The baby naming game.

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My name is Chantelle, but you might like to call me Charmaine, Charlotte or Siobhan. Why not? Everyone else seems to. I like my name, but for as long as I can remember people have been getting it wrong. Heck, even my Dad spelt it with an ‘S’ for a few years.

The other day an acquaintance called me by the name Charmaine, and I let her. Afterwards I giggled to Hubby that in her company I’d now be known as Charmaine. He got a bit frustrated, “Why didn’t you just correct her?” I don’t know why I didn’t. I hate awkward moments, so I let it go. I know that eventually we’ll have an even more awkward moment coming up when she figures out what my real name is. Sigh.

When we got married the marriage celebrant called me Charmaine too. We’d met once or twice before the wedding, and she did greet me as I arrived at our ceremony but for the actual official part she called me Charmaine. I know someone should have raised it, but it was our wedding day and who really cares? Well, some of the guests did but I thought it was kinda comical.

For the past year my Ma has started doing this funny thing. When she orders a coffee, drink or anything and they ask for her name, she gives them a fake one. My brother-in-law told her once how fun it was, so she embraced it. {We REALLY know how to have a rocking good time in our family!}. I only noticed when we were sitting waiting for coffees and the person behind the counter called Anne and my Ma jumped up to grab the order. A puzzled look came across my face and I was all like, “What the?” I thought my Ma had gone mad. For the record her real name is Patricia.

People are funny about names. You either really care, or you don’t care much at all. If you’ve ever had to name a child, you’d know, people REALLY care. Especially if you’re Kim Kardashian, Princess Kate or any other celebrity who has named a baby in recent times. People care.

People feel really entitled to judge your choice in names. I used to work for a parenting website, and the baby name articles are traffic gold. People love them. They love to judge and rant and rave about people’s choices. Having a slow traffic day? Write a post about baby names. Winning.

Hubby named Lacey. Well, her middle name is a family name, and so too will this baby’s name. But this time I get to pick the first name. Oh the PRESSURE. Naming a baby is hard work. We have 4 names picked out, but I always thought it would be something that I’d think about a lot… I thought it would be on my list of my most important things to think about while pregnant. Turns out growing a healthy baby takes a lot of your brain power up, as well as insomnia, constant toilet breaks and enjoying the baby kicks {I can’t get enough of those this pregnancy}.

Out of the names I’ve picked, the top runners are ones I’ve loved since before I met Hubby. I hope that when I meet our little one I just know what name suits. I like something a little different. I like to think that there won’t be handfuls of kids at the same school with the same name, so that they have to be forever known as their first AND last name. I want it to suit them as an adult whether they turn out to be a high-flying lawyer or a creative soul who creates paintings for a living. It’s a big ask.

Got any awesome last minute baby names to throw in the ring? I’m all ears and eyes. x

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83 thoughts on “The baby naming game.”

  1. So it’s something I think about all the time I guess cause I can’t wait for a family my future husband and I have decided that since my last name dies with me, my dad has all sisters who have married and taken their husbands names as will I – bragan will no longer be a last name, it will be a first name to my first born. Boy or Girl heck we made it up so we can choose whatever sex gets it! I love the idea and we haven’t told the family I can’t wait till a baby is born to see my fathers face 🙂

  2. We just found out last week that we are having our 3rd girl, and it was difficult to choose a decent girl name. All of the names we had chosen were for a boy. We like to have our baby named before birth, so it took a lot of discussion and googling, but we finally landed on the perfect first name. The middle name is for my aunt, who passed away from cancer in June.

    Good luck!

