# Are You Happy With Your Name **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108 "2010-02-15T20:06:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/1 "2010-02-15T20:06:13Z")
Just wondering. I am Mark and I’m used to it. So my question is if they had a “change your name day,” where you could for free just go down and change your first and/or last name would you do it? I must say that I’m used to both my first and last name so I wouldn’t change it, even if it were free. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/2 "2010-02-15T20:10:14Z")
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? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/3 "2010-02-15T20:17:18Z")
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!”) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/4 "2010-02-15T20:21:26Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/5 "2010-02-15T20:24:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![breaking-reality](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@breaking-reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breaking-reality)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/6 "2010-02-15T20:34:14Z")
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. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/7 "2010-02-15T20:35:38Z")
I wish people would use their actual names in this thread, otherwise it’s not nearly as fun! I’m a Jennifer, boooring. I think I’d like to be an Aurora, like Monstro! Definitely something with a little more pizazz. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/8 "2010-02-15T20:39:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/9 "2010-02-15T20:41:30Z")
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_. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/10 "2010-02-15T20:45:54Z")
Huh, when I was a kid, if you yelled “Jennifer”, 8 girls came running. You must be much younger than I am. My parents chose well, I’m a Diana through and through. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/11 "2010-02-15T20:47:01Z")
I have a cousin Jennifer whose nickname growing up was Niff. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/12 "2010-02-15T20:49:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/13 "2010-02-15T20:55:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/14 "2010-02-15T20:59:57Z")
In high school there was a guy named Frank Wjyzzc. I guess they gave him an ordinary first name to make up for his last name. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/15 "2010-02-15T21:01:02Z")
Lanzy is my name and it is great, but my “other” real name is also unique and great. No details. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/16 "2010-02-15T21:07:20Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![breaking-reality](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@breaking-reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breaking-reality)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/17 "2010-02-15T21:14:14Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > I wish people would use their actual names in this thread, otherwise it’s not nearly as fun! > > I’m a Jennifer, boooring. I think I’d like to be an Aurora, like Monstro! Definitely something with a little more pizazz. I’ve always liked the name Jennifer. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/18 "2010-02-15T21:24:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/19 "2010-02-15T21:26:27Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Huh, when I was a kid, if you yelled “Jennifer”, 8 girls came running. You must be much younger than I am. > > My parents chose well, I’m a Diana through and through. 🙂 Diana’s an awesome name. I’ve always loved it. It’s the Roman Artemis, for one thing. Plus it’s so timeless and just plain gorgeous. You lucked out! ETA: Could Frank be a middle name? ---
**Author:** ![wolf-alice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9e8a1a/32.png) [@wolf-alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf-alice)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/20 "2010-02-15T21:38:25Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108.md?page=2)