I like my name. I went through a period that I wished I was named Jillian (back when it started to surge in popularity). I was born in the early 70s and didn't go to school with a single Jill.
What I think is crazy is that when I speak on the phone, people assume my name is Jo. I've talked to other Jills and this is a common phenomenon.
Lastly, I married a John Joseph whose grandfather with the same name went by Jack. I always say that had he taken his gf nn, I would have never given him a second chance. I would have never married a Jack!
Best friends and sisters... 24 months and 16 months
Laura Gray ( I cant believe I'm the third Laura to post!). I always thought my name was just ok. I love my mn because Im a 3rd generation girl with that mn (my DD the 4th), it was my grandmothers maiden name. But when you put my mn with my maiden name (Gra) Cole, very boring, I hated it growing up.
EDD 1/31/11 m/c 6/21/11 miss you little circus peanut.
Sarah is after my grandmother that passed away before I was born
Ann is my mom's middle name and several others' in the family.
I always liked that my name had history in the family, that it was classic rather than trendy... but I wasn't a huge fan of having 3 other Sarah's in my class.
Growing up I didn't like it. I don't even know why? My maiden name is long and so was my first name so I HATED that! But now my married name is short so I love it! The only nn I hate is Nessie but I don't allow people to call me that. I'm not too fond of Nessa only my husbands brother calls me that and I like it when family does, but no one else is allowed! Most people call me V and I love that!
My mn is after my dad. I love it! I'm considering using it as my daughters mn if we have a girl since my dad never had a boy and can't carry on his name.
It's okay. I liked my FN when I was a kid because it was spelled differently, but after all these years of misspellings, I kind of wish it was just Amy. Lynn is a typical 80s filler MN.
I didn't always appreciate sharing my name with five other classmates, but I was always the only one without the H which I loved. I think my name ages very well, and I really like it. My parents didn't use the H because my all of my brothers' names have four letters, and she just wanted to stick with it.
I love my name. Katherine is classic, and Jean is after my mom's middle name. I also love my nn, but it was a little annoying to be one of many Katies at my school. I still love it though, and I'm grateful that my parents gave me a nice, classic name that's easy to spell and easy to pronounce.
I have always liked my first name, even when there were boys in my class named Shannon. I like that it's unisex, doesn't have any nicknames, easy to spell, never too popular, and most people seem to have a good association with it.
My middle name is a throw-away; my mom just thought it sounded pretty. She even misspelled it on my birth certificate.
The only nickname I've ever had was Shanny Mae - a combination of my first, middle and maiden names. But only my very oldest friends know of that.
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My name is Laura, which I love. It's classic, but you don't hear it too often. Plus, I was named after my super cool grandmother.
However, I don't like my mn, Michelle very much. My dad, Michael, insisted on it so I would be named after him. It screams 70s to me. But it's not like I use it often.
Are you serious?? This is my exact name. I am a Laura Michelle too.
** After 2 1/2 years of Unexplained IF, 2 failed medicated cycles, and 4 failed IUI's - our baby girl came to us through the miracle ofMini IVF! **
Stephanie Joyce.
My fn is okay, even though it is very popular in my age group. (There are two other Stephanie's at my work.)
My mn Joyce is after my grandmother who passed away before I was born.
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I'm pretty "meh" about it. I think being just "Katie" makes me sound perpetually 5 years old. I prefer Kate but it hasn't really caught on with my family. They prefer to call me by such horrible nn's as "Katie Cakes" and "Katie Girl" And I hate being one of several Katie's pretty much everywhere I go. There are 3 of us at work and I'm constantly getting emails, etc. for one of the other Katie's.
Colleen is my mother's name. I like that it isn't common but my mother and I do not get along and I don't like being named after her.
I didn't always appreciate sharing my name with five other classmates, but I was always the only one without the H which I loved. I think my name ages very well, and I really like it. My parents didn't use the H because my all of my brothers' names have four letters, and she just wanted to stick with it.
Funny enough, I've always thought the "Sara" version was more uncommon yet it *never* fails that people will default to spelling my name Sara instead of Sarah. For some reason, non-Sarah/Sara's I know have this impression that the "h" is less common?? Drives me crazy.
Laurie Jean, nn was LJ when I was small... my old southern grandpa called me Gertrude and Susabelle though because I look like my mom and her middle name is Sue. Parents named me Laurie because my mom was a fan of Little House on the Prarie books' author Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I like the Laurie spelling better than Lori, not so sure about my middle name, but it has meaning so I do like it. Jean is my grandma's middle name, and my godmother's first name.
