Do you dislike your first name, or do you regret the name you chose for your child?

[Anonymous]

My first name is eh. It wasn’t super popular at the time but it’s not perfect either. I tend to dislike the type of people who get all bent out of shape about names sounding ‘low class’ or ‘classic/high class’ and I love that a lot of names that people used to look down upon are now becoming cooler seeming as the people with those names are accomplishing things. Like Madison - Madison Keys- and traditionally ‘African American’ sounding names, etc. Pretty sure Ketanji brown Jackson is doing just fine

[Anonymous]

I dislike my name. It was the number one most popular girls name for a portion of the 80s. It was important to me my child not have a name in the top 20 most popular. I hated having the same name as so many other people and even now at work I get misdirected emails for others with the same first name pretty often.

[Anonymous]

Not only do I not dislike my first name, I sometimes wish I had named my last child after me!

[Anonymous]

I'm a Melissa of the '70's. I don't mind it, but there was always another Melissa in my class and there were 5 in my sorority.

I planned to not do the same to my kids, but was living overseas when I had my first child and ended up picking a name that's been in the top 10 for years now, so, whoops.

For the second kid we went classic and the popularity has not been an issue but people always ask why they have their name.

[Anonymous]

I hated my name growing up. It's a gender neutral name that, at the time, leaned more masculine. I still to this day remember having to read a letter we each received in 4th grade from the Governor (in response to a persuasive letter we had to write him). Mine started "Dear Sir". I have anxiety and ADHD and no, didn't think to change that on the fly.

When I found out our first was a girl I knew I wanted a name that could never be confused gender wise. I've obviously come to love my name, but that was hard as a child for a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t love my first name because everyone knows I’m a Gen xer. Wish I had a more classic name, but it’s not like I’m changing it or anything.

A common Gen-X’s name would be like Valerie, Deborah or even Jackie.

The most common Gen-X name is Jennifer.

Or how about Meredith or Heather??

I loved Meredith and Heather (born in 1977 so those were the names of everyone’s cool older sisters) but DH wouldn’t have it. There was a brief week during my pregnancy when I lobbied hard for Mallory. No luck. I ended up with a Samantha, which was as far as I could push him with 80s and 90s names.

[Anonymous]

My name is very unique, and while not hard to pronounce it's not spelled phonetically. I love it. I'm so glad my parents chose it for me.

I gave my child a name that is well known, but not commonly used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hated my name growing up. It's a gender neutral name that, at the time, leaned more masculine. I still to this day remember having to read a letter we each received in 4th grade from the Governor (in response to a persuasive letter we had to write him). Mine started "Dear Sir". I have anxiety and ADHD and no, didn't think to change that on the fly.

When I found out our first was a girl I knew I wanted a name that could never be confused gender wise. I've obviously come to love my name, but that was hard as a child for a bit.

DH has a name like this and he wasn't traumatized by any particular incident but I think he just generally found it annoying to have a name that some people think is a "girl's name." I liked some gender neutral names when we were naming our DD but it was one of his requirements that it be an identifiably gendered name.

Now I'm glad because I love DD's name and I think those gender neutral names were a bit trendy and I was just buying into the trend. And it turns out there's a less feminine nn for her name that gets used a lot as well. But she loves the longer more feminine version. I like that she has options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love my given name and I don't regret my kids' given names. But I dislike all of our last names. In my country of citizenship, they're nearly impossible to change, and I don't fit into the narrow criteria to get my surname changed. Not to mention it would make my father, whose name I have, understandably disappointed.

My kids are dual citizens. I don't know how the law would work for them, if they want a surname change. Maybe it would only be valid in the US?

Anyway. Probably not happening.

Lawyer here. If your children are US citizens, you can very easily change their names. Yes, it would be only valid in the US, but it will still be worth it.

[Anonymous]

I don’t like my first name. It is unisex (think along the lines of Jordan or Taylor). I always wished I had a girlier name. My DD has a beautiful feminine name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Melissa of the '70's. I don't mind it, but there was always another Melissa in my class and there were 5 in my sorority.

I planned to not do the same to my kids, but was living overseas when I had my first child and ended up picking a name that's been in the top 10 for years now, so, whoops.

For the second kid we went classic and the popularity has not been an issue but people always ask why they have their name.

I grew up on Melissa Lane!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t like my first name. It is unisex (think along the lines of Jordan or Taylor). I always wished I had a girlier name. My DD has a beautiful feminine name.

Watch her grow up and hate how "frilly" her name is and give her daughter a tougher name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I dislike my name. It was the number one most popular girls name for a portion of the 80s. It was important to me my child not have a name in the top 20 most popular. I hated having the same name as so many other people and even now at work I get misdirected emails for others with the same first name pretty often.

Jessica --

Thank you for forwarding my emails. Here is a batch of yours for you.

Sincerely
Jess

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^Not because I think Sarah is a better name, but because I know it wouldn’t be mispronounced/misspelled nearly as often, if ever

My daughter’s name is Sarah and people never know whether there is an “h” or not. So that might have solved your pronunciation problem but not the spelling problem…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t love my first name because everyone knows I’m a Gen xer. Wish I had a more classic name, but it’s not like I’m changing it or anything.

A common Gen-X’s name would be like Valerie, Deborah or even Jackie.

The most common Gen-X name is Jennifer.

Or how about Meredith or Heather??

I loved Meredith and Heather (born in 1977 so those were the names of everyone’s cool older sisters) but DH wouldn’t have it. There was a brief week during my pregnancy when I lobbied hard for Mallory. No luck. I ended up with a Samantha, which was as far as I could push him with 80s and 90s names.

Meredith, Mallory and Samantha are all really GREAT names! Heather is okay (I grew up with a lot of Heathers).