’s Geraldine, so I guess she’d know.) She said I should like it because “Sarah laughed at God!”, which is weird because she and my dad are very religious - but now I like it because Sara(no h!) laughed at God.
Mine’s Samantha. And my ‘alter-ego’ (aka, middle name + mother’s maiden name) is Joann Livingston.
As a funny side-note, my parents knew what they were going to name me before they knew if I was a boy or girl. My name was going to be “Sammi Jo” no matter what, either Samantha Joann, or Samuel Joseph. I’m glad I’m a girl. I wonder if anyone else has any weird quirk like that.
No issues with my name at all, which was somewhat unique as I was growing up, but less so now. It is my name, and I wouldn’t change it even if I had to.
Still not quite a ‘common’ name, so I’m used to people mis-hearing it and calling me any number of other, more common names beginning with ‘B’.
Last name? Could change that any time and not worry or moan the loss.
Guy I work with; real first name is Thomas, goes by Frank. Always wonder about that, have never gotten a real answer why.
Everyone calls me Bec. It’s been fair enough for twenty-seven years but, uh, now my married name is Buck.
… I find this hilarious rather than embarrassing. So far.
I don’t mind being a Rebecca, really, but I came within a hair’s breadth of being Eleanor. That would have been much nicer. Mind you, Dad was rooting for Abigail, so I count my blessings.