# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![VanillaGorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VanillaGorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaGorilla)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/41 "2010-02-16T07:26:23Z")
The name’s Jimmy. Never liked it, it sounds kinda not like a real person, ya know? Like, it would make a good name for a dog or something. I wouldn’t bother changing it though. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/42 "2010-02-16T14:46:34Z")
I don’t love my name, but I would like it a lot better if people didn’t automatically shorten it. I mean, seriously, like _nine times out of ten_. I should take a private survey and I bet I’m right. I wish my name were Mary. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/43 "2010-02-16T15:45:10Z")
I was named by the nanny at the maternity ward, who picked it out from thin air. Perhaps the fact that it, Lars (Lawrence for anglophones), was the most common name for boys that year (it has since plummeted to below the top 100 list) might have helped her. Luckily I am also named after my grandfathers’ fathers, Knut and Erik, but Erik is an all time high in Sweden. All in all, I’ve been called Lars my whole life and it has never really bothered me, but I will never answer to the pet form, Lasse. If someone tries to address me that way I simply say that Lasse was my uncle and I wasn’t named after him. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/44 "2010-02-16T15:54:04Z")
I think that my first name is for either people who are really really cool, or really really not. I am the latter, so I don’t like my name. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/45 "2010-02-16T15:59:42Z")
Love it. Unique enough that I hardly ever have to worry about being mixed up with anyone else, if someone’s looking for Gustav it’s me he wants. Yet a perfectly normal name, not some fruity name that’s weird just to be “special”. My last name is rubbish though, but can’t really fault anyone for that. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/46 "2010-02-16T16:20:54Z")
I love my name, it just flows well. However, my first name is a very common name from the Bible and I have a very common Spanish surname. So common that whenever I enter go through US Immigration (I’m a US citizen), I am stopped and interrogated in a separate room. Apparently I share the name with countless folks wanted by the FBI, CIA and other law-enforcement agencies. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/47 "2010-02-16T16:41:04Z")
My first name is common, see the OP, my last not that much. I go be my last name at work. Short easy to spell and say. I like it all. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/48 "2010-02-16T17:21:37Z")
> [@breaking-reality](#): > > 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. 😛 My brother does this too 🙂 Not really officially…but he and I happen to work at the same small company. Sometimes we don’t want people to know or ask if we’re related so he does use his “alter ego” name. We even have an email address for it. Whenever the company sends him a card or a gift, I sign it “From [me], [my partner], [bro’s fake name] and the rest of the gang!” 🙂 As for my name, I like it. It’s Jessica, and while everyone else my age who wasn’t a Jennifer or a Sarah is named Jessica, I still think it’s swell. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/49 "2010-02-16T17:27:27Z")
I’m Neil. It’s not nearly as common in the US as it was in Britain (not that it was particularly common there either). My parents selected it because it works in Hindi and English, which was nice of them. My brother’s name (a regional variation of the common Hindu name Amit) worked less well; he’s been “Ames” for a very long time. I have grown to like it. Lots of cool name twins: Armstrong, Diamond, (Welsh rugby great) Jenkins… ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/50 "2010-02-16T17:36:13Z")
As a kid I liked my name because there were only a couple of other girls with the same name and I (well, my parents) spelled it the “unique” way (Shar **i** ) . I was literally in my 20’s before it dawned on me that I had one of those bimboesue names spelled with an “i” :smack: Anyway, I guess it’s an okay name but I would have preferred the name my birth mother gave me ; Andrea. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/51 "2010-02-16T17:44:17Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > As a kid I liked my name because there were only a couple of other girls with the same name and I (well, my parents) spelled it the “unique” way (Shar **i** ) . I was literally in my 20’s before it dawned on me that I had one of those bimboesue names spelled with an “i” :smack: Anyway, I guess it’s an okay name but I would have preferred the name my birth mother gave me ; Andrea. Don’t feel too bad. There was a girl named _Whiski_ at my high school. Apparently her parents thought that the ubiquity of _Brandi_ meant it was open season on naming your kids after spirits. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/52 "2010-02-16T17:58:34Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Don’t feel too bad. There was a girl named _Whiski_ at my high school. Apparently her parents thought that the ubiquity of _Brandi_ meant it was open season on naming your kids after spirits. Oh crap! I have the bimbo “i” \*and \*I’m named after liquor. I am totally not kidding when I say I never think of the drink sherry when I hear my name. Self aware I apparently am not. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/53 "2010-02-16T18:03:25Z")
Well, the _a_ makes a difference. ---
**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 16, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/54 "2010-02-16T19:39:02Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > My brother does this too 🙂 Not really officially…but he and I happen to work at the same small company. Sometimes we don’t want people to know or ask if we’re related so he does use his “alter ego” name. We even have an email address for it. Whenever the company sends him a card or a gift, I sign it “From [me], [my partner], [bro’s fake name] and the rest of the gang!” 🙂 > > As for my name, I like it. It’s Jessica, and while everyone else my age who wasn’t a Jennifer or a Sarah is named Jessica, I still think it’s swell. My sister’s name is Jessica, and I think it’s just swell, too. 😛 Mine’s Samantha which is also fairly common (I think?) for a child of the 80s. You would be amazed how many times people hear my name and call me Stephanie though. Or Amanda. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/55 "2010-02-16T22:06:47Z")
Of course I am. I changed it from one I loathed to one I like as a 35th birthday present to myself. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/56 "2010-02-16T22:19:51Z")
My name is Carol and I neither love nor hate it. If I could change it I’d go with Caroline, which I think is more elegant, but in this life I don’t like to be called Caroline because it isn’t my name. I wouldn’t have had a shot at it anyway - my mother’s criteria was something short and easy to spell, and even if she wanted to use a longer version, she prefers Carolyn (which I don’t like). ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/57 "2010-02-16T22:25:37Z")
My name is unusual, so I shorten it to something people can pronounce and spell, which often leads to the unending barrage of “What’s the short for? [A thousand incorrect guesses here]?” Simply telling them doesn’t end the conversation either. “Oh, like on that TV show?” No, that was another name that sort of sounds like my name, but is different. “Did you watch that show?” Grr! Go away! Edit: Hey, **Cazzle** , I know a girl named Caroline who goes by the nick Caz. Heh, thought I’d share. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/58 "2010-02-16T23:12:21Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Oh crap! I have the bimbo “i” \*and \*I’m named after liquor. I am totally not kidding when I say I never think of the drink sherry when I hear my name. Self aware I apparently am not. So it _is_ pronounced the same as Sherry, then? There’s a Shari where I work, but I’ve never heard anyone say her name and I haven’t been sure how to pronounce it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/59 "2010-02-17T00:33:16Z")
My name was a gift from my parents. It symbolizes their love for me. Because of that, I love it, and I would never, ever change it. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108/60 "2010-02-17T01:45:36Z")
My name is cheery, cute, and very popular for dogs. I didn’t like it until I heard stories of the great great aunt for whom I had been named. She could and would stand on her head when she was seventy-five years old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-name/529108.md?page=4)