Let's talk names!

[Jada59]

Do certain names conjure up certain images for you? I won't name any names here lest there be a poster with that same name.

For instance, a certain female name always conjures up the image of a sweet, graceful person with blonde hair and blue eyes. But I worked with a woman who had that name. She had dark hair and eyes. Was not super attractive, IMO and very clumsy.

Another example was a male in my past who attempted to do dastardly things to me and I was not a willing participant. I was lucky. Some other females were not so lucky. He spent a lot of time in the big house and is now in a nursing home due to problems caused by a psych. med. So no longer my worry. But... Every time I see his name in print or meet a guy with that name, I cringe.

Sometimes I feel like I want to call people by a nickname, or a shortened version of their name to avoid having to say their real name.

I also know people who go by their middle name as they hate their real name. My grandma did that. One of my friends does that. But another friend found out that they actually have the same first name. So she always calls her by that name instead of what she prefers to be called.

Your thoughts?

 

[EmpressJosephine]

Lance.

I've known a few guys named Lance. They were all pretentious jerks.

 

[Jada59]

Lance.

I've known a few guys named Lance. They were all pretentious jerks.

Hehehe.

When I first moved to WA, a kid walked up to me and kicked me in the shins with his steel toed boots. His name? Yep.

 

[oralaccents]

I have a soft spot for the name Laura and its variants.

 

[Jada59]

I have a soft spot for the name Laura and its variants.

That's a nice name!

 

[oralaccents]

That's a nice name!

The Lorna variant is usually the crazy one.

 

[5by5]

I've always liked the names 'Matt' 'Bobby' and 'Charlie' - depending on your spelling, but they work for women as well as men - I don't know the egghead term for that.

 

[oggbashan]

I had a cousin who was baptised as Hilary Susan.

She didn't like the name Hilary (which was also rarely used as a male name in the UK) so when she started school aged 5 she insisted she was Susan. Her mother continued to call her Hilary at home and when talking about her with the extended family.

As she grew older she insisted to the family that she was Susan but there were already several Susans in the wider family so a compromise was agreed that she would be Susie. But mother still called her Hilary.

Eventually the family referred to her as "Hilary Susan Susie" to avoid confusion with the other Susans but when talking to her, called her Susan.

Another part of the family had a Catherine but they adopted a couple of local children who had lost their parents in a fatal car crash. The boy was no problem. His name was unique in the wider family but the girl was another Catherine. She was known as "Little Catherine" because she was five feet two inches tall and her adoptive sister "Big Catherine" was six feet two. They were also known as "Little Kate" and "Big Kate".

Then a baby in the family was named Katharine. She was known as "Tiny Katharine" or "Tiny Kate" until she became adult. Later she was called "Doctor Kate" because she was a medical doctor. Little Kate and Big Kate were also Ph.D Doctors but still called Little and Big. There were also other Kates in an earlier generation but they were referred to as "Cousin", "Aunt" or "Great Aunt".

Family names can be confusing.

 

[oralaccents]

I had a cousin who was baptised as Hilary Susan.

She didn't like the name Hilary (which was also rarely used as a male name in the UK) so when she started school aged 5 she insisted she was Susan. Her mother continued to call her Hilary at home and when talking about her with the extended family.

As she grew older she insisted to the family that she was Susan but there were already several Susans in the wider family so a compromise was agreed that she would be Susie. But mother still called her Hilary.

Eventually the family referred to her as "Hilary Susan Susie" to avoid confusion with the other Susans but when talking to her, called her Susan.

Another part of the family had a Catherine but they adopted a couple of local children who had lost their parents in a fatal car crash. The boy was no problem. His name was unique in the wider family but the girl was another Catherine. She was known as "Little Catherine" because she was five feet two inches tall and her adoptive sister "Big Catherine" was six feet two. They were also known as "Little Kate" and "Big Kate".

Then a baby in the family was named Katharine. She was known as "Tiny Katharine" or "Tiny Kate" until she became adult. Later she was called "Doctor Kate" because she was a medical doctor. Little Kate and Big Kate were also Ph.D Doctors but still called Little and Big. There were also other Kates in an earlier generation but they were referred to as "Cousin", "Aunt" or "Great Aunt".

Family names can be confusing.

Rural peoples everywhere are bound together by their uncanny ability to give everyone the same names.

 

[SpeareChucker]

Rural peoples everywhere are bound together by their uncanny ability to give everyone the same names.

Not just rural people...

Think Goodfellas.

 

[oggbashan]

Rural peoples everywhere are bound together by their uncanny ability to give everyone the same names.

Not one of my late 18th Century ancestors. She was baptised as Lettice Pryke. Her father was John Pryke, said the same as his father and grandfather, John Prick. They were cattle farmers and used a prick to herd the cows.

