I've been having an email conversation with two friends about what names we would have chosen for ourselves (as children) if we'd had the option. Two out of three of us wanted to be "Lisa." So now we're curious. What name would you have given yourself at 5 years old? Or 10?
And did you ever try to change your name or nickname? In 6th grade, I decided my name was boring and I henceforth wanted to spell it with an "ie" at the end instead of a "y." Much grief ensued in the form of kids calling me "Cath-WHY." Eventually, I did get it to stick and kept that spelling through high school and college, at which point I finally gave it up as dumb. And that's why friends and family now spell my name three different ways.
You see why Lisa would be so much easier.
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22 comments:
I'm a Catherine too.
My entire family calls me Cathy (hate it) My boss decided that she was going to call me Cat. I kinda like it, but I don't think I LOOK like a "Cat". To me, Cat is a tall, willowy, raven haired beauty. I'm so not that.
Joe calls me Cath.
Whenever someone calls me Catherine, I think its a sales call or bill collector.
I've never wanted to change my name nor have I ever had a nickname.
I don't remember ever trying to/wanting to change my name.
Periodically my kid tells me that she's going to change her name. My stock answer is "you can change it, but I'm still going to call you Miranda."
I always wanted to be a Jennifer.
Endless nickname possibilities.
"Debbie." I did change from an "i" to a "y" when I was 8, henceforth becoming "Patty." Why did I pine for another name? "Fat Pat the Water Rat." "Peppermint Patty." "Fatty Patty."
Kids suck. Especially when they're your siblings.
Lisa is not that easy. My childhood best friend's entire family had unusual names, and her big sister was Liese (German, pronounced the same way as Lisa). So I spent the first 12 year of my life politely asking each Lisa I met how to spell her name, not realizing that almost everyone spelled it *that* way.
I used a nickname for high school and college, and friends who know me from then still call me that. Oddly, my husband switched over to calling me by real name, even though he met me as Nickname.
I wanted to be Brooke for a long time so I did what I did with all the names I was infatuated with: named a doll or stuffed animal that name.
Also had name struggles: http://www.coolzebras.com/2008/07/rose-by-any-other.html
I wanted to be Cassie.
And yes, I've been Debbie, Debby, Debbi, Debi and I can't REMEMBER what else!!!
I hated my name for a few years there, since everyone told me it was a boy's name. (And, in those days, it really was exclusively a boy's name.) So I always wanted to be Sarah, which is my middle name. Eventually I grew to appreciate my unique name, but I do have strong memories of disliking my name.
I sometimes ask my boys if they like their names and if they'd chose something different if they could, but they just stare at me. I wonder if it's a girl thing, or if they're just not old enough?
I'm a Katherine with a K. And was always "Katie" (still am to family), then in the fourth grade I announced I was no longer Katie, but Kate. Katie was a baby name. Kate was apparently much more "mature". And then I also went through stages where I hated Kate altogether and wanted to be "Sam" (short for Samantha).
I love this question! When I was eight, I didn't want to be Mona anymore so I reinvented myself as "Maxxi," the name of the cheap Barbie doll knock-off my parents had given me. I am so grateful that I was a kid and didn't have the authority to make that stupid of a decision.
When I was about 3, I wanted to be Jane. So clean, so simple, so pretty! But instead I had (and have) a 4-syallable name with many potential nicknames, the most common of which is one I hate. I tried most of the other nicknames at some point, and have ended up with one I made up.
My spouse was born Lisa, but as someone upthread said, it's not necessarily so simple. It was the #1 popular name for girls the year she was born and she got sick of sharing it, so she changed her name to Lise. Never officially, though, so now that she's back in Canada where she lived as a child she has to put Lisa on all her official documents. Very confusing.
So, if your name were spelled K-i-r-s-e-t-i-n, wouldn't you entertain a name change every now and then? Seriously, though, the only time I ever went by anything else was during that 80's prep phase, when we all chose nicknames like Muffy and Buffy. Scary, isn't it?!
At age 5: Susie
At age 10: Taffy
I know. Horrifying. Taffy came from the Taffy Sinclair series by Betsey Haynes.
I can't see you as a Cathie. That's just way too cheerleader-ish for you. But I love the name Catherine, obvs. ;)
I wanted to be LISA too!!
I never wanted to change my name, but I loved to invent names for my future children. Phoebe, Madeleine, Leah were some of my favorites.
My mom wanted to name me Alexandria, but her mother-in-law hated it, so I got the name she gave me.
So I always liked Alexandria and always thought I would name my child that (but didn't).
I wanted to be Cindy (a la Cindy Brady) or Chrissy/Kristen, etc. Something that implied blonde to me, particularly blonde with ringlet pigtails. (Kristen Chase can laugh now.)
It did not occur to me until I was an adult that Jewish parents simply do not name their kids Christine or any variation of it.
I wanted to be Jocelyn, until I met a horrifyingly bitchy girl with that name in high school. Then I think I gave up and realized I was destined to always be Nancy.
When I was little I wanted to be Barbara.
Oooh! What a fun question!
I wanted to be so many different names when I was little and I was forever trying to change the spelling of my name.
For awhile I wanted to be Lisa, but I also loved, loved, loved Tracey. I dabbled in Niki, Shelly, and Sonja.
I tried to change the spelling of my name (as a child I was called, Jenny) to Jeni. I thought there was nothing cooler. It helped if the i was dotted with a circle or heart.
I happen to have a Christmas name due to my Christmas birthday and loathe it. Enough that I still haven't forgiven my mother. I always thought I was more of an Elizabeth.
Scott David - after my two best friends in kindergarten.
I was a terrible tom-boy. I went to my brother's cub scout camps and meetings (mom was den leader or whatever they call it.) I wanted to BE a boy (for all of 2 years.)
I've never had any desire to have any surgery that require psychiatric testing. I'm just sayin'
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