We all know people that go by different names than their first legal name. I’m not counting nicknames, I’m talking about a whole entire different name. I was thinking about all the people I know in real life that go by a different name than their legal given name and I noticed a common theme among all of them. They’re given common and “classic” first names that most people here would say are excellent and have lots of charm, however they go by an entirely uncommon different name. I’m curious to see if this is a recurring theme among other people that go by a different name, so I thought I would ask y’all!
[name_m]Just[/name_m] list their first name that they DON’T go by, and then the name they DO go by (eg. birth name [name_m]John[/name_m], goes by Malcom)
Here’s all the ones I can think of off the top of my head:
[name_m]Andrew[/name_m] - [name_m]Jeremiah[/name_m]
[name_m]Anthony[/name_m] - [name_m]Crews[/name_m]
[name_m]William[/name_m] - [name_m]Penn[/name_m] (will shoot you in the eye if you call him [name_m]William[/name_m] or any nickname of William)
[name_f]Katharine[/name_f] - [name_f]Presley[/name_f]
[name_m]Zackary[/name_m] - [name_m]Davis[/name_m]
[name_m]Christopher[/name_m] - [name_m]Wyatt[/name_m]
[name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] - [name_f]Janie[/name_f] (her and [name_m]Wyatt[/name_m] are siblings, and coincidentally both of them don’t like their legal names)
[name_m]James[/name_m] - Jimmik (not a nickname for [name_m]James[/name_m], it’s his middle name)
[name_f]My[/name_f] dad and older brother both do. Their real names are the equivalent of [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] [name_m]Anthony[/name_m] [name_m]Jr[/name_m]. and III but they go by [name_m]Henry[/name_m] and [name_m]River[/name_m]. There is some confusion about the how and why, but ultimately it’s just because there are so many in the family with their legal names and they needed new differentiations.
I also know a [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] who goes by [name_m]Pete[/name_m]. Not his middle name or related to his last name, has just always gone by [name_m]Pete[/name_m].
I also know several III, IV, ect. who go by completely unrelated names. Mostly things like [name_m]Trey[/name_m] or Three for a III, [name_f]Cricket[/name_f] for a IV, and [name_m]Cinco[/name_m] for a V. I think all of this definitely upholds your hypothesis
[name_m]Christian[/name_m] - [name_m]Max[/name_m]
[name_f]Tanja[/name_f] - [name_f]Hanne[/name_f]
[name_f]Rebecca[/name_f] - [name_f]Lily[/name_f] I’m not even sure if she was [name_f]Rebecca[/name_f], she’s been [name_f]Lily[/name_f] for so long
[name_m]Jan[/name_m] - [name_m]Lukan[/name_m]
I have noticed it amongst those with classic names as you mention, but also, people who have honour/family names, people who have chosen to go by an [name_f]English[/name_f] name instead of their given one, people who just don’t like their name and people whose names are super popular!
Some I’ve known:
[name_m]Claude[/name_m] → went by [name_m]Bill[/name_m]
[name_m]Mohammad[/name_m] → goes by [name_f]Cheyanne[/name_f]
[name_f]Lisa[/name_f] → goes by [name_f]Zoe[/name_f] (because there were 2 other Lisas at the place she used to work!)
Deeman → goes by a name similar to [name_f]Sara[/name_f]
Students with traditional Chinese names (won’t list them for privacy, but let’s say [name_m]Tian[/name_m] [name_m]Lui[/name_m] and Xiao Ning as examples) → [name_f]Crystal[/name_f], [name_f]Kendra[/name_f], [name_f]Kellie[/name_f], [name_f]Elia[/name_f], [name_f]Tiffany[/name_f], [name_f]Amelie[/name_f], [name_f]Chanel[/name_f]
Jeyanthi → goes by [name_f]Jenny[/name_f]
[name_f]Immaculata[/name_f] → goes by [name_f]Maggie[/name_f]
[name_f]Janice[/name_f] → went by [name_f]Edith[/name_f]
In this case, the names don’t support your theory. Alkis, [name_f]Lita[/name_f] & [name_f]Lina[/name_f] are because they have long legal names but they either don’t like the usual nicknames for them (Harris for Haralabos, for example), or their long legal names don’t have nicknames, so they decided to go by something else or use really stretchy nicknames (Lemonya → Lemonita → Lita). Barbie’s name was a nickname because she looked very much like [name_f]Barbie[/name_f] and it just stuck! And in my case, I just never liked my legal name (for reasons unrelated to popularity, I just don’t like the sound of most -ilia names)
I have met a couple people who have very unusual given names who go by a more common stretchy nickname or completely unrelated name, actually! I think you may likely know more people with common names who choose less common alternate names because there are more people who have common names overall.
I also know a couple people who have family names that aren’t exactly uncommon period but were common in previous generations and somewhat dated on the person in question who go by unrelated alternate names (ie [name_m]Donald[/name_m] [name_m]Craig[/name_m] III goes by [name_m]Max[/name_m], my cousin [name_f]Barbara[/name_f] goes by Jenny.)
[name_f]Monica[/name_f] - Goes by [name_f]June[/name_f]
[name_f]Christina[/name_f] - Goes by [name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_m]Albert[/name_m] - Goes by [name_m]Sam[/name_m]
[name_m]William[/name_m] - Goes by [name_m]John[/name_m]
Ethna - Goes by [name_f]Mary[/name_f]
Montheia - Goes by [name_f]Bev[/name_f]
Devinder - Goes by [name_m]Bob[/name_m]
Pritam - Goes by [name_m]Paul[/name_m]
Surjit - Goes by [name_f]Sue[/name_f]
[name_f]Ida[/name_f] - Goes by [name_f]Sue[/name_f]
[name_f]My[/name_f] name’s [name_f]Vasilia[/name_f] but my university friends all call me [name_f]Maya[/name_f]!