Her mother was a Smith, daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of John Smith, the village blacksmiths.

Lettice had 12 children all of whom survived to marry and most had 12 children who survived. Someone else has estimated that there are currently about 2,500 living people descended from Lettice. Many of the males in those 2,500 have the name John but John Pryke or Prick hasn't been used in the village since about 1890.

 

[Pookie]

I had a cousin who was baptised as Hilary Susan.

She didn't like the name Hilary (which was also rarely used as a male name in the UK) so when she started school aged 5 she insisted she was Susan. Her mother continued to call her Hilary at home and when talking about her with the extended family.

As she grew older she insisted to the family that she was Susan but there were already several Susans in the wider family so a compromise was agreed that she would be Susie. But mother still called her Hilary.

Eventually the family referred to her as "Hilary Susan Susie" to avoid confusion with the other Susans but when talking to her, called her Susan.

Another part of the family had a Catherine but they adopted a couple of local children who had lost their parents in a fatal car crash. The boy was no problem. His name was unique in the wider family but the girl was another Catherine. She was known as "Little Catherine" because she was five feet two inches tall and her adoptive sister "Big Catherine" was six feet two. They were also known as "Little Kate" and "Big Kate".

Then a baby in the family was named Katharine. She was known as "Tiny Katharine" or "Tiny Kate" until she became adult. Later she was called "Doctor Kate" because she was a medical doctor. Little Kate and Big Kate were also Ph.D Doctors but still called Little and Big. There were also other Kates in an earlier generation but they were referred to as "Cousin", "Aunt" or "Great Aunt".

Family names can be confusing.

I know an older man named Hillary. Not certain how its spelled. He is from a rural area and family.

 

[nowisthetime]

Lol, some names give off a clue that the person ain't shit.

 

[InsightRiot]

I used to love the name Ross, but then Friends ruined it by making the Ross character an incompetent pushover.

 

[silver gurl]

Some people ruin names. Then there are names that I just don't like....most are men.

 

[ronmcc2448]

No matter how old you are certain family members and friends call you by childhood name. When I first started dating my ex wife and answered. I had to explain I have always been and always be to certain family members.

 

[Jada59]

I used to love the name Ross, but then Friends ruined it by making the Ross character an incompetent pushover.

Hehehe.

 

[CandiCame]

I fucking love Bitesize's name. And my name. Not a fan of my gf's name. My bf has a really common name and I'm just not a huge fan of common names. My brother goes by a really common name, but it's for "getting people to treat you right" purposes.

Basically if a name is really common I have an instant dislike of it and will come up with a nickname even if it's not super creative because I don't need to get you confused.

Also, I dislike when people have a name that SHOULD be a nickname and they don't use the nickname. Like... if your name is "Charles" it's... it's fucking not. If you come up to me and introduce yourself as Charles I'll call you "Charlie" or "Chuck" or "Chucky" or something like that automatically. I won't if you correct me, like if you're like, "Actually I prefer Charles" but it just sounds so pretentious.

I think I'm like that because I have a pretentious name and I know how goddamn pretentious it sounds.

My gf has a name that can be abbreviated a bunch of ways, and she doesn't like the most common one, so I use the other one. Also, my sister-in-law (my brother's gf, not my gf's sister) is also like that. I don't know why either of them hate the abbreviations because they're both perfectly acceptable, perfectly good names that a human person would have. Like there's no negativity attached to them, and neither of them have any trauma related to them.

Also, I think part of the reason I dislike 'formal' names is now that I'm a dad I am incapable of saying someone's whole-ass name without sounding like I'm about to take away their video game privileges.

I'll use my name as an example and out myself because I don't know how else to explain this. My name is "Vince" or, with my family and other redneckery, "Vinny Gene". There is a HUGE difference between hearing a caregiver holler, "VINNY GENE, COME DOWN HERE" and "VINCENT!" You hear that whole-ass name and you know you've done fucked up. You might not know HOW you fucked up, but you know you fucked up.

Also I like names that are two names. "Vinny Gene" "Bobbi Jo" "Bobby Lee" "Billy Ray" "Hattie May" "Mary Sue" - like names that you HAVE to have a redneck accent to produce correctly.

Also, if you have a pretentious name you can judge how close you are to other people by what they call you. You go from "Vinny" to "Vince" to "Vin" to "V". So that's cool.

Also if your mom or whoever is hollering at you you know how much time you have because it goes up the other way as she gets progressively more pissed off at the lack of response.

Some names have real-world uses and that's cool.

 

[CandiCame]

Some people ruin names. Then there are names that I just don't like....most are men.

