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Kennedy Clover 7.14.08, Atalie Ryan 1.25.10
Do you have an unusual first name (that people mess up a lot)? How do you feel about it?
We are still trying to decide on girl names in case this baby is another girl, and we are having a hard time. Obviously we like somewhat uncommon names, as DD's name is Kennedy Clover, but one of the names we are thinking about now, while not a "weird" name, sounds like a more common name and would probably be mistaken for that other name quite a bit. If this happens to you, does it bother you? For example, if your name were Annabeth and people were always calling you Annabelle, or if you were named Miranda and people called you Amanda, etc. - how annoying would it be to you? (And I'd rather not say the name right now because I'm more interested in the "people messing up her name" aspect than opinions on the actual name.) DH thinks I'm silly to worry about it, that if we like the name, we should just go for it and not think twice, but I think it might be annoying to me to always have to explain or spell my name if people commonly got it wrong (although I have to do that every.single.time. now with my married name and it's not really a big deal...). Anyway, what do you think?
Kennedy Clover 7.14.08, Atalie Ryan 1.25.10
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Do you have an unusual first name (that people mess up a lot)? How do you feel about it?
When I taught, it would annoy my students. Many of them with really unusual names went by a nickname. Especially my students of Asian heritage. A lot of them had an "American" name. I'm not sure how far out there your name is though. Most of theirs were very difficult for me to pronounce.
FWIW, my name is Christina and it drives me up the wall when people call me Christine.
My name isn't really that unusual, but I spell it "wrong" (it's traditionally spelled with an "i"). For whatever reason, the a instead of an i really throws people off and they don't know how to pronounce it. I get a lot of "tay-bay-thuh." I always have to spell it out and even then, people just don't get it (Ta - what?).
Does it bother me? No. Is it annoying that people are just dumb and don't listen? Yes. But that's not my parents' fault so I can hardly curse them for giving me a gawd awful name. If I'm really in a pinch/hurry and it doesn't matter what name I use (i.e. - a to go order, etc.) I just use a fake name and move on.
FWIW: IMO as long as the name isn't so unique or the spelling is so obscure, it really isn't an issue.
My first name is McGee. People hear it wrong all the time. I've been called Mickey, Maggie, Nicki, NaGee, MaKee, etc. I'm constantly having to repeat my name and then spell it. I also frequently receive mail to Mr. McGee Lastname.
It's annoying.
Another downside: I married a man with a fairly unusual last name. If you google my married name, the only results are for me. I don't like that. You could still find me via google using my maiden name, but you got a lot more hits and I felt like I had a lot more privacy online.
The upside to an unusual first name is that once people do learn it, they usually don't forget it.
While we did like some more unusual names, we opted to give our children more traditional names both because of my experience and because of our less than common last name.
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
So you're saying Pilot Inspektor isn't a good choice? Dang!
Kennedy Clover 7.14.08, Atalie Ryan 1.25.10
I have to spell my last name for every single person ever. People want to spell it with an "o" or a "v" or some other random assortment of letters. Drives me bonkers.
My first name, however, is not too common (unless you know a lot of old people) and people get it wrong ALL the time. I've been called "Joy" more than I'd ever like to be (and I actually do not like being called "Joy" thanks very much. That's not my name!). People spell my name "Joice". Really? When has there ever been an "i" in Joyce? People think I'm saying "choice", "voice", "boys", "George", "juice". My name is quite annoying when I think about it.
It would make me very mad to have to say my name slowly (and it does, b/c I do have to say a one-syllable word VERY slowly and they still don't get it!) every single time so I'd be more apt to give my kid a name that's easier on everyone.
But it is your kid and maybe when she is older, the name will be more popular and she won't have to worry about spelling it or whatever.
Don't worry. You could still go with Apple.
Sorry to burst your bubble!
My name isn't that unusual, but I get Tracy, Stacy and Terry a lot. It doesn't bother me. Also, I always have to spell my first and last name. They both are commonly spelled two ways, but as an adult is has just become habit to say and then spell when giving my info.
I thinnk if you really love the name and it isn't too over the top it will be fine. No ones name is always accepted by everyone all the time.
I can't count the number of times I've introduced myself and the person replies, "Nice to meet you, Emily!" It doesn't (really) bother me. I try to pronounce the M and the C very clearly, but when people aren't expecting to hear that, they default to a more common name.
My name is Brandy. Should be easy but I usually have to make a sign like I'm drinking to convey both the name and the spelling.
I get Randi all the time. brandi, brandie whatever.
Heck I even found a book from when I was a kid that my own mom inscribed with Brandi. WTF . *sigh*
My name couldn't be more common (Sarah) but it is still frequently mispelled, and often on the phone people hear Tara or Sharon. I once got a trophy for Farah.
Both my maiden and married last names are fairly simple (I think) but no one can ever spell them right, and my married name is always mispronounced.
Point is, even if you name your child something really simple or obvious, there are a lot of people out there who aren't very smart and don't listen well and she might have trouble anyway.
And FWIT, I don't think Kennedy Clover is odd, it's pretty!
My name is Sylvia, and people always seem to think my name is Sophia, Cynthia, Cecilia, Celia, etc. I've always just corrected them and moved on. It's never bothered me enough to really be annoying.
:-)
I completely agree. My name is Barbara and I get Brenda, Miranda (??) and Barbra all the time (not to mention the people who try to call me Barb). My maiden name is a nightmare to spell (very German with a lot of extra letters) and I was so relieved when I got married, thinking that I wouldn't have to spell my last name anymore (its a first name, so how hard could it be?) but I still have to spell it pretty much every time I tell someone what it is.
Not to mention the fact that DD's first name is commonly a last name and since her last name is a common first name, there have already been people who have called her Lastname Firstname instead of the correct way. I say if it's the name you love, go for it. Everyone seems to have a point in their life where they hate their own name anyway.
