If you could have been renamed....

[Sabeine]

Everyone received their names from their parents at birth, so my question is if you could have picked your own first name what would it have been? Would it have been the one you have now?

My real name is Anna. I would have picked Sabeine, or Stella.

I was adopted pretty close to birth and found out a few years ago that my biological name was Jennifer Anna, so I guess the "Anna" name was meant to be.

[Carolyn]

I would have reversed my names. I was born Carolyn Augusta, named after my Swedish grandmother who had died in January of 1950. I would have liked Augusta Caroline, as I LOVE the name Augusta. Apparently, though, they felt it was a little too "strong and foreign". I'm lucky, though, my father wanted to call me Cherry Jane. Can you just imagine what I would have gone through in high school with a name like Cherry?

[SteveH]

Carolyn, we're almost tocayo/tocaya! My unofficial given name (it didn't make it to the birth certificate) is Steven August Dietrich, since my mother wanted to name me after my grandfathers. However, she was still recovering from birth when the hospital staff asked for a name for the certificate. My father's mother was on location and gave them 'Steven Craig'. I lucked out: I have an uncle on that side named 'Marvin Gaynard' and another named 'Dick Jr.'--even though his father's real name is Dietrich. Whew--but bless Grandma's soul (Leona Emma Minnie, by the way) anyway.

[JerseyGirl]

Well I hated my name (Irma) until I was about 17, when I met Steven Tyler for the second time and he thought I had a really cool name *grin*

Seriously though, I do really like my name now. Now especially that I'm in a country where it's more common and people don't immediately start snickering and joking when I tell them what my name is.

I wouldn't change my name for the world. I'm actually named after my mother. The story goes...

My mother (Puerto Rican) and her twin brother were supposed to be named Irma and William. They were the youngest of 9 children. Their father forgot their names, so when he went to go get their birth certificates, and had to state their names, he looked at the calendar which said "Julio" (July, in spanish), so he named them Julio and Julia!

Her family always called her Irma, though. So when I was born they decided to stick me with the name. As a result, her family always calls me Imy (eeeee-meee), since she is the real Irma haha

But I would never change it, since it's got story behind it, and it's from my mom ;D

My middle name is Marie, after my mom's mother, who was Maria, I think. Last name is Beck. If I marry my Swede and take his last name, my full name would be:

Irma Marie Eriksson.

How Swedish does that sound? And I don't have one ounce of Swedish blood in me LOL

[Carrie]

It's been forever since I posted here, but I was reminded of it the other day and thought I should take a look. I'm feeling a little more positive about Sweden these days since I know I get to leave in a couple of months.

Anyway, I really like my name and don't think I would change it. I've lived with Carrie for so long I can't imagine answering to anything else.

My name was supposed to be Nicole with Nikki for a nickname and when I was little I got called Nikki a lot, but then a bully named Nikki started at my school and I switched to Carrie. I like Carrie because it is fairly uncommon but not unique, if that makes sense.

(My mom wanted to name me Nicole but never communicated this to my dad. They had wonderful communication skills. He found her list of names from a baby book and Carrie was the first on the list. I'm just glad she didn't like Abigal or Bertha. So he told all his buddies my name was Carrie because he thought it was first on the list because it was her number one choice. My mom was totally angry and threw a temper tantrum about it, but he didn't want to be embarrassed for not knowing the name of his own kid so she gave in and I was named Carrie Nicole.)

[Sabeine]

Carrie, when are you moving? That's too bad that you are moving back, though I do understand that one's heart strings can pull one.

Irma, what a great name! And Mr. Steven Tyler thought so as well. Man oh man, I followed Aerosmith to 6 different locations. No I was not a groupie by any means, my friend and I were crazy about them, and loved the music. We saw them twice in San Diego (my hometown), then 3 times in Los Angeles, then once in San Fransisco all in the same 1.5 week period. After that they were going to AZ and I had a college final so I couldn't go and see them. I had such a great time at the concerts that I was able to see them at. You are so lucky to have met him! I managed to win a backstage pass from a radio station to meet them some years after that, but when the concert came to Los Angeles then I had the chicken pox. I never got them as a child, but I did as an adult. I was so upset, it was my chance and I was ill. Boo hoo were my words to say the least. My friend had since moved to Miami, and met them there! Oooohhh the pain. Ah well, it's nice to know ONE of us met them.

