I always thought my name was boring and common. There were 4 Marks in my third grade class! Then I met a guy in college whose name was Dash - and being obsessed with comics having a name like Dash - something I used all the time in comics - omg I was jealous. But then I realized my name is Mark. Artists leave their “mark” - drawing is just mark making. It was right there in front of me all along. I dunno - pretty silly thing to obsess over but I guess I’ve made peace with it. Br👀ke is a pretty cool name too. Nice to hear you’ve found new appreciation for it.
Oh the name. Larissa has way too many syllables and I've always struggled with it. Kids call me Ri-Ri, which I love. (Also, where is Carlo now because that kid has a GREAT voice!)
I always loved my name growing up, my mom told me how she chose it all the time and it sounded beautiful. I proudly wrote it on every project I completed, in every children's book that prompted me to do so etc. But then the beautiful name didn't feel like me anymore. I realized that I'm non-binary and I wanted a name that doesn't sound gendered. It took me a long time to decide, in the end I took 3 letters from my first and middle name and combined them to spell "Ris". It fits me just as well or even better than the name my mom once chose for me 😊
I went from Eleanor to Ellie aged five, but for a decade now I’ve lived in France where Eli is a boy’s name, Ellie is weird to them but Eleonore is well known 😂
My family and childhood friends call me Peggy, which I’ve always felt was a name suited to a small, cute, cheerful person (ie not me), and so in my 30’s I reverted to the full name - Margaret. Neither name feels right, but it’s difficult to change a name. I love your name because makes me think of sparkling water, rushing over smooth stones.
Brooke, I like your name because it's cheerful and gentle, and the e at the end makes it extra pretty. didn't like my name when I was younger, and I still don't love it, but I've long since made my peace with it. Non-native English speakers have trouble with the first vowel, and that makes me wish it were less purely Anglophone. I'm also not sure it suits me. A friend who has a very '70s name that doesn't fit her personality at all came up with a "true" name for herself: she decided she was really an Althea. Me, I think I'm a Dorothy.
I like my name specifically because it’s part of a set with my little sister: “Rachel and Rebekah”. We’re 5 years apart but this has always made me feel like we’re Mary Kate and Ashley.
I am a Chris, which is short for Christine, in my case. I was Chrissy when I was little, but that wore off bigtime when I hit the ripe old age of 10 and was instantaneously too old to be a Chrissy. I tried Christine, but it never fit me. (Still doesn't at 60.) So I'm a Chris and I get presumed to be a man when people respond to my emails, because Chris is now leaning further toward a masculine name. I wish that came with some male privilege, but it doesn't. I often wish I had a more feminine sounding name, but I have a feeling that I would think it didn't really fit me either. I think I'm just a Chris and that's all there is to it.
I love this. I had never seen that Sesame Street clip in spite of being a long(er than usual)-time fan. I was never that thrilled with my name because of how common it was in my, er, Jenn-eration. But as you can see, I've found some fun things to do with it.
The name I struggle with is my last name. I've been divorced for far longer than I was married (my brother enjoys telling people I had a Brittney Spears marriage), but my married name is far simpler than my maiden name. But, having said that... my maiden name started with an L. And I really miss doing a loopy cursive L. I think often about changing it back, but have never taken the plunge.
I guess my name is alright - Gina. It never felt like it belonged to me. I think big G's are unattractive so my capital g is just a larger small g. Most people spell it wrong, Jena, Jeanna, Jina, Gena, Geena, Jeena. One of my Daddy's friends called me Regina which I like better. Oh, the 'ina' part of my name -- made fun of in health class. Then there's the people who called me Geenie Weenie and Geenie Beanie which was finally shorted to Bean. I kinda liked that one. Anyway, this was fun. Thank you so much Brooke with two o's.
It took me a long time to like my name.. both my first & middle name are plants and growing up I was SO jealous of girls with names that had meanings like "princess" or "beautiful" or "beloved" or whatever because mine were just common plants. Now I really like my name, but I do still feel a little weird hearing it called for my attention.
What a nice topic this whole name thing. Well, I remember (as a kid of the 80ies) pretty well that I had to spell my name early on. My name is C-a-t-h-é-r-i-n-e. Nevertheless it was misspelled and mispronounced most of the time. At some point I got used to it. I do have lots of documents from competitions from my childhood where my name is misspelled. And it‘s not just my first name, it‘s the same with my last name before I got married. But now, I‘m in peace with my first and last name, because they are kind of unusual and at least I got the chance to change my last one.
As a kid in the 80s and 90s, I never, ever knew another Margaret who wasn't over 50 years old. And my parents never used a nickname when I was little. It wasn't until college that my older sister started calling me Maggie. Now, depending on when and how I met someone, I might go by Maggie but never Margaret, or vice-versa. It is confusing for people from different time of my life to meet each other and hear someone else call me by an unfamiliar name. My mom almost named me just "Meg" (not Megan, just Meg) - close enough that a beloved aunt sewed me a whole entire handmade baby book wherein my name is Meg - but they went for the full Margaret instead. The older I get, the more I have learned to like my name. But I often wonder if Meg would've been a lot easier.
I have never liked my name, I truly cringe sometimes when I have to tell it to people. It’s so 1950ish and it’s so…earnest, which I am not. It’s plain, and prairie, and any other foreign translation of it would be better! Yes, it is white bread. I won’t tell you what it is bc I don’t want to spread bad vibes to people that may share it. I will tell you that I always wanted to be Anne! Always and of course spelled with an e at the end!
