I hate, hate, hate, hate my birth name

[798686]

I think a lot of ppl are self-conscious over their names when growing up. I used to think mine sounded particularly stupid whenever I had to introduce myself...but I'm now going with the 'so crap it's cool' mindset.

I also think your personality can overcome ur name in a lot of cases - ppl come to associate the name with who you are (granted, if you have a particularly odd name to begin with, it presents a big stumbling block and lots of potential hassle).

Elizabeth - uptight snob
Bertha - come on, everyone knows what Bertha evokes
Barbara - a very common name for a particular age group, and to me evokes, not so good emotion.
Britney - I pity the smart girl named Britney
Mercedes - this name has way too much class for most women to live up to
Webster - same as poindexter

Most names are pretty non-descript or generic enough to not evoke emotion. Jon and Chris means nothing.

You can always put a new spin on a crap name to make it funkier, lol. There's a trend in the UK at the moment to resurrect old names that have been considered naff for ages, and to make them cute, eg: Molly, Flo, Olive, Maggie, etc...

Barbara = Babs
Britney = Britters? Hmm, ok maybe not...

 

[ghb69]

I must know a lot more people than you do then! When I was thinking about changing my name, for every name that I liked, I already knew someone who had that name. It was frustrating.

Really, it was the unusual ones that were left.

Just glance at the list of 1000 most common female names. You'd be shocked at how many people suddenly pop into mind when you read the names.

Among the top 100, I don't know women with 10 of the names, and they aren't the ones I'd choose for myself:

27 Shirley
47 Frances
55 Doris
56 Gloria
60 Mildred
88 Bonnie
90 Ruby
91 Lois
93 Phyllis
94 Norma

Six of those are my Aunts

 

[Patchos]

OP needs to "harden the fuck up" as we say in Australia. You're 33 years old, you should own your name by now no matter what it is. Show some pride.

 

[petite]

Six of those are my Aunts

:lmao:

OP needs to "harden the fuck up" as we say in Australia. You're 33 years old, you should own your name by now no matter what it is. Show some pride.

Why? He didn't choose it. Why should he "own" anything that was bestowed on him by someone else?

 

[D_Tim McGnaw]

OP needs to "harden the fuck up" as we say in Australia. You're 33 years old, you should own your name by now no matter what it is. Show some pride.

I agree. I have a relatively unusual name, and was teased for it in school (among other things) but I'm deeply proud of my name and would be ashamed of myself if I thought of changing it just because others thought it strange or comical.


Why would anyone want to seek the approval of people who make fatuous presumptions about other people based purely on their name? If someone thought or even merely joked that I must be an idiot for being called my name I would hold them in utter contempt. That isn't the mentality of a well adjusted adult who is worthy of my respect.

 

[petite]

I agree. I have a relatively unusual name, and was teased for it in school (among other things) but I'm deeply proud of my name and would be ashamed of myself if I thought of changing it just because others thought it strange or comical.


Why would anyone want to seek the approval of people who make fatuous presumptions about other people based purely on their name? If someone thought or even merely joked that I must be an idiot for being called my name I would hold them in utter contempt. That isn't the mentality of a well adjusted adult who is worthy of my respect.

You're basing your argument upon the idea that he's changing it because of the opinion of other people.

He doesn't like the name. It's his own opinion of the name. I don't see why anyone should continue to live a name that they just don't like.

The argument here really seems to be, "Just learn to like the name, but whatever you do, don't change it."

 

[Endued]

I kinda dislike my name a little because it's so plain. Wanna swap?

 

[B_stu.kay823]

I'm actually the 4th generation on my dads side to have my middle name. It's unisex, Not UNcommon, but rather old fashioned. Don't know yet if it will be 5. a couple of people have looked sideways at me as I tell em.

My maternal g/father actually takes the cake for unusual given name. There's only one person who I can think of w that name and he's a literary character. The one girlfriend who met him could not believe that was his name.

 

[petite]

I'm actually the 4th generation on my dads side to have my middle name. It's unisex, Not UNcommon, but rather old fashioned. Don't know yet if it will be 5. a couple of people have looked sideways at me as I tell em.

My maternal g/father actually takes the cake for unusual given name. There's only one person who I can think of w that name and he's a literary character. The one girlfriend who met him could not believe that was his name.

Sherlock?

 

[D_Tim McGnaw]

You're basing your argument upon the idea that he's changing it because of the opinion of other people.

He doesn't like the name. It's his own opinion of the name. I don't see why anyone should continue to live a name that they just don't like.

The argument here really seems to be, "Just learn to like the name, but whatever you do, don't change it."

The OP went to great lengths to describe how the teasing and the opinions others held of his name played into his own feelings about it. I'm only responding to what he's posted Petite, and what he's posted suggests a reliance upon the opinion of people who's opinions are clearly worthless that is somewhat inexplicable.

