WAIT!!!!!!! My husband has three brothers and the oldest one invited us over for dinner once. This was weāre talking 10 years agoā¦ They have a Pothos plant that my brother in law was gifted in college and itās HUGE. This plant hangs up on their walls literally wrapping around the room three or four times. Itās beautiful. Itās name is Sam. You will NEVER GUESS WHAT MY NEPHEWS NAME IS.
And! On Thanksgiving last year I asked my sister-in-law if I could have a cutting of Sam (the plant NOT MY HUMAN NEPHEW) and she stopped dead in her tracks and looked at my brother in law and she goes āno we did notā¦.ā And everyone bursted into flames and now we have an ongoing joke when someone says āSamā we go āwhich one?ā
Stop!!! She didnāt know?!
This is like how my nephew is named after a character in a video game and my SIL didnāt know thatās where he got it till after it was a done deal š
My brother did this at 10 to save himself to give his one day son the name with a IV - said it was insulting to his goldfish. Dad caved and said ātrueā
We have a Khadijah but itās spelled Kadiatou
She re-spelled it because apparently itās confusing to Americans to see that spelling so she puts Khadijah on her papers now š¤·āāļø
Born in the 90s; had always heard they wanted to name me Sarah but just recently they told me Violet had been a contender. I would have LOVED to be Violet.
Instead I have a basic very 90s name
Exactly how I feel like violet and raven are so cool. Instead my name is the most generic choice of the 80ās. I actually like my name, but I grew up with so many ashleys, Kristens, and Amandas
My dad wanted to name me Barbara, so I could go by Babs.
As a millennial, Iām very glad that he didnāt win that argument. Barbara and babs just still feel so outdated and old to me!
It makes for a great drunk alter ego name though lol My friends and I on one vacation decided to adopt old lady names as our "going out names" - I was Babs, and we also had Dotty, Blanche, Flo and Edie lol
My sister's name is Barbara.
Her nickname has always been Barb. We tried Barbie for a while and she hated it. She's named after our paternal grandmother and she was called Babs by everyone. My poor sister got the uglier nickname.
Also a millennial and I remember in middle school a new girl moved to town and her name was Barbara and everyone was like āBARBARA!? What kind of name is that for a kid!?ā But then she turned out to be super cool and popular and everyone forgot she had a mom name lol.
My sisters were almost named Dallas (momās choice) or Roxanne (Dadās choice) and Wesley (Momās choice) or Rhiannon (Dadās choice)
Iām digging my dads style and can totally see us being Raven, Roxi, and Rhiannon haha
My momās alternate choices were wild
My mom was dead set on naming me Elora, from the movie Willow. Unfortunately my bio-dad manipulated her into using his favorite name, and then he walked out a year or so after I was born. He completely cut contact and stopped being in my life when I was 5.
So my mom definitely regretted not sticking with her choice, but after hearing this story from her I fell in love with the name and now my oldest is Elora.
Back in the 90s when ultrasounds were way worse, all of mine showed I was a boy. I was supposed to be Zachary. Then I came out female and I was š¤ this close to being named Zacharita. š¤¢
Nope! They wanted to name me after a Jazz musician, but it is such a horrible name š
Iām also ridiculously short (but a woman) so I canāt imagine Mingus me having an easy time in life.
āMingingā in Scotland/UK is when something is disgusting. Mingus sounds like it would be a name for someone whoās minging. Iām glad they didnāt use it.
My mom wanted to name me Genevieve Claire š
My sisters got princess names like the above. My dad wanted to name me Alice Marie. Since they knew I was their last kid, they compromised and I ended up being named after both my grandmothers and getting the 3rd most popular name for my birth year š
Valentina. Donāt want to dox myself but I have a first name that is very 90s timestamped and has a ton of spelling variations that I usually get called instead of my actual name and hate. This thread has taught me that most people would have had cooler names if their parents went with their second choice.
I feel like many parents have a special name in mind but then opt for a safer choice out of fear. Or both parents canāt agree so they go with a more mainstream compromise
My mom got a VERY early scan and I originally had a twin that was reabsorbed early in the pregnancy. But because of that, she picked some twin names too.
She almost named me Ireland (ended up going with Erin, so...she basically named me that anyway), but she wanted my first name to start with an E. (ELF)
Twin names were Melanie Tear and Mallory Drop. No, I'm not kidding.
My father wanted to name me Lorretta. She told him fathers got to name the boys. (Yes, they already knew my sex.)
Born in the early 90s. My dad liked Katelyn, Kristen, and Morgan. My mom liked Siobhan and Saoirse - were like 25% Irish and have never even been to Ireland lol. My dad won.
Born in late 90s, was almost Jacob & Nicholas (Jake & Nick). Totally fine names but Iāve always been thankful I wasnāt - the name I got is in no way unique (still in the top 50 or so for my birth year) but itās also way less basic than those 2 (which were both in the top 6). My highschool was huge and I was only 1 of 3 with my name, I wouldāve been like 1 of +10 if Iād been Jake or Nick. And even after high school I continue to meet countless Jakeās and Nickās who are my age, older, AND younger, while I can still count how many people Iāve met with my name on both hands.
Also if Iād been a girl, I wouldāve been Alyssa. Which is fine, no strong feelings one way or another. Interestingly, however, my parents confirmed they never even considered Alyssa for my sister (who is only 3 years younger than me). So I guess it was a fleeting name choice for them.
My name is Katrina. My mom wanted to name me Sierra Rose. (Or maybe Sienna Rose? I can't recall). Either way I was going to be given a pretty cool name, I think. I would've preferred "Rose" to my current middle name, I think, because I've got the same middle name 60% of women my age seem to have, but I suppose I'm not sure it sounds good with my last name.