If we have another LO I want to pass Jean down to her!
My name is Trista Dee. Parents picked my FN out of a baby name book. Last name is for my Dad. I LOVE my name and always have. It's unique without being weird. I've never met another Trista. Sometimes I get called Tristan (the M version), or people mis-hear me and say Trisha or Krista, but it's easy enough to correct.
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My given name at birth was Robin Leslie. It was a compromise (on both of my parents' lists) as Wendy and Vicky with the other choices--it was 1970.
I started spelling my name Robyn when I was in 2nd grade. I was being teased about my name (ie. Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg) and my maternal grandfather had always preferred the "feminine" spelling. By the time I was in high school, I had switched Leslie to Lesley to match.
I only legally changed the spelling of my name when I got married in 2008.
It's funny, now I wouldn't mind Robin spelled with an i. But as a child/teen I was so into the Robyn with a Y and preferring it. I don't think of this as an excessive Y thing (like Kymberly etc.) and I like my name. I usually don't meet many Robyns (or Robins). I think the name peaked in popularity around when I was born--late 60s/early 70s.
My name is Rheana Rae. First name is pronounced like Ree-Anna.
I have always loved my name. My only complaint is the wacky spelling my parents came up with as a compromise. My dad wanted it spelled Rhianna and my mom wanted Ree-Anna. Somehow they smooshed the two together to come up with the spelling, but the problem is that because of only using one N people usually read it as "Reena" instead of "Ree-Anna." My only wish is that they would have picked one spelling or the other and not smooshed it. The only nicknames I have ever been called are Rhe, Rhe-Rhe or (most commonly) Nanna. A good chunk of people in my life actually call me Nanna instead of my given name, but I don't mind.
I was born Danielle Eileen. However, three days after my birth, when moms stayed in the hospital for more than a day and a half, my parents changed it to Jody Eileen. The story behind the change has become family legend thanks to my hippie parents!
My name is Laura, which I love. It's classic, but you don't hear it too often. Plus, I was named after my super cool grandmother.
However, I don't like my mn, Michelle very much. My dad, Michael, insisted on it so I would be named after him. It screams 70s to me. But it's not like I use it often.
Are you serious?? This is my exact name. I am a Laura Michelle too.
I was too! When I got married I replaced Michelle with my maiden name, but I was Laura Michelle before.
When I was little I wished my name was Jill because no one ever misspelled or mispronounced Jill. By the time I was in Jr. High, though, I had realized how lucky I was not to have the same name as anyone else in my school. I have only met two other women named M?ire (traditional Irish spelling) in my life, both Irish.
My Dad came up with the name. He heard it somewhere and loved it. My sis and I both have traditional English middle names. My mom told me they wanted to make sure that if we didn't like our FNs we had good MNs to fall back on.
As an adult I LOVE my name. Love it. I want to make sure that our kids have names that are uncommon, but not unheard of.
My name is Laura Marie. I think it's so funny how many Lauras are on this board! I rarely run into them! I love my name, but didn't like it when I was younger. I thought it was boring, but now I appreciate how classic it is. Marie has no meaning which I don't like, but when I was younger I thought it was fun that two of my closest friends also had the middle name Marie. I think Marie is beautiful, but wish I had a family name like my brother.
I love it now. When I was younger, I preferred Sylvia to Anna. Anna felt boring. I went through a phase in which I insisted my parents call me Sylvia when I was about 8 or 9. I got over it. When I'm traveling in Latin America and it feels like every woman is named Ana or Maria, I simply introduce myself as "Anna Sylvia" and that solves the issue. Otherwise, all is good.
Melynda Ann. (Why the random "y"? I don't know! But I will not give any kids of mine wonky spelled names!). I like it ok. I wouldn't pick it for my own kid, but I really liked being the only Melynda/Melinda in all my classes. BTW, my husband's name is Wade, which I LOVE.
Missed Miscarriage 9 weeks/Missed Miscarriage 12 weeks/Natural Miscarriage 5.5 weeks BFP 11/6/09. Rory Anne Born 6/28/10!
My name is Laura Beth. (Again surprised to to see so many "Laura"s here.)
I didn't really like my name as a kid, I wanted a more common name to "fit it". But now I love it! My grandparents, my dad and my mom's older brother always call me "Laura Beth" like it's one name. So even though we aren't TTC, I tell my DH that the middle name is VERY important because you never know who will be calling you by both names.
