# Do You Hate Your \[real\] Name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 14, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216 "2011-12-14T20:16:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/1 "2011-12-14T20:16:09Z")
My parents chose to give me the Christian name “Hywel”. It’s Welsh so the “Y” is a vowel which sounds like a cross between “O” and “U” so the name is pronounced “H\wel”. Only my mum can pronounce it correctly. EVERYONE gets it wrong. I usually get called “H\el” sometimes “H\well” and it drives me mad. Everyone else says “How well are you”. Ha bloody ha. In print everyone bar none puts two letter "l"s at the end; Hywell. Must be right because it’s Welsh, right? Thanks mum and dad for giving me a name that GUARANTEED I would get beaten up daily at school and waste a cumulative TWENTY FIVE YEARS of my life correcting people. As soon as they die I will change my name by deed poll to “Counterpoint Singularity”. Mundane and pointless, you’re welcome. Anyone else want to share? ---
**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:** [December 14, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/2 "2011-12-14T20:17:32Z")
Hate is a very strong word for it, but I dislike my name. I think my name is in one of two categories…really really cool people and really really nerdy/unpopular people I find myself in the latter ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/3 "2011-12-14T20:18:34Z")
I love my name, but hate the way people pronounce it, so I almost never introduce myself by it. Non-Indians just don’t pronounce it right. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/4 "2011-12-14T20:21:54Z")
Actually I like my IRL name. It’s a derivation of Dionysius, the Greek god of wine and revelry. I may not revel a lot, but it’s still fun!😛 ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/5 "2011-12-14T20:22:01Z")
Oh hell yes. My given name was “Jennifer.” To me it sounded like fingernails scraping down a blackboard when someone called me that. I stopped using I was about 7 and I legally changed my name to Jenny in 2009 so all my ID would match. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/6 "2011-12-14T20:26:47Z")
My given name is Robert, I go by Bob as the casual form. I don’t have a problem with either one. When I was a kid, I was Robbie (grade school) or Rob (later) to make the distinction from my father, and I loathed both nicknames. About 20 minutes after I finished college where I lived in a fraternity and one of the brothers was Bob, I started going by Bob myself, and I haven’t looked back. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/7 "2011-12-14T20:29:26Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I love my name, but hate the way people pronounce it, so I almost never introduce myself by it. Non-Indians just don’t pronounce it right. So, if you don’t introduce yourself by your given name, then how do you introduce yourself? My name’s fine. It was never really uber-popular when I received it almost 50 years ago, and is not given out at all any more. But everyone is familiar with it. I did a company phone book search and in a company with about 3,300 people, there are 17 of us. Assuming a 50/50 male/female split that relates to about 1% of the males. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/8 "2011-12-14T20:34:32Z")
I’m a Jennifer. It’s easily recognizable, somewhat easy to spell (the rare single N double F pops up every now and then), a little boring, but I don’t hate it. There were a lot of boring popular names around that time (Kim, Terri, Karen, Lisa) so it could have been worse. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/9 "2011-12-14T20:41:13Z")
Haha, another Jennifer here. I like it fine. No one misspells it and no one mispronounces it. It’s not weird. It has a number of available nicknames (which I don’t use). There are a lot of us, as evidenced by this thread, but that’s OK. My last name sucks, so I’m glad I have a normal, boring first name. If my parents had had any idea how popular the name was the year I was born, they would probably have never used it, but they’re so oblivious to trends that I think they just never thought of it. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/10 "2011-12-14T20:56:22Z")
I’m a Jessica, born at a time when everyone else was named Jessica or Jennifer. I love it. I never have to spell it, I can be Jessica, Jessi or Jess (or JJ). It’s got a double letter. And I’m glad not to be a Jennifer 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/11 "2011-12-14T20:59:33Z")
I used to hate it. Then I sort of got used to it. Then I started sort of liking it. Last week I was at a party where I met this incredibly beautiful woman. She said that my name is her favorite name. She named her favorite doll that when she was a little girl. And since, she’s never met anyone by that name – until she met me. Now I’m rather fond of it. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/12 "2011-12-14T21:06:41Z")
I don’t particularly like mine. It is pronounced Brenda, and tons of people get it wrong. Brine-da is the worst of the mispronunciations. Plus, I got this name at the end of its popularity, so it is an old lady name. \ ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/13 "2011-12-14T21:10:32Z")
My real name is kind of blah. Mom said that Dad picked it, and it was at the height of its popularity in the sixties when I was born, and was typical for surfer-dude kind of guys. Not quite the same as me… I always wanted to be called Mike. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/14 "2011-12-14T21:25:04Z")
I detest my name. It’s the same as a brand of vacuum, and also a brand of vinegar. It’s been embarrassing to have to carry that name, and I don’t even like to write it, let alone be called by it. I don’t know what possessed my Italian, Catholic mother to give me that name in the first place. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/15 "2011-12-14T21:31:08Z")
> [@nonacetone](#): > > I detest my name. It’s the same as a brand of vacuum, and also a brand of vinegar. I LOVE Dirt Devil brand vinegar! ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/16 "2011-12-14T21:34:25Z")
This thread would be lots more interesting if people weren’t afraid to give their names. We won’t stalk you, honest. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/17 "2011-12-14T21:38:20Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > This thread would be lots more interesting if people weren’t afraid to give their names. We won’t stalk you, honest. Doug. Well, Douglas actually, but I haven’t been called that in any serious manner since I was like 8. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/18 "2011-12-14T21:39:21Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Oh hell yes. My given name was “Jennifer.” To me it sounded like fingernails scraping down a blackboard when someone called me that. I stopped using I was about 7 and I legally changed my name to Jenny in 2009 so all my ID would match. My sister is another Jennifer. Growing up, she was Jenny. As an adult, she will NOT answer to Jenny. She is now Jenn or Jennifer. I’m a Jacob. I used to hate to be called Jake, but now I’ll answer to either. It wasn’t that popular when I was growing up. Now it’s very popular. I never have to spell it. I like my name. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/19 "2011-12-14T21:39:22Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > So, if you don’t introduce yourself by your given name, then how do you introduce yourself? I go by a shortened version. It’s very similar to Anaamika/Mika. Unfortunately it’s required that my legal name be on all of my paperwork, so occasionally people see it on my e-mail or whatever and mispronounce it at me, and then I always wince. Why do you feel the need to say it? I’ve asked you to call me something else! Anyone who actually wants to know my name can IM me. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/20 "2011-12-14T21:43:28Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I LOVE Dirt Devil brand vinegar! And I could have happily lived with that name! That shows you how deeply I detest mine. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216.md?page=2)