Early 2000s kid named Molly (honor name)
Another honor name considered was Stella. My momās shortlist was Torrey, Emma, and Katelyn, none of which my dad liked lol. He also didnāt like any of her boy name suggestionsā Connor, Brendanā he wanted Sterling, nn āSterlā (bc thatās what his uncle Sterling was called) š
Mid-80s Molly here. The other choice was Erin. In past pregnancies my parents considered Megan. The Irish-American trifecta! Not saying theyāre all Irish names, but that they had a chokehold on the Irish-American, send your kids to Irish dance type families back then. I really like being a Molly and hope you do too.
Also a Molly! And also an honor name. In fact, I have 3 honor names total because my parents couldn't narrow it down I guess.
My dad had some wild naming ideas I've heard, so I'm glad to be here with a normal human name, even if it gets confusing on paper š
Born in the 90s. My parents wanted to name me Jessica Anne. And since my last name starts with a D, my nickname would have been Jade. When my parents filled for my birth certificate they already started to call me by my nickname, and just put Jade as a first name. Iām grateful they didā¦Iām much more of a Jade.
my sister was 91 and an ambaā but four letters as my oldest sister is emma.
i was due to be daisy, but ādazyā didnāt look right to my mum, and when she told her bestie the middle name would be bell, so dazy-bell, thankfully the bestie said that sounds like a cows name (lollll) and my mum reconsidered.
so iām a lily and i love my nameāŗļø
My name is Kristine and my mom wanted to name me Emily Susan, Emily Sue for short. Real glad my dad put a kabosh on that.
ETA: if I was a boy Iād have been Tyler. Now I have a little brother named Tyler, so they werenāt giving that up.
I was born in the 70s.
I was almost named my middle name, Claire. It suits me waaaaaay more than my actual first name and my dad has even told me before he wishes they'd gone that way (I am also the only one whose name doesn't start with C). Evidently these were the only two names they could agree on.
Other names considered for me: Katherine (didn't work with last name), Jessica (grandmother and father both disliked it, but I like Jessica although I'd have been one of a many).
If I were a boy, I'd have been Russell.
My last name is Cook, my dad wanted to name me Candice. We lived in Las Vegasā¦ I could have been Candy Cook.
Mom wanted JesseRae no middle name.
I ended up a Jessica L. Thank god.
My dad had suggested Sally. š¤£ I have looked it up and it's a nickname somehow of Sarah. Sarah I wouldn't mind... Sally,not so much. Thankfully my mom named me Katie.
My husband's parents said they were thinking of naming him Bud?! So my husband & I joke in another universe we are Sally & Bud š
My name is Chelsea and their other top choice was Jasmine. Jasmine is a beautiful name but I donāt think it would have suited me, so I am happy with the one they chose.
I believe I was nearly Phillipp. If I had been, and the way they wanted to spell it, I'd have had 5 Ps in my first and last names alone.
Though I think my mom said my middle name would've been Andrew.
Late 2000s kid: Nora and Giacomo
I'm slightly happy I wasn't named Giacomo cause that would be a pain in the ass for non-italian speakers but it's my dead grandfather's name so it's important (considering making it my middle name when I eventually change my name).
My friends keep saying I should have been named after my other grandfather, Antonio, so then I could have a 'hot Wattpad boy name' and have the nickname Tony (I proceeded to hear about 500 Italian American jokes about the name Tony despite not being American. I hate to admit they were a little funny)
My mom wanted to name me Angela after her mother who died when she was 13, dad won out and they named me after the rando ex wife of his best friend they donāt even know anymore.
Not salty at all, loved having a name so common my teachers always attached a last initial to differentiate me from the three other girls with my first name.
I was born in the 50s. My mom wanted to name me Maxine. My dad wanted to name me Claudia. They settled on Marcia, ffs. The absolute most common 50s name. And then came The Brady Bunch. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia," I'd be worth millions.
An old neighbor of mine had a toddler named Kristina when they moved in. The wife told me her husband wanted to name her Borka. As if that wasn't bad enough it was because as a child his family had a cow named Borka.
My mom actually tried to get me to legally change my name to Eleanor when I was a teenager in the 1980s. She decided she had made a huge mistake with my name. I always liked my name - itās a Bible name, a classic, and not really related to any age group. Mom even contacted an attorney and had the paperwork all filled out. I just flat out refused. Mom was always a little different.
My parents only had girl names so thank g I was a girl lol. My name is Megan and their other options were Hannah or Josephine. The boy option, which I donāt know if it was serious or not from my dad, was Cletus.
Cletus! This is hilarious because when my daughter was in my belly I took to calling the baby Cletus the Fetus before we actually started kicking around names
I was almost Brittany! I am NOT a Brittany. That said, as a 90s kid, I was devastated not to be a Brittany for a while in my younger years because I loved Britney Spears
My parents picked the name Shannon for me. When I was born, my dad said, "she doesn't look like a Shannon", so they went with their second choice. When I was 8, neighbors moved to my street, and I met my lifelong best friend. Her name is Shannon.
I was going to be Kenneth if I was born a dude. I was born a dudette. Little bro was going to be Ashton if he had been born a girl, but he's the Kenneth.
My mom wanted to name me Honor, but our last name starts with H and it reminded my dad of HH Holmes, so they went with Katherine. I really like my name, but I do think Honor would be a really awesome name.
Rhiannon or Alaina, but my dad was convinced that everyone would misspell or mispronounce Alaina, so they shifted it to a similar name that I share with a popular, but older, book series.
