# Your Given Name **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366 "2002-05-22T20:43:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/61 "2002-05-23T04:06:20Z")
I have been known to complain about my name. It’s not that it’s hard to spell or pronounce. No, it’s the fact that it’s ridiculously boring. I can disclose it here, and even with my city-of-residence beside the post, it would take you folks ages to find me. The most distinctive thing about my name is that I share it with the Martian Manhunter. I am John Jones. Fear my anonymity. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/62 "2002-05-23T04:23:55Z")
I envy the man with the comic book name. I’m otherwise known as Adam Eric Frey. The last name is pronounced like “french fries,” as so many telemarketers and teachers have failed to do. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/63 "2002-05-23T05:09:41Z")
Leslie Karen Exciting, no? ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/64 "2002-05-23T05:16:34Z")
Sarah Nicole. I hate, hate, hate, hate my middle and last names. I wish my last name didn’t rhyme with a farm animal (I’m sensitive. I got neighed at for the first 15 years of my life). My middle name is just ho-hum - at least I didn’t get stuck with it as a first name, like 4 billion other girls born in 1981. I do like my first name a lot - it’s classy but not common. I actually had this older dude (late 30s) in one of my classes compliment my name, but he had a mullet, so all things considered, I’m not sure it was really a compliment. So many cool names here! I like **Christopher Robinson** because it reminds me of Pooh, and being reminded of Pooh is a good thing (although I swear to God I don’t have any Pooh schlockes or stuffed animals; I just think of Pooh and am then reminded of Christopher Robin, on whom I had a crush when I was aged 3-7, which is another reason I like that name.) I also adore the name **Colin**. Men with that name are instantly hot, regardless of how they look - I have no idea why. That name just does something for me. I’ve never met a Colin I didn’t lust after. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/65 "2002-05-23T05:26:38Z")
Ugh… I really hate my name too. I have always wanted to be named something else but I always figured it would be too tough to change it. I went by another name for a weekend at this thing we were doing through my friend’s church and I had to look at my nametag before introducing myself. But my name is Ruth Claire… I have always gone by Claire but whenever I register for something official it comes with the name Ruth. I am _not_ Ruth that is my Grandma. Claire is my other Grandma. The weekend I talked about I went as RC the whole time, but I answer to it now. Ask Ginger about it though… she called me once and Grandma had no clue who was calling, which is why I think it would be too much trouble. I would confuse my family if I changed it to something nice… like Mara MacDonnell (My Mom’s maiden name). Though one thing I find interesting… when I put my name into Google I come up with a Romance novel… that’s right… a character in a romance novel has the same name as I do. Well not the Ruth but the Claire and the last name… it’s funny I think. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/66 "2002-05-23T05:35:35Z")
Ellen Katrina Straw. The surname was Stroh when my German ancestors arrived here, but then they changed it. I took a lot of grief in grade school for being “Straw” but now it’s actually not so bad. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/67 "2002-05-23T05:36:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Francesca \* > \*\ ***Cerowyn’s** a guy? I never knew! (I like the name Huw btw. Would you possibly in any way at all be Welsh? ;)) \*\* (Sorry about answering the post twice, but I just thought of something.) My sister’s name? Rhiannon. How cool is that? My brother got a Welsh middle name, but a Scottish first name. Poor guy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/68 "2002-05-23T05:43:58Z")
Jessica Phallyn Bonner. .:Nichol:. ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/69 "2002-05-23T05:55:45Z")
I’ve always loved the name Ruth! It’s so…classic. Simple, dignified, and it rolls off the tongue nicely. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Obsidian Flutterby \* > \*\*\Though one thing I find interesting… when I put my name into Google I come up with a Romance novel… that’s right… a character in a romance novel has the same name as I do. Well not the Ruth but the Claire and the last name… it’s funny I think. \*\* That wouldn’t happen to be the Claire that’s married to Jamie, is it? \ I don’t consider Gabaldon’s novels to be romance novels so much as historical novels. ---
**Author:** ![derTintenfisch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ea924/32.png) [@derTintenfisch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/derTintenfisch)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/70 "2002-05-23T07:26:01Z")
Tanya Marie Bach I’ve always liked my name for the most part, though Marie seems to be a very common middle name. Bach is my mom’s last name, and I’ve got another nice German name as my last name (though a Dutch prof thought it might be Dutch). However, I wasn’t too pleased with Tanya in about 5th grade during the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan stuff. _sigh_ I think that’s about when I went through my phase of using Tatyana… ---
