I ended up with David, after the Biblical king – sort of by default; my parents liked his story.
They were certain, by the standards of late-1940s medicine, that I was going to be a girl, and had picked out “Mary” for me (they never explained why; neither were Catholics or particularly fond of St. Mary or any person named Mary). But then I showed up with the wrong parts for that name to fit, and they rapidly researched boys’ names, and decided on David.
I’m named after my mom’s mom, and my middle name is my mom’s middle name. My brother is named after Mom’s dad, and his middle name is Dad’s middle name. Not real big on originality, my parents, but all four names are nice ones, so I’m not complaining.
Named after John Ritter’s character from Three’s a Company. My mom had a huge crush on him and would always run home from nursing school to catch the show.
You should know that my father is VERY religious. He wanted all his kids to be named after the Virgin Mary (yes, even boys) and a saint. My oldest sister was supposed to be Lisa Angelica but my dad won and she became Mary Elisabeth. My middle sister was Francesca Marie.
The story I was told is that my dad wanted to name me after Saint Claire but Claire didn’t go with my last name. So, he tampered with it a bit and I became Claryn. I decided that my dad isn’t as creative as everyone thinks. He plays the clarinette. He used to call me Clarinette. By the way, my middle name is Madonna.
On a side note, my dad later married a Claire and it fit just fine with our last name.
Thank god my dad changed his ways after I was born. My baby brother was NOT named for the Virgin Mary - although he was named after an archbishop. His name is Samuel Fulton. My baby sister is Evangeline Philomena.
My parents named me after my mother and my grandmother- neither of whom either LIKE their first name or USE their first name. My grandmother always went by either her title and surname or by her initials, and my mother legally removed her first name from her name when I was 12, and goes by her middle name. So come 18, I followed the trend and changed it to what I wanted. I still tease mum about naming me something she didn’t want to be called and then bitching all my childhood about how much she hated the name, and being mistaken for her mother. Yup, good thinking, Mum, hand the misery on down!
My dad’s father had two brothers, Norman and Robert. Norman had one son, Norman Jr., and lived to a relatively ripe old age. Robert, however, neither married nor had children before dying when in his twenties. Thus, I was named Robert in tribute to a great-uncle I never met. Cementing the decision was the fact that Bob “Rapid Robert” Feller, a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, was one of Dad’s sports idols. Dad’s first name, Lawrence, is my middle name.
Back in the Forties, the actress Joan Leslie was quite well known. My mom, a teenager at the time, fell in love with the name Leslie. She decided that she’d give her future daughter the name.
Fast forward a few years. Mom meets Dad. Dad’s name? You guessed 'er, Leslie. So anyway, when I came along in '60, I got Lesley Ann. I’ve never been called Lesley though, I ended up Ann instead.
I had a kind of funny experiance over sharing a name with my dad a few years ago. I called up Moter Vehicle to see about renewing my long-expired driver’s licence. The woman on the phone rattled keys for a moment and then said, “Hmm. I’ve got a Leslie A K----on the record, but the birthdate is 1913. Is that you?”
Um, no!
My first name was the only one my father and mother could agree on. My mom wanted something that unusual that couldn’t be shortened to a nickname (she HATED nicknames). Apparently the thought that if people are inclined, they’ll nickname over anything they choose never occurred to her.
And my middle name is shared by my mother and grandmother.
I’m told my Mother was a fan of the 60’s sitcom Bewitched, and gave me the name of the male lead.
Glad I’m not the only one to be named after a character in a sitcom. Though Mom does say she just liked the sound of the name more than she admired the character. Doomed to be an ineffectual suburban schlep. Thanks Mom!! 
Ooooh, I LOVE the name Darwood! 
My parents must have been smoking some heavy-duty chronic when my mom was pregnant, because they rejected several very nice names and ended up naming me after one of the assistants on the British TV show Dr. Who. I’ve never met anyone with my name, although I did have a teacher who said she knew a girl in Texas with the same name. My mom insists it’s much more common in Britain (its Celtic) but I doubt it. :dubious:
They did a much better job with my middle name, Alexandria.
Which assistant’s name were you given? Tegan? Because I’ve met several women with that name here in Australia.
When my mother went into labor, she was home with my older brother. She had no idea where my father was. She drove herself to her parents and my grandmother took her to the hospital while my brother stayed with my grandfather. I was born early the next morning, my father was still no where to be found. My mom named me after my dad, even with a Jr. My dad showed up that afternoon and had a fit when about my name, my mom changed it to Mark to make him happy. I still have his middle name though which created a bit of fun many years later. My father had remarried a much younger woman and 2 days after my 26th birthday, she had a boy, my father’s 4th son. Yep, he was given my fathers full name and the Jr. A few weeks later I pointed out that my father had 2 sons with the same middle name to the beaming grandparents. My father’s wife couldn’t give a good explanation why she would give a kid the same name as a brother. She offered to pay to have my middle named changed to avoid any possible embarrassment. I said no. The name Mark came from a popular TV character at the time.
My mom has always been a big fan of the old movie Portrait of Jennie, so she and Dad decided to name me Jennifer. Funnily enough, I believe it was my father who wanted to spell my nickname like the movie, but Mom objected and so I go by “Jenny.” I am grateful to whichever parent insisted on the regular ol’ spelling. 
My middle name, Marie, comes from my mother’s best friend.
I was born the year after Love Story came out, so there are many, many “Jennifers” my age (and nearly as many “Jennifer Maries”).
My parents just liked the way Carol sounds.
I’m named after my grandfather (father’s father), who was killed in a car accident shortly before my parents were married.
Interestingly enough, I got his middle name (James), rather than his first (Henry). Because he went by James, not Henry.
My real name (Zachary) was chosen as part of a running joke. When my mother was pregnant, my parents did not know what they would call me, so when people asked them they told them that if their first born was a boy they would call it Zacharius Ebeneezer. Well, the fateful day arrived and I was born, due to various complications my mother was rushed off into surgery and I was passed to my father who greeted me with the words ‘Hello Zac my lad.’ The name Zachary then stemmed from the joke they had told people because they could not really think of a name.
My first name, Laura, is that of my mother’s maternal grandmother, who was Laura Belle. My middle name, Jeanette, is the middle name of my father’s maternal grandmother, who was Clara Jeanette.
I like the name Laura, am ambivalent about Jeanette. At least they didn’t name me Clara Belle. Ugh.
I was named after Peter Breck’s character on “The Big Valley.” (Only after his full name, “Nicholas,” was mentioned on the show.)
But, naturally, my nickname still ended up being “Nick.” (And I wouldn’t have it any other way. )
Ranchoth
(“I KILLED that fat barkeep!”—Peter Breck, MST3k episode 410, The Beatniks)
Jeannine? (Wild-ass hunch)
I don’t remember precisely where my parents got the idea to name a thoroughly-Irish boy Paddy O’Bryan. I do distinctly remember, however, that they planned on calling me Pat left and right until I was born. They took one look at me and said “That isn’t a Pat. That’s a Patrick.”
I cannot explain quite why I dislike my name so.