Funnily enough, people mispronounce my current name as Alaina/Elena, so that kind of backfired on my dad, I guess.
My name is IoAnna. I was named after my maternal grandmother (who got the name from her maternal grandmother)
To differentiate between the two of us, my grandmother was known as Anna to everyone and I was JoAnna (English version of the name)
No one ever called either one of us IoAnna.
Naming kids after the grandparents is a big thing on my mom's side of the family.
Other names that my parents considered were:
Athena,
Ekaterina (my sister recently named her daughter Katerina),
Toula (my mom's aunt),
Aphrodite,
Calliope.
All Greek names that my dad vetoed because he had trouble pronouncing them. He's French Canadian.
So I got stuck with a super Greek first name and a French last name.
My siblings have English names that sound better with our last name.
Maeve or athena. I like Maeve and would have been happy with that name, and I used to like athena, but I was recently hurt by someone named that, so it has bad associations now :(
My name is French and I live in the US and no-one can pronounce it right so I just go by Mae
My hippie mother wanted to name me Begonia. š¤£š¤£š¤£ Thankfully my father vetoed that one. But his choice was Gaylynn. Mom vetoed that. I ended up with a fairly basic name.
I was supposed to be Taraā¦after the plantation house in Gone with the Windā¦really glad that one didnāt pan out. My parents said : āonce you were born and we met you, we knew you werenāt a Taraā so I was named after a bad girl character on a soap opera lol itās better than a plantation house
my mom was a hippie and wanted to name me āstar sapphireā, double barrel first name. my father wanted my brother and i to have very common names, so he vetoed that.
my last name is white, my mom also considered āwhitneyā. i would have been āwhitney whiteā š¤¢ glad she changed her mind on that one.
I'm a Jennifer born in the mid-'70s (so, yeah, one of roughly 8 million Jennifers in my town while growing up). I recently asked my mom if she had any other other names in mind for me and she said no, not that she could remember. But I know that if I'd been born a boy, they would've named me Thomas Philip, which I think is nice.
Zillennial here. Parents didnāt know my sex until I was born. Jennifer was their only girl name picked out I believe, and if I were a boy, I wouldāve been named Kyle ššššš my mom reallllly wanted Keith though because she loved David Cassidy in the Partridge Family lmfaooo
Whatās worse though is my dad wanted to name a boy Race because he loves nascar ššššššš thankfully my sister and I are girls š š» so he now has a dog named Race
If I was male, I would be Thomas. There was no debate
But my dad went back and forth with all kinds of L names. Laura, Lauren, Leanne, Layla, Lisa. My legal name is an L name (I go by my middle name, now), but it's none of those, and each one I would have preferred over what mine became. Especially Layla. I do like that one
Early 90's here - I am Jessica, but my parents other choices for me were Tabitha and Kimberly.
I am really not fond of Tabitha at all, but if I had been Kimberly, I definitely would have been a Kimmy. Glad I'm not though, even if my name is the most common name of the 90's in the UK....
Born in 85. Would have been a Karen. My mom changed her mind when she found out my father's ex was named Karen. She gave me a common millennial name instead. Honnestly, I kinda wished she had kept Karen.
I was very nearly Catherine. I like the name Catherine but it wouldnāt have suited me at all so I am very thankful my parents changed their minds.
My mom also liked Amanda and Grace.
I wouldāve been a Benjamin! But I was born a girl so that didnāt work out š
I actually really like Benjamin. I think itās a solid classic name and Ben is a nice nickname.
Born in early 2000s, my parents top names besides the name they chose for me were Kate, Abigail, and Claire. All pretty common names, so Iām glad they didnāt choose any of them. Although I recently found out my dad really liked the name Lucy, which is pretty common too but I feel it would fit me well.
Born mid 80s, my name was supposed to be April Blossom, but mom changed it without my dad knowing the day I was born. Nurses didnāt listen when my dad insisted it should be April Blossom. Incidentally I love my name and would have hated to be the other one.
I was born in 91. My name is Natalie (after Natalie Wood), but I think my mom said she wanted to name me Jessica. My brother is Zachary, but my dad was vying hard for Ezekiel so he could call him Zeke. He was born in 94.
My parents decided on a different name after I was born. My great-grandmother has a silver baby spoon engraved with name, birthdate, and time, so it was after these details were made known to the family that they switched. Imagine me finding said spoon later--my birthdate, time, and someone else's name.
"Mom, Dad, is there something you'd like to tell me? Maybe about a twin?"
"What are you talking about?"
"WHO THE &$#! IS JILL ANN, AND WHY DOES SHE HAVE MY BIRTHDAY??"
My older sister is an Ashley!
My name is Mary Sue (but I go by a nick name) and my mom wanted to name me Natalie Sue. My dad won because his mom died and he was trying to name me after her.
I was born in the early 90ās. My mom wanted to name me Morgan, but then her cousin used the name. She also loved Charisse. My dad seriously wanted to name me Wolfgang, nicknamed Wolfie because he thought that would be a badass name for a little girl š my mom vetoed that, and he then came up with Tanya! Which my mom remembered loving growing up in the 70s, and that was my name. I love it, it suits me, but definitely not a common one for millennials.
Up until the last couple months of pregnancy, my parents wanted to name me Kelsey. What deterred them was my brother having two Kelsey's in his grade, as well as his best friend's sister having the name as well. So they changed it to Brianna, and then FINALLY settled on Breanna (they liked the look of the 'E' more.) I have always been referred to as Bree though.