  3. I had to laugh hearing your celebrant got your name wrong, on our wedding day the minister kept calling my husband Erin instead of Aaron glad to hear we’re not alone

  4. First name, Chandos, is a family maiden name. When my last child was born, We named her Caden. It never fit her. My wife had “made up” her middle name by combining two names. When she was 11 months old, we changed her first name to her middle name and have her my wife’s middle name as HER middle name. It totally fits her. No regrets. Good luck!

    http://dontlicktheferrets.com

  5. Whatever you decide think about the spelling, I have to spell my name everyday to someone & drives me batty at times. My name is not common but not that different either. No one ever remembered it or they remembered me as the girl with the ‘weird’ name. P.S my name is Nyree

  6. Try being called “Aroha”. It’s pronounced arrowah, but I get all kinds of things. Ariel, Aurora, Aliah, you name it I get it! Unless someone is a kiwi, because it’s a kiwi name that means love, so I always know when someone is a kiwi b/c they don’t flinch at my name or say, “What?” 5 times before saying “What kind of name is that?!” It is a big job naming kids. You have to make sure it goes with your last name, goes with your other kids’ name(s), can’t be shortened to something mean or rhyme with something bullying…my mum said “Just don’t give him a weird name” when we were pregnant. I am sure the look on my face said it all, before I said, “Speaking from experience!?” As it was, we named him after a sports star, and so he has the Swedish spelling of Nicholas. Which means he’ll forever be spelling his name for people. Good luck, I’m sure you’ll find the perfect name for your bub.

  7. Yep leave the big decision until you have spent hours labouring, pushing or taken a significant amount of drugs then been given high of a lifetime when you finally meet that precious baby you have been growing. It won’t seem so hard or complex then 🙂

  8. My parents did not realize they cursed me with an “unusual” name when I was born. My name is Alisha, rhyming with Patricia, as opposed to Aleesha. Although I have always hated correcting everyone, I do enjoy being the only Alisha around. Best wishes with the name game! 🙂
    P.S. I always use “Kate” when giving my name for reservations or coffee. It’s just easier that way.

  9. Charmaine is the charecture in a book that I love, by Diana whynn Jones. I love evangaline, Ghennavieve and Shophie. I also love Bromwen, Wren, and Zoie.

  10. My name is Anastasia. It’s the only name that my parents could agree on. I have two middle names. The first is the one my mother wanted and she invented the spelling. The second is a family name in my father’s family that I had to have because I was the first born. I love my name. I just get tired of being asked “What do you go by?”.

  11. I have a really “normal” name BUT still on my wedding day the minister called me something completely different…..I can’t exactly remember what now but I think it was either Rachel or Alison. Funnily enough I also had a high school teacher that called these exact same names!! The Alison came from my maiden name (Alliston) but apparently I “look” like a Rachel!!! So I know how you feel!! Baby naming is hard and everyone has strong opinions on baby names, which is why we kept our shortlist of names to ourselves until after our daughter was born and named….then people had no choice but to say nice things!! She has an unusual name but its not that hard to spell and everyone that meets her says her name suits her completely, so I think we did well!

  12. Naming children has got to be one of the hardest things – and it’ll keep coming back to bite you! My dad still can not get my 2.5 year old’s name correct (and it drives me nuts!). And you’d think my name, Nicole, would be pretty easy, but I get Michelle (?!?) pretty often.

  13. my parents called me Merril. They were not of the flower power generation, pretty straight laced really, but clearly on drugs when they chose this. I’m 40 and EVERYONE I know and love spells my name with either two L’s or like Meryl Streep. I don’t like my name, never have, but when it came to naming my daughter I had strict criteria- No ‘special’ spelling, must not sound like she’s still a preschooler when introducing herself, and it suited her surname. We’re happy with what we came up with. we can’t name our kids to protect them from other people’s stupid, but we can make it a lot easier on them from the start!