**Author:** ![JavaMaven1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JavaMaven1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JavaMaven1)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/71 "2002-05-23T07:36:20Z")
Jennifer Vanessa I like my name, although I wish mom had just gone ahead and given me Vanessa as my first name anyways. I remember having 4 other Jennifers in my first grade class (poor teacher!). I have tried to go by Vanessa, but for whatever reason it would never stick. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/72 "2002-05-23T07:49:04Z")
I love my name. Osiris Merlin Johnson. The only one, ever! However a couple years ago this kid from Mexico IM’d me cause his name was Osiris but it was just too wierd to talk to him. I am Osiris. I always thought “God-Emperor” would sound really good before my name. Don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![ShadowWarrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@ShadowWarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowWarrior)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/73 "2002-05-23T07:50:29Z")
Christopher Graeme Simpson Don’t like the first name - everyone calls me Chris… don’t like people who pronounce my middle name ‘gray-ham’ - it’s ‘grame’… one syllable, more or less… My surname, as you can imagine, is a nightmare… please, no bart jokes, I have heard them all about 60,000,000,000 times. Could be worse… MrsWarrior is a teacher… imagine what she gets with that surname… ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/74 "2002-05-23T09:06:07Z")
Carol Don’t call me Caroline or Carolynn - my full first name is Carol. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/75 "2002-05-23T09:16:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Squish \* > \*\*I’ve always loved the name Ruth! It’s so…classic. Simple, dignified, and it rolls off the tongue nicely. > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Obsidian Flutterby \* > > **\Though one thing I find interesting… when I put my name into Google I come up with a Romance novel… that’s right… a character in a romance novel has the same name as I do. Well not the Ruth but the Claire and the last name… it’s funny I think.** > > That wouldn’t happen to be the Claire that’s married to Jamie, is it? \ I don’t consider Gabaldon’s novels to be romance novels so much as historical novels. \*\* Well, Gabaldon’s novels are part romance, and part history. I like that mix; if it were strictly one way or the other, I wouldn’t like them half so much! 😃 Actually, that would be cool if your name happened to be the same as that character. I know, I know: names in books are bound to find real-life counteparts with the same name eventually (especially if the first and/or last name involved is a rather common one), but it would still be cool! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![friggae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/45deac/32.png) [@friggae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friggae)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/76 "2002-05-23T10:36:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by derTintenfisch \* > \*\*I’ve always liked my name for the most part, though Marie seems to be a very common middle name. \*\* Yup - I’m a Marie too. Allison Marie Murphy to be exact. At least it’s better than my father’s choice for middle name - Alice. Allison Alice?!?!? Anyway, I enjoyed being a Murphy. I’m married now and have a weird last name that is kinda spelled like a houseplant. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/77 "2002-05-23T10:45:28Z")
Nothing particularly secret about my name, as it is set into the default in all my e-mail accounts. **Nikola Kukich** ( “Nick” ). Which I used to sort of dislike when I was child because it was unusual ( at least in the U.S. ), but now rather like because it is unusual 😉 . The only annoyance, and it isn’t even that much anymore because I’m used to it by now, is that many people seem to assume it is feminine. What, nobody ever heard of Nikola Tesla :)? I tend to get this pretty frequently, both in surprised comments that I’m male ( hey, but I’m in touch with my feminine side 😃 ) and in subscriptions sent to _Ms._ or _Mrs._ Kukich :rolleyes:. Also, because it a rather rare surname in the U.S. , at least once a year for the last decade, I’ve been getting calls from debt-collectors chasing some apparent deadbeat by the name of Nicole Kukich. In another oddity, friends and acquaintances that decide for some reason to call me by my full first name, instead of just Nick, frequently get it wrong, even after being corrected and/or knowing better. If it’s not “Nicholas”, it’s “Nicholai”. Apparently the mind doesn’t always wrap itself around slightly different versions of ommon names and in some weird freudian slip defaults to either the most common alternative ( Nicholas ) or the most seemingly common “exotic” ( Nicholai ). Curious really. - Tamerlane ( who was called “Nicky” as a child, but isn’t overly fond of that these days ) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/78 "2002-05-23T10:47:12Z")
Oh, yes - I have no middle name. Another oddity in the United States. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/79 "2002-05-23T12:25:48Z")
Stephen James Wright. Not much of a revelation there, I’m afraid. Some friends, and most of my relatives, call me Stephen, but I’ve been told I’m a “natural Steve”, and that’s what most people use. ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366/80 "2002-05-23T12:27:24Z")
Anonymity is good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-given-name/110366.md?page=5)