I always thought my name was boring and common. There were 4 Marks in my third grade class! Then I met a guy in college whose name was Dash - and being obsessed with comics having a name like Dash - something I used all the time in comics - omg I was jealous. But then I realized my name is Mark. Artists leave their “mark” - drawing is just mark making. It was right there in front of me all along. I dunno - pretty silly thing to obsess over but I guess I’ve made peace with it. Br👀ke is a pretty cool name too. Nice to hear you’ve found new appreciation for it.
Oh the name. Larissa has way too many syllables and I've always struggled with it. Kids call me Ri-Ri, which I love. (Also, where is Carlo now because that kid has a GREAT voice!)
I have a long telenovela name, so I have lots of options to pick and choose who I want to be when I go to a new place.
I always loved my name growing up, my mom told me how she chose it all the time and it sounded beautiful. I proudly wrote it on every project I completed, in every children's book that prompted me to do so etc. But then the beautiful name didn't feel like me anymore. I realized that I'm non-binary and I wanted a name that doesn't sound gendered. It took me a long time to decide, in the end I took 3 letters from my first and middle name and combined them to spell "Ris". It fits me just as well or even better than the name my mom once chose for me 😊
I went from Eleanor to Ellie aged five, but for a decade now I’ve lived in France where Eli is a boy’s name, Ellie is weird to them but Eleonore is well known 😂
My family and childhood friends call me Peggy, which I’ve always felt was a name suited to a small, cute, cheerful person (ie not me), and so in my 30’s I reverted to the full name - Margaret. Neither name feels right, but it’s difficult to change a name. I love your name because makes me think of sparkling water, rushing over smooth stones.
Brooke, I like your name because it's cheerful and gentle, and the e at the end makes it extra pretty. didn't like my name when I was younger, and I still don't love it, but I've long since made my peace with it. Non-native English speakers have trouble with the first vowel, and that makes me wish it were less purely Anglophone. I'm also not sure it suits me. A friend who has a very '70s name that doesn't fit her personality at all came up with a "true" name for herself: she decided she was really an Althea. Me, I think I'm a Dorothy.
I like my name specifically because it’s part of a set with my little sister: “Rachel and Rebekah”. We’re 5 years apart but this has always made me feel like we’re Mary Kate and Ashley.
I am a Chris, which is short for Christine, in my case. I was Chrissy when I was little, but that wore off bigtime when I hit the ripe old age of 10 and was instantaneously too old to be a Chrissy. I tried Christine, but it never fit me. (Still doesn't at 60.) So I'm a Chris and I get presumed to be a man when people respond to my emails, because Chris is now leaning further toward a masculine name. I wish that came with some male privilege, but it doesn't. I often wish I had a more feminine sounding name, but I have a feeling that I would think it didn't really fit me either. I think I'm just a Chris and that's all there is to it.
I love this. I had never seen that Sesame Street clip in spite of being a long(er than usual)-time fan. I was never that thrilled with my name because of how common it was in my, er, Jenn-eration. But as you can see, I've found some fun things to do with it.
The name I struggle with is my last name. I've been divorced for far longer than I was married (my brother enjoys telling people I had a Brittney Spears marriage), but my married name is far simpler than my maiden name. But, having said that... my maiden name started with an L. And I really miss doing a loopy cursive L. I think often about changing it back, but have never taken the plunge.
I guess my name is alright - Gina. It never felt like it belonged to me. I think big G's are unattractive so my capital g is just a larger small g. Most people spell it wrong, Jena, Jeanna, Jina, Gena, Geena, Jeena. One of my Daddy's friends called me Regina which I like better. Oh, the 'ina' part of my name -- made fun of in health class. Then there's the people who called me Geenie Weenie and Geenie Beanie which was finally shorted to Bean. I kinda liked that one. Anyway, this was fun. Thank you so much Brooke with two o's.
It took me a long time to like my name.. both my first & middle name are plants and growing up I was SO jealous of girls with names that had meanings like "princess" or "beautiful" or "beloved" or whatever because mine were just common plants. Now I really like my name, but I do still feel a little weird hearing it called for my attention.
What a nice topic this whole name thing. Well, I remember (as a kid of the 80ies) pretty well that I had to spell my name early on. My name is C-a-t-h-é-r-i-n-e. Nevertheless it was misspelled and mispronounced most of the time. At some point I got used to it. I do have lots of documents from competitions from my childhood where my name is misspelled. And it‘s not just my first name, it‘s the same with my last name before I got married. But now, I‘m in peace with my first and last name, because they are kind of unusual and at least I got the chance to change my last one.
As a kid in the 80s and 90s, I never, ever knew another Margaret who wasn't over 50 years old. And my parents never used a nickname when I was little. It wasn't until college that my older sister started calling me Maggie. Now, depending on when and how I met someone, I might go by Maggie but never Margaret, or vice-versa. It is confusing for people from different time of my life to meet each other and hear someone else call me by an unfamiliar name. My mom almost named me just "Meg" (not Megan, just Meg) - close enough that a beloved aunt sewed me a whole entire handmade baby book wherein my name is Meg - but they went for the full Margaret instead. The older I get, the more I have learned to like my name. But I often wonder if Meg would've been a lot easier.
I have never liked my name, I truly cringe sometimes when I have to tell it to people. It’s so 1950ish and it’s so…earnest, which I am not. It’s plain, and prairie, and any other foreign translation of it would be better! Yes, it is white bread. I won’t tell you what it is bc I don’t want to spread bad vibes to people that may share it. I will tell you that I always wanted to be Anne! Always and of course spelled with an e at the end!