How attached are you to your name?

[Greyblue]

Hi everyone!!

A question for today! How attached are you to your name?

Some questions to prompt thoughts, but feel free to freestyle and ignore these:
Do you love it, hate it, feel neutral on it? Do you feel very connected to it? Do you find it odd or a little jarring when you meet someone else with your name? Would you feel sad if you got told you had to change it? Do you always associate it with yourself when you hear it in reference to someone else or in a different context? Do you feel it fits you? Do you feel like it’s yours or is it just a label? Would you ever want to change it (if you haven’t already)?

I hope that kind of makes sense!

My feelings

I suppose I’m asking because I’m realising how disconnected I am from my name, so I’m intrigued to see how others feel! I feel very meh about the name itself but also very unattached to it. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s mine and feel kind of like “oh yeah, that’s me” when I hear someone say it. If I meet someone or encounter a character with the name, I don’t find it weird - it’s more theirs than mine would I change it? I don’t know, I’m not sure I’m ever consistent enough to pick one new name.

Anyway, I look forward to reading your answers!!

[PaperGirlAC]

I feel very meh about my name, [name_f]Amanda[/name_f]. I wouldn’t have chosen it, it’s not sounds I particularly gravitate towards anyway. However, I’m incredibly used to it. I have never gone by [name_u]Mandy[/name_u], only [name_f]Manda[/name_f] when people shortened it.

I love the meaning and feel that is very fitting for me. But otherwise it just feels boring and basic. I’m used to meeting other Amanda’s, my best friend is an [name_f]Amanda[/name_f] but goes by her last name and she’s the only one it is weird to think of as an [name_f]Amanda[/name_f]. It’s so not her. Otherwise, I grew up with 3 others and graduated with 6. I work with two other Amanda’s currently so I hear it all the time. I definitely do not associate just myself with the name by any means. I feel like it can fit a lot of people so sure, it fits me but I think others could too.

I have never cared enough to change it. I don’t hate it or have a bad association with it. It’s perfectly fine.

[Harvest-Endellion]

I love my name! Quite attached. It is a grey-blue-green name and it suits me.

[AStudyIn_Scarlet]

I love my name. It gets mispelled and mispronounced often but it’s not a big deal for me. I do feel connected to it, a lot actually. It’s sentimental (although only subtly) to me and my family. I have only met one other person with my name and that too was a different spelling. I have heard of others having the same name but with different spellings, though I’ve only met one. I know of a celebrity as well but they have a different spelling than mine. We were in the same environment for six years and back then I didn’t feel strongly about it. Surely, I was annoyed when people mentioned me as ‘the other one’. I actually did think of changing it at some point. I don’t want to go ahead with it now. It would be difficult for me to adapt into any other name that is not my name, and I suppose for others as well. However if I was told I needed to change it I wouldn’t feel sad at all. I have a few names (from when I wanted to change my name) that co-relate to my name. I do associate it with myself. I believe it fits me. I don’t get what you meant by a label, but if it means something that is only a medium of identification, I think not. It is my name and no one can take that from me. I’m very attached to it.

[lolalollylegs]

I have a very unusual name. Basically made up. I find everywhere i go i am bracing for the “name conversation” where people ask oh where is it from? How do you say it? And i always feel very judged by it even though nearly everyone says it sounds beautiful to them. I like to go by a more common nickname occasionally especially for older people. Trying to find something easier. . The nickname is very childish and is no longer really working for me as an adult. I always feel a little silly using it. [name_f]My[/name_f] middle name feels very childish and disconnected to me, so i feel I cant really fall back on that either. Would just like the ease of saying hi i am _____, without it being a big deal all the time. I think maybe someone else with a more outgoing personality would probably enjoy standing out from the crowd and having a name people say they like that is different to everything else. I am a more blend in with the crowd kind of person. Sometimes when i hear someone with a similar name i feel very curious. I wonder what someone with almost my name is like. I don’t think i can be bothered changing it. Once people are used to it, or you get past “the conversation” it is no problem. People i just know me as my name so i guess i feel like it is mine to all those people. I am sensitive also to my parents feelings. They obviously put a lot of thought and effort into finding something they loved and was unique and i think if my children changed their name i would feel bad i had spent so much time choosing something they obviously hate.

