not meaning to nitpick here… “Michelle, my belle” not bell.
It’s my middle name, thanks to that song.
My brother was named for his grandfather… he has the lovely tag “the second” after his name. Somehow that sounds awful to me.
His name is Philip … one l … He had elementary school teachers that would correct the attendance sheets (made them Phillip … two l’s) and even disciplined him and ridiculed him for not spelling his name correctly. Hence a long career of school problems 
Could be coincidence but now he’s in prison.
Somehow I’ve always been a kathy… when I was in high school the teacher called roll and assumed I was a katie… (she used only first names) At the end when she asked people who hadn’t been called to raise their hands I got in a lot of trouble for not having answered to a name that I had never been called in my life.
No name is immune when the general public gets involved.
I do think cutesy names like Candi prejudice people against the bearer of the name though and really should be reserved for nicknames only.
Kathleen Mary-Kathleen was my mother’s favorite name-(she always wished she had been named Kathleen) and Mary for-yes, you got it-the Virgin Mary.
I go by Kathi, since I was ten years old. I used the i because I thought it looked “unique”. Whatever.
Now, though, some of my online friends are starting to call me ‘Kat’ and I’m using that more and more. I like it better, in a way.
12 years ago when I was teaching high school, I teased a student of mine that, although her name, Tiffany, was fine for a teen-ager, she’d feel silly when she was older because it was really ridiculous name for an old lady. She pointed out that by the time she was an old lady, every other old lady would be named Tiffany, and the kids would think of it as tediously old-fashioned.
Although I do dislike names that just make it seem as though the parents didn’t know how to spell the name they wanted to give their child, I see nothing wrong with made up names–I mean, at some point, James and Mary were made-up word names.
I especially like names that have multiple nicknames associated with them, either diminuatives (like Danny, Tommy, Timmy, Lizzy, Cindy) that can grow into a more adult sounding name, or common varients (Kathy, Kat, Kate, Jack). This way the name can suit the kid’s personality. Okay, I’ll confess. I was Liz growing up–tomboy, rough and tumble. I changed to Elizabeth in my mid-twenties (I trace friendships by which name I’m called). Now most people can’t imagine me being called Liz. If people have a hard time with so many syllables, I tell em’ to call me Elsbeth. Versatile name, Elizabeth, I think I’ll keep it.
“Elizabeth,” Hebrew for “Consecrated to God.” From this name we get Eliza, Elisa, Elissa, Elsia, Alisa, Elizabetha, Lisabbette, Elspeth, Lizzy, Lizette, Liza, Lisa, Lis, Libby, Bettine, Bettina, Bettisa, Betsy, Betty, Bette, Bessy, Bess, Liz, Elsie, Bette, and Beth.
Don’t get me wrong. My name is quite rare, Welsh, meaning “behold the shining brow.” The thing is, even the names that were new and “made up” long ago MEAN something, like ANY word; if not something obvious like “Pearl,” they mean something is some earth language or another. If a woman named Margaret (Greek for Pearl) and a man named Kenneth (Anglicized Gaelic for Handsome) have a child and combine their names to name the child “Kengaret” or “Margken,” you get no meaning at all. Neither word means “Handsome Pearl” or “Pearl Handsome,” they combine to create a nonsense word.
A name with no background is not a nonsence word, or a word without meaning. It’s that person’s name. That in itself is enough meaning.
Well, I have a name straight out of the old testament and there were two others of the same name in my elementary school class. It remained quite popular during the entire 20th century and is still popular. Do I mind? Not at all. It is one less reason for getting picked on. My three children all have relatively common biblical names, all with the commonest spelling and none of them has ever made the slightest complaint.
It was not explained in that article about responses to black and white names how you tell the difference, but blacks seem much more to want unique names.
I disagree. It may not have meaning to you, but you hardly matter when it comes to other peoples kids (No offense :)). Why does a “anglicized Gaelic” word have meaning but a word that draws from two Gaelic sources does not? Neither have any meaning at all - nonsense syllables - until someone ascribes meaning to them. If someone decides that “Margeth” means “Handsome Pearl,” then I’m afraid that that’s what it means, regardless of the history or lack thereof.
Absolutely! My 8-month old son is Arthur. I keep meeting these little babies with names like Harry and Oscar and Frederick. They sound like little old men. I never would have thought I’d be part of a naming trend, but whaddaya know?