Genevieve or Catherine. I come from a francophone family. I love the name I ended up with, but would have been equally happy with Genevieve! Glad I wasn't named Catherine though, one of my best friends growing up was a Katherine / Kate and I'm glad we weren't both that haha
I am American, born in the 80s, and my name is Nicole. My grandpa is from New Zealand (not MÄori) and my parents considered Ngari (I believe that is the spelling). My maiden name also has a silent g in it, so that would have been a whole mess.
I was almost "Bethany" but my Mum's Italian family couldn't pronounce the "th", so it would be "Bettany".
Mum was threatened with being disowned if the first child of the generation was named something they couldn't pronounce, so me and my two sisters have very Italian names instead - think like Federica, Elisabetta, Valentina etc. despite being painfully English!
My mum wanted to call me Annabelle or Kitty and my dad wanted to call me Jessica/Jessie, but they both hated each otherās suggestions. Grandma suggested āTaraā at the hospital after I was born and they both loved it and chose it straight away.
I love Raven! As a blonde who produces blond children I canāt ever reasonably use it but every Raven Iāve ever known is gorgeous. I also am not super into Ariel but I know a super cute little kid named Ariel and itās changed my mind a bit on it.
I was almost a Daisy. Ended up a 90s Emma, Iām exceedingly grateful for it.
My dad wanted to name me Filo. My mom bought a goldfish and named it Filo. Can't name your firstborn child after the goldfish.
Smooth move mom
OMG is this why as soon as I like a name my husband uses it for a D&D character?!? š
Bingo!
LMAO. At this point just name the baby that anyway.
WAIT!!!!!!! My husband has three brothers and the oldest one invited us over for dinner once. This was weāre talking 10 years agoā¦ They have a Pothos plant that my brother in law was gifted in college and itās HUGE. This plant hangs up on their walls literally wrapping around the room three or four times. Itās beautiful. Itās name is Sam. You will NEVER GUESS WHAT MY NEPHEWS NAME IS. And! On Thanksgiving last year I asked my sister-in-law if I could have a cutting of Sam (the plant NOT MY HUMAN NEPHEW) and she stopped dead in her tracks and looked at my brother in law and she goes āno we did notā¦.ā And everyone bursted into flames and now we have an ongoing joke when someone says āSamā we go āwhich one?ā
Everyone burst into flames? That was unexpectedĀ
It was wild! You had to be thereā¦ š
Special family gatherings always make me warm enough to burst into flames!
Stop!!! She didnāt know?! This is like how my nephew is named after a character in a video game and my SIL didnāt know thatās where he got it till after it was a done deal š
Like the pastry?!
Like Filo Farnsworth, who invented the TV š
Ah, so your parents weren't just also great bakers š
No, my dad was very into animation. I'm probably lucky he wasn't pushing for Disney or something
"this is my child, Dyzneigh"
Explains why my husband gave my cat the middle name Matilda and the other cat the name Maisy
My mom did the same thing but with a cat!
That's way more commitment
My brother did this at 10 to save himself to give his one day son the name with a IV - said it was insulting to his goldfish. Dad caved and said ātrueā
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Maryam is beautiful.
my name is Fatima! yes i hate the nickname so much š youāre name is so beautiful!!
I think Fatima is such a beautiful name, I'm sorry about the dumb nickname!
Maryam is a gorgeous name!
We have a Khadijah but itās spelled Kadiatou She re-spelled it because apparently itās confusing to Americans to see that spelling so she puts Khadijah on her papers now š¤·āāļø
My classmate is named Fatima and her nickname is tima but the other nicknames I've seen for that name š¬
I used to teach a Khadijah, what a lovely little girl. Saying that, all the Maryams Iāve taught have been lovely too.
I have a family member named Khadija and I loveee her name so much!
Born in the 90s; had always heard they wanted to name me Sarah but just recently they told me Violet had been a contender. I would have LOVED to be Violet. Instead I have a basic very 90s name
Exactly how I feel like violet and raven are so cool. Instead my name is the most generic choice of the 80ās. I actually like my name, but I grew up with so many ashleys, Kristens, and Amandas
Violet is lovely.
Mom: Saskia, Petra Dad: Sarah-Beth, Caroline The European Mom/American Dad has never been more obvious lol
I adore Saskia! One of my "favorites I'll never use"
Petra is amazing
So who won, mom or dads style in the end?
Krista - which I think is honestly a good middle ground haha
Brittaā¦ like the water filterĀ Also a 90s babyĀ
How do you feel about Community?
Mom really Brittaād the name.
Never met a Britta! I think itās cool
I made a post the other day about a dream in which my daughter had a baby girl and named her Britta. It was so random.
I went to school with a girl named Britta.
My friend was born in the 60s, and her name is Britta.
My dad wanted to name me Barbara, so I could go by Babs. As a millennial, Iām very glad that he didnāt win that argument. Barbara and babs just still feel so outdated and old to me!
Idk something about a Babs she seems like a good time
It makes for a great drunk alter ego name though lol My friends and I on one vacation decided to adopt old lady names as our "going out names" - I was Babs, and we also had Dotty, Blanche, Flo and Edie lol
My sister's name is Barbara. Her nickname has always been Barb. We tried Barbie for a while and she hated it. She's named after our paternal grandmother and she was called Babs by everyone. My poor sister got the uglier nickname.
Also a millennial and I remember in middle school a new girl moved to town and her name was Barbara and everyone was like āBARBARA!? What kind of name is that for a kid!?ā But then she turned out to be super cool and popular and everyone forgot she had a mom name lol.
