Rachel Ann or Hannah Rae. But my mom decided last minute to name me after the Barry Manilow song playing on the radio while she was in labor. She did keep my middle name Rae tho.
@ Cali girl. Jennifer isn't so great. I grew up in a very small town and still there were always at least three other girls with the same name in class. It's not an ugly name, but I've always been a little bored with it. I was almost named Amanda. :( I always thought that sounded so pretty. My mom never should have told me.
The only thing that bothered me about being in class with another Jennifer would be when the teacher would announce to one of us, "We'll just call you Jenny so we don't get confused." I always felt Jenny was a completely different name and didn't appreciate someone just changing it without asking.
My mother said that she knew I was gonna be a girl but had a boys name picked out. (rolls eyes). The boys name being Steven Joseph. Then when she finally started taking her pregnancy seriously she decided to name me Brenna Irene. Then when I was born supposedly I didnt "look" like a Brenna Irene and she couldnt decide on a name. (rolls eyes again.) a week passed in the hospital because my mom, who has systemic lupus and shouldnt have attempted pregnancy anyway according to her doctors, had a fever. On the way out of the hospital the nurse stopped my mom and said "Youve gotta fill out the birth certificate, duh!" (rolls eyes again and again.) well my mother still could not pick out a name. :-( Luckily my grandma had come by to pick us up and my grandma grabbed one of those little pocket Dell Baby Name booklets that they used to sell at the checkout stand at Kroger back in the 70s. My grandma picked out a name at random and wrote it on the birth certificate herself. The first name became stereotyped into a stripper name just as I hit young adulthood and so now Im using my middle name, Lea, more.I get mad everytime I think about how I was named--luckily we lived with my grandma till I was a teen, otherwise Id never made it out of babyhood. My mom just could not make any decisions at all, my grandma always had to do everything.
If I would have been a boy it would have been John (my dad was a huge John Wayne fan and he wanted to name my brother John Wayne but my mom wouldn't let him so he became Michael Wayne). My brothers wanted to name me Christina, but my mom won and got to name me - Patricia (though in my baby book she spelled my name Patrica). I was doomed!
If I was a boy, it would have been Benjamin Edward (after my grandfather.) And my original name was going to be Bridget Bailey but my father's sister died right before I was born and they named me after her - Mary Ella.
Michael. When I was born my mother was positive they were having a boy and they didn't pick a girl's name at all. She had a big emergency C section where she and I almost died, and when they told her it was a girl, she was drugged up and she told the nurse "I don' wanna girl, I'm havin a boy!"
In the end they named me for my cousin's black Aunt Jemima doll--(!)
Kristina, Tina for short. I like Kristina, but loathe Tina, so I missed that bullet. The name I was given (which I love) is one of the names someone here was *almost* given, haha.
I was supposed to be a boy,so the name was David Matthew. When I was born and did not have the correct equipment, they were at a loss. I was born on Valentine's Day so all the nurses wanted my parents to name me Valerie, but they hated it. SO my dad went to the car and listened to the radio and now I am Nadine.
I was always going to have some form of the name Brian, whether I was a boy or girl. My mother was told she wasn't able to have any more kids after me, so they knew the second one regardless of gender would be named after my dad. Four years later, she got pregnant again and my brother spent days without a name because they figured he was going to be another girl. They had a girl's name picked out (caitlin rose), but no boy's name...Three days later they settled on Scott, seeing how Brian Jr. was out of the question.
This is a great question. I wasn't almost named anything, as my parents didn't know what to name me. My grandmother named me. At the time, she was reading a novel about a southern belle as the protagonist, and she suggested that name and my middle name, lest the first be too sombre. I love my name. For the greatest part of my life, I have been the only one with that name. Didn't like it when I was young because I was painfully shy, and inevitably when having to stand in grade school and give our name, everyone else got to say their name and sit down. I always had to repeat mine several times. Of course, I still get that a little. Now, I love it. It's part of who I am and my identity. I've only met maybe two or three, at the most four women with my name. I was gracious to them.
