Actually, Coldfire has the first name I covet. It’s also happens to be identical to my grandfather’s.
I wouldn’t say this scarred my childhood, but my family name was Barrell. This isn’t pronounced the way you think, but do you suppose anyone ever got it right? Ever?
So what did my parents go and give me for a first name?
Well, it’s either “Java Expert Paul” or “Guy Who’s Always Logged Onto The SDMB Paul”.
Actually those in the know differentiate us by location. I’m the only one in Kent. So I guess that makes me “Kent Paul”, which would be an okay name if it didn’t make me think of a certain mild-mannered reporter.
The problem is compounded by the company practice of creating your e-mail address from your name: first.m.last@boeing.com. Mine happens to fit the formula, but my alter egos have addresses like first.m.last2, etc. So if someone doesn’t know their e-mail address they just guess and I get their e-mail. This happens about twice a week.
I wouldn’t mind the confusion except that all the other people out there with the same name seem to be getting in trouble all the time. I almost got kicked out of college for vandalizing the college president’s home. (I didn’t!) I got a government security violation for disclosing classified information in an unclassified meeting (I didn’t!), which, BTW, nobody even bothered to tell me about, it just sat in my personnel folder for years!!
The only time it worked to my advantage was when the credit union called and asked if I wanted the check mailed to me or was I going to come pick it up. I should have picked it up. I had a hard time convincing them they had the wrong guy. And it was a big check!
I have the same name as the lead singer of The Doors except our first and middle names are reversed. Totally coincidental my parents assure me - my middle name is after my parental grandfather.
I like my first name as it has so many variations - Douglas, Doug (2 pronunciations), Dougie (also 2 pronunciations) altho’ I normally stick with just Doug
The Scots - never trust a race whose national dress includes a concealed knife.
Hey Jeanne, my name is Janeen Marie. It sucks. I have never felt as if it fit me. Plus, it’s a drag to say on the phone, and especially when knocking on a door, plus no one can seem to spell it.
Here’s me knocking on a door:
knock, knock
them: who’s there
me: Janeen
them: me who?
me: not me, Janeen
them: me who?
me: just open the dang door!
sigh
The Turtle Moves
From Iguana Boy:
Dammit, that is cool. Ya got me beat.
“My mind reels with sarcastic replies!” - Snoopy
I love my middle name and my last name, but I greatly dislike my first name.
Stacy.
Ick. Just say it. Stayyyy-seeeee.
Really though. Try it and you’ll hate it too.
That was a well-plotted piece of non-claptrap that never made me want to retch.
Oh, you must be the “Janeen” that people are looking for when they call here!
Honestly, I hate that. They’ll say it’s a “courtesy call” for Janeen. Or Jenny. Or, my all-time favorite, “Jee-ann.”
Also, my maiden name (which is still part of my name since I hyphenate) is close to “Kennedy.”
So I always get, “Is Janeen Kennedy at home?”
And I say, “Sorry, no one lives here by that name.”
I never hate myself in the morning. I sleep till noon.
–Sig line courtesy of Wally 
I like my name. “Cristi” is a nickname of my middle name, which is Christine. The funky spelling of “Cristi” was my mom’s idea. I’m just used to it now. But if I’d had a say in the matter (mumblemumble) years ago, I would have told my mom to use my first name, which is Laura. None of my family calls me “Cristi,” though. They all call me “Cris,” a nickname of a nickname of a middle name.
And no, I’ve never had an identity crisis…
Cristi, Slayer of Peeps
I made my husband join a bridge club. He jumps next Tuesday.
(title & sig courtesy of UncleBeer and WallyM7!)
Funny you should mention this. I always wanted to own a bar called “Santi McD’s”.
That would be so cool.
Our Signature drink would be a higball sour made with Hornitos sweet and sour and Irish whiskey.
We’d call it a “Horny Irishman”
(I know it already exists, lushes, I am jsut saying we would adpot it as a signature drink, sheesh.)
BTW, I know only two **Staceys]/b]
and they are both
<pretend to lick finger and touch shoulder Stacey…HISSSSSSSSS!>
HOT!
So even the mention of the name Stacey, to me, is very sexy.
I’d probably drool at my garbage man if he said his name was Stacey, they are both that gorgeous.
In fact, one of them has a nickname.
“Oh-my-god” Stacey.
It’s because when I introduce any of my friends to her, all they can do is stare and say “Oh my god.”
So know that there is one guy at least who loves the name “Stacey” or stacy or stacie or whatever…
cool.
