Why don’t you make everyone call you The Woman Formerly Know as Eliza.
Robin is on my list of names for future children that I’ll never have. I love it.
When I was little, I hated the fact that my name doesn’t lend itself to nicknames. The idiotic redneck dolts that I grew up with couldn’t figure out that a name that starts with a “ch” shouldn’t be pronounced as if it started with an “s.” (I pronounce it like “sh.”) Even the guy whose name was Cheyne (pronounced Shane - same initial sound as my name), said my name as if it started with an s. :smack:
When I got to college I changed the way I said my name (not the “ch” thing though - I changed the vowel sound in the middle), and my more-intelligent college friends were able to handle the “ch” thing. However, a couple years later someone made the national news with my name, same spelling, same pronunciation. Great. Lots of very un-funny jokes. But at least for a couple months people spelled and pronounced my name the way I like it. Now I’m back to misspellings, but generally correct pronunciations. Most of the time.
The only problem I run into frequently now is when new-ish friends meet my family and then wonder why the family calls me something different than what I call myself. Then I have to explain the whole thing and the fact that either pronunciation is fine with me. Oh, well.
Anyway, the point of this whole confusing story is that you should call yourself whatever you want. (Just watch out for people making the news with your name! Just ask all the Katrinas and Ritas about that one!) As another poster pointed out though, it is easier to do when you move or start a new job and people don’t have to get used to calling you something different that what they’re used to.
I think you should call yourself whatever you want. My husband has a long “ethnic” name. When he moved to England he found that people could not pronounce his name so he went by his initials. This is when I met him, and I call him by his initials and probably always will.
But when he came to Canada he decided to use his real name. He still gets looks of confusion when he introduces himself with his real name, so sometimes he says “[fullname] … or [initials]” which I find confuses things even more. The real name has caught on, though, my family and most of his friends use it.
I refer to him by his real name (eg “My husband [fullname] is going to be there”) but still address him by initials (eg “Hey, [initials]! Come do the dishes!”). I can’t help it.
I knew a woman in school who was Catherine one year, Cathy the next, and finally Cath. (She may have ended up as Cat after we were at different schools. Wouldn’t surprise me.) She got really angry when people got it wrong. Poor reaction, in my opinion. If I know you’ll get angry if I use the wrong name, I just won’t bother addressing you at all.
So yes, change your name to what you please, but don’t be surprised if most of the people who know you by your existing name have trouble with it.
I know my name means Guarder of the pigs, but if it’s good enough for royalty, it’s good enough for me.
I empathize. I hate mine, too. Look at it this way. At least your first name doesn’t feature prominently in famous porn flicks. It gets old. I’ve never even been to Dallas, dammit.
But the real question is: have you done Dallas?
AMEN! That’s why I like my name too. My first name is Esther, and although quite popular in 1910, there aren’t so many of us anymore under the age of eighty. I’m 26, and no one EVER says, “Esther who?”
I’m sorry you don’t like it better. I do. 
Hah! Try living in my suite sophomore year:
Kirstin, Kristen, Kelly, Kelly, Kira, Erica, Elizabeth…and me.
Of course, this is the college where my dad says yell “Kevin” and half the people turn around - and yell “Kelly” and the other half turn.
Susan
Wow. I remember a suite in a dorm from college that had, I think, three Katies.
My Grandmother’s name was Ethel May too! Everyone called her Ethel (well, I called her Grandma). My Mom’s name is Ethelyne, which is different. Feel free to use it, mojave.
My first name is Charles. The only people that call me that are my mother, my sister and SWMBO when she’s really pissed off.
When I was living in Austin, everyone called me C. R. When I moved back to Houston, everyone started calling me Chuck. Works for me.
At least your first name isn’t a slang term for penis. Mine is, at least in the south. Luckily, I grew up in the DC area where it’s still just the name of one of the apostles. My family called me Chris, my middle name because that was the one they liked. It was just that Peter Christopher sounded better to them than Christopher Peter. But in the second grade there were two other guys named Chris so I they asked what I wanted and I went with Peter without a second thought. Nowadays, you can tell who my really old friends and family are because they call me Chris. So don’t be shy about what you want to be called. Sometimes, I get people who ask what I want to be called and I just tell them I prefer, “Sir.”
