# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/41 "2011-12-15T00:21:48Z")
I like my name a lot as well. Benjamin has a nice heft and history to it while Ben is a simple nickname. I also haven’t met a lot of resistance using either form which is nice because I will adjust how I introduce myself depending on the setting and it’s nice that my friends tend to just fall in line and call me Benjamin when I’m dressed up and Ben when I’m rocking t-shirts and jeans. The only annoyance I have is that my middle name starts with a D and my last name also starts with a B so if I’m not careful when I initial things, people will often ask who Bob is. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/42 "2011-12-15T00:22:21Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > And you’d be wrong. Or, rather, it’s that good salespeople will always use the customer’s preferred method of address, and marginal or bad sales people may not. Right. I was simplifying - if the customer introduces herself as ‘Lydia’ and the salesman says ‘Linda’ the customer will think poorly of the salesman’s skills. > [@Noelq](#): > > My name has been sung to me at least once a week every week of my life. > > During December, its a daily occurance. > > You learn to live with it. Guess what movie / cartoon I constantly got reminded of during the 90s? :rolleyes: At least she was cool. (I also got one teacher who played ‘Lydia the Dancing Lady’ in class. That was kind of not cool, but he was otherwise alright). I’m lucky that my name didn’t have an obvious diminutive. I had one coworker (salesman, used-car type, otherwise annoying in many other ways as well) who would try to call me ‘Lyd’ every few months. That did not fly. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/43 "2011-12-15T00:23:00Z")
I was 17 before I even knew my mother’s real name. Since before I was born she’s gone by the nickname ‘Boo’ - I have no idea where it came from or why, but she’s been using it for almost 40 years. Some years ago she had her name legally changed to suit her nickname as a birthday present to herself. I can count the number of living persons who know her real name on one hand, and not one of them would dare use it - not even as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/44 "2011-12-15T00:40:48Z")
I dislike my first name. It was very popular last century. It has two common spellings, and people don’t usually pronounce or spell mine right. It’s an unfriendly name that catches on your tongue like a wad of dryer lint. Its nickname is a jokey cliche, and the spelling variation my parents used was always misspelled by others. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/45 "2011-12-15T00:46:19Z")
[Some parents are cruel.](http://www.neatorama.com/2008/05/19/10-strangest-names-evar/) > **[Time for another round of "Amusing / Really Strange Real Names"](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=246823)** > > I don’t think we’ve had one of these in a while… so here we go again! 😃 Some Unusual Names I’ve Encountered In Real Life Sylver / Golden (a sister-brother combo I know at church) Jack Wang (a high school classmate of Jon and Eric’s) Autumn Leaf... ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/46 "2011-12-15T01:00:27Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > 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. Mere hours after posting this, someone spelled my name “Jennefier.” Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/47 "2011-12-15T01:01:28Z")
I love my [first] name. It’s Biblical, but not common (like Mark or John) and not obscure (like Melchizedek). **Aaron**. Unfortunately lots of people have issues spelling it. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/48 "2011-12-15T01:16:38Z")
Once you know the gender of the person, how can you not spell Aaron right? (I know, the stupidity of people knows no bounds…) ---
**Author:** ![Madame\_Joy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@Madame\_Joy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madame_Joy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/49 "2011-12-15T01:17:33Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Zeus, but I hate that attitude. **SunSandSuffering** is perfectly entitled to choose the name that s/he prefers. And telling others what should make them happy is just rude–though not quite as rude as deliberately addressing someone by a name you know they dislike. I’d like to nominate you for something - Most Thoughtful Person on the Internet? Something like that. It’s a rare thing to find someone who doesn’t just say “get over it” or whatever when I say that I dislike my first name and its extremely more common diminutive. I once had a supervisor tell me that I needed to stop being so picky when I asked her not to call me by that nickname. If your name is Pamela, **Society Has Decreed** that you WILL be called Pam. I hate that name. I don’t use my first name at all because it’s the only way I could keep being called that name at bay. Except, of course, at the doctor’s office, DMV, when receiving calls from strangers who’ve gotten my name from some mailing list or other, etc. ---
**Author:** ![missinformation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@missinformation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missinformation)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/50 "2011-12-15T01:42:56Z")
Mine is Roxanne Carol. Middle name is after my godmother… Sick of hearing, “Do you know there is a song with your name by the Police? Were you named after the song?” Ummm, “Yes. No…was born before the song came out.” People tell me I don’t look like a Roxanne…I guess I am supposed to be a tall blonde with legs up to my chin? Nicknames: I have learned to deal with Rox (which makes me feel like half of me is chopped off) and Roxy…only one person is allowed to call me Rockee, and that is my niece. I always loved her name…Antoinette Maria…I always called her Toni-ree… ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/51 "2011-12-15T01:44:42Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > Once you know the gender of the person, how can you not spell Aaron right? (I know, the stupidity of people knows no bounds…) Because some people in their infinite wisdom chose to name their male children Erin. ---
