Do you like your name?

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Forum -> Pregnancy & Childbirth -> Baby Names

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amother

Vermilion

Mon, Nov 21 2022, 10:41 am

I do not like my name. I have a unique Israeli name that my parents thought was beautiful but was very unusual in my BY upbringing. Not only did I not have anyone with my name in my class I didn’t have anyone with my name on my school and to the best of knowledge there has still never been anyone with my name in the school I went to and it’s not a small school. The only positive is that I don’t need to use my last name to identify themselves, my first name is enough.
To answer why I won’t say even under amother, I’m not interested in hurting my family and if I said my name anyone who knows me would figure it out.

amother

Oak

Mon, Nov 21 2022, 10:45 am

Hate my name, super common and boring. And I always felt it just didn’t fit my personality. But I’m not a fan of really out there names either. My kids have less common names so they don’t have 5 classmates with their names, but it’s used enough in our community that they aren’t the odd ones out.

amother

NeonGreen

Mon, Nov 21 2022, 12:09 pm

I hate it. It's very old fashioned, I always meet ppl who say "that was my grandmother's name." It's hard for many people to pronounce and it has an unpleasant meaning in Hebrew/Yiddish. Occasionally people who had no contact with either language tell me it's pretty, but it's too little too late. It would have helped to hear this in childhood, but ethnic diversity wasn't valued then, when Susans, Debbies and Rochelles were queen.

Kiwi13

Mon, Nov 21 2022, 12:38 pm

Yes. But I struggled a lot as a kid so sometimes it felt like when people would say my name it was a criticism. There's part of that that still lingers.

I'm at a crossroads where I almost want to try out using my middle name instead. I don't know...

But the names themselves? Both are beautiful, so I'm thankful for that.

dankbar

Mon, Nov 21 2022, 4:33 pm

amother DarkViolet wrote:

I had the same reaction. What could be wrong with posting as amother that my name is Chana and I do/don't like it? Now everyone will know which of the thousands of Chanas in the world you are?

But weren't you the one who shut down a different thread asking people to anonymously post their dress and shoe size because then stalkers could find you?

https://www.imamother.com/foru.....89020

Let's say I post that I'm a size 8 and wear size 6 shoes, and even if I add that I'm 5' 5" and weigh 140 pounds and live in Lakewood, who in the world is going to find me?

Yet you were so nervous about it that you warned others not to participate. I don't see that as any worse than saying my name is Chana and I love my name.

I do see a difference even if you don't. I am sorry but you are conflating here.

I didn't have an issue if people post their shoe size, what I thought was inappropriate was people sharing their undergarment sizes.

People see things from their own past experience, which I did explain in that thread where I had instances of people stalking me physically or trying to, by such questions over phone.

amother

Clematis

Mon, Nov 21 2022, 4:48 pm

Objectively my name is beautiful, it has a pleasant sound and nice meaning. But as a kid I hated it, I wanted a super common name so I could just blend in. The sound of it is pleasant and flows nicely with an Israeli accent, but with the accent where I live it sounds so clunky and can be difficult to say. Also it sounds awful with a blocked nose and I was one of those kids with a perpetual cold. I didn't like that it has 3 syllables and my last name was also an unusual name with 3 syllables so when people asked my name it was a whole mouthful.
The name is from tanach, but from the simple meaning of the pesukim she was a 'mean' person so that always gave me a bad connotation to the name.
At this point I no longer hate my name, but I still dont particularly like it. I know people who say they love their name and really connect to it, but I really dont.

imaima

Mon, Nov 21 2022, 4:53 pm

amother Clematis wrote:

Penina?!

amother

Chestnut

Mon, Nov 21 2022, 6:33 pm

My name is Chaya.

I dislike it but don’t hate it.

It has an unpleasant sound to me. Ch is the sound you make when you’re choking. The y sound is so nondescript that my name basically has no particular sound.

And it’s way too common. And there’s no “regular BY” nicknames, so everyone with the name uses it. Unlike a name like Chana, where half of the girls would be Chani.

I was named after a great grandmother but all I heard is that she said lots of Tehillim. Saying Tehillim bores me to tears after 3 minutes.

And all of my secular colleagues can’t begin to say it. The first five minutes of every conversation is lots of questions about my name, when I want to be talking business!

amother

Mon, Nov 21 2022, 6:40 pm

To answer why I didn’t say what my name is-
I’ll admit I’m curious about people’s experiences with particular names.
However, I didn’t want to risk other people who have my name (or named their daughter my name) to start looking at the name negatively.

amother

Ghostwhite

Tue, Nov 22 2022, 5:49 am

Both my English and Hebrew names are very old fashioned. My English name was popular in the early 1900s! My mother liked the name, but it was completely out of synch with my generation and therefore not a great choice for me. Americans always botched it and called me more modern versions of the name. Unfortunately, my mother felt insulted when I would say I didn't like it and would tell me to change it. However, I think she would have been very hurt if I actually had. My Hebrew name is a classic, but I only used it in school. With my own kids, I worked hard to find names that were timeless and did not give separate English and Hebrew names. Actually went through high school yearbooks to make sure that the names were still current. I think those names have held up. Based on my own experience, I feel that it's important not to give names that mark children. On the other hand, some people really like giving names that are more unique.

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