If you could have picked your own name, what would it be?

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I like to think about this especially since I like to write and make up character names a lot.

Because of my struggles in life and hard fought triumphs, I like positive names and I think I'd like to be named Serenity Hope. I can't think of a prettier name than Serenity.

What would you pick to be your name if you could change it now?

Do your kids like their names?

All of my kids say they like t heir names. I think that's odd as I always thought people didn't like their names because, let's face it, WE GET TIRED OF THEM.

In my case, my name wasn't popular back in the day and hasn't made a comeback yet and I don't expect it to...lol. I really don't like it at all.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Easy for me, since Jabber and I have done medieval reenactment and you pick your "medieval name". I love the name Lillian. I know it's old-fashioned; I like Lily too. To me, Lillian is a lady-like and genteel name...not that I'm all that lady-like and genteel, but I wish I were. ;) Lily is a sweet and pretty. Lil is sassy. :D Yep...I'd be Lillian, and choose which of the three depending on my mood.
 

Scent of Cedar *

Well-Known Member
Elizabeth.

I was almost named Elizabeth Joy. Then, my father said he wanted to name me my current name. I never liked my name. Here is a funny thing: Now, I do.

I would have loved being an Elizabeth, my mother's maiden name, my grandmother's maiden name, and my father's last name.

Lots of names, for me.

I would have liked that.

Cedar
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
When I was in High School I was a Romantic. I read English Literature. The Brontes, Jane Austin. Dickens. I read poetry. I wrote poetry. I needed a pen name. Rebecca Du Bois. In effect, I did choose my name. My pen name. When I was in 11th grade.

I like my own much better.

Like Cedar, I did not much like my name. I got a name that will forever link me to the post-war baby boomer era. The Lindas, Patricias, and Carols and Nancys and Sharons and Judith-type names. One with a diminutive. Like Patty or Pammie. And a short form, too, like Pam, or Nan. I was not impressed with the versatility.

There were always 2 of us in a class with the same name.

Sooooo common. And I was unique. Whence came Rebecca DuBois. I have never, ever met another Rebecca DuBois.

Sometime along the way I learned to love my name. How and why does that happen? I like to believe that I learned to like or accept myself. Or through my accomplishments, built a unique identity so no longer needed a name to confer it.

My mother and aunt were daughters of immigrants. Both felt marked by their names which were biblical and old-fashioned. Like Sarah. Or Rachel. Or Esther. Or Miriam.
Each as a teen inserted a very American middle name. My mother inserted Terry. My Aunt dubbed herself Ann, and legally added it as her middle name. And each felt their new name made a difference in their attempts to assimilate as real and proper Americans.

I guess we all fight to not be pinned down as what we are. We want all that is possible until we accept as much as we can that who we are just might be enough.
 
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BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I love the name Lillian. I know it's old-fashioned; I like Lily too.
Where've you been, Ms. Lil? Clearly not to a preschool lately.

Lily is a very common name now. Not like Amber or Jake, but there are a lot of beautiful little Lily's dotting the newest generation. I don't know if they are Lillians or just Lilys, but the name has gotten new life and I think it's a beautiful name.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Copa, if that's your real name it's beautiful. If not, I still like Rebecca/Becky.

Sometimes the names we are given don't fit us as we get older. And we are stuck. I don't think my name in anyway is like I am. It's a prissy name if spoken in all three syllables and I can barely stand the nickname. It's all wrong. It's not me. Actually, Serenity is too elegant and dainty to be me too. If I had to be honest and pick a name that fits me it would be something short and a little boyish like Samantha or Nikki or Jacqueline...something that could be shortened into a boy's nickname or had a harder sound. I am loud and active and dress down and love a lot of stuff men like, such as football. Gooooooooooooooo Packers!!!!! I play in the mud and get dirty when I'm with Junior and I don't care. I don't pay much attention to my clothes and don't own a dress. I look feminine, but I'm still Tomboyish.

But Serenity means what I strive for every day. I could see having a little girl, if I were young, and naming her Serenity HOpe or Serenity Joy and calling her Saren. Why not? Unusual names are very "in" right now.

I have never met a person with my name who is under 100 except me...lol.
 

svengandhi

Well-Known Member
I love my first name but I despise my middle name so much that my children don't even know what it is. I wouldn't change my first name to anything else but I have told people my middle name is Elizabeth. However, people who really know me know that Elizabeth couldn't be my real name because I had an aunt by that name and Jews don't name after the living. I do hope to get a grand-daughter named Elizabeth, with no shortening.

My kids all seem to like their names, except for difficult child, who likes his first name but officially changed his middle name to just the initial when he turned 18. H and I gave a great deal of thought to each child's names, first middle and Hebrew...

I also love my last name so I use it professionally, although H's name is cool, too. Lucky for him, his dad's biological father had such a horrible last name that I once told H that if it had been his last name, none of my children would be named after him.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Hello All--

I'm watching the Bears game right now--or at least pretending to watch, as they really s*ck right now!

Anyway--

I was blessed to have three daughters, so I used up most of my favorite names, but if I had gotten a fourth I would have named her Bryn Avery.

