# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/141 "2011-12-20T15:22:51Z")
> [@SunSandSuffering](#): > > 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? I would have butchered your name too. I watch Torchwood, in which there’s a character named Rhys (pronounced Reese - to my ears anyway). The assumption then is that the ‘y’ is pronounced as a long ‘e’). I’ve since read that this pronunciation is prevalent in Cardiff, but I obviously I can’t vouch for that. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/142 "2011-12-20T16:16:11Z")
Mine’s Judy. Er, well, the formal, longer version. You know the one. Yuck. It’s okay, I guess. I’m not particularly fond of it, and would rather have been named Julie, except I HATE “Jules,” which most Julies I know end up being called. I write emails to work colleagues in Japanese, and sign them with ‘Judy,’ written in English. Unfortunately my work email address contains “Judith,” so often people reply with ‘Dear Judith-san.’ BLECCHHH! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/143 "2011-12-20T17:24:36Z")
> [@KinkiNipponTourist](#): > > Mine’s Judy. Er, well, the formal, longer version. You know the one. Yuck. > > It’s okay, I guess. I’m not particularly fond of it, and would rather have been named Julie, except I HATE “Jules,” which most Julies I know end up being called. > > I write emails to work colleagues in Japanese, and sign them with ‘Judy,’ written in English. Unfortunately my work email address contains “Judith,” so often people reply with ‘Dear Judith-san.’ BLECCHHH! 😃 My mother’s name is Judith. She most commonly goes by Judy, but some years ago my sister started calling her “Dith,” and it stuck. To the grandkids she’s Grandma Dith, and her kids call her just “Dith” or “Dithie” as well. I know another Judy who often signs her e-mails “Jude,” thought I’ve never heard anyone call her that. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/144 "2011-12-20T17:40:51Z")
> [@Lilacs](#): > > Another Rachel here. I am used to my name now, but as a kid I wanted the name Sarah. That’s funny, a Sarah works across the hall from me, but I’m always tempted to call her Rachel. As opposed to Rachel, who I’ve called Heather a few times. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/145 "2011-12-20T20:29:47Z")
I hated my original real name, but I love the new one I legally changed it to.\* \*Which is not Johanna. Johanna is an internet pseudonym for me. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/146 "2011-12-20T20:57:29Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Viggo pulled it off better than I ever could; good on him, wherever he is. Aragorn?😉 I’m 32, and my name is Esther. I love it now, but when I was a kid, I hated it so much that I signed everything “Elizabeth.” That didn’t really catch on. I embraced it in high school when I realized that no one ever said, “Esther who?” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/147 "2011-12-20T21:30:55Z")
> [@if6was9](#): > > I rather like mine. My first name is one of the original “Right Stuff” astronauts (he went up when mom was preggers…) My middle name is my Grandfather’s. My last girlfriend’s father’s first and middle names were Nelson Eddy. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/148 "2011-12-20T21:45:22Z")
I like my name. Jodi. The only thing I don’t like is when people try to shorten it. It’s already only 4 letters, does it really need shortening?! I let my ex FIL get away with calling me Jod (long o sound) because I like him, but that’s it! Don’t call me Jo-Jo. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/149 "2011-12-21T01:07:08Z")
Mine’s pretty much meh. Samantha, for those who didn’t know I’m female. I don’t think anyone ever calls me Samantha, though. I did a little experiment of always introducing myself as Samantha, and still the new acquaintances would call me Sam. I don’t mind either way, or Sammy. It’s easy not to be previous about variants of your name when they’re all OK. You’d be surprised at how badly people can spell my name: Sammantha, Samanther (the most common one), Samanta, Samanather, Samanataher - somewhere along the line I became Sri Lankan. 😃 I do hate my surname. It’s a common word and a less common variant of a common surname. Every single school, college and university I’ve ever been to - and, with undergrads and postgrads and the like, I’ve been to a lot - has not only misfiled my stuff but then refused to admit they were wrong, because it’s such an ordinary name that they couldn’t possibly have misfiled it; at one college I finally got someone to search the filing cabinet where I knew I’d been misfiled, and there I was. It’s actually cost me a lot of money over the years in delayed grants and the like. My daughter hates her given name. It’s pretty name, but over the years it suits her less and less and does have spelling problems (there are two common spellings for her name - hers is the less common). Thing is, my surname ruled out all my first choices of name, and she was ill, so I had to choose something. I should have just given us both a new surname at the same time. Fortunately she’s a kid of the internet age; she and her friends address each other by their screen names as much as they do their real names. I always thought that might happen, and am glad it did. But she has all the fun of our surname yet to come. > [@Ashes\_Ashes](#): > > Love my name-- my parents rocked that one. I can dress it up, dress it down, be elected president or be an escort. > > My poor sis, not so much. You can’t take her name anywhere. I want to know! I also want to know Skald’s name. > [@BwanaBob](#): > > I would have butchered your name too. I watch Torchwood, in which there’s a character named Rhys (pronounced Reese - to my ears anyway). The assumption then is that the ‘y’ is pronounced as a long ‘e’). I’ve since read that this pronunciation is prevalent in Cardiff, but I obviously I can’t vouch for that. As with most languages, the vowel isn’t pronounced the same way all the time - it depends on the sounds around it. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/150 "2011-12-21T01:58:39Z")
André Which these days may not be so bad but growing up Australia in the 70’s & 80’s wasn’t always a lot of fun. At school most teachers just assumed that there had been a typo and the “w” left off Andrew. Pronunciation was always fun as well, An-dray, An-dray-a, On-drew (huh?) - dammit, it’s pronounced _On-dray_ - you’re supposed to be educated. The only up-side of French classes was a teacher who actually knew how it was supposed to sound. Anyone who tried to shorten it (Onj) got a severe stink-eye the first time and something heavy heaved at them the second. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/151 "2011-12-21T02:18:53Z")