  14. My husband also gives fake names when ordering coffee. it started when a girl at a coffee shop said, “what name should I put down?” rather than asking his name. But he gives outlandish fake names. Like Lancelot. Or Mr Darcy. His last effort was Wilfred. I’m usually torn between laughing myself silly and walking away in shame…

  15. It’s interesting you say that you want a baby name that will still suit as an adult. My best friend is about to have baby #2, but with baby #1 (a boy) the front runner of names was Archie. There was a last minute change and he ended up be called Zachary. Her second baby is also a boy so I asked if Archie was still on the table (I absolutely LOVE the name Archie). She loves it but her husband made the point of “Archie is a boys name but I don’t really think it’s a man name”. I get it, it makes a lot of sense but I do so love Archie! For myself and hubby if we have a girl we like the name Quorra (pronounced Cora) from the movie Tron Legacy (yes, we are nerds). But I told hubby we would have to spell it differently because it would never get pronounced right. He wants to leave it as is. Hmmmmm.

    • Oh and I get Anne all the time for my name. Or Ellen. Or Karen. And I’ve even had an Ian before (umm…. i’m a girl). You wouldn’t think a 4 letter name would be so hard.

        • Haha aren’t they all! My brother is Nik, not Nick or Nicholas, and while it is normal in Europe as a derivative of Nikolas, EVERYONE here spells it Nick and assumes his name is Nicholas. Even in his school year book they put Nicholas! It drives him nuts. Such a simple name, but so much hassle. He truly hates it!

    • My little boys name is Archer, although I’m not a fan or Archie he does get it from others. I think Archer is a gorgeous mans name so happy we went with that. At home we call him Chachi …. its a long story but comes from his older sister misprouncing it when they were both babies.

  16. My Hubbie was called Anthony instead of Alex when we were married. (We thought it was amusing aswell.) We named our first boy once we saw him. We had chosen a couple but when he was laying on my chest and opened his big beautiful eyes we knew straight away he was our little Liam. We are now waiting for the arrival of our second little man and we have picked a few names but part of the decision came also from how our first born’s name goes when the second is said. eg. ‘we have two boys Liam and Ethan or Liam and Owen etc’
    I guess once the little guy is out we’ll know. Best wishes for everyone who is due soon. xx

  17. no names to throw in, but I have a rule for when I name my future babies…it must be [reasonably] phonetic. Oh the many interpretations of Saraid!

  18. We named our son Keili (pronounced Keeley) but is taken from tge Fijian name Kili. He always gets called Kelly. Or she/her if being discussed over the phone for appointments. It is incredibly frustrating but this next bub I will be sure to choose a name easily read and pronounced. Goodluck in choosing – I think once you meet bub you just know, xx

  19. One of the things that I did during pregnancy was scan movie credits for names. I never picked one that way but you can get some great ideas.Good luck!

  20. It’s SO hard! Hubby and I were having this very conversation last night. I make the short list and he rules things out. At the moment we have only one girls name and one boys name that we agree on, so hopefully they suit bub when it arrives.

  21. I have a fake coffee name (Sam) because I was sick of spelling my name or repeating it (Charlotte). I’ve had so many spelling variations of my name over the years. It’s getting better now since the name seems to be back in Vogue again!

  22. My name isn’t so unusal now, but growing up caused me some grief. I constanly got Your name is what? Molly? Milly? Miley? Mellie? M lee? I even once picked up my lunch from the canteen and it had Milo on it. Mellie was probably the closet pronounciation to my actual name which is M’leigh. As a kid I hated it, but now I love it, it’s something a bit unique I have that my mum gave me and with her no longer here it means a little bit more to me now. Picking names is so difficult, I always have a few because they don’t always suit the little face they are going to. This time I have my girls names picked, Maisie and Eloise, I may even use both. Boys names have me totally stumped though.

  23. My husband and I have a list of 20- girls and 20 boys names but we as we’ve been trying for almost 3 years we are super-precious about them and don’t share them with anyone. We hope by the time we get to have a baby all our friends haven’t used all the names we like 😛

    Good luck! I’m sure you’ll have the perfect name when you see the face of your little baby 🙂 My pet peeve is random spelling to make an ordinary name different, way to make things frustrating for a kid! It always reminds me of the comedy movie Couples Retreat and one of the characters is Sctanly (the C is silent).. hilarious!

