My friend’s brother goes by his middle name [name]Alan[/name] (or [name]Allen[/name], I’m not sure how he spells it). Not sure if it’s because he hates his first name or just because he preferred [name]Alan[/name]. I don’t know if his parents minded but I would think not since his dad (and his dad’s dad) also goes by his middle name- both of which are also [name]Alan[/name]! Yes they all go by the same name… I would think it’s confusing but don’t know.
My name is [name]Brittany[/name] and I was one of 7 girls named [name]Brittany[/name] the week that I was born. I enjoy the name but I hate that it was so popular. [name]Long[/name] story but my friends and most of my family refer to me as [name]Paublo[/name], Paub for short. My best friend is [name]Britney[/name] and we call each other Bit.
I knew a girl growing up named [name]Lovey[/name] and she HATED her named, she legally changed it in high school… Everyone was very happy for her.
I’m an [name]Ashley[/name]. I’m not sure where I stand with it, lately, haha. I used to HATE it, I thought it was so bland and boring and not pretty at all, and I have always thought it was weird that I shared a name with my uncle, haha.
I grew to really love [name]Ashley[/name] while I was in college, and I still really like it… I love the natural appeal and nature connections to [name]Ashley[/name], I like that it’s simple and classically spelled and straightforward, which suits me to a “T”–what gets me, though, is that everyone seems to expect an [name]Ashley[/name] to be a cheerleader type and I’m nothing of the sort. I’m shy and bookish and feminine (but not really girly) and a dreamer and I really care about people–I’m nothing like the whole ditzy high school cheerleader that snubs her nose at the uncool underlings. And I most definitely don’t look like a cheerleader, lol. That doesn’t really make me dislike [name]Ashley[/name], though–I don’t associate [name]Ashley[/name] with that type of person because that’s not me and when I think of [name]Ashley[/name], I think of me. I’m [name]Ashley[/name]. It suits me completely, even though I’m not the sort of person most people expect an [name]Ashley[/name] to be.
Lately I’ve been trying to reinvent myself, I was going to change my name (I had planned to all my life, but when I actually started liking it, it became a bit of a disappointment that I wouldn’t! When I realized I still had concerns about my name, I revisited the whole process, but I’ve decided to keep [name]Ashley[/name], haha), but when I decided not to, I have been thinking about nns that could be a bit of a stretch, like [name]Lela[/name] or [name]Lise[/name]. And while they could suit me and I like them a lot, they’re not [name]Ashley[/name], and I’m [name]Ashley[/name]. I guess I need to just embrace my name, lol. I’m an [name]Ashley[/name], and I really do love my name, I just keep coming up with excuses to actually reinvent myself.
Although lately I’ve kept looking in the mirror, and I keep thinking that I look like someone who would have a feminine (but not frilly), classic type girls’ name (like [name]Claire[/name], [name]Julia[/name], etc.). But honestly, I’m such an [name]Ashley[/name], and I want to be [name]Ashley[/name], I love being [name]Ashley[/name] now, so I don’t think I’ll ever change it. It’s weird to see the transformation that I’ve gone through regarding my name. I wonder sometimes what my mom thought–I know she’s always loved my name, I mean, really loved it, and I was always very vocal about not liking my name. She never really encouraged or discouraged my thoughts, but I’m sure it hurt. I would be so sad if my children didn’t like their names, haha. She was so shocked one night at supper when I was like, “Yeah, I like the name [name]Ashley[/name]!” haha. So I’m glad I made her happy, a little bit, by growing to really like my name. 
I hated my name with a passion growing up. I always wanted to find my name on one of those personalized things at the store, but alas, it was never there. I wanted to be a girl with a cool 80’s name… hahah. Now I am so very glad I don’t have a name like that. My attitude changed when I asked my parents why they named me what they did. All my family thought I was a boy, but my mom was convinced I was a girl. They chose a girl name from after hearing it at church. It was the only name they chose. I liked that my mom went with her maternal instinct… It’s corny I know. I think we all go through stages of hating our names, but now mine is so attached to who I am, that I can’t picture myself as anything else. Besides, there is just something about how my fiancé says my name, that I REALLY can’t see myself as anything else.
