S/O Plain names v. unique names

Jamaica_Bride

I grew up with the plainest first name ever and I have always wanted an intersting/ unique first name! I mum told me my fisrt name was this >< close to being Dominica but she thought it was a little much with my last name. Boo!

On the other hand I have a unique maiden name that people butchered and it never bothered me!

AnnapolisLari

The grass is always greener... I have one of those 'unique' first names and have always hated it. I constantly have to spell it and correct pronunciation.

My cousins Mary and Jane, on the other hand, have never had a problem and are glad of it.

r9stedt

Do you think our Lucas' will be happy with their names?

LOL.

You know my first name, my parents tried to a be a little creative.

You know my maiden name.  I ALWAYS had to spell it, pronounce it, yet I loved it.  It was part of my identity, and now, especially now, I wish I wouldn't have changed it when I got married.

You know my married last name.  I still have to spell it!

katie277s

I have a very common, plain first name (well nn actually) and was always one of 3 Katie's in my class.  I didn't like that, but at least everyone knew how to say it.  Now my maiden name, that's an entirely different story. 

butterbeansmama

My mom's name is plain, plain, plain. So plain that people always ask if it's short for something.

My name is somewhat unique, but I shortened it (not legally of course), but I rarely ever go by my full name. It is spelled differently than anyone else I have ever known with my same name and it's gets very frustrating at times. People ALWAYS spell it wrong.

KoriBrett

I have the same plain name as you but I have had so many different names that the story makes it interesting.  lol

wellfleet04

My name was unique growing up.  My parents got an "A+" on the Facebook name uniqueness quiz   I HATED it.  Hated not having it pronounced correctly EVER (didn't help that my maiden name was also a mouthful).  Hated never having personalized stuff (not an issue now with all the monogramming, but was then when you had to rely on the "in stock" names).  Hated having to correct people a million times and how awkward it got. 

My kids have super plain, classic names.  I don't doubt that they will be Kate and Ben LastInitial for much of their school careers.  I also don't doubt that not one person will every mispronounce their names, they will look good/professional on a resume, and they will stand the test of time/not look trendy or like I was trying too hard when I named them.

Rebekah1021

I wasn't too keen on my name growing up. Nobody knew how to spell it.

Now, I love it. My mom told me that she almost named me Cayenne. Glad, she didn't.

mommynow

wellfleet04:

My kids have super plain, classic names.  I don't doubt that they will be Kate and Ben LastInitial for much of their school careers.  I also don't doubt that not one person will every mispronounce their names, they will look good/professional on a resume, and they will stand the test of time/not look trendy or like I was trying too hard when I named them.

Exactly this!

femmegem

I have a pretty plain first name but a difficult last name (well, difficult if you don't know Italian pronunciation- it's actually pronounced exactly as it's spelled, but people get overwhelmed, I guess, by how long it is). I never minded either. My sister hated our LN, though, because she participated in track and gymnastics in HS and constantly had it butchered over a loudspeaker.

#6

Yeah, my name is Fawntane.  Not common at all.  I go by Fawn and get a lot of compliments on it. 

Never had anyone not able to pronounce it but I did usually have to spell it.  Not sure why people cant spell Fawn.  Its like Dawn with an F.  ??

I do like different, not so common names but nothing too off the wall.  Kaydance was about as different as I could go.  We spelled it that way because MIL mn is Kay.  Plus I didnt like the word spelling Cadence.

 

Marce921

My name isn't plain, per se, but I don't know that I consider it "unique" either. I've only known a few others with my name, but none of them spell it the same. While no one spells my name right, it doesn't really bother me that much. Everyone can pronounce it though, which is nice.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

I wanted to give my kids timeless names thus Thomas and Jane. my name is Courtney and although I like my name it is linked to the 80's/early 90's  I think. I much prefer classic names to trendy or unique ones.

mamarazzi

I have the most common name in the country.  It was #1 or #2 on the SSA list for like 15 years from my birth year on.  I actually quite like it because I can shorten it a couple different ways.

My boys have more unique names, but I feel that they're fairly "classic."  I didn't want them to be one of seven kids in their classes with the same name, but I didn't want the teachers to be like "how the eff do I say this?"  They're also family names/variations of family names and that's important to us.

~Kat~

I like classic, but not overly common names. I am Katharine, which isn't too common for other people my age (or if it is, they go by Katie). DS is Maxwell, everyone can spell it, but I don't personally know anyone else with that name.

AnnapolisLari

mommynow:

wellfleet04:

My kids have super plain, classic names.  I don't doubt that they will be Kate and Ben LastInitial for much of their school careers.  I also don't doubt that not one person will every mispronounce their names, they will look good/professional on a resume, and they will stand the test of time/not look trendy or like I was trying too hard when I named them.

