Quote:
Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy 
For some reason I've come to hate my given name... it's not the name itself, it's the way it sounds and the feelings it conjures up in me when I hear it applied to ME. So I go exclusively by a nickname... I've been thinking of legally changing my name but I feel like my mom would be CRUSHED. Instead, I just cringe every time someone uses it... that name is NOT me. But anyway, my name was uncommon growing up (much more common now with younger kids though!) and I had to spell it and correct pronunciation a million and one times -- not fun for someone who's very shy!! But I wouldn't have wanted a common name... just something easily pronounceable or weird enough that it wouldn't be confused with a common variation that I can't stand...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smokering
Slightly OT, but I like this attitude. Neither DH nor I like our first names - they're both fairly common, mine ridiculously so - and call each other by our internet nicks or nicknames derived thereof. A fair few of our friends call us by those names. Both our parents seem faintly disapproving of the practice. :p I don't exactly expect my mother to start calling me Smokering, but I don't feel the need to go by a name I dislike for my entire life just because she chose it for me, either. I've occasionally thought that if I broke all ties and moved to Tahiti, I might start going by my middle name (given that Smokering is problematic for daily life!); but currently it's too much bother.
For some reason I've come to hate my given name... it's not the name itself, it's the way it sounds and the feelings it conjures up in me when I hear it applied to ME. So I go exclusively by a nickname... I've been thinking of legally changing my name but I feel like my mom would be CRUSHED. Instead, I just cringe every time someone uses it... that name is NOT me. But anyway, my name was uncommon growing up (much more common now with younger kids though!) and I had to spell it and correct pronunciation a million and one times -- not fun for someone who's very shy!! But I wouldn't have wanted a common name... just something easily pronounceable or weird enough that it wouldn't be confused with a common variation that I can't stand...
I changed my name, too. My parents called me Jennifer and I was born in the early 70s ( that sounds like the start of a 12-step confession, doesn't it?!). This was perfectly fine until we moved to the US when I was a teenager. It felt like I ceased to exist as an individual and became a management problem; Which Jennifer? Jennifer M? Oh, and which Jennifer M?! Jen? Jenny, Jennie or Jenni?. I hated it. So I changed it to Gwen after I played a character by that name in a production. When I discovered that Gwenhwyfar (or Guinever, whatever) means roughly the same thing as Jennifer, it sealed the deal. I've been Gwen for longer than I was ever Jennifer now. I never changed it legally, though I considered it when I got married. It is nice to know that when I answer the phone and hear who they ask for, I can immediately determine if I ought to just hang up....anyone asking for Jennifer undoubtedly wants money. Or wants to discuss money, which is just never any fun.
Maybe this is why I called my son Peregrine? But I also feel that, like all parenting decisions, they are mine to make but theirs to confirm. If my kids change their names, that is fine by me.
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