 

[petite]

The OP went to great lengths to describe how the teasing and the opinions others held of his name played into his own feelings about it. I'm only responding to what he's posted Petite, and what he's posted suggests a reliance upon the opinion of people who's opinions are clearly worthless that is somewhat inexplicable.

Yeah, he explains his bad feelings with the history of the name and how he's not the only one who shares his opinion of the name, but the fact is that he himself still just doesn't like the name. You can't really expect him to just begin loving the name that he's called after he's disliked it all this time, can you? And if he's the one who doesn't like it, I see nothing wrong with changing it.

I would feel like he was giving in to peer pressure and the opinions of others if he said that he personally likes the name, but since so many other people have disliked it, he feels compelled to change it.

By your reasoning, you imply that you would be behind him if he said that everyone loves his name except for him and no one was supporting him about changing his name, but that's what he wants, but since other people agree with him that he has a bad name, he shouldn't change it.

 

[Empathizer]

I kind of agree with Patchos and Hilly here.

My full name -- all three names, spelled the same way, in the same order -- is so common that there are more than 20 of us on Facebook, alone. On a heartwarming note, I tried to start a group for all of us -- I thought a meetup of all of us at an Olive Garden would be hilarious, all ___ ___ ___'s, each one's debit card running through the system at once -- and the only two of us in South Africa, one black and one white, now are good friends.

On a less-heartwarming note, my credit was almost destroyed by some bitch in Wyoming with the same name, basic physical description (5'7", medium build, white skin, brown hair, brown eyes, size seven shoes, right-handed... Your generic white girl from Whiteland, USA). She got a platinum card using the name and her residence as primary, mine as secondary. Fortunately for me, the cops in her town knew her waaaaay too well already. They went to bat for me once I proved that I existed and was a different person. I have no idea what happened to her, but I am happy that my credit is back to normal.

The point is, you are what you make of your name, Don David Diego de la Vega. Changing your name to El Zorro and wearing a mask just makes you kinkier, not a different person, and not less-made-fun-of. People make fun because you react, not because of your name.

 

[D_Myer_Dogasflees]

don't want to sound bit too over the edge like Malcom 'X' but like the thought of parents giving our names, never the less our surnames, i'd say you only keep your surname if you think that you're parents/who ever gave it to you done you well, and change your name because it's yours and whatever is yours is for you to chose, no one else.

 

[petite]

The point is, you are what you make of your name, Don David Diego de la Vega. Changing your name to El Zorro and wearing a mask just makes you kinkier, not a different person, and not less-made-fun-of. People make fun because you react, not because of your name.

What if you don't want to change who you are, you just want to change your name?

 

[luka82]

My last name is hard to pronounce in Serbian, it`s actually quite unique. People break their tongues saying it, but when they learn how to say it right, they know it for ever
I would never change it.

 

[luka82]

What if you don't want to change who you are, you just want to change your name?

The name itself doesn`t define you, of course. But if you have accomplished something in your life, by your own standards, people will know your name. I can`t say the letters that create my name is who I am, but I am that name.

I hope you get it, I can`t explain it better.

 

[Empathizer]

What if you don't want to change who you are, you just want to change your name?

I'm just saying, sure, change your name all you like, but it's not going to make them stop teasing you. Even if your name is Sh*thead O'F*ckerc*nt, and you change it to Bob Smith, if people know you respond to needling, nobody's going to use "Bob Smith." They're gonna call you "the former Sh*thead O'F*ckerc*nt." And those who don't know the old name will find a different way to see the hackles rise. Changing the name won't address the issues, like how to stop reacting. It's equivalent to the Geographical Cure for alcoholism: The self-destructive behavior will follow you, no matter who you become, and no matter to where you run.

 

[petite]

The name itself doesn`t define you, of course. But if you have accomplished something in your life, by your own standards, people will know your name. I can`t say the letters that create my name is who I am, but I am that name.

I hope you get it, I can`t explain it better.

No, you've explained very well why you don't want to change your name, but that isn't a good argument for why someone else shouldn't change their name.

Most people think, "I like my name and I wouldn't change mine, so he should like his name and he shouldn't change his," and that's where the reasoning seems to stop.

What's right for you isn't going to be right for someone else.

 

[Industrialsize]

I legally changes my last name when I was 40 as a birthday gift to myself. It was a 13 letter, Polish tongue twister with only 2 vowels. I only kept the first three letters. I never told my mother while she was alive, I don't think she would have approved.

 

[petite]

I'm just saying, sure, change your name all you like, but it's not going to make them stop teasing you. Even if your name is Sh*thead O'F*ckerc*nt, and you change it to Bob Smith, if people know you respond to needling, nobody's going to use "Bob Smith." They're gonna call you "the former Sh*thead O'F*ckerc*nt." And those who don't know the old name will find a different way to see the hackles rise. Changing the name won't address the issues, like how to stop reacting. It's equivalent to the Geographical Cure for alcoholism: The self-destructive behavior will follow you, no matter who you become, and no matter to where you run.

Why should he keep his name because someone might make fun of him over something else if he does change his name? He still doesn't like his name.