Inspired by the Ricky pit thread, I realised that a lot of us don’t go strictly by our given names, and that made me curious. So now I ask you all–
What do you go by?
How did you come about using that name?
Any particular reason?
(They don’t necesarily have to be answered in that order )
Of course, it’s only fair that I start.
I’ve mentioned it before, but my given name is fairly unusual. As a result, I often have to correct people the first few times they try to say it. By grade 6 though, most people knew how to pronounce it (if not spell it).
Grade 7 I started high school though, and was in a class with a bunch of kids I didn’t know. So we’re back at square one. Only instead of trying to pronounce my full given name, some of them decided to shorten it to Marjie, and it stuck. Later on in high school (and I’m not sure when this happened) I wound up shortening it again and now just go by Marj. No real reason (well, maybe to stop those “Marjie-Pargie pudding and pie” jokes), but I like it better, it sounds more grown up and not like something you’d go by at 13.
I still have a few friends who call me Marjy, they knew me in junior high and never dropped the habit. Most of my friends call me Marj now. Though they often spell it Marge. I need to correct them one of these days. (And yes, the spelling is somewhat important to me. There is no g in my name, and Marge is the name of an old lady with blue hair, not a 20-year-old college student)
My first name is John by I go by Robert, my middle. According to my parents, it was a conscious decision on my part as an infant because I would never reply to John or any kind of nickname like JR (thank god) and would only reply to Robert.
I’m also Rob to a very few and didn’t care for it much in the begining but I’ve grown to accept it from my roommates and even kind of like it from my best and/or favorite friends even though I hate diminutives.
Rob’s acceptable but Robby, Bobby, Bob, and others aren’t and I will not respond to them at all.
I go by my given name. It’s unusual enough that most people already think it’s a nickname. Only my family felt the need to further funkify. (Come on, Dad, do you really need to call me Frostbite? Is it saving anybody time to call me Frost?)
When people hear my name they usually do a double-take and I just tell them, “that’s right, just like the snowman.” Damn snowman, everybody spells my name wrong because of him! Lots of people need to know if it’s my real name–yes, it is. And why did my parents name me that–because they hate me/are strange/named me after a childhood friend. And do I have siblings with odd names–no, and my brother Mike is still pissed off that he got a boring name.
I’m a Jennifer but go by Jenn. I’ve never liked my given name, but I have a pretty cool last name and many people have observed that I sound like a movie star.
My given name is Anastasia, and I go by Stasia, mostly. My mother tried “Stacie” for a while, but I wouldn’t have it.
I don’t mind when people use my full, proper name, but Stasia will probably get my attention faster. I have nothing at all against the name “Ana”, but so very few people use it that I may never turn my head in your direction - not out of rudeness, just obliviousness. You must be looking for a girl named “Anna”, and I don’t know who that is. :smack:
How so? I ask because I adore the name Julia and would love to give it to a potential sprog of mine, but I certainly want to know about any drawbacks: bad associations, mispronunciations, etc.
I prefer to be called by my last name, always have. This is a bit unusual for a women, but I never really identified with either my first name (Amanda) or the diminutive used by my family (Mandy). But I really like my last name, and kept it when I married. Now, as a teacher, I am in one of the few professions where you really are identifyed by your last name. My old friends and family call me “Mandy” still, and my coworkers call me Amanda half the time, but the rest of the time they call me by my last name, and the kids, of course, always do.
My husband also goes by his last name, which is part of the reason I didn’t take it! I’d have been calling him by my name!
I go by the very standard diminuitive of my first name (Alexander -> Alex).
I have a friend and a cousin both of whom grew up using very young-sounding diminuitives of their full names, but then sometime around college decided to switch to using a different version, so now I’m grandfathered in, and get to refer to Caitiln as Caitie (yes, she was named Caitlin 25+ years ago, before it was the thing to do) and Drew as Andy.
My grandfather and uncle both go by their middle names, and use only the first letter of their first name in professional life (ie, John Poppy Smith would be referred to as “Poppy” in private life, and as “J. Poppy Smith” professionally).
My given name is Stephen and I go by Steve. Many are thinking right now so, except that in my case Stephen is pronouced Steffin. I hated that in grade school because people would call me Stephanie, so I went by Steve. In highschool I decided I liked Stephen and went back. That lasted until Stuffy2 came along. Having the same name confused him so I went back to Steve.
I guess I’m pretty lucky in that I like both my given name (Jennifer) and the nickname I’ve had since childhood (Jenny). I tried going by “Jennifer” once, in an effort to seem more professional, but didn’t like it … seemed too formal for me. I don’t dislike the name, I just don’t feel like a “Jennifer.” I don’t mind “Jen,” but there are two other “Jennifers” in my office and one prefers “Jen” while the other prefers “Jennifer,” so it just makes it easier if I’m “Jenny” all of the time. Except, y’ know, here.
Some of my writing is under a pen name, and I use the first name “Gennie” (short for Genevieve). I don’t like the spelling “Jennie,” though – at least, not for my name.
A few people I met just started calling me that, and I liked it.
My name is Catherine, but I never liked it much. Too formal and dull. I don’t like being called Cathy at all - only my grandpa gets away with that. Nobody ever called me Kate (which I like) except one gym teacher in highschool. But I like Cat. It’s short, and has more personality than my full name.
I go by James, which is my first name. I do not use Jim (that’s my dad), Jimmy (I stopped going by that when I was 13. If you call me that and you’re not a relative who’s still living in Newfoundland, I likely won’t respond because I won’t realise you’re talking to me.), or Jamie (No real reason for that one…but I’ll DEFINITELY not realise you’re talking to me.).
My name is Cynthia, but I don’t care for it. I don’t know when Cindy started, but I changed the spelling in elementary school after realizing that spelling it “Cyndi” made more sense.
Or maybe it was girlish crush on Cyndi Lauper.
I’ve stuck with it all these years now though. Never went back to Cynthia.
I go by Si (pronounced sigh). My Dad decided it was the best nickname for me long before I even understood what names were. I like it a lot. Only problem is there are too many things that rhyme with it and often cause me to turn my head. Thankfully I’ve never been one to get frustrated correcting people on its pronunciation or spelling. I take it as a sign that it’s a good rare name to go by. And it’s very easy, no one makes a mistake twice.
Though my family and closest friends call me Stee, I’m the opposite of most of you–I insist on going by my given name (Kristina) despite repeated attempts to shorten it to Kris or Kristen or Kristine. People who try to be lazy get firmly ignored.
On a related note, one of my friends goes by Genghis instead of Greg. I have no idea where it came from, but it’s universally accepted, despite the fact that he looks nothing like a Mongol.
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