Exactly this!

Same here, except you need to substitute Matt for Ben. LOL

I am not a huge fan of Matt for Matthew, but it's a nn I could live with. I usually hate nns.

eclaires

I like classic names, but I prefer ones that are somewhat unique, in the sense that not every child will have that name.  Like Emma is a beautiful, classic name, but it's overly popular right now IMO.  So I wouldn't use it.  That's the type of name I like.  I also really like old fashioned names, esp for girls.  Oh and surnames for first names.

As for me, I'm an Elizabeth, which is consistently in the top 10 of the SSA list, but I wouldn't classify it as trendy.  I like it; it's got a lot of nickname options.

I've had to pronounce and spell my maiden name my whole life.  It's always butchered, but it doesn't bother me.  It's funny how everyone feels differently about that.

Zenya

My name is common in Ireland where I grew up but here people screw it up all the time and it drives me insane.  My name is Deirdre.  (not dee-dra.  DEAR-dreh).

DandelionMom

I have an unusual name.  I've always liked my name but always had to explain it to people and spell it and most people mispronounce it. It has gotten more popular so I don't have to explain it as often but it was a bit of a PITA when I was a kid.  I was careful to give my kids more common names. 

capecodbaby

I have a pretty common name with an uncommon spelling - I hated it growing up all of Carrie's, Kerry's, etc had personalized stuff and I didn't.

We went with a very uncommon name for ds. It's unique to the US but not unique in places like Ireland, Wales, etc. We have yet to meet another child with ds's name but don't think that he will constantly be spelling his name as he grows up. We get lots of compliments on his name.

Chrisy-Wyobride

Ehhh...I don't think it matters all that much as long as it isn't too far out there.  I have a common, classic name, Christina--but I've been called a million versions of it (people actually rarely get it right) & I still get asked how to spell it all the time!  My maiden name was SO out there--no one could say it nor spell it & it is an ENGLISH name.  That is why my Mom gave us all common names (Mike, Mary, John, etc).  Winnie's name is extremely basic yet I still have to spell it all.the.time!

Kapalua

My name is plain I guess.  Classic.  I like it anyways.  My kids also got classic/plain names. 

happ17

As someone with a VERY unique first name, I have to say I hated it when I was younger. I always wanted a name like "Jessica" or something.

Now, however, I love my name. Even though people ALWAYS butcher it.

FWIW, it's not unique in my country, but because of the different alphabetical characters, it doesn't translate properly in English, so there's no way anyone would be able to get it right on the first try. Or second. Or third.

And when I was younger, I decided I was going to give my kids "normal" names. I changed my mind. Patrick is normal but he was named after my FIL. If I have a girl, we will name her Ayla or Alia. I love their meanings, and the meaning behind names is important to me.

My name, for instance, mean's "flame of passion" both in terms of romantic/love passion as well as passion for God. My name is actually in the Kuran. I was called "baby" for like 6 days while my entire extended family searched for the "perfect" name! 

stcroixbride

Ugh, my name was way too trendy when I was a kid.  I hated not being the only one, and sometimes being one of 7 ;P It sucked and I vowed to do my best to avoid that for my kid.

I don't know, I think the "people can always spell it" idea is bogus.  Even for the most simple names, there are alternative spellings.  My name is the most common spelling, yet people still spell it wrong all the time.

Our (OK, my) criteria were pretty strict - I won't use any names over #500 on the SSA list, but the name couldn't sound made up.  I also wanted it to have a great meaning.

I'm sure my kid will hate me at some point no matter what I do.  I think her name is beautiful and "fits" her.  She'll never find it on trinkety junk, but so what?

EXL311

Zenya:

My name is common in Ireland where I grew up but here people screw it up all the time and it drives me insane.  My name is Deirdre.  (not dee-dra.  DEAR-dreh).

Ditto except I'm not from Ireland and without the Irish accent I pronounce it more like Dear-druh.  I usually go by Dee Dee because that's actually the name my parents chose for me first.  People butcher it all the time but I love not having a common/popular name.  I've been called Die-dree, Dee-dree, Dee-dra, and even Desiree, just to name a few.  My maiden name is Chinese and starts with Hs (pronounced sh).  You can imagine how fun that was but I still really liked my name.

swanstdl

After 25 years as a teacher, I can tell you that unique spellings will be spelled uniquely by school staff, just maybe not your version of unique.  It's always helpful to know the sex of a child by looking at their name, some girls with masculine names will end up on the boys P.E. roster, every year.

Finally, kids aren't always kind.