I like my first name, even tho I was one of 5 in my class at high school, I HATED my middle name so when I turned 16 I legally changed it so am now LauraKate and I [name]LOVE[/name] IT wish my parents had named me it instead of what they did call me but oh well changed now
Wow, [name]Lucky[/name] [name]Lindy[/name]. I was going to say that I quite dislike my name and then I saw one of your twins has my name - [name]Kirsten[/name]! My whole life I have been correcting people calling me [name]Kristen[/name] or [name]Kristy[/name] or [name]Kirsty[/name]. Not that there’s anything wrong with these names…but they’re not my names :). Plus, I think in the States there’s a different prunonciation as well. It’s sounds more like Kiss-ten. Whereas where I live it’s more like Kers-ten. A hard sounding K - like curtain. So when I travelled through the States no one could work out my name either. They kept on saying, oh you mean Kisssssss-ten. No, I mean Kerrrrrrs-ten :).
[name]How[/name] old are your twins?? I wish my mum named me [name]Vivian[/name] instead!
Back in primary school I had a friend named [name]Patricia[/name] who absolutely hated her name. She went by [name]Trish[/name], which she hated as well, but thought it was a hell of a lot better than [name]Patty[/name].
I strongly dislike my name, [name]Rosemary[/name], and I don’t let my friends call me [name]Rose[/name]. To most people I am just [name]Rosie[/name]. My family calls me The [name]Rose[/name], [name]George[/name], [name]Harry[/name] and [name]Rosie[/name].
I have a number of cousins who go by nicknames, but you could never guess their real names from their nicknames. They did that on purpose, because they hated their real names.
My mum named me [name]Diana[/name], without any middle name, and I always hated it. Living in Germany, I cannot simply change it- you have to have really bad mental problems to be able to do so. I would be perfectly happy if I could just add a middle name and go by that, but it is not allowed either. 
My parents named me [name]Reine[/name]- it was my grandmother’s maiden name, and I hate it. They pronounce it [name]Rainy[/name], though the correct way is ‘wren’. I know they were considering family names, but changing [name]Reine[/name] to [name]Reina[/name] wouldn’t be that bad, would it? My mom had an aunt she adored named [name]Alice[/name] but hated the name and didn’t think of naming me [name]Alicia[/name], [name]Allison[/name] or another variation. Same with my grandmother’s name [name]Sue[/name]- what about [name]Susannah[/name] or [name]Suzanna[/name]?
Finally, after several years of hearing a name nerd complain constantly about her own name, my parents have given in and we’re working on a name that would fit me. Thank goodness, because I’m sick of all the ‘rainy’ weather jokes.
I found out just last year my great-grandfather’s first name was [name]James[/name]. All my life I always heard him called [name]Claud[/name]. (his middle name) My parents would tell me about “great-grandpa [name]Claud[/name]”, not [name]James[/name]. He passed away about 9 years ago, so I’m not too sure why he was never called [name]James[/name]. My guess is that he really didn’t like it, to the point where even my father wondered about why the family tree listed him as [name]James[/name]. “Where does that come from? Nobody ever called him [name]James[/name].” he’d tell me.
I also have a somewhat distant relative (first cousin twice removed, or something like that) whose first name is [name]Charles[/name]. He is always called by his middle name, [name]Royce[/name].
I had a teacher whose first name was [name]Mark[/name], but he went exclusively by his mn [name]Clay[/name], which was pretty cool. My boyfriend’s grandmother is named [name]Margaret[/name], which she hates, and she goes only by [name]Peggy[/name]. On a side note, [name]Mitt[/name] [name]Romney[/name]'s fn is [name]Willard[/name] X)
When I was a kid I didn’t like being [name]Alex[/name] because I got teased for it being a “boy name”. I liked [name]Alexandra[/name] fine, but no one called me that. The name kind of blew up not that long after and I’ve met a lot of women named [name]Alex[/name] who are younger than I am, but when I was in school there were only 2 others, 1 boy and 1 girl. It’s kind of disappointing that it’s not as unique as I once thought it was, but I’m a lot more comfortable with [name]Alex[/name] now that I grew out of being a really girly teenager and the androgynous nn suits me pretty well.