My sister is Wendy Elizabeth and went by Wendy until college when she switched to Elizabeth and various shortenings thereof. I’m the only one now who calls her Wendy and I like it that way. It my own private name for her.
Ah, the name issues. A subject I’m very fond of.
I have one first name, two middle names, and two last names. I have never been very fond of my first, but my parents took their two first names and smushed them together to get my name. So I don’t think changing it in ANY WAY would go over real well.
The two middle names are also passed down from ages past, and have a boatload of history behind them. My sister and I even have to same middle initials, which took some creative spelling.
My two last names… I kept my birth name (I HATE the term “maiden”. I was born with than name; It’s not like I wanted to shed it the nano second I got married…) and tacked on Hubbies. Our children will have his last name, two middle names, and have the option of keeping their birth name when married also.
So what to call me? Well, unless I’m in trouble, Hubby always calls me “Sweetie” or “Cute girl” My friends call me by my first name. My relations call me any number of embarassing nicknames they have come up with over the length of my life.
The only problem I have is when a form askes for my complete legal name. There is never enough room. :rolleyes:
sigh
My name is dull. And i have no middle name 
When i went away to uni i started introducing myself by the diminutive. So everyone who has known me since i was about 20 knows me that way. Some people who knew me before also have the courtesy to address me that way but others don’t bother. I don’t really mind though cos these are people i see maybe once a year.
What bothers me is my mother’s attitude. She has heard me explain that i am much more comfortable with the diminutive form but just says that she picked it so she gets to choose what i am called :eek: She’s not the most sensitive person in the world. My aunt (her sister) also switched from her first name to her middle name but mum refuses to call her that saying it’s too much trouble to remember.
Now none of this would be a real problem (ok, it’s rude but neither my aunt or myself see her that much) if it were not for the fact that my mother goes by a diminutive form of HER name.
If i have kids i will give them plenty of names to choose from! And respect their wishes on what they choose as their identity.
harrrrrrumph!
I worked with a guy whose last name was Peter. His parents had the naivite to name him Richard. So he became Dick Peter. I suspect he had a rather unpleasant time in grade school.
People with more ethnic names can probably feel my pain, but imagine going through life called Siobhan. Not so bad if you’re in Ireland or Great Britain. Sucks to be you if you’re in Australia.
My online friends used to call me Sio. That’s okay in print, but if you want to say that in actual sounds, you’re really calling me “Shi”. When I was at school, Vawn occasionally came out. Again, not really accurate and I wasn’t all that fond of being called it, but it was better than the invariable mangling of my name.
I could have gone by my middle name, but at school there was Nicholes (or Nicoles, or Nikkis) up the wazoo, so that wasn’t really an option I wanted to take.
I have the opposite problem. My name is Claryn (I was named after her) . I love my name. My whole name. But especially my first name.
The problem…try to pronounce it. Even after 25 years, I’m still amazed at how well everyone butchers my name. I’m sick of correcting people. I’m sick of people calling me Claire or Clarence. I especially dislike Claire because its awkward with my last name and…just because. I don’t like the name. I never have. I don’t want to be called by it.
Going by my middle name isn’t really an option. I’m a child of the 80’s and my middle name is Madonna. If one more person makes a Material Girl joke at my expense, I’m may have to strangle them with a pair of lace gloves. The jokes were fairly disturbing when I was 5. It’s just plain rude now. It’s amazing how many people (Catholics especially 
) don’t know where the name actually came from. I WAS NOT NAMED AFTER SOME SKANKY LOW TALENT SINGER!!! She wasn’t even famous when I was born. I was named after her .
I used to hate my names. Mainly because of the mispronounciation. But, also because my father named me. We have issues where our relationship and his religion intersect.
It took me many many years to learn to appreciate my names for their beauty and historical significance. Now, I wouldn’t change my name for anything. I just have to get other people to stop changing it for me.