Lisa. But my last name began with L and my mother didn't like that. My legal name is a nickname of what she did name me. I changed it because in CA the Dept of Real Estate requires your legal name appear on your biz cards with any nicknames in quotation marks. NO WAY was I doing that. So I changed it to the name everyone but her and several relatives have always called me. My Mom does not know that I changed it legally. But my daughter has jokingly threatened to blow the lid off that bad boy secret ! :)
My mom was pretty set on Valerie for my first name from the get go; it was the middle name she couldn't decide on. She liked Diane but didn't want my initials to be VD (gasp- the horror) and then she considered Irene so my initials could be VIP (which I think would have been awesome) but alas she decided on another, more common name.
My mother wanted to name me Deidre, but my uncles threatened to leave me on a mountaintop overnight to see if i survived, lol. My brother was supp to be Lawrence, and my sister Bridget. None of us recieved those names. And my name is world class boring. Oh well.
Victor, which I was aghast at when I found out. But I'm name Audrey, and I guess my parents like unique names...so as much as I didn't like my name as I was growing up because it was so different, I think I would have felt the same way about "Vic"...
For the record, I was born in the late 60's when Audrey and Victor were the LEAST cool names...my parent were immigrants, so they didn't know any better. But I'm happy with my name now.
It took my parents 3 days to come up with a name for me because they deliberately hadn't tried to pick one; my older sister was very premature and consequently severely disabled in numerous ways, so it took them another 5 years to get up the nerve to have another baby, and they didn't want to jinx themselves. Fortunately, I turned out just perfect ;-D but then they had to work on the name bit. Annie Laurie and Bonnie Jean were considered; my mom really liked Deirdre, to go w/my Irish last name (my sister's name was Bridget), but 2 things held her back: (1) the legend the name comes from is so tragic, and, more importantly, (2) she knew I'd end up being called Deedee, and she HATES the name Deedee with a burning white-hot rage, so...no Deirdre for me. There was a character on one of the soaps named Robin, which reminded my mom that girls could be named that as well (seeing as it was mainly a boy's name for hundreds of years), plus robins are her favorite bird; Colleen was the requisite Irish name (yes, I know, it's not REALLY a proper Irish name...), plus she remembered the silent film actress Colleen Moore, who in her retirement was famous for having an amazing dollhouse with all kinds of artistic reproductions, etc.
(Amusingly enough, they gave up on the Irish bit after I was born, and went Biblical for my brother--Peter Matthew--and Scottish/Biblical for my sister--Heather Rebecca. Too bad my sister hates her middle name, as I always liked Rebecca as a name, but there you have it...)
If I'd been a boy, I would've been named after my daddy--Jerry. But, I'm named Jennifer after my mother's friend. I'm ok with it though there are a few of us around. I like to say, one day the Jennifers will rise up and take over the world. Of course I lie.
Michael Stanley, had I been a boy. After mum's best friend and my papa. My sister would have been Kevin Matthew. I'm married to a Michael, she's dating a Matthew.
Georgie...my mom's fav movie is Georgie Girl...when I finally say it I though it was depressing
ReplyDeleteNew Jersey, right in the middle of the state. Rural area.
ReplyDeleteCassiopeia
ReplyDeleteTatiana Yasmeen
ReplyDeleteArash
ReplyDeleteRicki (Mom vetoed), or Neil, if I were a boy.
ReplyDeleteMichael Andrew
ReplyDeleteLisa or Doug
ReplyDeleteHortense.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJennifer. And how I wish they had gone that route rather than the "unusual" name they picked!
ReplyDeleteNo you don't. There are a bazillion Jennifers out there. Everyone I know HATES it.
Delete
ReplyDeleteApril, May or June. Ma wasn't quite sure when I was coming.