When I was growing up, I hated my name. No one could pronounce or spell it right. I went by my nickname (Breezy) until I graduated college (even though that got a LOT of teasing) When I started working, I realized my real name was beautiful, unique, and also nicely mature and businesslike - which I needed because I still looked about 17. So I like my name now.
Hey, Mully - you should try to go through life with TWO strange names
Briana - rhymes with Zyada - rhymes with Miata
I do not merely dance. I bewitch. I seduce. I enchant and I bewilder. Throw money.
(Gee, Wally must have seen me dance!)
I wasn’t very fond of my first name when I was younger, but now I like it. Different enough so that it’s not lost in the noise, but well within two standard deviations from the mean. Mom had a major crush on Gregory Peck when I was born. Or at least that’s what she told me. 
My middle name, now… Pfui! I loathe it. Edward. Perfectly innocuous by itself, and there are many fine, upstanding Eds out there – but the one I was named after was not one of them.
A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door.
Haha. Thanks Lexicon. That makes me feel better about it, but I still wish my parents had gone with the long version of Anastasia.
That was a well-plotted piece of non-claptrap that never made me want to retch.
My name is Muuuuuuud.
I like my middle and last name. My first name I have grown to appreciate and like. As a child I did not like it at all, it was different. In gradeschool I remember thinking I wish I could use the name Scott, for some reason I really liked that name, I even asked my parents to start calling me that… they would not. In High School I told people my name was Bryce… even told the teachers to call me that on the first day… so for 2 years in highschool my name was Bryce. My senior year I decided that I was fine with my name and would not use an alias or nickname. I decided I liked being original. Not that people started calling me different after 2 years… but in college I was known by my real name which I now like and which people now tell me they like and I appreciate that.
MY NAME IS Bryson! …and I like it.
…and so do other people… one lady I talked to on the phone last week asked me what my middle name was because she was thinking of naming her unborn child Bryson and was trying to come up with middle names.
Theres just no novelty license plates or mugs with the name Bryson… that has made me sad since childhood… if ya’ll ever see one… would’ya let me know??
Not only is it boring and dull, but it’s also slang for a toilet or a prostitute customer.
What were my parents thinking?
If you think John has some overtones…I dated a guy named DICK!
.
When I’m on the game, and someone I’ve never seen before calls me Loretto without missing a beat, I always call a floorman over and ask if we can give them a prize for pronouncing my name correctly on the first try.
Hey LorettO…I’m visitng Vegas in a few weeks, Email me you job location and I’ll stop and have EVERYONE in my party use YOUR name!!!
I like my name. Mostly because a. people are always complimenting me on it, like I had a choice in the matter, and b. it’s extremely rare. I have only met one other Kyla, and I am the only other Kyla she knows as well. By the way, it’s phonetic; it’s NOT Kayla. If you call me Kayla, I will be forced to kill you. My parents got my name from the New Age Baby Name Book. Really.
I intensely dislike my middle name, Helen. I’m named after my great-aunt, who died before I was born. Everyone says she was great, but she had a terrible name. I very rarely use it.
My last name, being hyphenated, is completely unique (well, my mom and sister have it too).
As a result, I have to spell it to people ALL THE TIME. I have had this conversation seven thousand times:
Person: Last name?
Me: Wall-Polin.
Person: Wha?
Me: Wall-Polin. It’s hyphenated. [I spell it.]
Person: Wall-Pollen? What kind of name is that?
Me: That’s POLIN. It’s half Irish and half Russian Jewish. From Opolinsky.
Person: Okay, first name?
Me: Kyla.
Person: Kayla?
[I kill Person.]
Despite this, I’d much rather have my unique name than be another Jennifer or Megan. No offense to those named Jennifer or Megan. Some of my best friends are named Jennifer and Megan…
Apologies if I end up repeating myself; my first attempt to reply seems to have gotten stuck in the system somewhere.
I like my first name and it seems simple to me, but it turns out few can spell it and fewer can pronounce it. I introduce myself and hear my name repeated back incorrectly, often within seconds. Add to that a last name that has half a dozen variant spellings, of which my family uses the least common, and practically no one gets both halves right.
I think I’m going to start burying repeat offenders on that same stretch of road Loretto uses.
Not Brenda, Frida, Rita or Britta and especially not BRIAN,
Brida
I purty much like my name. Troy. And my screen name every wher is HaploXL and i liek the name Haplo.
Remember Franklin Osis,
Father of his Clan.
Three Strengths he gave us:
The jaguar’s spring that brings an enemy down,
The jaguar’s claw’s that rend the enemy’s heart,
The jaguar’s taste for the enemy’s hot blood.
-“The Remembrance” (Clan Smoke Jaguar), Passage 104, Verse 18, Lines 5-10