What's in a name?

     "I share your dislike of the shortening of names but I must say that I'm not sure 'Alexandra' is entirely suitable for you. It seems to me that you require a name with rather more brio. I see you as a 'Lexie'. What do you think?"

    That passage comes from Maggie O'Farrell's The Hand That First Held Mine, and when I read it last night I felt a post coming on. We did talk about names a while ago, but I think we're allowed to re-visit the subject three years on! So, do you like your name? Have you shortened it or changed it - informally? Is there a name you wish you could use for a child or an animal? Any thoughts on nicknames? 

 
"That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet", but I've yet to discover whether 'Alexandra' is more or less fragrantly a 'Lexie'. No doubt all will be revealed soon.

Comments

[Mary]

Hard to shorten Mary. Though when younger some tried call me 'Mare' to which I responded with a whinny and a stomp of one hoof. They never tried it a second time. Fortunately, I am quite satisfied with my name.

[Darla LaRoche]

Darla is an unusual name in some parts of the country. It is not unusual in Montana or Minnesota. I was named after my mom's best friend and we call ourselves Darla Dee 1 and Darla Dee 2. As soon as someone hears my middle name, that is all they call me, Darla Dee. My nickname growing up was Dee Dee or just Dee. I like having a name that was chosen to honor a friend.

[Ros]

I'm a Rosalind, which I do quite like, though I am always called Ros. Except by my mother when she's telling me off, in which case my whole name is invoked (even though I am 36 years old!). And my supervisor sometimes calls me Young Rosalind, which with his Scottish accent makes me feel like a Stuart pretender to the throne.

[GeraniumCat]

I formally changed mine twice - once changing my surname to my husband's, reluctantly, but our surnames were so similar that it would have been endlessly confusing to use both. Then I changed my Christian name to the name I'd always been known by, because I was tired of explaining. But now I find myself using the old name quite often (though it's never used except on paper).

"Young Rosalind" is splendid!

[Lesley]

I've always been known as Lesley. Occasionally, Les - which I hate with a passion. Really though, I would have loved to have been called Vivienne. Much more glamourous! My daughter though is called Olivia. Which I really like, but she's always known as Liv and is thinking of formally changing her name to Livia.

[Oxslip]

Such a great book, my favourite of recent months, I hope you enjoy it.
I've got a thing about palindromes, I really like them - so for girls that gives a choice of Hannah, Anna, Ada, Asa; but it's a bit more limited for boys, Bob and Otto are all I've been able to come up with.

[Margaret Powling]

Heaven help anyone who called me anything but my full first name of Margaret in the presence of my mother! And Margaret I've been ever since with one exception: my dear pal Jacqui (actually Jacqueline) whom I met on my first day at school always calls me Maggie, and to her I will answer to Maggie - but to no one else! And I actually like my name and don't really like any diminuative: Pearl, Meg, Mags, Margot, Peggy, etc.
Indeed, there is a delightful girls' book called Fourteen Fourteens by Violet M Methley about fourteen girls all called Margaret, all aged fourteen,

[Ros]

Also Eve. Or Pip.

[Lindsay]

Re "a rose by any other name etc", have you read Umberto Eco's "Reflections on The Name of the Rose", a series of meditations and essays on topics raised by readers of the famous mystery; the first one, of course, is this.

[Oxslip]

Oh yeah! And Pip could be a boy or a girl so extra good

[Ruth M.]

Our mother (of six) was blessedly cautious about name combinations. My brother Richard born on December 6 is eternally grateful she did not, as was her first impulse, choose the day's saint for his middle name which in the gauntlet of grade school would inevitably have led to Ricky Nicky.

[MelD]

Interesting! As a family of multinationals, we've always had to make sure you can say everyone's names in all of our common languages.
I've also found that personality alters depending on the language you are being addressed in (confirmed by others!). My full name is always used in Switzerland, where I live, but my English friends and family always always shorten it to the first syllable. Only my in-laws (Swiss) use a diminutive of my full name, and one I loathe... !!
We tried hard and gave our daughters beautiful and slightly unusual (though not weird-sounding names), particularly as we have an attractive French surname.
Sadly, all three answer to far less attractive nicknames that are poor versions of their given names (i.e. downright ugly in my view!) and the elder two have married men with extremely common surnames! Sigh.

[Boo]

Stunning and absolutely gorgeous photogs of flowers! Oh my!!!

[Cornflower]

No, I haven't read that, Lindsay, but I should seek it out.

[LoriAngela]

My grandmother wanted me to be called Lori. My mom aquiesced, but in passive aggression, brought me home as "Angie". I've only recently started using my real name, LoriAngela. I'm still pondering a pen name.

[Livvey K]

As a child I wasn't too fond of my name, Olivia, and as a teenager shortened it to Livvey. Now 22, I find that I rather like Olivia but everybody knows me as Livvey now! My favourite example of wishing for a different name comes from Anne of Green Gables. As any true kindred spirit knows, she longed to be called Cordelia, but in the end grew to love Anne. As long as it was spelt with an E.