A recent thread on here asked if posters hated their own name. While I can understand that many people on here are indifferent or disgusted by their own given names, is there anyone who simply adores their name? The reason I ask is that I happen to absolutely love my name: [name]Margaret[/name] [name]Gale[/name] (first and middle). I love it! (Also FYI, I’m in my early 20s, if that is any indication.) It sounds silly, but, after diving headfirst into name nerdery, I have thanked my mom so many times for giving me this name.
What about the rest of you? Anyone love their own name?
Yes! Me. I love [name]Emily[/name] for its strength, versatility, prettiness and for the way (at least when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s) it was known as a real name, easy to spell, but not common. Everyone else seemed to realise its value 20 years after my parents did! I also love my middle name, [name]Ruth[/name]. It flows well from [name]Emily[/name] and while it isn’t as pretty, it honours two members of my family which means a lot to me.
[name]How[/name] funny! My name’s [name]Margaret[/name] too and I love it.
For my generation it is underused (I’m in my teens) and it’s such a classic with many nn possibilities.
I also love the origin and meaning of my name, as well as the solidity it evokes. I haven’t met anyone with my name in real life yet and people usually remember it as well.
I do! My name is [name]Amy[/name] [name]Louise[/name], [name]Amy[/name] after my Grandma [name]Amy[/name] [name]Mae[/name] and [name]Louise[/name] is my mom’s middle name. [name]Amy[/name] was #2 the year I was born, second only to [name]Jennifer[/name], and I always had other [name]Amy[/name]'s in my classes, but the popularity never bothered me (I probably preferred having a common name since I was pretty shy) because I knew it was special and connected me to my grandmother. I have also always liked that it is easily recognizable and easy to spell. When I was young I must admit I didn’t like [name]Louise[/name] though. I thought it was so old lady and actually told people my middle name was [name]Lisa[/name]. Thank goodness it wasn’t! [name]How[/name] awful is [name]Amy[/name] [name]Lisa[/name]?!? I love [name]Louise[/name] so much now and the flow of [name]Amy[/name] [name]Louise[/name]. I have passed [name]Louise[/name] on to my daughter as her middle name.
I do love my own name. I’m [name]Cassandra[/name] [name]Leigh[/name] and while [name]Leigh[/name] would seem like a filler to most, I adore it. I lie the way it is spelled and I love the way it flows with my first name. I truly love my first name, I think it suits me so well and it is feminine, versatile and yet underused. I really love the meaning of it as well, and the historical and literary connections. To be honest, it sounds silly, but I’m surprised it’s not more common (not that I’m complaining). I also have a great naming story, which helps me love my name because it makes me feel really connected to my mom for the reason she chosen it. I love it, haha.
I’m [name]Whitney[/name] [name]Elise[/name], and while I think it was the trendy and popular choice at the time of my birth, I still like it. I like that it’s unisex and that I share a unisex name with my daughters. I prefer it much more than the ever common (and constantly confused with) [name]Brittany[/name].
Yes, love mine. My name is [name]April[/name]. I’m in my late 20’s and have met very few other Aprils. It’s not common, but it is familiar. Short, sweet, strong. [name]Love[/name] it.
As a [name]Shannon[/name] [name]Tyler[/name] I have grown to love my name too. When I was younger I HATED having what I considered a boys middle name and used to pretend I didn’t have one! I’m in my 30s and [name]Tyler[/name] was much more boy than it is today when I was a child. Of course I love it now, and I love making fun of my mom for choosing my middle name after [name]Mary[/name] [name]Tyler[/name] [name]Moore[/name]. I have always loved the name [name]Shannon[/name] and it’s connection to my Irish roots. I hope to visit my [name]River[/name] one day
I used to hate it, but I do love it now! [name]Agnes[/name] [name]Ottilie[/name] was just too weird & very old fashioned when I was little, but I appreciate that now. I wish [name]Agnes[/name] was pronounced differently in english, which is why I use my middle here. They’re both family names, so that’s a nice thing too (although I’m not going to do that to my baby).
I’m [name]Karen[/name] [name]Rose[/name], mostly known as [name]Ren[/name]. I don’t really like my first name, it’s not awful, but it’s not exceptionally pretty either. I liked that it wasn’t common when I was growing up (late eighties, nineties) Also, not a fan of the letter ‘k’ "-_- I love my middle name though! : ) I’m a fifth generation [name]Rose[/name], named after my [name]Nanna[/name] and three other women before her. My first daughter will be a [name]Rose[/name] too.
I love your name [name]Ottille[/name]! I actually love my name too [name]Louise[/name] [name]Marie[/name] - love having a familiar but uncommon 1st name & share my middle name with my mum, whos 3 sisters also have derivatives of [name]Mary[/name] as their middles
I’m another [name]Margaret[/name] (woo!), a [name]Margaret[/name] [name]Mary[/name] to be precise, and while I know it won’t ever win names for originality, I love having a name that weathers the storm of trendiness!
