My name is a very trendy, anglicized spelling of a Scottish word (which may or may not be used as a name historically). I am in my 30s and know no one older than me, but a ton of younger girls, with this name. I have never liked having to constantly correct spelling and pronunciation, but all the children with my name irritate me even more.
I am thinking of changing my name to the Gaelic spelling and, being that it’s so confusing, urging people to go by my middle name instead, which I am hoping they are motivated to do. This would allow my family to still call me by my given name because phonetically, the names would be identical. My middle name right now is a common, like [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f]. So I want to pick something else.
Six months from now I am moving to a totally new city to start a new career, and I don’t have ties to the city I live in currently. I also recently lost almost 100 lbs. I feel like a change is in order! My husband does not like the idea at all, although he knows I’ve always disliked my name. He says a name is just a name, nobody gets to pick theirs, and you just get over it.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] I sound insane? I want a simple, classic name with a little edge for my middle so I don’t have to do a lot of explaining but I don’t feel grandma-y. I would love suggestions on my situation and name choices, this site provided so much help when I chose names for my children. [name_m]How[/name_m] does one choose an acceptable name for oneself?
I don’t think you’re crazy. That’s part of the reason these forums exist, because moms want to make sure their babies have liveable names…but not every kid gets that lucky.
If I were in your situation, I would try to find a name very similar, but more pronouncable and that you like better. I wouldn’t try to go all out and take something that will be really hard for your family to get used to to. For example, I was in a country for awhile where my given name, Leeanna, was inpronouncable, so I changed to [name_f]Lily[/name_f], since my mom had called me [name_f]LeeLee[/name_f] as a kid and many people mistook it as [name_f]Lily[/name_f]. It still fits me, and I love it, but I didn’t change to …[name_u]Simone[/name_u] or something else totally unlike my name.
Please correct me if I’ve misunderstood, but from what I understand, you intend to change your first name’s spelling, give yourself a completely new middle name, and go by that new middle name?
For me, I think that would be too much, though I understand your reasoning. Gaelic spellings, especially Scottish Gaelic, are a real pain to pronounce for non-native speakers, and people often assume they are Irish Gaelic, and pronounce them that way, though often the pronunciations are different. And though people would call you by your new middle name, you would still have to spell it out for any official things.
My suggestion would be to move your current first name to your middle name, with its current spelling, and give yourself a completely new first name. Then your family can still call you your current name, and you wont have the issue of pronunciation and using one name and legally having another first name.
Gaelic spellings ARE painful to pronounce. This is why my thought was to use that spelling, so it would intimidate people into simply using the middle, easier name I provide – the entirely new name.
Although moving my current name, as is, to my middle could work. Although having [name_f]Kayleigh[/name_f] as a middle is kind of awkward, thinking of combinations that sound decent. Although I am not so certain the combination sound is important as I am unlikely to go around talking about that name, whether I keep [name_f]Kayleigh[/name_f] or go with Ceilidh.
Thanks for the encouragement, you two. I appreciate the reassurance, my husband has a plain, and timeless sounding name. He doesn’t get the desire I have at all.