Cute!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy name was David until I was born a GIRL. I was nameless for 48 hrs. Now I'm Diane, Goddess of something .... lol
ReplyDeleteTravis Parker if I was a boy.
ReplyDeleteJay
ReplyDeleteOoops
ReplyDelete@The Dude- hahahaha, me too.
DeleteIf I were a boy my name was going to be Clayton Robert
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLucretia. lol
ReplyDeleteRachel Ann or Hannah Rae. But my mom decided last minute to name me after the Barry Manilow song playing on the radio while she was in labor. She did keep my middle name Rae tho.
ReplyDeleteAndre Michel... but I was born a girl, so they went with Savannah. Kinda took a different path there...
ReplyDeleteBarbara or Barry. Glad my sisters stepped in with another name.
ReplyDeleteIt was a toss up btw Angie and Brenda and my parents opted to go w/a traditional Indian name instead.
ReplyDeleteMartha.
ReplyDeleteGretchen or Gilbert. I have no idea where the Gilbert came from, but my mom clearly liked Gretchen, because we had a dog named that when I was small.
ReplyDeleteI know I was named after the freaking movies, but I'm not sure what prompted the last minute change.
Martha.
ReplyDeleteKentucky. I was born on Kentucky Derby Day. Got Jennifer instead, thank goodness!
ReplyDeleteAshley... And I couldn't be happier with my real name :) (which isn't actually svetlana lol)
ReplyDeleteZilda!
ReplyDeleteIf I was a boy I would have been Hugo
ReplyDeleteI've always been a Jennie. Named after my dad's mom.
ReplyDeleteWhoreson because my moms was a street whore.
ReplyDeleteRobin, because I had red red hair and had the face of a bird. But I was named what all the other girls were named in the maternity ward at that time.
ReplyDeleteNeil. I'm so glad I was a girl!
ReplyDeleteWayne Edward or Kirsta
ReplyDeletePasley
ReplyDeleteI was supposed to be Heather but ended up a Claire
ReplyDeleteGertrude Lulu after my paternal grandmother. Got my materal gm's name instead.
ReplyDelete@ Cali girl. Jennifer isn't so great. I grew up in a very small town and still there were always at least three other girls with the same name in class. It's not an ugly name, but I've always been a little bored with it. I was almost named Amanda. :( I always thought that sounded so pretty. My mom never should have told me.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that bothered me about being in class with another Jennifer would be when the teacher would announce to one of us, "We'll just call you Jenny so we don't get confused." I always felt Jenny was a completely different name and didn't appreciate someone just changing it without asking.
DeleteMy mother said that she knew I was gonna be a girl but had a boys name picked out. (rolls eyes). The boys name being Steven Joseph. Then when she finally started taking her pregnancy seriously she decided to name me Brenna Irene. Then when I was born supposedly I didnt "look" like a Brenna Irene and she couldnt decide on a name. (rolls eyes again.) a week passed in the hospital because my mom, who has systemic lupus and shouldnt have attempted pregnancy anyway according to her doctors, had a fever. On the way out of the hospital the nurse stopped my mom and said "Youve gotta fill out the birth certificate, duh!" (rolls eyes again and again.) well my mother still could not pick out a name. :-( Luckily my grandma had come by to pick us up and my grandma grabbed one of those little pocket Dell Baby Name booklets that they used to sell at the checkout stand at Kroger back in the 70s. My grandma picked out a name at random and wrote it on the birth certificate herself. The first name became stereotyped into a stripper name just as I hit young adulthood and so now Im using my middle name, Lea, more.I get mad everytime I think about how I was named--luckily we lived with my grandma till I was a teen, otherwise Id never made it out of babyhood. My mom just could not make any decisions at all, my grandma always had to do everything.
ReplyDeleteConnor, until they saw a vagina on the sonogram. The name went out the window after that.
ReplyDeleteMelissa.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom's favorite Aunt's sister adopted a baby girl three months before I was born and named her Melissa.