[namergirl3]

I love my name for myself. I didn’t always like it but my feelings are mostly positive towards it now. I love hearing it, seeing it written down and hearing it used in public (I get super excited at meeting another girl with my name). The meaning is okay. It means noble and I find it a bit pretentious personally. Like I would never say “yep, it fits!” I guess it is at least a more positive meaning than some other name meanings out there.
[name_f]My[/name_f] name is… It’s just…me, you know? I cannot imagine being called anything else and I wouldn’t want to be. Granted, I don’t know if I feel that way because I’m used to it or not.

[daisymeadows]

great question!!
i love my name and i’d say i’m attached to it. i’ve only met two other people with my name, and i’d love to meet more. in fact, i’ve always wanted to meet a boy with my name as well, as it’s a word name and i feel like it could totally work! i would be devastated if i had to change it. i have a small list of names that might suit me for fun, but none are really my name. i totally feel like it’s my own name rather than a label. i don’t think i could find another name that suits me as perfectly as my own does. honestly, sometimes i worry that i won’t be able to name my own future children as well as my parents named me because my name is a word name, i associate it with myself to an certain extent. like if someone called my name, i’d think they were calling for me, but if i just hear it, i don’t think too much of it.

[miloowen]

I hate my name. I have always hated my name, ever since childhood. It caused me lots of pain, from bullying and just not fitting into the image of it that I was supposed to. I didn’t even have a middle name, so I chose one in 3rd grade but it didn’t help all that much.

I generally go by my penname now, which is [name_u]Milo[/name_u]. I prefer it; it suits me.

[snowmaiden]

I feel very attached to my name and I really, really love it. I didn’t always though, because as a child I desperately wished I could find my name on keychains and bracelets and never could. But when I was small, I just didn’t think about my name very much. It was mine and that was that. The older I get, the more I love it. I feel it suits me and reflects my tastes and personality incredibly well. People compliment me on my name, tell me it suits me, tell me it’s cool and pretty, and I really feel petted bu my sweet name. I just love it tons and tons. I’m really glad it’s my name.

[lateaugust]

(I started answering the questions one by one, but they started to blur together really quickly so here is my overly long response)

I know a lot of people with my name. Though - for reference - I used to consistently be one of 2-5 Madisons in a class. I was consistently FirstName LastInitial for 90% of grade school. Now that I’m in college in the northeast, I meet much fewer (though more madd-uh-lynns).

I don’t find it odd to meet others with my name because - while I do feel ownership over the name - I don’t feel [name_u]Madison[/name_u] is me, I feel like I am [name_u]Madison[/name_u] (if that makes any sense?? like I have brown hair but not all brown hair is mine).

Though I do internally cringe sometimes just because I feel like being around other people with the same name elicits comments/jokes. Nothing bad, I’m just a bit over it. [name_f]My[/name_f] prime example is 5th grade when I was in a class with 3 and the principal came over to our lunch table on the first day and made some joke about “if I can’t remember someone’s name, I’ll just say “Madison” and I’ll probably be right.”

I don’t think it really fits me 100%, but I don’t feel strongly enough about it (or strongly enough in favor of a different name) to change it. I do like the look of it, and if it were less popular/dated to the '00s I might be able to better appreciate it. One time a teacher did encourage a group of us to go by a different name to keep track of the Mad- group, which actually made me pretty upset (you would think I’d be more excited to switch it up lol). [name_f]My[/name_f] feelings around my name have influenced my feelings when looking at names for my future kids, though.

[itsjustjack]

I chose my name and legally changed it accordingly, so I’m very attached to my name. That said, I go by a not super intuitive nickname of my legal first name most of the time, and when someone calls me my legal first name, sometimes it takes me a second to be like “oh, yeah, that’s me.” Still love it though.

I was never attached to my birth name and fully detested my birth middle. Actually, always kind of wanted to change my name even when I was a kid.

[EagleEyes]

I honestly love my name and am very attached to it! I would say it fits any personality type and is quite a versatile name, but I really do think it fits me especially well personally. I don’t find it odd or jarring when I meet someone else with the name. If anything, I feel more positively towards them because of the shared name, lol.

Yes, I would be sad if I had to change my name. There are other names I think would fit me too (including my middle name or a nickname for it) but I’m attached to my actual name. I like that it has a long history and is very well-known but not too popular, and that it’s well-known across different countries and languages (though many languages use a slightly different spelling/pronunciation).

[Carys1]

I love my name and wouldn’t ever want to change it!