I didn’t like my name ([name]Susan[/name] [name]Helen[/name]) very much when I was younger because I found [name]Susan[/name] too old fashioned (I wanted to be an [name]Ashley[/name],[name]Sarah[/name],[name]Megan[/name],or [name]Kristen[/name] like my classmates) and I wanted a Vietnamese middle name.
But I’ve grown into my name and love it now! [name]Even[/name] though [name]Susan[/name] is considered dated I really like it. I find it funny that I used to dislike it for being too classic and old fashioned because that’s exactly what my taste in names is now, ha!
My dad really wanted to name me Helen or Heather but my mom named me Susan after her nurse. I’m glad that they went with Susan-I can’t imagine being a Helen or Heather. Susan just fits me.
I only wish I had gotten people to call me [name]Zuzu[/name] at a younger age, so it would have stuck throughout my life. I like just [name]Susan[/name], but I really love the nickname [name]Zuzu[/name].
I like my name too - it’s [name]Anne[/name]. I’m in my mid-twenties and I’ve only ever met a couple of others my age- there are plenty in [name]France[/name] and the Netherlands, but very few in [name]Britain[/name] and (English-speaking) [name]Canada[/name] where I spend most of my time.
[name]Glad[/name] to hear you Margarets all like your name- [name]Margot[/name]'s been at the top of my list for a daughter forever, but lately I’ve been gravitating back to plain-old [name]Margaret[/name]. Plain solid classics are really attracting my attention these days- [name]Joan[/name], [name]Frances[/name], and [name]Ruth[/name] too.
Edited to add that it’s interesting that the responses seem to be disproportionately from women who have ‘old-fashioned’ names for our generation
I’m [name]Stephanie[/name] [name]Brooke[/name]. When I was younger I complained about having such a long name when I was learning to spell and write. My mom always joked that we could change it something shorter, like Mud. But now that I’m older I like it well enough. I always liked my middle name, thought it was pretty and not too popular, but not too out there either.
Yet another [name]Margaret[/name] here who loves her name! I love that it is classic and not too popular nowadays. Plus, it was the name of my grandmother, so that’s nice, too. Sometimes I used to wish that my names were switched around so that I was [name]Cynthia[/name] [name]Margaret[/name] instead of [name]Margaret[/name] [name]Cynthia[/name], since I do think [name]Cynthia[/name] (my other grandmother’s name) is prettier than [name]Margaret[/name], but I hate the nickname [name]Cindy[/name] and love most of the numerous nicknames for [name]Margaret[/name] (I go by [name]Meg[/name] most often), so it all worked out for the best, I think.
I’m [name]Zoe[/name] [name]Adelle[/name] and I’m in my 20’s now so neither name was popular at all when I was born, so I loved being the only one in my class with my name. My grandfather was upset when he found out though, and asked why I couldn’t have a “normal” name like [name]Mary[/name]. People have also questioned whether it is short for something or if it’s even a real name. Now that [name]Zoe[/name] has become more popular, and the singer [name]Adele[/name] has become a superstar, I’m hearing the names more on younger people, and I’m almost sad about it. I guess I’m jealous
I love this thread! I loved my name growing up. I live in a french/english community and my name, [name]Cynthia[/name] [name]Celina[/name], was really uncommon. I knew one other [name]Cynthia[/name] in school and that was it. I never even realized that [name]Cynthia[/name] had ever been a popular name until I became a bit of a name-nerd when I was in my early 20s (I am now 29). My middle name was after my great grandmother, I think. My parents didn’t even realize when they named me that both my first name and middle name are associated with the moon. I think it is neat. I loved how uncommon it was growing up and I loved the Greek background behind it because I always had fascination with Greek mythology. I was nicknamed [name]Cindy[/name] and people still know me as [name]Cindy[/name], but oh well.
Yes, I love my name! It was a long time coming, but I really do love it now. Funny thing is, everyone says [name]Ashley[/name]'s so trendy and dated, but it doesn’t at all feel dated to me. It’s still top 100, it’s spelled classically, and has a natural aspect to it, so it doesn’t seem that trendy to me, and definitely not dated. Maybe because I’ve really known very few Ashleys! I’m not a huge fan of my MN ([name]Marie[/name]), but I’ve recently found that it’s the MN of two of my great-aunts, so unwittingly my mom used two family names (my uncle’s MN is [name]Ashley[/name], as well). I do think something like [name]Ashley[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Grace[/name] would have suited me more, and I would have loved if my parents had actually tried to name me after a family member (and I would have LOVED being named after my grandma, [name]Arlene[/name] [name]Grace[/name]–we’re so close as it is and I would have carried her MN so proudly!), but honestly, yeah, I’m very happy with it.
I’m just concerned a bit for the future–I’m very happy being [name]Ashley[/name] (sometimes nn [name]Ash[/name]), but I would love to use [name]Asher[/name] nn [name]Ash[/name] in the future for a son, and I don’t think we could both be [name]Ash[/name]. I guess I could be [name]Lela[/name] or something, but I think [name]Ashley[/name] and [name]Ash[/name] suit me much better.
I guess I could be [name]Lela[/name] or something, but I think [name]Ashley[/name] and [name]Ash[/name] suit me much better.