  24. It was easy for us once we knew we were having a little girl. Before that, discussions were tense and insults were flicked at one another like rubber bands! Boys names were HARD!! Did our heads in! We had a few names picked, a middle name was definite- Ann- and the last name would be my DP- no double barrelled names for us 🙂 When she was born, my partner looked at her and he said to me ” Yes, definitely Demi. She’s a Demi”….it was I who threw the spanner in the works when i wanted to call her Emma. A name we never discussed or even liked really but i wanted to do it-maybe it was hormones?! We went with Demi and she really is a Demi! You’ll know when you see bubba 🙂

  25. I’m offering no advice whatsoever. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that you have to listen to your own gut instinct (or let’s say heart – that sounds nicer!) when it comes to naming your own little ones. And once it’s done, you won’t be able to imagine them with any other name.
    I’ve named three little people and their names all suit them perfectly. I know others would probably have preferred something different, but they get over it.
    FWIW I love your mum! I gave a fake name when I was buying a coffee once and felt like a complete fraud, and was worried I’d be found out. I could never be a criminal of any kind. 😉 I also ticked the ‘doctor’ box as my title when subscribing to a magazine just for fun – and feel guilty every month when my mag arrives addressed to Dr Carolyn.

    • I’m with you Carolyn, I have four kids and hated the advice ‘offered’ whilst pregnant. During my first pregnancy some people were so critical over my suggestions of names for MY baby that thereafter I refused to share any ideas with anyone other than my husband!

  26. I’ve written pages full of lists of names, but still haven’t decided on one! My partner is a school teacher so a lot of names are crossed off as they remind him of certain students. Then we also have the hard task of making sure it sounds ok in French, as he is aswell and we will be going there every couple of years!! It’s driving me crazy! I already had names I wanted for my kids since before I met my partner, now they have all been thrown out the window.

  27. I have an unusual name and as much as I love it, I do sometimes avoid correcting people because it’s just so awkward!( I had a music teacher that said it wrong for 5 years I think I gave up correcting her around year 3) When our son was born we choose an name that wasn’t common but easily spelt and understood for that reason! IN saying that my husband has a really plain name with no middle name so people always think his last name is his first name! Good luck!

  28. I love my name, but always got frustrated at school when substitute teachers would come in and call me Justin. Obviously I’m a girl and there’s an ‘e’ on the end – it’s not like my name is weird or unusual, but even as an adult I have to spell it for everyone!

  29. When my 27 year old was born I named her Caitlin and everyone said what kind of name is that!!! Now it is very popular although, as far as I’m concerned misspelt far too often. She is definitely a Caitlin. I like names that are derived from other languages and backgrounds as long as they are phonetically pronounced (Siobhan always worries me!) but I definitely don’t like made up names. There are enough names in the world already without inventing more! Both my children were given names that were appropriate for childhood and adulthood and sounded well with their surnames. My same James was named in the last throes of labour, but my daughter’s name had been ‘on the drawing board’ for many years. Second names were family names! Good luck. Will look forward to hearing the end result! As far as spelling goes, I have to spell my name nowadays anyway so I don’t feel that is an issue – just as long as it looks what it says once you see it! Just saying!

    • Our Caitlin is spelt the same as yours Christine and always amazed by the amount of different ways that it is spelt 🙂

      • Me too, especially one friend who told me she was naming her daughter after my Caitlin and then spelt it Katelynn!!! As fr as I’m concerned Caitlin is the correct spelling as derived from the Irish form of Catherine!

  30. I have one of those ridiculously popular names. There were six or seven who finished year 10 with me (it dropped to five for the HSC). Because of that I am very drawn to unusual or unique names. My kids both have names that while they aren’t “out there” they aren’t what I would consider popular, although Greenie’s name seems to be becoming a fair bit more popular. I had never known anyone with his name and now I’ve heard of a few little kids sharing his name. Bluey’s name I had crossed paths with here or there, but it was still uncommon.
    Especially hard to name your child when you work in childcare. I had a lot of preconceptions and idea’s with names because of the children I cared for, and I didn’t want that with my child. I wanted a blank canvas.