Right? This is a callout to Dave, specifically. You fucking ruined Daves, Dave.

 

[CandiCame]

Not one of my late 18th Century ancestors. She was baptised as Lettice Pryke. Her father was John Pryke, said the same as his father and grandfather, John Prick. They were cattle farmers and used a prick to herd the cows.

Her mother was a Smith, daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of John Smith, the village blacksmiths.

Lettice had 12 children all of whom survived to marry and most had 12 children who survived. Someone else has estimated that there are currently about 2,500 living people descended from Lettice. Many of the males in those 2,500 have the name John but John Pryke or Prick hasn't been used in the village since about 1890.

This is another one I don't like. People that name their kids after foods. Do not like. There's a kid in BS's class named Kale. Like the fucking vegetable. Why? That's... that's not a name. I feel so bad for him. I wouldn't name a dog 'Kale'. His mom dead-ass wrote that on his birth certificate like it was an acceptable thing to do.

Also though, I like names where a parent saw an opportunity and took it. I went to college with a guy named "Justin Thyme" and that's fucking amazing.

 

[pantalaimonlyra]

I don't care for Gwyneth, but I do like Gwendolyn. I hate the shortened version of either.

Every Cathy I've ever met has been a straight up disaster.

 

[Gamine67]

“Never met a Toby I didn’t like” Tire Swing by Kimya Dawson

Truer lyric has never been written.

 

[CandiCame]

I don't care for Gwyneth, but I do like Gwendolyn. I hate the shortened version of either.

Every Cathy I've ever met has been a straight up disaster.

Oooh, I like both Gwens. Those are really pretty names.

 

[Jada59]

I fucking love Bitesize's name. And my name. Not a fan of my gf's name. My bf has a really common name and I'm just not a huge fan of common names. My brother goes by a really common name, but it's for "getting people to treat you right" purposes.

Basically if a name is really common I have an instant dislike of it and will come up with a nickname even if it's not super creative because I don't need to get you confused.

Also, I dislike when people have a name that SHOULD be a nickname and they don't use the nickname. Like... if your name is "Charles" it's... it's fucking not. If you come up to me and introduce yourself as Charles I'll call you "Charlie" or "Chuck" or "Chucky" or something like that automatically. I won't if you correct me, like if you're like, "Actually I prefer Charles" but it just sounds so pretentious.

I think I'm like that because I have a pretentious name and I know how goddamn pretentious it sounds.

My gf has a name that can be abbreviated a bunch of ways, and she doesn't like the most common one, so I use the other one. Also, my sister-in-law (my brother's gf, not my gf's sister) is also like that. I don't know why either of them hate the abbreviations because they're both perfectly acceptable, perfectly good names that a human person would have. Like there's no negativity attached to them, and neither of them have any trauma related to them.

Also, I think part of the reason I dislike 'formal' names is now that I'm a dad I am incapable of saying someone's whole-ass name without sounding like I'm about to take away their video game privileges.

I'll use my name as an example and out myself because I don't know how else to explain this. My name is "Vince" or, with my family and other redneckery, "Vinny Gene". There is a HUGE difference between hearing a caregiver holler, "VINNY GENE, COME DOWN HERE" and "VINCENT!" You hear that whole-ass name and you know you've done fucked up. You might not know HOW you fucked up, but you know you fucked up.

Also I like names that are two names. "Vinny Gene" "Bobbi Jo" "Bobby Lee" "Billy Ray" "Hattie May" "Mary Sue" - like names that you HAVE to have a redneck accent to produce correctly.

Also, if you have a pretentious name you can judge how close you are to other people by what they call you. You go from "Vinny" to "Vince" to "Vin" to "V". So that's cool.

Also if your mom or whoever is hollering at you you know how much time you have because it goes up the other way as she gets progressively more pissed off at the lack of response.

Some names have real-world uses and that's cool.

If I had a son, my FIL wanted me to name him Vinnie. I had a girl though. So... That's not her name.

 

[Que]

I generally like Rebbeccas/Beckys/Beccas. I'm neutral on Ashley but I must know about two dozen of them.

There was this girl that I was seeing on a pretty casual basis for the better part of a year. We were sitting in bed post-coitus one time and I was telling a story from my childhood. I said, "So my Mom said, "×××××, you should do such and such...."

The girl says, "Who is ×××××??"

"I am ×××××!"

"I thought you were Que?"

""That's my last name."

Most people that have known me for the about the past 10 years or so only know me by my last name. Lately, because of some administrative intransigence I find myself having (only certain) clients refer to me as ×××××. Which feels odd since knot my Mom and sibs refer to me as such.

I have to think before I answer the phone and it gets confusing for both me and them at times.