I am from a place where everybody goes by two names--and not in a good way. Think Ellie Mae or Billy Bob.
 

Tanya M

Living with an attitude of gratitude
Staff member
I have always liked my name. I was not given a middle name so there have been many times I would think of good middle name. My favorite was always Elizabeth. I also like Tabitha.
My dad's nickname for me was Gretchen.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
I truly hate my first name. I've never felt like it fit me. It's an old woman's name. (Okay, it's not Mildred or Ethel, but it's not a pretty name.)

Jabber and I have the same middle name! lol
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
I was given a modern, very uncommon, nicknameish name but I was mostly called by other, nonsense nickname. While I have sometimes wished my parents would have gone more traditional route and given me some traditional name and then nicknames, aside of that nonsense nickname I would probably been saddled with anyway, could had made of that name, I have learn to live without formal sounding option. Silly thing with my name is also that it should actually be pronounced differently with my dad's language than my mom's.

If I was to name myself now, I would likely take some traditional name my current name could be a shortened form of and continue using my current names aside of formal situations. I did hate my name as a teen, but it has grown for me.
 

nlj

Well-Known Member
I like my real name. I don't like it when people shorten it. It's a name that can be spelt a few different ways so it's a bind that I have to spell it quite often and it's a bit irritating that I get so much mail with the incorrect spelling on it.

I think my kids like their names.

I think my cat likes her name too.

I hate it when people call their kids "Darling" instead of using their proper name. There's a lot of that amongst middle-class brits. It makes me cringe. What's the point of spending ages choosing a good name for your kids and then calling them "darling" at every opportunity. Vomit.:sick:
 

1905

Well-Known Member
I hate my name! If someone is reading it, they pronounce it wrong. Nobody can spell it correctly. It's so annoying! I always wanted a common name everyone knows. When I order take out, or have to leave my name somewhere I always use my middle name. One I don't have to repeat 5 times and then spell. Even my middle name, although recognizable, nobody would spell right because my parents spelled that cutesy and wierd too, but I do like it.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
I've mentioned before that I work in child support. As such, I get to see lot and lots of "modern" baby names.

AWFUL.

Not just the ones that are spelled "uniquely" or the parent's throw Ja or De or thank you in front of a perfectly normal name, or toss in a random apostrophe for no apparent reason...we get some real winners.

I've seen Princess, Queen, King, Prince and Sir. Yes, Sir. So his name will always be Sir John Doe. I guess they wanted people to always address him formally. I've had a "Truly Uniquely" and a Lucifer. We actually have a running joke about the number of Jaydens and Nevaehs we get...really, really popular. And I had a number, it was spelled out, but the kid's name was Seven. There are the names of products that always get me...Dasani (like the water), Jovan (like the cologne), Armani, etc. Lots of alcohol names, Tequilla Rose and Jack Daniel and even Courvoisier. I'm waiting for little Viagra Smith or Cialis Jones to come across my desk. We recently had a Cristal (pronounced like the champagne). We had one with three boys, Hunter, Fisher and Trapper. People love to make the kids names go together - or to name them after the parents. I had one family of six kids and every one was a play on the name "Anthony"...which was dad's name. I had a Arwen (Lord of the Rings). My all time favorite couple with the last name "Soldier" - they named the child "Universal". That wasn't even a good movie!

That just doesn't even scratch the surface. What people do to their kids amaze me sometimes. Makes my old lady name sound pretty good.
 

nlj

Well-Known Member
I've mentioned before that I work in child support. As such, I get to see lot and lots of "modern" baby names.

AWFUL.

It's the same working in schools. The 'best' one I had was Na-A (pronounced Na dash a get it?). ???? Isn't that crap? Could they not spell Natasha? Or were they trying to be clever but achieving the complete opposite? Poor kid.

We had a few called after TV characters and then the ones who can't think for themselves but call them after footballers' kids or royal sprogs. Chardonnay was a favourite for a while too. Why would you call your kid after a bottle of wine?

It's a bit of a snobbish thing though, this looking down on people because of the names they give their children. It's a shame that the stereotypes are mostly correct though because it does tend to reinforce the snobbish element of it.

My mother has a Spanish name but her mother anglicised it when they came to the UK after World War 2, because there was a stigma attached to 'foreign' names at that time. This was a common practice amongst many immigrant families to the UK and also the US I think. I think that's quite sad.

"What's in a name?" as Shakespeare said, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet".
 

nlj

Well-Known Member
And I had a number, it was spelled out, but the kid's name was Seven.
That's from David Beckham's daughter isn't it? Harper Seven. I always think this sounds like they're saying the time, half past seven, although maybe that only works with a british accent.
 

pasajes4

Well-Known Member
I have collected pages of unique names from my days as a teacher. The most heartbreaking was 'Heroin' it was pronounced Herron. I cried when I saw that on my roster. I had a girl named 'Female'. It was pronounced like tamale substituting the 'f' for the 't'. I have had body names 'ovum', 'kidney' pronounced 'Kennedy'. An entire family of kids named after the Jackson Five and a Barry White.
 
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