  31. I often get asked if I am from America or do I love American movies/actors/cars because my kids’ names have that feel…. Cruise, Tex and Chevy. Nope, none of the above, I just loved the names!

  32. good luck with the name challenge Chantelle – I’m sure you’ll know when you meet the bub

    I’m a Laura and they get my name wrong all the time at coffee shops – both Dora and Nora!!!!! I’ll put it down to my English accent…

    • I’m in England but am American, and most often people think I’ve said Gloria or Moira – I didn’t even know the latter was a proper name, thought they’d made it up – but the fact that neither of these even rhyme with Laura means I must say my name really weirdly! 🙂

  33. Mine goes a little something like this…
    “My name is Qew”
    “Oh is that your full name”
    “Yes like the letter but no U”
    “Oh like James Bond”
    “I guess so”
    “So your Dad is a huge James Bond fan?”
    “No, he is a bikie covered in tats”
    “Oh!”
    My Dad made my name up, I love it and wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s great to be unique 🙂
    xx

  34. When we were expecting our twins hubby got to choose a boy and a girl name as did I, to this day I love the way that he came up with our first born’s name. There used to be an ad on TV – Sick Em Rex for Antz Pantz. A couple of months before the girls were born in the Where are they now section of the Melbourne Herald Sun was the girl that was in the ad and her name was Toneya, hence that is our daughters name. It is original and I have not come across too many!

  35. I’ve never had babies to name, but if I had, I would’ve thought about what they would go through with that name. I would never want them to go through what I did when I was growing up. My folks started off giving us family names…mine was an old name, meant for an old person. The ridicule all through school and well into my adult years was very difficult for me. Soon after turning 30, I learned that I could just change my name. My mom and my grandmother said they understood and gave their blessing. That was theee best decision I ever made in my whole life! And it was well received by friends and family.

    Today, my heart goes out to the little ones who have so many years to grow into their ‘old’ names. Those of you preparing to give birth and choosing that very important name, please, please take into considerable consideration what this child might have to endure with a potential name before pinning it on her/him. God bless your little ones.

  36. My other half’s name is Bowen and he has always hated it. He goes by Bo or his rough nickname Bozo (I can’t call him this as I can’t get over the derogatory connotations). Our daughters name is Layla spelled the Arabic way. Give your child a real name with options for nicknames. Layla is really small for her age and somehow ended up being called Shorty more than any other name, other nicknames for her are Lay lay (she got this more as a baby) and I always thought Elle(L) was a more modern clean nickname for her as a teen. She’s five. My name is Sarah as a child I thought it was too boring and common but I live my name now. Use a family middle name it means more that way if you want to be a little crazy join two together Deanne is our traditional middle name Anne and my grandads name David Edmund joined.

  37. I had one name picked out for my son and that was Kruize and its suits him down to a T! he is such a cruisy baby! LIfes pretty Cruisy with my Kruizey as we say! haha

  38. I could throw in some names Chantelle, (or Charmaine 😉 ) but it sounds like you have your names worked out already! I named my son Ishan as he is half Indian and would match his surname.

    So I like a lot of Indian names like Freida and Anushka…I can be certain that they will be the only ones in the class at school with these names. Can’t wait to hear the name you choose 🙂 http://www.chaiacupoflife.com

  39. It would be hard picking a name for a baby I remember all the way back to when I had mine and yes it was hard and one name we picked did not suit.so I wish you luck and I am sure you will pick the right one.