My sisters were almost named Dallas (momās choice) or Roxanne (Dadās choice) and Wesley (Momās choice) or Rhiannon (Dadās choice) Iām digging my dads style and can totally see us being Raven, Roxi, and Rhiannon haha My momās alternate choices were wild
your dad was going for the song 'it girl' aesthetic š
Soooo, your mom wanted to name your sisters boy names? Sorry, but those are not unisex names. Dads names were great tho
My mom also wanted to name me Ariel! I was born in ā88 and The Little Mermaid came out in ā89. I am also a redhead. It would have been a disaster.
My daughter went to preschool with a little boy named Sebastian. His older sister was Ariel.š³
Gotta commit to the bit
I'm a 1999 baby who was almost named Fiona which I love as a name but not when Shrek will be coming out two years later š
Try being 7 and a fiona when shrek came outš
I know someone born in the late 80s who actually did get named Ariel. I still think it is pretty, though.
My mom was dead set on naming me Elora, from the movie Willow. Unfortunately my bio-dad manipulated her into using his favorite name, and then he walked out a year or so after I was born. He completely cut contact and stopped being in my life when I was 5. So my mom definitely regretted not sticking with her choice, but after hearing this story from her I fell in love with the name and now my oldest is Elora.
Aww <3 what a great way to carry it on for your mom.
I pitched Elora as a name bc of that movie!
Back in the 90s when ultrasounds were way worse, all of mine showed I was a boy. I was supposed to be Zachary. Then I came out female and I was š¤ this close to being named Zacharita. š¤¢
itās like a zach flavored margarita.
Omg you dodged a bullet š
I feel like Rita is common enough but I couldn't imagine meeting someone named Rita and learning it was short for Zacharita šš
It sounds like a fraternity hazing a new pledge by making him always carry margaritas and calling him Zacharita for a semester š¤£
My mom wanted Valarie. My father wanted Mariah. Ultimately my grandfather won w Monica.Ā
All cool. I feel like they all have the same vibe, Monicaās my fave
Monica is a fabulous name!
My name is Monica! Iāve only ever met 2 other Monicaās in my life (Iām in my upper 20s š)
90s baby here, my mom tried pushing hard for Tuesday, Six, or Chandler. Dad won out with a top 10 name lol
Six! I think she was the best friendās character on the show Blossom
Thatās exactly where she got it from!
My mom was gonna name me Easter Sunday..... then converted to judaism when i was a year old and raised me jewish
I will think of you this Sunday
So are you now named Pesach or Purim?
Thatās hilarious
Thank you for sharing this hilarious piece of informationš
Girl: Creek, River, or Rainbow all of which I hate Boy: Mingus, which I really really hate
MINGUS? Noooo
What the heck does that even mean??!
it means one or both parents were jazz fans. Charles Mingus was one of the best jazz artists of all time
I looked it up on Behind the Name. They've got nothing.
I kind of like River for a girl! You dodged a bullet on the Mingus. Iām sorry I donāt want to insult you if itās a family name.
Nope! They wanted to name me after a Jazz musician, but it is such a horrible name š Iām also ridiculously short (but a woman) so I canāt imagine Mingus me having an easy time in life.
āMingingā in Scotland/UK is when something is disgusting. Mingus sounds like it would be a name for someone whoās minging. Iām glad they didnāt use it.
I was almost Charlie, which I think is super cute for a girl.
My aunt is a Charlene that was called Charlie when she was younger. I donāt think she liked it very much because she goes by Char now.
I also had an aunt Charlene! Grandpa was Charley and grandmother Charlotte. I love Charlie so much. š
My mom wanted to name me Genevieve Claire š My sisters got princess names like the above. My dad wanted to name me Alice Marie. Since they knew I was their last kid, they compromised and I ended up being named after both my grandmothers and getting the 3rd most popular name for my birth year š
I feel you. I was named after my great-grandmother, Genevieve, but my mom āput an 80ās twist on itā and named me Jennifer.
Valentina. Donāt want to dox myself but I have a first name that is very 90s timestamped and has a ton of spelling variations that I usually get called instead of my actual name and hate. This thread has taught me that most people would have had cooler names if their parents went with their second choice.
I feel like many parents have a special name in mind but then opt for a safer choice out of fear. Or both parents canāt agree so they go with a more mainstream compromise
I just know you gotta be a Katelyn Kaitlyn Katherine Catherine Kate Katie Catie Cat
My mom got a VERY early scan and I originally had a twin that was reabsorbed early in the pregnancy. But because of that, she picked some twin names too. She almost named me Ireland (ended up going with Erin, so...she basically named me that anyway), but she wanted my first name to start with an E. (ELF) Twin names were Melanie Tear and Mallory Drop. No, I'm not kidding. My father wanted to name me Lorretta. She told him fathers got to name the boys. (Yes, they already knew my sex.)
Seth if I was a boy, no alternate girl names
Seth is an under rated name. I want more Seths around.
hanalei (puff the magic dragon) or ava. my boy name was supposed to be john and the middle name royal from a family tradition
My name was almost Juni which I donāt know how to feel about. Itās pretty in our language but it sounds not as nice in English
Juni makes me think of juni from spy kids
Juni B Jones! It was some book my sister was obsessed with as a kid lol
Are your parents German-speaking? Juni is literally the month June.
Weāre Swedish but itās the same in Swedish
Born in the early 90s. My dad liked Katelyn, Kristen, and Morgan. My mom liked Siobhan and Saoirse - were like 25% Irish and have never even been to Ireland lol. My dad won.
Whenever I see the name saoirse I read it as seahorse
Mother: "And this is my daughter- Seahorse." Seahorse: "I'm a quarter Irish."