(My dad calls my brother and sister by their first and middle names too)
Kimberly Irene. I was born Kimberly Ann, but I always hated Ann- it just reminded me of a cranky old woman. When I was 15, I was changing my last name to my mother's last name, so I changed my middle name too. Irene is a family name, and I liked that my initials spelled KIM lol.
I hated when people called me Kimberly when I was younger, so everyone called me Kimmi. Unfortunately, that stuck and now I cringe when people say it. I cannot for the life of me get people to stop, even though I usually introduce myself as Kim. I guess I can't complain too much, I only had another Kimberly in my class a couple times and no one ever pronounces it wrong.
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Lara (LAR-uh, first part rhymes with car) Rachelle. I love it and always have. Love all the associations and meanings.
If I'm in a hurry or just giving my name to a pizza order or something I just say Laura to make it easier. 90% of people who meet me for the first time call me Laura. Ironically I never correct anyone but everyone around me jumps on it; it's pretty funny.
But I really do love it. I'm hoping Carys strikes the same sort of vibe. I actually would love to give her my MN but I don't love the flow.
I'm confused. I (as well as everyone I know) pronounce Laura like LAR-uh (rhyming LAR with car). How do most people pronounce it?
Anyway, I'm Ashley Nicole... born in 1986. Shocker right? Funny enough, my parents knew of NO other Ashley's when I was born, and then it was the most popular girl name that year. I think they just thought Nicole flowed well with Ashley, which I guess it does since I've met multiple Ashley Nicole's in my life. It doesn't bother me at all that my name is common and I think it fits me well. I honestly didn't have 5 other Ashley's in my classes either. Maybe 1 or 2 at most but that was even rare.
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Kelly Ann. It was way popular in the late 70's when I was born. Everyone in my family always called me Kellyann like it was one name. For some reason people always seem to spell it wrong..Kellie or Kelley even Kelli.
As a kid I wanted to have a prettier name like my sister got. Nicole Christine.
My name is Deirdre nn Dee Dee. Deirdre is okay but people butcher it constantly. I'm used to my nn so I can't imagine having another name but it's a little goofy sounding in my opinion.
Dee Dee
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I could care less when I was real young what my name was. I knew a few more Emilys but it didn't bug me. Then I got to middle school and high school and really didn't like it all. I once had 4 other Emilys in my class and I couldn't even go by Emily LN initial. I had to go by Swimmer. I wanted something more original but now that I am an adult I like it again.
My children will likely have familiar names that are not so popular. My DH has a really uncommon name and he likes it but wants our kids to have more classic names because of all the issues he has.
Also known as esmid001
Met 12/31/05 * Engaged 12/31/08 * Married 12/31/09
Lauren Marie. I like it well enough. I don't like being called "Lor-en" though. My parents pronounce it "Lar-en" and that's what I prefer. I like Marie even though it's a (gasp!) filler name. My mom and I both have the same first and middle initials (her middle name is Marie also) and I always thought that was so neat when I was growing up. If I have a little girl I plan to name her Lydia Marie.
I love my name and I have always loved it. Despite being born in 1980, I was never surrounded by tons of other Elizabeths. My mom intended for me to go by Beth, but I have always gone by Liz, which is a nice strong nickname.
I rarely got made fun of for my name, but my friends would call me Lizard Lips, etc.
I'm confused. I (as well as everyone I know) pronounce Laura like LAR-uh (rhyming LAR with car). How do most people pronounce it?
Lor-uh like Lauren
In my area Lauren is pronounced LAR-en (again rhyming LAR with car). Although where I went to college people pronounced it Lor-en.
It's funny you say that because I'm also in VA and I am constantly called "Lor-en" instead of "Lar-en!"
Haha that is funny. We just moved from VA back to PA though. Everyone I have known in PA pronounces it Lar-en but when I went to college in AZ they pronounced it Lor-en.
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Re: What is YOUR name?
Jill Irene
I like my name. I went through a period that I wished I was named Jillian (back when it started to surge in popularity). I was born in the early 70s and didn't go to school with a single Jill.
What I think is crazy is that when I speak on the phone, people assume my name is Jo. I've talked to other Jills and this is a common phenomenon.
Lastly, I married a John Joseph whose grandfather with the same name went by Jack. I always say that had he taken his gf nn, I would have never given him a second chance. I would have never married a Jack!
EDD 1/31/11 m/c 6/21/11 miss you little circus peanut.
Sarah Ann, born in the early 80s.
Sarah is after my grandmother that passed away before I was born
Ann is my mom's middle name and several others' in the family.
I always liked that my name had history in the family, that it was classic rather than trendy... but I wasn't a huge fan of having 3 other Sarah's in my class.
