New Name

[mic0]

Link.

I think this is so interesting! For one, around age 17 I stopped liking my nickname that everyone called me. Somehow it followed me into college, but I never use it anymore on my own and try not to let people use nicknames on me. Also, my dad recently started going by his middle name because, in his own words, he was too stressed out and wanted a somewhat different identity.

How do you all feel about your names? It's amazing how much it can affect one's attitude, I think.

[UffishThought]

I sometimes don't really connect my name with myself, but I don't really dislike it, either. And there's no name that I think would fit me better, either, so I'm happy sticking with the one I was given.

[Concealocanth]

Aah! Forgive me... I assume you liked your nickname better because I'd always heard other people call you that. But I shall reform at once!

Interesting about your dad and the question-asker. I've never really thought about going by something else to represent change in my life or turning a new leaf or something like that. Even if I wanted to change, I'd have a tough time with it; I've always had the mixed blessing of an unnicknameable name.

[krebscout]

I wouldn't change mine. It's perfect for me. Or rather, I'm perfect for it, since I've grown into it. You know those surveys where they ask people, "What do you think people with this name will be like?" I don't fit their description at all, but somehow I still fit my name perfectly. Or so I feel.

[TheAnswerIs42]

I sometimes don't really connect my name with myself, but I don't really dislike it, either. And there's no name that I think would fit me better, either, so I'm happy sticking with the one I was given.

This is exactly how I feel. I do sorta miss my high school nickname - I added a shortened form of my last name to my first name. But my husband didn't like the add on at all, so he never called me that - just [first name]. And when I got married, I realized it would have been too tiresome to explain where the nickname came from since I was no longer a [maiden name] and my husband didn't call me that, so I gave it up.

[Craig Jessop]

I like the common nickname derivative from my name, but I hate hate hate when people call me by my whole given name (except in jest, in which case I find it endearing). Anyway, I could never go by my middle name.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Oh c'mon. Why not?

[yayfulness]

My middle name is a last name. Not gonna happen.

[Unit of Energy]

I've thought about going by my middle name before. But I just don't think I can imagine a future boyfriend/husband calling me Ann. So even though my first name isn't the elegant name I sometimes wished I had, I think I'll stick with it.

[C is for]

If I ever write novels, I'm using a version of my middle name with my maiden name. (Which is currently my last name. But just in case that ever changes...) But I don't think I'd go by that name in everyday life.

[bobtheenchantedone]

I, like a couple of others, have never felt too attached to my first name. It feels strange to answer to it. Responding to "bob" at those first few reader parties was actually really easy. I've always been a lot more enamored of my middle name, so when I went to Florida I "accidentally" put that as the name on my name tag. I really enjoyed going by that name, and I still would prefer to be called by my middle name, but I don't have the energy to try to get everyone to change it. Also Marduk objects because it's the same name as one of his sisters. (Interestingly enough, my first name is also really close to the same name as another one of his sisters.)

This is only somewhat relevant to the conversation at hand, but I have to say that I really, really love nicknames, especially ones that few or no people use for that person besides myself. It makes me feel closer to them to call them by one or several nicknames, and it's a way I show affection. I have so many nicknames for my sisters that I couldn't even remember them all off the top of my head. I've always wanted people to call me by a nickname, but isn't that how it goes - we usually show affection in the way we want to receive it.

[Portia]

If I ever write novels, I'm using a version of my middle name with my maiden name. (Which is currently my last name. But just in case that ever changes...) But I don't think I'd go by that name in everyday life.

I'm definitely using my mother's maiden name if I write novels. It was what was originally on my birth certificate, anyway. I have no middle name and my first name is nicknamey, so it's hard to imagine going by something else. I also am undecided about whether to legally change my name if I get married - I'm seriousish with a guy whose name isn't too difficult but homophonous with a negative word.

[Marduk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Eel02K-WPo

This is about how I feel about my name. Skip to about 2:40.

[Imogen]

It took me a long time to love my first name, but I love it a lot now. I also really like my last name, but it's foreign, hard to spell, and hard to pronounce. I'm also getting tired of writing it on forms. As long as a marry a man with a last name shorter and easier than mine, I'll change it. (What do you say, Craig? We can travel on trains, and I can have your awesomely short and easy to spell last name!)

[Digit]

One of my friends said he knew a kid in high school whose last name was Pino. His parents named him Phillip. He was Filipino.

[Sparklebreeze]

I go by my middle name, which I like quite a bit. I also like my first name, perhaps even more than my middle name. This confuses a lot of people, including me, but that's just how it has always been.

And I absolutely love nicknames.

[Zedability]

I knew a guy named Peter Peters. No joke.

[Craig Jessop]

I knew a guy named Peter Peters. No joke.

Probably Canadian.

[Zedability]

He was Mexican, actually, but his parents moved to Canada when he was little

[Imogen]

I knew a guy named Peter Peters. No joke.

I knew a Vince Vincent in college.