Do you like your own firstname?

I hate my name (Elaine). I was born in 1945 in North London and no-one pronounced it properly, I was always called EEEE-lane. My parents were going to call me Paula, which I would really have loved, but the doctor who delivered me declared that "Paula is a brunette name" and I was pink and fair.

DH uses his middle name as his mother decided, when he was about three, that she'd made a big mistake with his first name. I don't have a middle name and I have always felt deprived.

No surprises on my name ! I was apparently going to be Anne (after my father's mum ) but my mother decided it was too short. Being Angela a popular name in late 50s/60s that what I became.

I have the commonest name of my generation. When I complained that my brothers had much fancier names my mother said,"It's plain and simple, like you". No wonder I hate it.

ClaraB DH's parents did that to him - what a lot of confusion it has caused.

However, if we get a chatty phone call asking for him by his first name (or an abbreviated version of it) we know it's a cold caller!!

I was once told my parents had hoped for a boy (I was an only child) so wondered if they saddled me with my name as it has a boy's name in it. Workwise I have had so many problems with my fairly common UK name as in the US the spelling of it is a man's name and in Asia they use surnames so more often than not everyone thought I was a man. To try and make it more obvious I asked our IT dept to change my christian name spelling in my mail address but that's caused even more confusion so I've given up, It's quite funny when I finally speak to someone and they realise I'm not a man

"It's plain and simple, like you". No wonder I hate it.
Oh watermeadow commiserations
That wasn't very kind and I'm sure you are neither!

gulligranny, I, too, was born in Norf London, and my middle name was also EEElaine.

Like Lucky Girl my Christian name began with H and people didn't pronounce it should my mother changed my name when I was about 1 and that solved the problem. Has caused few other problems with legal stuff though as my birth certificate wasn't changed.

Although l Do like my first name Now , for the first 45yrs of my life l most definately did Not. In 1945 l was give the name on my Birth Certificate of Terry in spite of being a baby girl. Was no real problem to me until at 5 l started Infants School. From then on unti l left School at 15 l was constantly questioned about my name, At Infant & Primary was teased and cruelly taunted over having a Boys name and indeed was reject by my own gender as not quite being a girl even though l was very girly in both dress and manner the boys also were pretty horrible to me too. When 7yrs spelling of name was officially changed from Terry to 'Terrie' thus becoming a unisex name, so taunting greatly lessen, until in the 70's it suddenly started to become a quite popular girls name...happily l started to feel less different and lonely, although still to this day at 71yrs l am still asked is it short for Terassere ...l tell them "No it's just short for Terrie"
I mean just how many girls did you known get given the name Terrie in
1945
Thanks for reading this, first time ever l have wrote about this, sure enjoyed reading your views on your first names
With Warmth Terrie smile

I love my first name. Antje is a Dutch name and even rare in Germany where I grew up. My second name is Antonie,which I also love. It's the name of my mother's sister who is also my godmother.

My Mum & Dad called me Margie before I was born but vicar said it was not a 'proper' name so I too got saddled with Margaret. Sympathy to others who experienced multiple name 'twins' in class. Five Margarets in my class - Shaw, Shore, Sanders & Sanders plus me.

i have always liked my name, Estelle, it means (star) and my surname means 'lily of the valley' (it's Danish) hence my username.

Still waiting to hear about Fiona in Scotland and England!

The magazine Jackie was allegedly named after a teenage girl who worked on it - Jacqueline Wilson! There were recent plans for a musical named after the magazine with the songs of the time.

jalima going back to your post on page 3. I did state on page 2 that nina isn't my real name

I'm Janice, which was suddenly 10th in Guinness Bk of records for the year I was born - 1955 - & as quickly disappeared; there were 6 of us in my college at Durham Uni.
I like it very much (even tho it was made up -in an American novel in 1929).

I've never really thought about whether I liked my name or not. I don't like the way the Germans pronounce it - they can't get the "J" sound right. People jump through all sorts of hoops trying to spell Jacky. They seem to think I use the "q" or the "cq" from Jacqueline - which is flattering. When I was born no one thought of fancy stuff like that, so they must think I'm younger!

When I'm talking to people, I never use names. It somehow makes me uncomfortable. It probably makes me seem rude.

I can't think of a single Margaret from my own generation, but although my school was very small, we had 4 Lindas in our class, 4 Christines in the class above and 4 Susans in the class below. The boys all seemed to be called Stephen.

I'm a Patricia which is a nice name, but no one calls a Patricia Patricia. My parents called me Tricia but at school and after I was Pat which I loathe! After my first marriage ended I reinvented myself as Trish which has stuck for 45 years. I'd still prefer to be called Patricia though!

I also hate my name Pauline.

Isn't it funny that if you have a name like Jane or Ann which cannot be shortened, people always lengthen them. My nephew is called Lee and friends and family call him Lee Lee! Annie, Janey. If it is a long name you have like Patricia or Marion or Eleanor it gets shortened so I have become Elly. It is also funny that people cannot pronounce your name properly which is why I don't mind being called Elly. Hated Elina or Elena or El. My brothers called me Smelly Elly and Els Bells and actually still do. Of course if you come from London especially cockney then your name is something quite different Like EEEElaine or Anna instead of Hannah, renowned for dropping the H and elongate the first syllable.

Nansypansy. I know two Patricias who keep their names long. Both now living in London, one is Portuguese, the other Brazilian. The Portuguese pronunciation is Patreetzia.

Joannapiano - when I came to teach in Sarf London in 1960 I was surprised that Yvonne was Eeeevon!

I'm not to keen on mine & really hate my middle name, it's one od those names that are fashionable for a while & then go out of fashion so you can tell how old someone is from their name. Luckily it's popular with eastern europeans so it's becoming more common with younger people too

In the 1940s there was an Adele in my school, I thought it a beautiful name.
My primary school class had two Geraldines and two Annettes. Secondary school was different; in 1951 the 27 of us included 2 Carolyns, 2 Valeries and 3 Judiths. The school was full of Gillians, Pamelas, Paulines, Margarets and Barbaras.

When I told my brother my new granddaughters name - he immediately trilled Evie-Rose sat on a pin, Evie rose!

Elrel The musical Jackie opened in Dundee last week. Understand that the audience was 95% women in their fifties.

Tizliz - I think my daughter may be there if/when it opens in London!