  40. I don’t have any kids yet, but when I do I want to choose a name that goes well with the lastname and isn’t something embarrassing. I think at first the child won’t care- till it starts kindergarten or day care – kids can be cruel. Let alone High School. And I’d like them to feel good when they introduce themselfes as an adult, too (speaking about Bud Wiser and co). I do have some favourites, especially for girls: Marlena, Joanna, Lilia and Anna. Boys not so much yet- seems to be harder somehow 🙂 But I like Samuel, Florian and Ben.
    However you’ll decide, Chantelle: you have to have a good feeling about the name and most important will be the love and comfort you give to the little one. You’ll do it!

  41. I named our little boy Dane Kanoa. Our daughter has a more unusual name. We named her Kitten Kaiulani. We thought it through & knew she would get Kitty as a little girl & could switch to Kit when she is older if she prefers. Both middle names are Hawaiian as we were married there.

  42. Well your Hubby did a great job picking Laceys name! I’m excited to know what you’ll pick for number two!!

  43. I’ve spent my whole life spelling my first and last names. My first name is Leith. I answer to Leigh, Lily, Leah, Leaf, etc. I spent years wanting to be called something more normal, like Jodie or Rebecca. I now love it. I always say my name is Lily when I order a coffee! It’s much easier than spelling it out. When we had kids I picked the boys names and hubby picked the girls. Both were boys so I won both times! We have a very girly surname so I chose strong manly names, Ned and Henry. My mother always says that if you pay the bills you can call your kids whatever you want!

  44. People ask if I’m Katie or Kate and I tell them they can call me either, but it frustrates me when people assume that I’m a Katherine because I’m not, and assuming that kind of suggests that someone doesn’t think that’Katie’ (my actual name) is a name in it’s own right!

  45. My name is Tara, my sister is Deanna and my partner is Kent. All great names and generally a bit different but not strange. Am 20wks pregnant and have the girl names picked, now just working on some boy options. Will check in for ideas later 🙂 PS trying choosing names after teaching for 15 yrs!! Hard as!!!

  46. At birth I was given a name people can’t spell, pronounce or even remember (Shannene). Thankfully births, deaths & marriages let me change it for a mere $70 to an easy-to-remember “Chanel” but I still get called Michelle, Chantelle, Shappelle, etc. Simple names are nice, methinks!

  47. People call me Aleesha but it’s pronounced Alisia (I’m Alicia). It’s Italian for Alice. I always hated it growing up now I love it as its different.
    My hubby named our daughter Chiara – pronounced with silent H, people say ch iara…. I have been told its a horrible name to my face, and why do that to your daughter?
    Well it’s Italian and do you pronounce the H in Chloe or Christine??
    I think its good to be differebnt, but not too out there I think.

  48. I had several names picked. For three days my daughter had a completely different name to the one she ended up with – I announced the first name as her name to quite a few friends – then in a moment of weakness I changed it. For the record I wish I had kept the original.

  49. Ha ha! I laughed when I saw Siobhan, at the beginning of your blog! I am Siobhan, and a close family friend was Chantelle -oh the confusion after the parents had a few drinks!
    I now work in Aged Care, and just answer to whatever they want to call me! I also hear some residents having heated discussions about my name! Some get very upset when they hear others shorten it, Some think it is very pretty, but others just can’t get their toungue around it! Seriously, it isn’t hard to pronounce, but people get blindsided by the spelling!!! To make things even more annoying for me – my sister (with the good old, plainer name of Susan) up and married an Irishman – and moved there! It’s hard enough explaining that – yes – my name is Irish – but no – I am 5th generation Australian, but oh, my sister lives in Ireland!
    My husband and I decided on what we thought were simple names for our boys – Caleb, Luca and Asher – what we thought were nice phonetic names – but sadly – no – All get mispronounced – or misspelled – I do envy my husband – Scott – can’t really go wrong with that!!!

  50. I have always had lists of names tucked somewhere in my diary of what I would name my child/ren and pets.. some have stood the test of time and never left that list. When I first found out I was pregnant I thought name picking would be so much fun and change soo often throughout the 9 months. From the moment it sunk it that it was real we had two girl names picked out and they stayed with us the entire pregnancy until little miss was born when we narrowed it down to one by seeing what ‘suited her’. I still can’t quite believe I didn’t have a million other names floating around, changing my mind.