Bambi. No lie. Thank goodness my mom won, with the name Tiffany, which I love. Whew!
ReplyDeleteOh, and if I was to be a boy, my name would have been Tiger. Thank goodness I'm a girl. Whew!
DeleteI went to summer camp with a red head named Bambi. She was sweet but not the brightest bulb in the room.
DeleteIf I would have been a boy it would have been John (my dad was a huge John Wayne fan and he wanted to name my brother John Wayne but my mom wouldn't let him so he became Michael Wayne). My brothers wanted to name me Christina, but my mom won and got to name me - Patricia (though in my baby book she spelled my name Patrica). I was doomed!
ReplyDeleteIf I was a boy, it would have been Benjamin Edward (after my grandfather.) And my original name was going to be Bridget Bailey but my father's sister died right before I was born and they named me after her - Mary Ella.
ReplyDeleteMichael. When I was born my mother was positive they were having a boy and they didn't pick a girl's name at all. She had a big emergency C section where she and I almost died, and when they told her it was a girl, she was drugged up and she told the nurse "I don' wanna girl, I'm havin a boy!"
ReplyDeleteIn the end they named me for my cousin's black Aunt Jemima doll--(!)
(other Unknown)
ReplyDeleteI was almost called Sherri Lynne.
Kristina, Tina for short. I like Kristina, but loathe Tina, so I missed that bullet. The name I was given (which I love) is one of the names someone here was *almost* given, haha.
ReplyDeleteNatalie, after Natalie Wood.
ReplyDeleteI was supposed to be a boy,so the name was David Matthew. When I was born and did not have the correct equipment, they were at a loss. I was born on Valentine's Day so all the nurses wanted my parents to name me Valerie, but they hated it. SO my dad went to the car and listened to the radio and now I am Nadine.
ReplyDeleteI was always going to have some form of the name Brian, whether I was a boy or girl. My mother was told she wasn't able to have any more kids after me, so they knew the second one regardless of gender would be named after my dad. Four years later, she got pregnant again and my brother spent days without a name because they figured he was going to be another girl. They had a girl's name picked out (caitlin rose), but no boy's name...Three days later they settled on Scott, seeing how Brian Jr. was out of the question.
ReplyDeleteI was supposed to be Bridget or Nell. My mum was reading a book when she went into labour and named me after a character in that.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great question. I wasn't almost named anything, as my parents didn't know what to name me. My grandmother named me. At the time, she was reading a novel about a southern belle as the protagonist, and she suggested that name and my middle name, lest the first be too sombre. I love my name. For the greatest part of my life, I have been the only one with that name. Didn't like it when I was young because I was painfully shy, and inevitably when having to stand in grade school and give our name, everyone else got to say their name and sit down. I always had to repeat mine several times. Of course, I still get that a little. Now, I love it. It's part of who I am and my identity. I've only met maybe two or three, at the most four women with my name. I was gracious to them.
ReplyDeleteRaquel
ReplyDelete@StewMcG - i too had another name chosen for me, but was named after my dad's sister when she passed away too.
ReplyDeleteMy mom had my name set aside but then had 3 boys before me so she had to wait to use it. :)
ReplyDeleteLisa. But my last name began with L and my mother didn't like that. My legal name is a nickname of what she did name me. I changed it because in CA the Dept of Real Estate requires your legal name appear on your biz cards with any nicknames in quotation marks. NO WAY was I doing that. So I changed it to the name everyone but her and several relatives have always called me. My Mom does not know that I changed it legally. But my daughter has jokingly threatened to blow the lid off that bad boy secret ! :)
ReplyDeleteI was supposed to be named Scott but then I surprised everyone by having a vagina.
ReplyDeleteSequoyah... but my grandpa pitched a fit and I got named after him. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteMy mom was pretty set on Valerie for my first name from the get go; it was the middle name she couldn't decide on. She liked Diane but didn't want my initials to be VD (gasp- the horror) and then she considered Irene so my initials could be VIP (which I think would have been awesome) but alas she decided on another, more common name.