P.S. my middle name is also Marie/Maria. My Swedish immigrant parents call me Marie to sound more American, but my family that remained here in Sweden calls me Maria.

[Natooke]

My real name is Tracy & many here can not pronouce it ... most give give up & say Nancy (not that Nancy isn't a nice name) ... I can wonder what goes through ppl's heads when they say Hej Nancy & I just keep going.

Some how & don't know why but I have the boys spelling not the girl's ... Tracey! Of course I went through school being called Dick Tracy I would of liked to of had my middle name used instead ... Rae

I found it more difficult naming our daughter then our son.

[Sabeine]

If one broke your name down into "Tray-see" would it be hard for them to pronounce?

I have an American friend in Sweden named Tonya, and she is either called "tone-a" or "toe-nya". She gets a bit frustrated. Her name is supposed to be pronounced "Tawn-ya".

[Maja]

My first name is Helena (pronounced Hel EEEEEEE Nah!) but everyone here says it the swedish way. I loved my name when I was back home and no one was named it (except my grandmother, and then 1 other girl when I got to college), but now it's just as common as Susie or Christy or Jenny is in the US, so I'm kinda sad. My middle names are Dawn Natalia but I really dislike Dawn because it's my mom's middle name. So I guess if I could go with anything I'd go with Natalia.

I adore the name Lily (that's what I'd name a daughter), so I guess if I were reborn and could choose my own name, that's what I'd go with.

[lizardek]

My parents couldn't agree what to name me. My mom wanted Elizabeth and my dad wanted Lisa, so they ended up naming me Elizabeth (Ann) and called me Lisa. Until Kindergarten, when I came home one day and announced that because there were FIVE Lisa's in my class, I didn't want to be Lisa anymore. I couldn't be "Beth" because I already had a cousin named Beth, so I ended up with Liz Which I'm really happy about now, but I remember as I child thinking Elizabeth was so horrible because it was long and old-fashioned. Now I love it

[Natooke]

I wish I was named Erin.

Kyle our son has had his name pronounced Ki , Koolee ... shoelee not sure of the rest of the country but the Y sounds like well ... a bunch of marbles in your mouth and ordering en Öl.

[Beverly]

My name is Beverly Anne (Beverly was my maternal grandmother's name and Ann is my paternal grandmother's middle name). When I was younger I used to wish I'd been named Rebecca or Elizabeth or something more "romantic," but I've been happy with Beverly since I was a teenager. I was the only Beverly in my high school, the only Beverly at my college, and I'm usually the only Beverly everywhere I go. I think that's cool, plus I also like having been named for my grandma. ;D

(P.S. Not everyone here pronounces your name the Swedish way, Helena! )

[Maja]

Yes Beverly you're right. And that's why my american friends are my favorite ;D
Really though, even in the US people weren't sure how to pronounce my name at first. I got a lot of Helen-ah's and Hel-ah-nah's. I thought about changing the spelling of my name here to Helina, but that looks really WRONG! It's just not right, I tell ya!

I'll just stick with what I get.

PS...all the Helena's I ever met in the US have dark red hair and freckles (myself included). What's up with that?

[Sandy]

Sandra Joan here... I never thought about what I might like otherwise, so I guess that I like this one just fine. My daughter is Haley and most Swedes pronounce it Ha-lay. She hates that and my husband is the worst one!

So, it's Haley Kathryn and Megan Heather. I love those names, but they both went through a stage where they liked the name Jennifer. So, I had a Jennifer Megan and a Jennifer Haley. ;D

[Cake Guru]

My parents had agreed on the name Jennifer for me, but after the birth (this was when kids had to have a name before leaving the hospital), when my mom was sleeping, Dad filled out the birth certificate and decided that he'd never really liked the name Jennifer. I got to be Shelley instead, named after Percy Bysse Shelley. I've always disliked my name. Try getting a Swede to pronounce it correctly. I have my own company and when I answer the phone potential clients ask for all kinds of other people, like Shirley, and Sharlee and Sally and then that famous Swedish SH that sounds like Skälla (ya know, skälla, like when dogs bark).

Personally, I have always liked the names Mollie and Lucy.