**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 15, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/52 "2011-12-15T01:56:01Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > Once you know the gender of the person, how can you not spell Aaron right? (I know, the stupidity of people knows no bounds…) I believe Elvis Presley spelled his middle name Aron. Also, parents these days are big on creative spelling. They don’t want to give their kids unique and interesting names, i.e. weird, so they compromise with yooneek spellings. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/53 "2011-12-15T02:03:05Z")
If you promise not to stalk me, I will admit my name is Sally. Hate it! It conjures up a picture of a depressed farm wife in a calico dress, who is stuck living on a farm in the Oklahoma dust bowl in the 30’s. Crank up the pickup truck, Pa, I’m goin’ into town to see that there new Ginger Rogers movie! … Oddly, I have never once met another ‘Sally’. Though there is a local well-known do-gooder with the exact same name living in my city, and I get an occasional call for assistance, meant for her. ---
**Author:** ![Tess\_Trueheart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Tess\_Trueheart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess_Trueheart)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/54 "2011-12-15T02:54:32Z")
Think my name’s perfectly adequate: **Kristin**. Can tolerate the frequent ‘-en’ spellings and the infrequent pronunciations that sound like Krista, Christie, Christine, or Christina. Don’t like that it’s becoming another fancifully-spelled name: poor Krystan/Kristan/Chrysten… Oho! Just googled those three spellings up there, with the slashes, in search of a site listing all the ways to spell Kristin/Christine/Christina. Google’s reply: Showing results for Kristen/Kristen/Kristen Search instead for Krystan/Kristan/Chrysten point Google. also, Kriston and Khristen and Chrystyn are all worse than even my made-up ones. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/55 "2011-12-15T03:04:51Z")
I hated my name so much I had it changed. Dumped it all. Then I changed my last name again because I got married less than a year later. ---
**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 15, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/56 "2011-12-15T03:08:22Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > If you promise not to stalk me, I will admit my name is Sally. Hate it! It conjures up a picture of a depressed farm wife in a calico dress, who is stuck living on a farm in the Oklahoma dust bowl in the 30’s. Crank up the pickup truck, Pa, I’m goin’ into town to see that there new Ginger Rogers movie! … Oddly, I have never once met another ‘Sally’. > Though there is a local well-known do-gooder with the exact same name living in my city, and I get an occasional call for assistance, meant for her. Awe. No. I love the name Sally. It sounds so innocent and somehow sexy at the same time! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/57 "2011-12-15T03:10:44Z")
Any of you having this problem?: I used my middle name for much of my life. For some kinds of legal or other important documents (like drivers license) I always used my FULL name. I had bank accounts and credit cards with just my middle and last name. (That is, the middle name looked like a first name. None of this first initial, middle name, last name business.) That changed after 9/11 and all the banks got up-snothead-tight about making sure everybody is properly identified so we won’t be money laundering or whatever. So now still I have a long-time credit card with middle name, but all my newer accounts must use my FULL name. Nobody allows me to leave out the first name anymore. So mostly, for any kind of legal documents or accounts, it’s always FULL name now. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/58 "2011-12-15T03:39:26Z")
For some reason a lot of people want to shorten my name to “Maddy”. My name is not Maddy, I hate that name and will not answer to it. Madeline is fine. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/59 "2011-12-15T03:47:39Z")
I mildly dislike my first name “Jason” for long-term use, as the sibilant and the somewhat soft “j” don’t sound very masculine. But it’s balanced by my last name, which I also mildly dislike on its own, which is very German and gutteral-sounding compared to Jason. So combined, they aren’t a bad name. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/60 "2011-12-15T03:53:56Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > My name has been sung to me at least once a week every week of my life. > > . Mine gets sung to me a lot as well. Also misspelled frequently (both first and last names - there are several acceptable ways to spell both) and often mispronounced. But I don’t mind, I think it’s a pretty and fairly unusual name without being strange or ever trendy. I think I would really hate being called Brandi or Mackenzie or Dakota. I _so_ dislike trendy names. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216.md?page=4)