ReplyDeleteMy mother wanted to name me Deidre, but my uncles threatened to leave me on a mountaintop overnight to see if i survived, lol. My brother was supp to be Lawrence, and my sister Bridget. None of us recieved those names. And my name is world class boring. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteKimber Leighanne. What a crappy first and middle name! Changed her mind and now I'm Kimberly Anne. *smh* boring.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a boy, I would have been Colon. Luckily, I was a girl, and I ended up being named Rachel.
ReplyDeleteAmanda's Merkin
ReplyDelete@Amanda's Wig: Does Amanda vajazzle? It would be cool if she coordinated your color and the color of her pubic jewelery.
ReplyDeleteNo, but the curtains match the carpet, wink wink!
DeleteRhea. And with all due respect to Rhea Perlman, blech.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a boy: Matthew
ReplyDeleteIt was between Suzanna and Jenna. Clearly, I ended up with Jenna.
Kevin. Then Marcy Marie was considered. I'd have actually preferred Kevin to that.
ReplyDeleteOff topic, but people should check out Tonyortega.org
I go at least weekly and a lot has happened. Celebrity-wise, Leah Remini has left and Will Smith's LRH "study tech" school is closing.
@Amanda's Wig: That is HOT! Lil bit of sweat then and her cooch gonna taste like Kool Aid!!!
ReplyDeleteVictor, which I was aghast at when I found out. But I'm name Audrey, and I guess my parents like unique names...so as much as I didn't like my name as I was growing up because it was so different, I think I would have felt the same way about "Vic"...
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I was born in the late 60's when Audrey and Victor were the LEAST cool names...my parent were immigrants, so they didn't know any better. But I'm happy with my name now.
ReplyDeleteIt took my parents 3 days to come up with a name for me because they deliberately hadn't tried to pick one; my older sister was very premature and consequently severely disabled in numerous ways, so it took them another 5 years to get up the nerve to have another baby, and they didn't want to jinx themselves. Fortunately, I turned out just perfect ;-D but then they had to work on the name bit. Annie Laurie and Bonnie Jean were considered; my mom really liked Deirdre, to go w/my Irish last name (my sister's name was Bridget), but 2 things held her back: (1) the legend the name comes from is so tragic, and, more importantly, (2) she knew I'd end up being called Deedee, and she HATES the name Deedee with a burning white-hot rage, so...no Deirdre for me. There was a character on one of the soaps named Robin, which reminded my mom that girls could be named that as well (seeing as it was mainly a boy's name for hundreds of years), plus robins are her favorite bird; Colleen was the requisite Irish name (yes, I know, it's not REALLY a proper Irish name...), plus she remembered the silent film actress Colleen Moore, who in her retirement was famous for having an amazing dollhouse with all kinds of artistic reproductions, etc.
ReplyDelete(Amusingly enough, they gave up on the Irish bit after I was born, and went Biblical for my brother--Peter Matthew--and Scottish/Biblical for my sister--Heather Rebecca. Too bad my sister hates her middle name, as I always liked Rebecca as a name, but there you have it...)
If I'd been a boy, I would've been named after my daddy--Jerry. But, I'm named Jennifer after my mother's friend. I'm ok with it though there are a few of us around. I like to say, one day the Jennifers will rise up and take over the world. Of course I lie.
ReplyDeleteMichael Stanley, had I been a boy. After mum's best friend and my papa. My sister would have been Kevin Matthew. I'm married to a Michael, she's dating a Matthew.
ReplyDeleteJan Joosten VanMetren
ReplyDeleteLeia
ReplyDeleteEsther
ReplyDeleteMyfanwy (it's Welsh). But then they went with Jane instead.
ReplyDeletePatrice.
ReplyDeleteFrancisco.
ReplyDeleteBillie Jean. For real. I never would have lived that down during the 80s.
ReplyDeleteElise.
ReplyDelete