I am teetering on the gender divide and got stuck with a prissy little name spelled in a prissy little way that nobody gets right. It doesn’t lend itself to nicknames. To a big 'ol butch dyke this is like John Wayne needing to not be Marion. ---
**Author:** ![bubba\_jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@bubba\_jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubba_jr)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/152 "2011-12-21T05:09:00Z")
Hate it, Robert… am I some form of sherbet? Should I be Lemon Robert. I hate Rob, or Robby, I’ll smack you right upside the head. I hate Robert, I’m Bob, I’m not Robert. I’m Bobby to my family, some friends and women (woman currently and for a long time) I’m having sex with. If a salesman calls me Bobby, they will never sell a god damn thing to me EVER. I’m a Junior, but… my dad doesn’t use Sr. and I don’t use Jr. Its not even on my birth certificate. This has caused endless hell on both of our credit reports, especially when we lived at the same address. My mom used to love it. Someone would call and ask for ‘Bob’… The tall one, the young one, the old one, the short one, the big one, the little one, the blonde one or the red head. Most people would just hang up or say they would call back later. For reference, I was the young one, the tall one, the big one and the red head. Now if we want to talk middle names, I grew up thinking everybody had a f’d up middle name. Then I found out people had middle names like Adam and Michael and Elizabeth, and ROBERT, my mom’s middle name is Jane, how plane Jane can you get… I got 19th century Italy, my great grandfather’s name. I think it’s pretty cool, always have. I got a crappy first name, a run of the mill last name, at least my middle name is “different”. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/153 "2011-12-21T14:03:31Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > Aragorn?😉 The day I’m making half-elves with a beautiful elven princess, I’ll let you know. 😃 “Do you lose as gracefully as you win? Mr… eh…” “The name’s Blucher. _Aragorn Blucher_… What do you mean I can’t have €10,000 credit???” ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/154 "2011-12-22T03:38:10Z")
> [@bubba\_jr](#): > > Now if we want to talk middle names, I grew up thinking everybody had a f’d up middle name. Then I found out people had middle names like Adam and Michael and Elizabeth, and ROBERT, my mom’s middle name is Jane, how plane Jane can you get… I got 19th century Italy, my great grandfather’s name. I think it’s pretty cool, always have. I got a crappy first name, a run of the mill last name, at least my middle name is “different”. Ignazio? (I love that name) ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/155 "2011-12-22T08:16:15Z")
Kind of. My name is “Betsy” and it’s kind of a corny name. (and obviously I used to get the “Betsy Wetsy” a lot). Mostly what I hate is the story behind it. My parents had decided to name me Elizabeth after my maternal grandmother who went by Isabel. Supposedly though, they decided to refer to me as “Betsy” because my dad’s first girlfriend was a gal named Betsy Tootsiberry. This is honestly what they told me. (What on earth? What woman would agree to have her daughter named after her husband’s ex-GF???) To add insult to injury, apparently my mom went into labor while watching **Arsenic and Old Lace** and if I was to be born a boy\* she was going to name me “Mortimer.” Aw, COME ON! That is 1000% cooler than Betsy, even for a girl! \*This would be 1971. I don’t think you could pre-determine the baby’s sex like you do now…or it was very cost-prohibitive. ---
**Author:** ![Mann\_Slaughter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@Mann\_Slaughter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mann_Slaughter)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/156 "2012-01-01T17:09:47Z")
I was named after my dad. My first name is Donald and I’ve ALWAYS hated it, but not nearly as much as the nickname my paternal grandmother cursed me with. (And no, I’m NOT sharing that here.) My last name really is Slaughter, and it’s all I go by. I joined the US Army right after high school, and in the military it’s customary to call everyone by their last name, so I became Slaughter in 1983, and have been Slaughter ever since. However, there are people who seem to have a problem with the name I use. My dad retired after 40 years from the company I work for, and most of the people there knew him as “Don”, and he was fine with being called “Don”. I. Am. Not. When I introduce myself to people as Slaughter I get all kinds of weird responses: “But what’s your FIRST name?” (My reply: “Irrelevant”) “Yeah, but what can _I_ call you?” (My reply: “Slaughter”) “That sounds ‘ghetto’ I can’t call you that.” (Usually said by women) One supervisor used to call me Don, until I stopped him one day and said, “I know you mean no harm, but the only people who call me Don are people who don’t know I HATE being called Don!” He said, “I don’t like calling people by their last names. How 'bout I call you ‘Big Guy’?” (I stand 6’3" and weigh 240lbs) I said, “Or you can just call me Slaughter.” But the WORST are old classmates, most of whom knew me by my nickname! I’m real quick to delete any Facebook wall posts that refer to me using that name, and whenever anyone messages me using it my initial response may seem harsh but it’s some variation of “No one calls me that anymore!” :mad: ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216/157 "2012-01-02T04:48:52Z")
My name isn’t Jennifer, but it was right up there on the top ten most popular girl’s names list next to it for a while. My parents discovered the name Linnea (pronounced Lynn-ah-uh) a couple of years later and would have named my younger siblings that had they not both turned out to be boys. As a kid I always wished I’d been named Linnea, I could have gone by Lynn, which I think is the prettiest name ever. Then I got married to a guy whose father’s name is Lynn. My FIL is an abusive asshole who is estranged from his family (I’ve never met him and hope I never do). Considering that I now share his last name it’s probably a good thing that I don’t share his first name too. My real name is just fine! I work for a company with 85ish employees. We have four Marks and two Marcs, five of which are in the same division. It’s awful. We refer to them all by their last names. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-your-real-name/606216.md?page=7)