Vanessa Dawn.
Growing up I didn't like it. I don't even know why? My maiden name is long and so was my first name so I HATED that! But now my married name is short so I love it! The only nn I hate is Nessie but I don't allow people to call me that. I'm not too fond of Nessa only my husbands brother calls me that and I like it when family does, but no one else is allowed! Most people call me V and I love that!
My mn is after my dad. I love it! I'm considering using it as my daughters mn if we have a girl since my dad never had a boy and can't carry on his name.
Aimee Lynn.
It's okay. I liked my FN when I was a kid because it was spelled differently, but after all these years of misspellings, I kind of wish it was just Amy. Lynn is a typical 80s filler MN.
Sara Renee.
I didn't always appreciate sharing my name with five other classmates, but I was always the only one without the H which I loved. I think my name ages very well, and I really like it. My parents didn't use the H because my all of my brothers' names have four letters, and she just wanted to stick with it.
Katherine Jean with the nn Katie.
I love my name. Katherine is classic, and Jean is after my mom's middle name. I also love my nn, but it was a little annoying to be one of many Katies at my school. I still love it though, and I'm grateful that my parents gave me a nice, classic name that's easy to spell and easy to pronounce.
Shannon Renee
I have always liked my first name, even when there were boys in my class named Shannon. I like that it's unisex, doesn't have any nicknames, easy to spell, never too popular, and most people seem to have a good association with it.
My middle name is a throw-away; my mom just thought it sounded pretty. She even misspelled it on my birth certificate.
The only nickname I've ever had was Shanny Mae - a combination of my first, middle and maiden names. But only my very oldest friends know of that.
Are you serious?? This is my exact name. I am a Laura Michelle too.
** After 2 1/2 years of Unexplained IF, 2 failed medicated cycles, and 4 failed IUI's - our baby girl came to us through the miracle of Mini IVF! **
Katie Colleen.
I'm pretty "meh" about it. I think being just "Katie" makes me sound perpetually 5 years old. I prefer Kate but it hasn't really caught on with my family. They prefer to call me by such horrible nn's as "Katie Cakes" and "Katie Girl"
And I hate being one of several Katie's pretty much everywhere I go. There are 3 of us at work and I'm constantly getting emails, etc. for one of the other Katie's.
Colleen is my mother's name. I like that it isn't common but my mother and I do not get along and I don't like being named after her.
Married 9-25-2004; Momma 12-14-2009
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Funny enough, I've always thought the "Sara" version was more uncommon yet it *never* fails that people will default to spelling my name Sara instead of Sarah. For some reason, non-Sarah/Sara's I know have this impression that the "h" is less common?? Drives me crazy.
Laurie Jean, nn was LJ when I was small... my old southern grandpa called me Gertrude and Susabelle though because I look like my mom and her middle name is Sue. Parents named me Laurie because my mom was a fan of Little House on the Prarie books' author Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I like the Laurie spelling better than Lori, not so sure about my middle name, but it has meaning so I do like it. Jean is my grandma's middle name, and my godmother's first name.
If we have another LO I want to pass Jean down to her!
My given name at birth was Robin Leslie. It was a compromise (on both of my parents' lists) as Wendy and Vicky with the other choices--it was 1970.
I started spelling my name Robyn when I was in 2nd grade. I was being teased about my name (ie. Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg) and my maternal grandfather had always preferred the "feminine" spelling. By the time I was in high school, I had switched Leslie to Lesley to match.
I only legally changed the spelling of my name when I got married in 2008.
It's funny, now I wouldn't mind Robin spelled with an i. But as a child/teen I was so into the Robyn with a Y and preferring it. I don't think of this as an excessive Y thing (like Kymberly etc.) and I like my name. I usually don't meet many Robyns (or Robins). I think the name peaked in popularity around when I was born--late 60s/early 70s.
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Elizabeth Ann. I love my name. I did ditch the Ann when I got married though, and made my maiden name my new middle name.
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My name is Rheana Rae. First name is pronounced like Ree-Anna.
I have always loved my name. My only complaint is the wacky spelling my parents came up with as a compromise. My dad wanted it spelled Rhianna and my mom wanted Ree-Anna. Somehow they smooshed the two together to come up with the spelling, but the problem is that because of only using one N people usually read it as "Reena" instead of "Ree-Anna." My only wish is that they would have picked one spelling or the other and not smooshed it. The only nicknames I have ever been called are Rhe, Rhe-Rhe or (most commonly) Nanna. A good chunk of people in my life actually call me Nanna instead of my given name, but I don't mind.
