1. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you like your first name? -
Nope. As an older child and teenager I used to hate it with a fiery passion. Now that I’m a young adult I’ve sort of come to terms with it, meaning that I no longer hate it, but still very much dislike it.
2. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you have middle name(s)? If yes, how many? -
I have two, technically. One is after a great-grandmother and the other is my mother’s surname.
3. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you like your middle name(s)? -
They’re okay, but they don’t match my personal tastes in names at all. I like elegant, sophisticated, very rare traditional names, but my first middle name is a boring old ‘timeless classic’, while the other is a not-so-fancy surname. Still, they’re not too bad, and I wouldn’t change them if given the option.
4. Did you ever consider changing your name? -
I consider changing my name at least one a week, and have done so for many years.
5. Did you change your name? -
Technically I have. My mum decided to make up a random pronunciation for my legitimate name, so the first thing I did when I went off to college was start going by the correct pronunciation, which is definitely nicer, but still not what I would consider to be a great choice. I still want to completely change it, preferably picking something ultra-feminine and obscure, but I likely never will.
If I could snap my fingers and have everyone in the world call me by a better name, that would great. But the reality is that I’d have to go to court, I’d have to get my passport, birth certificate and all types of important documentation redone and resigned. And after all that fuss, there would still be people (my mother, especially) who would still call me by my ‘old’ name. So really, what’s the point?
6. Is your name difficult to pronounce or spell? And if it is, does it bother you a lot? -
My name is of Celtic origin. People know how to pronounce it in my native country of Ireland, but I wasn’t born in Ireland. I was born and raised in an Asian country and, as such, NO ONE knew how to spell or pronounce my name as I was grown up and that was really frustrating, and resulted in a lot of teasing at school. And since my mother decided to give my name a completely unrelated pronunciation, that meant that on the rare occasion that someone did actually manage to pronounce my name properly, I would have to ‘correct’ them. Luckily, I now live in England where everyone knows how to pronounce it, but I’m still bitter over all those years of repeatedly spelling it, pronouncing it, and dealing with the “Oh, I thought that was a boy name!” comments.
7. Why do you like or don’t like your name? -
I don’t like my name because, as stated above, my name was culturally-incompatible with the country I grew up in. The fact that my mother gave my name a made up pronunciation that, unfortunately for me, sounds exactly like a common and well-known boy name, just adds insult to injury, even to this day. My name’s correct pronunciation is feminine, from a traditional standpoint, but lacks the soft vowels that are typically associated with girl names. So even though I’m better off with the correct pronunciation, I’m still unhappy that I don’t have the frilly, girly name that I’ve wanted all these years. Long story short, I’ve accepted my name (mostly), but I will never make peace with it,or like it.