I’m a [name]Susan[/name]. I didn’t like my name growing up because it was so unusual(among my age group at least) and considered a “grandma” name. (Now I actually like that association, ha!) Maybe it’s being young and wanting to fit in, but I wanted to be a [name]Megan[/name],[name]Ashley[/name],[name]Hailey[/name],[name]Jessica[/name],or [name]Emily[/name]. If I was going to have a classic name, I wanted something like [name]Catherine[/name] or [name]Elizabeth[/name].Also, because people would tease me about lazy Susans and the black-eyed Susans.
I’ve grown into my name. I find myself actually liking having an old fashioned name. [name]Even[/name] though I dislike putting names with stereotypes, there was never a negative association with the name [name]Susan[/name]. (That I know of at least.) I never had to deal with people thinking that I was, oh I don’t know, a bully or a dumb cheerleader and what not.
As I’ve grown up and learned about the wonderful namesakes I have ([name]Susan[/name] B.[name]Anthony[/name] and [name]Susan[/name] G.Komen among others) I like it even more. My parents told me that my dad wanted me to be a [name]Heather[/name] or [name]Helen[/name] but my mom named me after the nurse that took care of her during the delivery process. I think it’s quite fitting, because I want to be a nurse myself. :]
I’m the complete opposite of the [name]Rose[/name] haters.
I’ve always hated my first name(Or really any of my name) but I’ve always loved my middle name rose, and I’ve been going by it for quite a while. Everyone at my college knows me by it. Though my family refused to call me by anything but my first name, not even the nn version of my first! But my mother calls me rose only when I annoy her or make her mad, which I find amusing. ;p But anyway soon my name will be [name]Rose[/name] legally but I’ll be keeping my first name as a middle with a tweak because my mom and grandma would freak out because I’m kinda a jr… Oh well, after it’s done they can’t be mad forever, right?
I’m the complete opposite of the [name]Rose[/name] haters.
I’ve always hated my first name(Or really any of my name) but I’ve always loved my middle name rose, and I’ve been going by it for quite a while. Everyone at my college knows me by it. Though my family refused to call me by anything but my first name, not even the nn version of my first! But my mother calls me rose only when I annoy her or make her mad, which I find amusing. ;p Though my mother was nice enough to get me a hat with my nn [name]Rosebud[/name] on it instead of my first name and she knew how happy it made me. 
But anyway soon my name will be [name]Rose[/name] legally but I’ll be keeping my first name as a middle with a tweak because my mom and grandma would freak out because I’m kinda a jr… Oh well, after it’s done they can’t be mad forever, right? But not just plain [name]Rose[/name], [name]Roselee[/name] ([name]Rosalie[/name] with spelling twist as lee is also a family name I’d like to keep and the lie ending is like constant reminder of the change- but hate the twilight association), I go for [name]Roe[/name] whenever I feel a bit more boyish that day.
As for my own, original first name, yes I didn’t like it at all. I hated continually having people misspell, mispronounce it, and mistake it for other names… hell even having teachers and such argue with me about what my name was [telling me my name was [name]Kristen[/name], or [name]Christine[/name], etc]. I definitely was the only Kristjana in school but what did that matter if no one around me could ever get my name right, if they kept thinking my name was something else, if I had to constantly remind people it was spelled with a K and it had a J in it? If I had lived in Iceland or Denmark, the name would have fit right in, but I grew up down South in the USA, so…
I ended up legally changing my name when I turned 18 to something completely different.
My mum spent the majority of her childhood thinking that her mother’s name was [name]Susan[/name]. She was stunned when she found out that her mum’s actual first name was [name]Audrey[/name]!