Whenever I would come across someone with my name, I mostly thought “how dare you! That’s my name!” but also “yay! Another Carys!” I was aware that my name is fairly common in [name_m]Wales[/name_m] but I rarely came across other Carys’ so I was always surprised. I like that my name is familiar, yet uncommon.

I now work with another [name_f]Carys[/name_f] (who seems to share the same thoughts as me on our name). We’re constantly asked if one of us goes by a nickname or wants to go by another name to make things easier for everyone, but we both say no every time.

When I was a kid, I would’ve liked a name that could have a nickname but I’ve become attached to my name now and wouldn’t want anyone to call me anything different

[may.rose]

I mean, I don’t think I would want to be anything else… It’s not like it’s my favorite name of all time, but it’s just me. In that regard, I am very attached to it.

[Ysdhehjrnebe]

I feel very connected to my name, it is me. The people in my life tell me that my name (Aliyah) fits me very well. I love it and always have. [name_m]Ive[/name_m] known many people with my name, always spelled Aaliyah/Aaliya/Aliya/Ailiyah/etc but rarely [name_f]Aliyah[/name_f], its a little weird when I meet someone with my name, but whenever I meet someone who shares a spelling I’m pretty happy about it. I would feel very sad if I had to change my name, it would probably mess with my self identity a bit. I do always associate it as myself, and never anyone else. It fits me and it is mine I used to hate my middle name [name_u]Jade[/name_u] and thought I would change it one day but as I got older [name_f]Aliyah[/name_f] [name_u]Jade[/name_u] has just felt like it is me and it is mine. I would never change it.

[auroracallista]

I love my name and always have. The fact that it has blown up popularity-wise is honestly pretty disappointing to me, because growing up I was the only one I knew with my name, and having it be rare made it feel special. I’d like to say I don’t care about the popularity, but I do, at least a bit. There is a stuffed animal company that has my name, and I always liked that about it when I was a kid, though I would get annoyed due to all the other things named the same as me.

[sofiegee]

I love my name, but it I haven’t always. I used to think it was very plain. As I got older I discovered I was named after my dad’s favorite book, I think that made me fall in love with my name. I think it’s delicate and dainty, but strong, intelligent, and brave. Sometimes I feel more connected to it than other times. I relate to the “Oh, that’s me!” moment, and whenever that happens it’s almost like I’m hearing my name with new ears. I’ve met lots of other people with my name (although often spelled slightly different), and while it’s not necessarily jarring I feel like in my head there’s a separation between their name and mine. I guess it’s the significance it has to my family that makes me really feel connected with my name. I’ve definitely grown into my name and I can’t imagine being called anything else–unless it was like a super cool gender neutral word name, that might be cool :))

[quietosprey]

I love my names individually. I’m a [name_u]River[/name_u] and adore it, it suits me so well, but I don’t think the combo with [name_u]Rain[/name_u] would be my pick. It’s a little watery! Maybe if changed to [name_u]Reign[/name_u]? But it’s not significant enough to bother me. I also usually prefer it on boys.

I do feel connected to it.

It is a little weird to encounter other people with the name. It just feels kind of wrong lol. But that’s likely just because I’m not used to meeting so many — and it’s popular for kids nowadays!

I would be disappointed to have to change it. Mostly because I just don’t know if there’s another name for me out there.

It’s a word name so when other people say it I don’t really even notice.

It’s a label, but it’s a label that defines my identity. It’s who I am. I have no desire to change it, never have.

[Inlakesh]

I am very connected to my name. It’s not my favorite name in the world, but there’s no other name that is more “me” than my name. I feel genuine anxiety at the thought of ever having to change it, like, if I ever had to go into witness protection, or if I had a stalker or something, I don’t know what I would do. I’ve never met another person with the name, but I’ve heard about a couple. I hate that my name has become so popular during my lifetime. When my parents gave it to me, it was an old lady name that no one used anymore. I always respond to my name, even though it’s a word name, which makes watching certain movies and shows kinda funny. It’s most certainly mine.

[coupletoutofrhyme]

(irl name)

i quite like it, both for other people and myself. i like writing down that i am [name], and i like being called by it. if i was told i had to change it, i would probably feel quite stressed, but i wouldn’t necessarily feel horrible about it? because i don’t know many, if any, other people with my name, i usually associate it with myself. i feel like it’s the sort of name that’s common enough that people will usually know how to say and spell it, but unpopular enough (at least in my age group) that i don’t share it with many others i’ve met.