I was too! When I got married I replaced Michelle with my maiden name, but I was Laura Michelle before.
My name is Moira (pronounced More-ah).
When I was little I wished my name was Jill because no one ever misspelled or mispronounced Jill. By the time I was in Jr. High, though, I had realized how lucky I was not to have the same name as anyone else in my school. I have only met two other women named M?ire (traditional Irish spelling) in my life, both Irish.
My Dad came up with the name. He heard it somewhere and loved it. My sis and I both have traditional English middle names. My mom told me they wanted to make sure that if we didn't like our FNs we had good MNs to fall back on.
As an adult I LOVE my name. Love it. I want to make sure that our kids have names that are uncommon, but not unheard of.
Christie Rose.
I love my name. really love it. I love my middle name and think they go together well. I even love how my fn is spelled.
Anna Sylvia.
I love it now. When I was younger, I preferred Sylvia to Anna. Anna felt boring. I went through a phase in which I insisted my parents call me Sylvia when I was about 8 or 9. I got over it. When I'm traveling in Latin America and it feels like every woman is named Ana or Maria, I simply introduce myself as "Anna Sylvia" and that solves the issue. Otherwise, all is good.
BFP 11/6/09. Rory Anne Born 6/28/10!
Kathleen Elaine
I was't fond of it growing up, especially since my family calls me Kathy. The only other Kathys I'd met were women in their 30's. I go by Kat now.
My name is Laura Beth. (Again surprised to to see so many "Laura"s here.)
I didn't really like my name as a kid, I wanted a more common name to "fit it". But now I love it! My grandparents, my dad and my mom's older brother always call me "Laura Beth" like it's one name. So even though we aren't TTC, I tell my DH that the middle name is VERY important because you never know who will be calling you by both names.
(My dad calls my brother and sister by their first and middle names too)
Kimberly Irene. I was born Kimberly Ann, but I always hated Ann- it just reminded me of a cranky old woman. When I was 15, I was changing my last name to my mother's last name, so I changed my middle name too. Irene is a family name, and I liked that my initials spelled KIM lol.
I hated when people called me Kimberly when I was younger, so everyone called me Kimmi. Unfortunately, that stuck and now I cringe when people say it. I cannot for the life of me get people to stop, even though I usually introduce myself as Kim. I guess I can't complain too much, I only had another Kimberly in my class a couple times and no one ever pronounces it wrong.
I'm confused. I (as well as everyone I know) pronounce Laura like LAR-uh (rhyming LAR with car). How do most people pronounce it?
Anyway, I'm Ashley Nicole... born in 1986. Shocker right?
Funny enough, my parents knew of NO other Ashley's when I was born, and then it was the most popular girl name that year. I think they just thought Nicole flowed well with Ashley, which I guess it does since I've met multiple Ashley Nicole's in my life. It doesn't bother me at all that my name is common and I think it fits me well. I honestly didn't have 5 other Ashley's in my classes either. Maybe 1 or 2 at most but that was even rare.
Lor-uh like Lauren
Kelly Ann. It was way popular in the late 70's when I was born. Everyone in my family always called me Kellyann like it was one name. For some reason people always seem to spell it wrong..Kellie or Kelley even Kelli.
As a kid I wanted to have a prettier name like my sister got. Nicole Christine.
My name is Emily Erin and born in 1987.
I could care less when I was real young what my name was. I knew a few more Emilys but it didn't bug me. Then I got to middle school and high school and really didn't like it all. I once had 4 other Emilys in my class and I couldn't even go by Emily LN initial. I had to go by Swimmer. I wanted something more original but now that I am an adult I like it again.
My children will likely have familiar names that are not so popular. My DH has a really uncommon name and he likes it but wants our kids to have more classic names because of all the issues he has.
Met 12/31/05 * Engaged 12/31/08 * Married 12/31/09
In my area Lauren is pronounced LAR-en (again rhyming LAR with car). Although where I went to college people pronounced it Lor-en.
It's funny you say that because I'm also in VA and I am constantly called "Lor-en" instead of "Lar-en!"
Elizabeth Jean
I love my name and I have always loved it. Despite being born in 1980, I was never surrounded by tons of other Elizabeths. My mom intended for me to go by Beth, but I have always gone by Liz, which is a nice strong nickname.
I rarely got made fun of for my name, but my friends would call me Lizard Lips, etc.
Haha that is funny. We just moved from VA back to PA though. Everyone I have known in PA pronounces it Lar-en but when I went to college in AZ they pronounced it Lor-en.