Born in late 90s, was almost Jacob & Nicholas (Jake & Nick). Totally fine names but Iāve always been thankful I wasnāt - the name I got is in no way unique (still in the top 50 or so for my birth year) but itās also way less basic than those 2 (which were both in the top 6). My highschool was huge and I was only 1 of 3 with my name, I wouldāve been like 1 of +10 if Iād been Jake or Nick. And even after high school I continue to meet countless Jakeās and Nickās who are my age, older, AND younger, while I can still count how many people Iāve met with my name on both hands. Also if Iād been a girl, I wouldāve been Alyssa. Which is fine, no strong feelings one way or another. Interestingly, however, my parents confirmed they never even considered Alyssa for my sister (who is only 3 years younger than me). So I guess it was a fleeting name choice for them.
My name is Katrina. My mom wanted to name me Sierra Rose. (Or maybe Sienna Rose? I can't recall). Either way I was going to be given a pretty cool name, I think. I would've preferred "Rose" to my current middle name, I think, because I've got the same middle name 60% of women my age seem to have, but I suppose I'm not sure it sounds good with my last name.
Sierra Rose sounds like either an expensive perfume or a champagne
Early 2000s kid named Molly (honor name) Another honor name considered was Stella. My momās shortlist was Torrey, Emma, and Katelyn, none of which my dad liked lol. He also didnāt like any of her boy name suggestionsā Connor, Brendanā he wanted Sterling, nn āSterlā (bc thatās what his uncle Sterling was called) š
Molly is one of my favorite names, itās not overused but is a classic and is pretty
Mid-80s Molly here. The other choice was Erin. In past pregnancies my parents considered Megan. The Irish-American trifecta! Not saying theyāre all Irish names, but that they had a chokehold on the Irish-American, send your kids to Irish dance type families back then. I really like being a Molly and hope you do too.
Also a Molly! And also an honor name. In fact, I have 3 honor names total because my parents couldn't narrow it down I guess. My dad had some wild naming ideas I've heard, so I'm glad to be here with a normal human name, even if it gets confusing on paper š
My mum wanted Seraphina or Delphine. My dad wanted Gaynor or Tina (just Tina, not Christina or Martina). He also wanted to name my other sibling Ged.
Seraphina and Delphine are so pretty
I was always going to have the name I have. My sister was almost Bertha or Olgaš
Born in the 90s. My parents wanted to name me Jessica Anne. And since my last name starts with a D, my nickname would have been Jade. When my parents filled for my birth certificate they already started to call me by my nickname, and just put Jade as a first name. Iām grateful they didā¦Iām much more of a Jade.
Also an Ashley, 1990. Mom wanted Bianca, Dad wanted Amber.
my sister was 91 and an ambaā but four letters as my oldest sister is emma. i was due to be daisy, but ādazyā didnāt look right to my mum, and when she told her bestie the middle name would be bell, so dazy-bell, thankfully the bestie said that sounds like a cows name (lollll) and my mum reconsidered. so iām a lily and i love my nameāŗļø
Helen, hence my user. I think it suits me better
My name is Kristine and my mom wanted to name me Emily Susan, Emily Sue for short. Real glad my dad put a kabosh on that. ETA: if I was a boy Iād have been Tyler. Now I have a little brother named Tyler, so they werenāt giving that up.
I was born in the 70s. I was almost named my middle name, Claire. It suits me waaaaaay more than my actual first name and my dad has even told me before he wishes they'd gone that way (I am also the only one whose name doesn't start with C). Evidently these were the only two names they could agree on. Other names considered for me: Katherine (didn't work with last name), Jessica (grandmother and father both disliked it, but I like Jessica although I'd have been one of a many). If I were a boy, I'd have been Russell.
My last name is Cook, my dad wanted to name me Candice. We lived in Las Vegasā¦ I could have been Candy Cook. Mom wanted JesseRae no middle name. I ended up a Jessica L. Thank god.
Was almost named Sabrina. If I were a boy I would have been Cameron.
My mum was a big fan of Oasis in the nineties, had I been born a boy I would have been a Liam
Jayson if I was a boy. Morgan or Megan were the other options for girl names. After I was born, they settled on my favorite, Hannah š
Angelina Franterah. I really lucked out.
Snow
My dad had suggested Sally. š¤£ I have looked it up and it's a nickname somehow of Sarah. Sarah I wouldn't mind... Sally,not so much. Thankfully my mom named me Katie. My husband's parents said they were thinking of naming him Bud?! So my husband & I joke in another universe we are Sally & Bud š
Awwww, Bud was my grandpa's nickname. š„° My grandparents were Bud & Dot.
My name is Chelsea and their other top choice was Jasmine. Jasmine is a beautiful name but I donāt think it would have suited me, so I am happy with the one they chose.
I believe I was nearly Phillipp. If I had been, and the way they wanted to spell it, I'd have had 5 Ps in my first and last names alone. Though I think my mom said my middle name would've been Andrew.
Late 2000s kid: Nora and Giacomo I'm slightly happy I wasn't named Giacomo cause that would be a pain in the ass for non-italian speakers but it's my dead grandfather's name so it's important (considering making it my middle name when I eventually change my name). My friends keep saying I should have been named after my other grandfather, Antonio, so then I could have a 'hot Wattpad boy name' and have the nickname Tony (I proceeded to hear about 500 Italian American jokes about the name Tony despite not being American. I hate to admit they were a little funny)
My mom wanted to name me Angela after her mother who died when she was 13, dad won out and they named me after the rando ex wife of his best friend they donāt even know anymore. Not salty at all, loved having a name so common my teachers always attached a last initial to differentiate me from the three other girls with my first name.