I agree with PP I think it can happen with any name. My name is not that uncommon but I get Sharon all.the.time. Yeah, it annoys me because I do not like that name (sorry anyone named that) but not enough to make me wish I was named something different.
Now, if it is a common name spelled in a completly wacked out way, that is something completely different.
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People are constantly mispronouncing Ocho's first name, we just correct them (I know Nove will get it, too, and I don't think their names are that unusual/difficult). The pedi's office is almost trained now - most of the nurses say her first and last name correctly now. Lots of repetition, lol.
What gets under my skin are my own co-workers who talk about her and still pronounce it incorrectly and 1 CW who still pronounces my name incorrectly. And he's been here 1.5 years. Some people are just lazy. I grew up with an uncommonly spelled first name and very different last name, and corrected people my whole life - still do. Not a huge deal. The people who know me and matter get it right.
(My other small vent: to people who call and leave me messges. Listen. I say my name slowly and clearly just for you. If you then mispronounce it in your message, I will think you are an idiot.)
My name is Gabrielle and people always say Gabriel. It has never bothered me. People screw up the most common name.
In the 80's, Alexis was very uncommon name. I never met another Alexis, Alexa, Lexi or Alexandra until I hit high school.
People could never figure out my name, they would assume it was Alex and that drove me nuts. I hated being called Alex and I would get a bratty little attitude about it. But I'm over it. If someone tries to call me Alex, I just politely correct them.
I have a very common name and people can't seem to remember it at work. Granted, some patients have had narcotics and there's no extra points for remembering your nurses name when they call do to the patient satisfaction survery. But there isn't a Stephanie that works in our ER and people say she was an excellent nurse ALL the time. My name is Stacy and when our employee that does the call-backs asks "You mean the pregnant nurse?" they say "Yes!" I don't get it. I say it and write it on their little white board for them to stare at for 3 hours =P I actually get remembered as Stephanie more often than Tracy!!
Yep. I get Molly and Holly all.the.time. I also get weirdo variations on the spelling of my name. Does it annoy me? Kinda. But not enough to make me wish I had a different name.
Now when I was a kid I really didn't like my name because of all the obvious jokes you can make out of it. I was a pretty confident kid, but I still got embarrassed when people used it to make fun of me.
I think you just have to take a leap with your kiddo's name. People are dumb and will mess it up even if it's some thing as simple as "Jane". Example...my college roommate's last name was the same as a european country (a simple, sound-it-out country at that). She always told people, "it's *name* like the country." Then one day she got something in the mail addressed to "NAMElikethecountry".
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
I have the most unusual name possible-- Afton. But I love it. I joke that I answer to anything that starts with an A I get anything from Ashley, Ashton to Afghan and Alfon (seriously?). I even spell it a- f as in frank- t-o-n and still get Aston.
But here is the way I look at it. My first name defines me. It's funky and different and once people know me they don't forget me. I also had no problem changing my name when I got married... everyone knew me as Afton not by my last name.
I think funky names are fun. I've only met one other person with my name. of course it was a man. darn.
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Our Rainbow Baby is on the Way!
Anyway..I would go with whatever you like best and not worry about it.
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People don't really mess up Amy too much (I have had some Anne's and Amanda's but not often, so it never really bothered me). My biggest problem growing up was that because of my maiden name, almost EVERY teacher I had called me Becky - that was pretty annoying (love the name, it's just not MY name!).
Obviously my middle name gets misspelled all the time (it's supposed to have 2 i's, but most people spell it Lisa) but I can't really fault them for that - it's weird to have 2 i's in Lisa unless you understand the origin of it. I like having a uniquely spelled name. My married name gets mispronounced all the time because it's Czech, so I always say the name, then spell it, or say "it's spelled like "Jan", but pronounced like "yawn". Again, can't really fault people for that, since when I met DH I thought his last name was pronounced like Jan. So it doesn't bother me at all to have to spell/pronounce it correctly for people.
I'm with pp's who say just name your DC the name you like!
When 3 Became 4
Yes, as a kid I would often get upset that no one could get my name right--first, middle or last! No one ever spelled my first name correctly and I always, ALWAYS, always had to correct people on the pronunciation (with both first and last names) and/or people just called me by a completely different first name. Plus, someone always had a comment or two about my first name. But, by the time I was in high school I just loved my name and I stopped caring that I had to constantly correct people. I learned how to have fun with it, and I really enjoyed the fact that I never met another "Duckie" growing up. All in all, I'm really glad that my parents chose the name that they did for me. I love my name so much that I didn't change a thing, even after I got married.
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Yep, another unusual first name here. I get Mary, Mara, Laura, Marla, and Marge most often. And people who think they're being cute by assuming it's a nickname and calling me Margaret.
I almost always spell it too- "My name is Mar, M-A-R. Like Mark without the k." Which is fun because DH is Mark so they get even more confused if they've met him first.
I don't really mind it though. It's a family name and it's a connection to my Dad especially, so it means a lot to me.
ditto this...my name (colleen) is pronounced with a long O but that was my parents choice:)
This ... exactly! My name is Sara without an h. Not as common as Sarah, but always, always misspelled (I even got a Sarrah once). Also, people hear Tara and Cheryl constantly.
Then ... I grew up and got married and my last name, while a very normal word is not as normal for a name and people just give me blank stares all the time, even after I spell it!
So ... no matter what you name your child, people are most likely going to mess up her name at some point (and probably more often than you expect). I love my name, married and maiden and wouldn't change them for anything.
AND ... I looove Kennedy Clover! Names like Annabeth and Miranda are unique but not weird (make sense?) and I love that! So in other words ... go for it