AwSnappity: My best friend is also a Kerry. She has the same problems. “Not Carrie! Kerry!”
This reminds me of a family I know; they named their kids Justin, Clement, and Fidela. Now, those names mean something! (the just one, the peaceful one, and the faithful one)
My friends Frances and Ellen’s dad (may he rest in peace) was named Mark… he would have just turned 55 last December if he was still alive. As for Justins who are older than fifteen, I know at least five Justins that are in their mid-twenties, if not older.
I have two twenty-something friends named Maxine and Stella. 
You should see some of the names in a book I have (Janet Schwegel’s Baby Name Countdown):
Typhanie
Tiffanie
Genyphur
etc.
As for my name, I maintain that my parents had little imagination when naming me. It’s not that I don’t mind having the same name as my aunt (my mom’s brother’s wife), but if I was going to get named Leslie no matter whether I was a boy or a girl… heck, I met a guy with the exact same name (first and last) as me in Gr. 8! (he was a year older than I was, luckily, but it still led to a whole bunch of nix-ups) My brother and sister got more creative names, but they’re still relatively common. (more so than mine)
F_X
I always hated my middle name, which is “Alan.” I think it sounds tepid and dweeby. Just my opinion. I got this middle name after an uncle, who spelled it “Allen.”
Well. I loathed this name for years until I started doing a little genealogical work on my family, and discovered that my uncle was named after another Allen, who in turn was named after another Allen, who took that from his mother’s middle name, who took that from her GRANDmother’s middle name, which was HER mother’s maiden name . . .
In brief, my dweeby little middle name has been in the family for at least eight generations, and almost certainly longer. None of my relatives knew about the Allen branch of the family before I discovered it.
And now I love my middle name. What a difference a little history makes.
You’ve forgotten Isabelle (Isabell), Isabella, Isabeau, Betta, Elsa, Lizzie, Lizbeth, possibly Lillian, and the ever popular Lizard.
As I said, a very versatile name. 
My first name is Eliza, after my aunt, who was herself named after a Civil-War-era aunt. I’ve had a lot of people ask me how to pronounce it (answer - E-li-zah or Ah-li-za), and a lot more people pronounce it wrong (ususally some varient of Uh-lee-zah), and one friend from Mexico who informed me that my name wasn’t E-li-za, it was E-lee-zah (she was joking, before anyone gets all huffy on my behalf). Now that I’m in college, I’ve had teachers assume that my name is “Elizabeth”, and the last half was cut off the roll sheet. I was miserable as a kid, because no one else had the same name as mine - however, now I like it because no one else has the same name as me! And plus, there are a lot of nifty things I can do if I convert my name to numbers. When/if I have kids, I don’t know if I’ll go with a family name, as my parents did - but I will make sure that whatever the name is, it’s significant to me, so hopefully my kid will grow to like it.
I hated my name (Amy Lynn) in school because it’s so small and never filled up enough spaces on those standardized achievement tests. 
My name was going to be different. When my mom was asked my name for the birth certificate, she was still a little fuzzy from the drugs. When she said Amanda Lynn, she started to laugh hysterically and said there was no way her baby was being named after a musical instrument. {say “Amanda Lynn” real fast}
So I’m Amy Lynn - which means Beloved Tower, btw. 
I hate my name, which is also Amy Lynn. How many are there of us?
OMG I’m so sorry your name is Amy Lynn too!
I was born in the 1960’s- the only other Amy Lynn I know is in her 80’s.
But you know what’s weird, people have trouble remembering my name and will say, “What was your name, … Pat?”
I don’t think I’m a Pat deep down inside… More like a Wisteria, or a Victoria, or a Kathleen.
I spent almost the first two decades of my life with what I considered to be quite a unique name. I’d only ever met one other person with a name that was similar (not the same, but close).
About 4 years ago or so, my name started to become incredibly popular, and moreso in the African American community. Now, wherever I go it seems there’s a toddler toddling along with a mother in tow yelling my name at the lil tyke. It’s quite odd to be the only adult white girl with my name for miles around. To make matters worse, my name is also associated with a famous porn star. Geez louise. I’m afraid my name may become the ‘Tiffany’ or ‘Crystal’ of the new generation. Is it too late to start going by my middle name?