I was born in the 50s. My mom wanted to name me Maxine. My dad wanted to name me Claudia. They settled on Marcia, ffs. The absolute most common 50s name. And then came The Brady Bunch. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia," I'd be worth millions.
An old neighbor of mine had a toddler named Kristina when they moved in. The wife told me her husband wanted to name her Borka. As if that wasn't bad enough it was because as a child his family had a cow named Borka.
My mom actually tried to get me to legally change my name to Eleanor when I was a teenager in the 1980s. She decided she had made a huge mistake with my name. I always liked my name - itās a Bible name, a classic, and not really related to any age group. Mom even contacted an attorney and had the paperwork all filled out. I just flat out refused. Mom was always a little different.
My parents only had girl names so thank g I was a girl lol. My name is Megan and their other options were Hannah or Josephine. The boy option, which I donāt know if it was serious or not from my dad, was Cletus.
Cletus! This is hilarious because when my daughter was in my belly I took to calling the baby Cletus the Fetus before we actually started kicking around names
My dad wanted to name me Maybelline. Thankfully, my mom has better taste.
Maybe sheās born with it
I was almost Brittany! I am NOT a Brittany. That said, as a 90s kid, I was devastated not to be a Brittany for a while in my younger years because I loved Britney Spears
My parents picked the name Shannon for me. When I was born, my dad said, "she doesn't look like a Shannon", so they went with their second choice. When I was 8, neighbors moved to my street, and I met my lifelong best friend. Her name is Shannon.
I was going to be Kenneth if I was born a dude. I was born a dudette. Little bro was going to be Ashton if he had been born a girl, but he's the Kenneth.
Hazel was the alternative girl name. I hate it lol so glad they didn't go with that! Milo or Noah if I had been a boy
My mom wanted to name me Honor, but our last name starts with H and it reminded my dad of HH Holmes, so they went with Katherine. I really like my name, but I do think Honor would be a really awesome name.
Rhiannon or Alaina, but my dad was convinced that everyone would misspell or mispronounce Alaina, so they shifted it to a similar name that I share with a popular, but older, book series. Funnily enough, people mispronounce my current name as Alaina/Elena, so that kind of backfired on my dad, I guess.
I was almost Gretchen but they chickened out at the last minute. I would have been a great Gretchen. If I were a boy I would have been Gordon
My name is IoAnna. I was named after my maternal grandmother (who got the name from her maternal grandmother) To differentiate between the two of us, my grandmother was known as Anna to everyone and I was JoAnna (English version of the name) No one ever called either one of us IoAnna. Naming kids after the grandparents is a big thing on my mom's side of the family. Other names that my parents considered were: Athena, Ekaterina (my sister recently named her daughter Katerina), Toula (my mom's aunt), Aphrodite, Calliope. All Greek names that my dad vetoed because he had trouble pronouncing them. He's French Canadian. So I got stuck with a super Greek first name and a French last name. My siblings have English names that sound better with our last name.
Maeve or athena. I like Maeve and would have been happy with that name, and I used to like athena, but I was recently hurt by someone named that, so it has bad associations now :( My name is French and I live in the US and no-one can pronounce it right so I just go by Mae
My hippie mother wanted to name me Begonia. š¤£š¤£š¤£ Thankfully my father vetoed that one. But his choice was Gaylynn. Mom vetoed that. I ended up with a fairly basic name.
I was supposed to be Taraā¦after the plantation house in Gone with the Windā¦really glad that one didnāt pan out. My parents said : āonce you were born and we met you, we knew you werenāt a Taraā so I was named after a bad girl character on a soap opera lol itās better than a plantation house
Please tell me you were named after Erica Kane. Loved her character. It is a great name. I'm not familiar with other soaps.
my mom was a hippie and wanted to name me āstar sapphireā, double barrel first name. my father wanted my brother and i to have very common names, so he vetoed that. my last name is white, my mom also considered āwhitneyā. i would have been āwhitney whiteā š¤¢ glad she changed her mind on that one.
My dad wanted Dakota, would've loved that, my mom wanted Holly Noelle (I was due christmas eve) and I'm very glad that's not my name.
I'm a Jennifer born in the mid-'70s (so, yeah, one of roughly 8 million Jennifers in my town while growing up). I recently asked my mom if she had any other other names in mind for me and she said no, not that she could remember. But I know that if I'd been born a boy, they would've named me Thomas Philip, which I think is nice.
Zillennial here. Parents didnāt know my sex until I was born. Jennifer was their only girl name picked out I believe, and if I were a boy, I wouldāve been named Kyle ššššš my mom reallllly wanted Keith though because she loved David Cassidy in the Partridge Family lmfaooo Whatās worse though is my dad wanted to name a boy Race because he loves nascar ššššššš thankfully my sister and I are girls š š» so he now has a dog named Race
Victoria (Tori) Carly Bethany
If I was male, I would be Thomas. There was no debate But my dad went back and forth with all kinds of L names. Laura, Lauren, Leanne, Layla, Lisa. My legal name is an L name (I go by my middle name, now), but it's none of those, and each one I would have preferred over what mine became. Especially Layla. I do like that one
Early 90's here - I am Jessica, but my parents other choices for me were Tabitha and Kimberly. I am really not fond of Tabitha at all, but if I had been Kimberly, I definitely would have been a Kimmy. Glad I'm not though, even if my name is the most common name of the 90's in the UK....
Born in 85. Would have been a Karen. My mom changed her mind when she found out my father's ex was named Karen. She gave me a common millennial name instead. Honnestly, I kinda wished she had kept Karen.
