I could have been a [name_f]Michelle[/name_f], as that is my middle name. I prefer it to [name_f]Paula[/name_f], apart from the popularity. I could have been [name_u]Nicola[/name_u]. I don’t love it, but it’s nicer than [name_f]Paula[/name_f], for sure - and at least I could have gone by [name_f]Nicki[/name_f]. My brother is [name_m]Andrew[/name_m] [name_m]Stephen[/name_m], so guess I could have had one of those or [name_m]Paul[/name_m], if I had been male. His girl name might have been [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]. That actually is a lovely name. I don’t exactly share my mum’s taste in names, or much else, though.
My mom says she had a feeling I was going to be a boy, so she didn’t make a list of girl names that she liked. She says [name_u]Haley[/name_u] (my name) was a kind of spur-of-the-moment decision. Other names she briefly considered were [name_u]Madison[/name_u] and [name_f]Lola[/name_f]. I personally like [name_f]Lola[/name_f] a lot, but I’m not a fan of [name_u]Madison[/name_u].
If I had been a boy, I would have been called [name_u]Aydin[/name_u], [name_m]Russell[/name_m], [name_m]Cole[/name_m], or [name_m]Scott[/name_m], all of which I dislike. I’m thankful that I have a name that I can at least tolerate!
I am a twin and my parents didn’t find out our gender so they had to come up with two girls names, two boys and a boy/girl combo.
My name is [name_f]Adeline[/name_f] and my twin sister is [name_u]Eloise[/name_u]. Two boys would’ve been [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] and [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] and a girl and boy would’ve been [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] and [name_m]Theodore[/name_m].
They also considered Aneliese and Emaleine and [name_m]Oliver[/name_m] (clearly liked 3-syllables!)
I was almost [name_f]Rhiannon[/name_f], like the [name_m]Fleetwood[/name_m] [name_m]Mac[/name_m] song. While I do really like [name_m]Fleetwood[/name_m] [name_m]Mac[/name_m], I’m happy my mom was vetoed on [name_f]Rhiannon[/name_f]. I’m not wild about the name I got instead, but I think [name_f]Rhiannon[/name_f] would’ve suited me even less.
[name_m]Matthew[/name_m] would’ve been my name if I’d been a boy. We took our time choosing our son’s name after he was born, and while he was still nameless, [name_m]Matthew[/name_m] was suggested by my dad. It’s funny to think someone can have a sweet spot for a name almost three decades later - I don’t really stay in love with a name unless it’s attached to a special person or animal.
We thought [name_m]Ruben[/name_m] was going to be [name_m]Ambrose[/name_m] for about half of my pregnancy, but when we finally got to hold him and look him in the eye, we knew [name_m]Ruben[/name_m] fit him better. It took us about two weeks to be totally certain, and I still pine for an [name_m]Ambrose[/name_m], but [name_m]Ruben[/name_m] is perfect in every way. I hope he likes it better than I like my name. :roll:
My parents debated over [name_f]Savannah[/name_f], [name_f]Samantha[/name_f], and [name_u]Ruby[/name_u] for a while. I wound up with [name_f]Danielle[/name_f], but have been called [name_u]Dani[/name_u] for my whole life. I’m not in love with my given name (hence the constant nickname use), but I would take it over [name_f]Samantha[/name_f] any day of the week. [name_u]Ruby[/name_u] or [name_f]Savannah[/name_f] would have been fun, because I always wished I had a more spunky and unique name growing up. They never came up with any boy names for me because they always knew I was a girl. However, they weren’t so sure about my younger brother. First they thought he was gonna be a girl named [name_f]Alexa[/name_f] [name_u]Ray[/name_u], then my grandparents tried to convince my parents about a boy named [name_m]Scott[/name_m]. [name_m]Alas[/name_m], his name is [name_u]Max[/name_u] (just [name_u]Max[/name_u]).
I know for a girl the front-runners were Eilís, Siobhán, [name_f]Aoibhe[/name_f] & Eibhlín. My mother wasn’t worried about usability in NZ, the only reason I ended up a [name_f]Caitlin[/name_f] was because my father could not spell the first names even after months of looking at them…
She didn’t have much idea with boys I don’t think. My brother ended up [name_u]Regan[/name_u], but I know she also really liked Ruairí.
@jessachase, hahaha I love the [name_m]Dewey[/name_m] origin story!
I’ve posted about my mom’s taste before, actually (she was single). If I had been a boy, I would have been [name_m]Stuart[/name_m] [name_m]Oliver[/name_m], which I love. Others that she considered were [name_m]Yves[/name_m], [name_m]Etienne[/name_m], [name_m]Julien[/name_m], and [name_m]Grayson[/name_m].
My name is [name_f]Lilian[/name_f] Cla1re-H3l3ne, and I love it. But she also considered [name_f]Clotilde[/name_f], [name_f]Honor[/name_f], [name_f]Faye[/name_f], and [name_f]Anabel[/name_f].
I like all of her choices except [name_m]Grayson[/name_m] and [name_f]Anabel[/name_f]. She really loved [name_f]Lilian[/name_f], which she picked out because she worked in a jewelers shop that was handling the estate sale for a recently deceased [name_f]Lilian[/name_f]. I know she got a lot of flack for her choice at the time ('92), and had plenty of people tell her in a tone as if warning her it was an awful idea, “Oh but that’s my grandmother’s name!” But I’ve never met a [name_f]Lilian[/name_f] in my age range, and I feel so special for that. I also went by [name_f]Elsie[/name_f] as a kid, for my initials L.C. She also got a lot of raised eyebrows with, “like the cow?” But I guess she had the last laugh because now the playgrounds are filled with Lillians and Elsies. My mom was just ahead of the curve.