    • Oh I’m pretty sure the name I ended up picking never featured on my list(s). I also give a fake name when doing phone pick up orders etc and always tend to use Isabel? My real name Tarina gets a “sorry, what was that?” Everytime I say it. Half the people I know think my name is Trina or Katrina, but I dont mind or bother to correct them either.

  51. I don’t see your pick being a CEO… Maybe the next Bo Bo… (Your right. Opinion given too freely). Growing up as a Penelope (my nick name is Penny-both brought lots of teasing) I am afraid you choice may not give her a lot of peace. But she’s beautiful!!!

  52. Both my Boys have “Old” Biblical names. I love them. My oldest I’ve had picked out since I was a Kid. It’s Nathaniel. We call him Nate for short and I absolutely hate when people try to call him Nathan. My Youngest is Noah. He was a surprise and was Named in the delivery room.

    My Name I’ve always had trouble with. While I Love it and it’s unusual, most people get it wrong. My Name is not AMY. It’s Amie (The french feminine pronunciation for Friend.) I gave up in kindergarten on trying to correct people on how to say and and just stuck with the pronunciation of AMY. My Grandma even refuses to say it correctly. Now as an Adult I have a few close friend who say it correctly and even introduce me with my true name.

  53. It’s a fun thing to read the comments from the other side of the planet. Some of your “extraordinary” names are well known over here (like Charlotte, which is very en vogue these days) others are totally new to me.
    I have a name which has been very unusual and get’s more and more known and modern. But as a kid I hated it: Jette. There was a car Jetta (which was very uncool) and Americans used to call me Yoda. I’m neither a car freak nor green…
    Our little one is named after my mum who passed away 18 months earlier. The middle name is “from us”, gives a modern, chaotic spin, and fits her perfect… Anna Lotta goes so well together in German that many people always use both names. I don’t really mind.

  54. My sister’s name is Sonya. It’s pronounced Sawn-yah, but people are forever calling her Sone-yah. It drives me crazy, but she’s like you…she doesn’t correct them! For a while in high school I took to spelling my name Dayna, because I was tired of people referring to me as Danna, or Dawna. I worked for a woman that was VERY particular about calling people by their proper name and spelling it correctly, so perhaps she rubbed off on me!

  55. I respond to anything that sounds even close to Taryn. I get Karen most often and I rarely correct people unless it’s important. Strangely, I get Pam a lot too, although I don’t really see how Pam sounds like Taryn. If I do correct someone, there is a lot of “like Karen but with a T”. Spelling it out becomes a mission, and I have to slow it right down and enunciate every letter as proper as I can. And to top it off, my surname isn’t much easier.

    • Yay! another Taryn! It is frustrating sometimes that NO ONE ever gets your name right and you have to repeat yourself over, then when they do get it right it’s “oh that’s an unusual name!” I have never had anyone call me Pam though, lol! I also have a difficult surname so whenever we have to leave a name (for takeaway orders and the like) I always say my husbands name Colin, no one gets that one wrong!
      This was a huge factor for me when naming my 3 boys. I always said that I would give my children names that everyone knew and could spell easily! There are plenty of names out there that are known but not common (so not every second kid in school has the same name as your child’s)

    • I could have written this! I am Taryn too. I also answer to Karen, Sharyn and once Sheryl. I also do the Karyn with a T bit.

      For the record when I order coffee I am Anna. 🙂
      I always thought I would pick easy names for my kids, to avoid the hassle I had with my name, not sure I succeeded though, I have a Jye, Nate & Macklin……..

  56. My hubby works in a hospital nursery and sees some names that just make him shake his head. His advice is to think how the child will feel in 2nd grade, in jr. high, or when filling out a job application.

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