My given first name is Cody. I’ve had a few nicknames, but none that ever stuck for very long. Cody was ok while I was younger, even though there were like 7 of us in my relatively small graduating class, but now every time someone adresses me by my name, I realize how much I hate it. It seems childish to me. I have often wondered what I may go by when I’m older. Certainly not my middle name, because while it isn’t kiddy-sounding, its certainly different.
Maybe I’m crazy. Can you think of any other names that just seem like they fit for younger people only? Names that you just… grow out of?
I didnt think about it, but am I even allowed to use my first name in a post?
Well how would you like it if you had a childish andGIRLY name?? :dubious:
The fact that you are even fussing and insecure in the first place about the impact of your name seems to suggest that you are, in fact, a bit childish. This problem will take care of it’s self when you don’t think about it anymore. Come, join us in the adult world Cody, for none of us could care less what your name sounds like.
Your name is what you make of it. I used to hate my given name. Then it became a popular one and I’ve grown used to being the oldest of the S—s. Plus, it’s a unisex name and a surname. But it is who I am.
My mother legally changed her name because nobody ever called her by her given name. She shared it with her mother, so she got a different nickname. She did have the grace to wait until her mother had died before making the change legal.
You can pick whatever name you want to be called. People who have known you all your life are still going to call you Cody. When I hear the name though, I don’t think of girls at all. I think of Buffalo Bill Cody. Not sissy at all.
I knew a Kenneth who was Kenny growing up, but then thought it was childish and started going by Ken. I think it was when he joined the army, which makes sense. It does seem like names ending in the long e sound appear to be more childish. It doesn’t affect women as much; you can picture an 80 year old Cathy or Sally. Here in rural Illinois some boys are given the names Jimmy, Ricky, and Bobby, where I would give the names James, Richard or Eric, and Robert and then call them the other name as a nickname.
The nice thing about being an adult is that you can change it or go by your middle name if you want.
If I’d had kids, I would have given them names that they could grow into. So many names are “cutesy” on a baby, but that baby is going to grow up. I like the meme of choosing a baby’s name as if it had “Supreme Court Justice” in front of it.
I’ve never really thought about the name Cody, but it does sound like it’s short for something, although I have no idea what. It’s not necessarily bad though, and certainly not one of those names that would give a bad impression subconsciously (IMO, anyway). Heh, I can think of several men’s names that would be infinitely worse, lol.
FWIW I don’t mind Cody - not that you care what I mind - but you can change your name if you want and people will eventually get around to calling you something else. All the new people who meet you will only know your new name. My niece who is 20 changed her name and she pretty much has us trained - it now seems odd to use her original name and seems more natural to use her new name. By the way, carnut, no one was saying Cody sounded like a girl’s name - jamiemcgarrywas referring to his own name.
My father-in-law’s name is Bobbie. That’s what’s on his birth certificate, spelled that way. He’s gone by Bob as long as I’ve known him. His mother was a very sweet, gentle lady, but she obviously wasn’t thinking of the adult her adorable baby son would become. I expect his sister Betty has had to put up with people trying to call her Elizabeth.
As for Cody - yeah, it immediately puts me in mind of a little boy. Of course, there’s Corey Flintoff, who seems to have done OK despite his boyish first name…
When we were picking baby names we took every name we were seriously considering and played a similar game. We said each of the following sentences out loud to see which sounded more likely.
“Please welcome the President of the United States of America, [insertbabynamehere]”
“Next up on the pole is [insertbabynamehere]”
If the name worked better as a stripper than the president we vetoed it.
But in fact, changing your name, even legally, is not that hard. We did it recently for one of the kids, and it involved nothing more than filling out a form and paying a bit of money.