My parents were always dead set on [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] if I was a girl, but if I was a boy, my mum wanted [name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]George[/name_m] and my dad wanted [name_m]Anthony[/name_m] [name_m]Richard[/name_m]. I think I would have preferred [name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]George[/name_m] or [name_m]Anthony[/name_m] [name_m]George[/name_m]. I would have hated [name_m]Richard[/name_m] to be one of my names.
I was almost [name_f]Maya[/name_f] or Zeynep, my parents didn’t choose a boy name because they were really sure they will have a daughter because they wanted a girl.
My sister was almost Süreya and Fatih if she was a boy.
I could have been [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] or [name_f]Sarah[/name_f]. I don’t particularly like my name but I’m glad I was given it over those choices. I personally really dislike [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] (although [name_u]Jess[/name_u] is okay) and even though I know a lot of other [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]'s, I know even more [name_f]Sarah[/name_f]'s. If I were a boy I could have been [name_u]Jay[/name_u] or [name_m]Jack[/name_m], I hoped it would’ve been [name_m]Jack[/name_m].
If I had been a boy I would have been [name_u]Taylor[/name_u]
I was almost named [name_f]Makayla[/name_f]. If I was a boy I would have been [name_u]Seth[/name_u].
If I had been a boy I would have been [name_m]Scott[/name_m]. My name was almost [name_f]Kathrine[/name_f] [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] “KT” and I’m thankful it’s not since I would have been the 10th girl in all of my classes with a [name_f]Katie[/name_f]/[name_f]Kate[/name_f]/KT name instead of one of five [name_f]Molly[/name_f]'s in my school.
My mom has also half-jokingly told me she wanted to name me [name_u]Dale[/name_u], but only because she wanted to call my older brother [name_m]Chip[/name_m] (due to him being “the third”
I would have been [name_u]Michael[/name_u] after my dad if I were born male, but called [name_u]Mickey[/name_u]. Same with all my sisters, and my youngest sister was finally named [name_f]Michelina[/name_f].
I was almost called [name_u]Shannon[/name_u], then [name_f]Colleen[/name_f], but my parents ditched that after my aunt suggested nicknaming me “Leeny!” after her friend [name_f]Colleen[/name_f]. I like both these names, prefer them to [name_u]Keely[/name_u], actually.
My name is [name_u]Keely[/name_u] [name_f]Joelle[/name_f]. I really like [name_f]Joelle[/name_f], but I’ve begun going by [name_u]Keely[/name_u] [name_m]Joel[/name_m] because it fits my personality/identity more.
I was almost named [name_f]Sienna[/name_f], [name_f]Brittany[/name_f], [name_f]Rachael[/name_f] , [name_f]Brianna[/name_f] and Shian-ann. Out of all those names I only like Shian-ann which is a mix of my parents names and means contribution of grace. But my dad vetoed it because he hates “honour names”.
I would have been called [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] or [name_m]Matthew[/name_m] if I was a boy.
My name now is [name_f]Kristen[/name_f] (no middle name) and it’s alright, just a little boring. I’m glad I found my nickname ([name_f]Kizzy[/name_f]).
My dad wanted to name me [name_f]Melinda[/name_f] [name_u]Kay[/name_u] or [name_m]Matthew[/name_m] [name_m]Allen[/name_m]. My mom’s favorite girl names were [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], [name_f]Sophie[/name_f], and [name_f]Hannah[/name_f]. Idk how but they eventually decided on [name_f]Esther[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]. If I was a boy I would have been [name_m]Robert[/name_m] [name_m]Russell[/name_m].
The story behind my name is long and sometimes funny. So, there is a tradition in my family to name children after relatives. My father has his paternal grandfather’s name and my mother has a feminisation of her paternal grandfather’s name as well. My sister is named after my paternal grandmother.
When I was born, my mother said I’d be the last child. And so am I. My father wanted to honour his father by naming me [name_f]Leopoldine[/name_f]. My mother vetoed the name claiming she wanted to honour her family with [name_f]Roberta[/name_f] or [name_f]Anna[/name_f] (for my grandmother [name_f]Grazyna[/name_f] whose name sounds terrible in [name_m]German[/name_m]). And my dad vetoed it. So they had my grandparents choose two names for me. Dad’s side chose [name_f]Rea[/name_f] and mom’s side [name_f]Eleonora[/name_f]. I’m [name_f]Rea[/name_f] [name_f]Eleonora[/name_f] going by [name_f]Nora[/name_f] (or [name_f]Leonora[/name_f]) since childhood.
If I was a boy, I’d definitely be [name_m]Leopold[/name_m] whatever my mum would say.
I was nameless for 10 days whilst my mum decided between [name_f]Tahlia[/name_f] and [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. [name_f]Tahlia[/name_f] was popular and trendy, and [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] was virtually unheard of. Thankfully my mum chose [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]; after her favourite literary character
My parents knew what my name was going to be ([name_f]Federica[/name_f]) years before they got married, but when my mum actually got pregnant she considered also [name_f]Francesca[/name_f] and [name_f]Fiorella[/name_f], while my dad loved [name_f]Asia[/name_f].
[name_u]Nicola[/name_u]. Maybe [name_f]Michelle[/name_f], as that is my middle name. [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] was one possibility for my brother, if he had been a girl. [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] [name_f]Michelle[/name_f] would have suited me. [name_f]Paula[/name_f] isn’t great.