Yes, you’re born with it and stuck with it for the duration
–and you didn’t have any input in the decision. Not to give mine away, but I’ve always been intrigued by a few male names that have a bit more oomph. Don’t laugh:
But seriously, what name would you choose for yourself? I’m not talking nicknames, but actual first names?
Um … Let’s make that: "What first name do you wish your parents HAD given you?
-Lucrecious Desburton Randalburg
-Quentin Dionysus Shenton
-Beelzebub Burstenstraps
-Lyman Gerbentranz Horatio
-Aptarexus Hervendome Silchertwiff
-Bob
-Thwippit Zargonjagas
-Cletus McFloozy
-Gonzo Flonzo
-Damocles von Flappajack
-Langden Alger
-Doctor Boink
-Samson Darfindoole Frizzlebum Hume
-Vickoramus Derringer
SPOOFE, please double up on your meds, man.
(How are the spelling lessons going?)
Actually, I’m quite happy with the one I’ve got (Aaron).
Now my last name, however, is horrible. But I won’t reveal it here. If I could have picked my own last name, I would have chosed one from the timeless classic The Man With Two Brains: Uumelmahay.
I love it! Aaron Uumelmahay! 
Rachel Josephine
I dunno…I just think I seem like more of a Rachel than a Kathleen/Kathi.
When I was a kid, my name was still relatively unusual, and it garnered a lot of teasing. I didn’t realize that kids will always find something to tease, so I blamed the name and wished fervently for a new one, something more common, that other kids might have. My preferred name at that time was Elizabeth; I would’ve given a lot to have been named that.
However, in my teens I started really liking my name. Now, at 27, my name has become more popular. Suddenly I’m encountering it more, especially on little kids. And now that bugs me, because I got used to being the only one, and I liked it, and I want it to be that again.
But I still love my name. I wouldn’t change it. I wouldn’t feel like me if I did.
(That goes for my first name. My middle name, now…)
Anyway, the moral of this story: be careful what you wish for, blah blah blah.
When I was born, my mother thought back to when she was a wee lass and what names had delighted her then. She had loved the name Simon and thought that perhaps she might name he first son that. Well here I was ! Eager and new and waiting to be named.
My father’s last name (and my mother’s now) is Ellis …
follow that through.
Everyone in my immediate family has a first name that starts with the letter J. Everyone except me, that is. For some reason this really bothered me when I was a kid and for a while (around the age of 5) I insisted they call me Jill.
I’m happy enough with my own first name (Wendy) now, except that since I’m living in Ireland, I’d really like to have a name that I could Gaelicize, and it simply can’t be done with mine …
I was a girl named Mary in Catholic schools in the days when the teachers were all nuns and all Sister Mary Something. On top of that, my classes were all full of Mary Anns and other assorted Mary …
I HATED IT!
I wanted something exotic - Jasmine or Deanna or something. As an adult in corporate America, I came to value the fact that my credibity wasn’t undermined by having a fanciful first name.
I’ve always liked names like
Laura
Lianna
Laurel
Tarah
Sara (no “h” for some reason)
But my name I’ve always thought quite nicely of. It’s rather pretty, I think (Melissa). My last name, however…grimaces Let’s just say there’s a common slang term for male anatomy in there somewhere…and my high school years have been permanently tainted as a result of it. sighs What doesn’t kill you…drives you crazy…
Melissa Schlong? Man, I feel you pain.
If I was a girl, I’d have wished for my parents to name me Connie… last name, Lingus.
I was going to be Audrey.
Then mom said I looked like a “Wendy”.
I would have liked Audrey, better, I think.
one thinks of Hepburn.
I hate the way they say it Windy here in Texas. its simply horrid.
But, I collect Wendy the Good witch stuff and that’s cool.
(ruadh, you must check it out: http://www.wendy.com
the Wide World of Wendys!)
**I hear ya!**
I was going to be named Chrysanthemum but ** my ** mom changed it Wendy
I never really liked my name, would definitely have preferred Chrysanthemum, least its really different.
Or maybe Denise,always liked that one, for some reason
But I guess I can’t really complain my brother didnt even get an original name: Lewis the sixth!!! Talk about lame.
because my name is ERIN and I like it just fine too. 
I have three names I wish my parents had picked from: (in no particular order, depends on mood)
a) Vladimir, b) Mordred and c) Caleb. Had I been a girl, I would wanted them to have named me Morag.
I admit, I really like my name. It’s traditional (in a biblical sense) but not new-agey or any of that crap. I’m the only person I’ve ever met with it. I like it.
But there was a time I’d have killed to have had my parents choose Luke or Logan instead.
I’ll let you figure out when.
Sir Michael Carmichael Zutt!
or Oliver Boliver Butt!
or Zanzibar Buck Buck McFate!
But they didn’t do it, and now it’s too late.
When naming a child remember that some day you will need to
yell out that name to get the childs attention. Try and yell Mark. Sorry Mom didn’t hear you. I like my name. Short, easy to spell, common as hell. I had three other Mark’s in one class back in high school. My name is so common that at my job, when I started there was already a Mark. My boss Tom said two Marks will confuse people, we’ll just call you by your middle name. I looked at him and said " Two Mark’s are confusing but two Tom’s won’t be?" Twelve years and I’ve been called by my last name. It’s cool. MTS