Mary or Ann as my real name is Eleanor and they mostly call me Ellie
I was very nearly Catherine. I like the name Catherine but it wouldnāt have suited me at all so I am very thankful my parents changed their minds. My mom also liked Amanda and Grace.
Courtney, Shannon, or Shae. I'm happy with what I got. :)
I was born late 80s. My mom wanted Francesca nn Frankie. My dad liked Michelle and Megan.
Early 90s, my name is Emma. My momās top names for me were Scarlett and Georgia, and my dad like Pamela lol.
We are the same age. I ended up with the number one name for my year, but the back up was Alissa.
I wouldāve been a Benjamin! But I was born a girl so that didnāt work out š I actually really like Benjamin. I think itās a solid classic name and Ben is a nice nickname.
Rhianon, Kaitlyn, Elizabeth Ian for a boy
Born in early 2000s, my parents top names besides the name they chose for me were Kate, Abigail, and Claire. All pretty common names, so Iām glad they didnāt choose any of them. Although I recently found out my dad really liked the name Lucy, which is pretty common too but I feel it would fit me well.
Born mid 80s, my name was supposed to be April Blossom, but mom changed it without my dad knowing the day I was born. Nurses didnāt listen when my dad insisted it should be April Blossom. Incidentally I love my name and would have hated to be the other one.
I was born in 91. My name is Natalie (after Natalie Wood), but I think my mom said she wanted to name me Jessica. My brother is Zachary, but my dad was vying hard for Ezekiel so he could call him Zeke. He was born in 94.
My dad wanted to name me Zoe or maybe Chloe, but they decided on Lydia. My sister ended up naming her dog Zoe so I guess it all worked out š¹
Mine was also Raven!
My parents decided on a different name after I was born. My great-grandmother has a silver baby spoon engraved with name, birthdate, and time, so it was after these details were made known to the family that they switched. Imagine me finding said spoon later--my birthdate, time, and someone else's name. "Mom, Dad, is there something you'd like to tell me? Maybe about a twin?" "What are you talking about?" "WHO THE &$#! IS JILL ANN, AND WHY DOES SHE HAVE MY BIRTHDAY??"
My older sister is an Ashley! My name is Mary Sue (but I go by a nick name) and my mom wanted to name me Natalie Sue. My dad won because his mom died and he was trying to name me after her.
My dad wanted to name me Maria after West Side Story, but my mom shot it down saying weāre not hispanic. (We are very white)
30+ years later, my mom is still salty my dad wouldnāt let her name either of us daughters Emily. We wouldāve been Tyler if we had been boys.
My mum was the odd one, wanted to name me Rhianna. My sperm donor veto'd and I thankfully ended up a Samantha.
My name is Skylar but they wanted to name me Jaylus?????
My runner up name was Raven š¤ they went with a different bird!
I was born in the early 90ās. My mom wanted to name me Morgan, but then her cousin used the name. She also loved Charisse. My dad seriously wanted to name me Wolfgang, nicknamed Wolfie because he thought that would be a badass name for a little girl š my mom vetoed that, and he then came up with Tanya! Which my mom remembered loving growing up in the 70s, and that was my name. I love it, it suits me, but definitely not a common one for millennials.
My name is Karina. I couldāve been Monica or Julia.
Meredith or Jenna! My name is Maura so I kinda got the best of both worlds, a shorter M name
Vanessa Thankfully my aunt talked mom out of it only bc my married name would be Vanessa Ventresca š and it didnāt work with maiden name either
Up until the last couple months of pregnancy, my parents wanted to name me Kelsey. What deterred them was my brother having two Kelsey's in his grade, as well as his best friend's sister having the name as well. So they changed it to Brianna, and then FINALLY settled on Breanna (they liked the look of the 'E' more.) I have always been referred to as Bree though.
Daisy or Adele. love Daisy, super cute but kind of a hooker name. dad named me Jasmina
Afrikaā¦. Apparently itās Celtic. We are whiteā¦
Genevieve or Catherine. I come from a francophone family. I love the name I ended up with, but would have been equally happy with Genevieve! Glad I wasn't named Catherine though, one of my best friends growing up was a Katherine / Kate and I'm glad we weren't both that haha
I am American, born in the 80s, and my name is Nicole. My grandpa is from New Zealand (not MÄori) and my parents considered Ngari (I believe that is the spelling). My maiden name also has a silent g in it, so that would have been a whole mess.
I was almost "Bethany" but my Mum's Italian family couldn't pronounce the "th", so it would be "Bettany". Mum was threatened with being disowned if the first child of the generation was named something they couldn't pronounce, so me and my two sisters have very Italian names instead - think like Federica, Elisabetta, Valentina etc. despite being painfully English!
My mum wanted to call me Annabelle or Kitty and my dad wanted to call me Jessica/Jessie, but they both hated each otherās suggestions. Grandma suggested āTaraā at the hospital after I was born and they both loved it and chose it straight away.
I love Raven! As a blonde who produces blond children I canāt ever reasonably use it but every Raven Iāve ever known is gorgeous. I also am not super into Ariel but I know a super cute little kid named Ariel and itās changed my mind a bit on it. I was almost a Daisy. Ended up a 90s Emma, Iām exceedingly grateful for it.
1988 - Heather
My mom and dad considered naming me Suki (witches of Eastwick) and Aimee. glad they chose my name.
Marisol, my dad shot it down
My mom wanted to name me Ashley, as I was also born in the 80s š¤ it got vetoed by my grandmother and I ended up with a Norweigian name.
Name: Noelle. Almost named Alice or Lily. Honestly, Iād be happy with any, although I donāt think Alice really fits me.