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[Opinions] What would your name have been...
...if your parents used your mother's maiden name?The thread about the Southern tradition of giving daughters their mother's maiden name as a first name piqued my interest. As I said in that thread, my name would have been Colby. Sounds a little too country to be me, but I could have lived with it.ETA: If you don't want to say the actual name, you could do the 'sounds like' thing ("It sounds like 'red'".)

This message was edited 7/1/2012, 4:26 PM

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Shattuck.It's actually my middle name.
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Bonstrom.No.
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There's just something about short British surnames ending in a full stop that doesn't appeal in the fn spot... esp. on a girl.
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Bender.Sounds more like a name for a boy!
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Pickering...Not to namey. If I had been my Grandmothers name I would be Manby.
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Adkins.....Ew.
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Dolce...no thanks.
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Crooks! Noooo lol.
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Henschel.My grandmother's maiden name is my mn, though- Arrington.
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It wouldn't have worked out very well. It's much too harsh for a girl, and it just doesn't work well as a first name in general. The beginning part sounds like "rod."
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Lindroth... I guess it could be shortened to Linn or Lynn but... *Yawn* is more like it.
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DuncanI adore it as a first name, although it would only work well on a boy. I also have several cousins with Duncan as a first or middle name so it would be kind of overkill. I can see it being kind of cool though. I would be a name that I would be proud to carry.
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RahnAs I said before, it's an abbreviated form of Raphan.
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Sounds like Sander, but has one more letter on the endit's my middle name and I've very glad it's not my first name.
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PriceIts a Welsh form of Rhys. They considered it for my brother spelt Pryce. I'm glad neither of us ended up with it as a first name, but I do like it as a surname.
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Whoa, I didn't know about the Price/Rhys connection. I just think of Vincent Price when I hear the surname Price.
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Westaway! mI couldn't deal with it as my own first name. It's so masculine to me. Would def consider using it as a MN on a son though.
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StephenCould be shortened to Steph :P Not too bad
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Fox!That would have been so cool! Paul fits me better, though, I think.
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I love Fox.
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SchellPeople would constantly be spelling it Shell or calling me Shelly, which I would've hated.
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I would have been MacMaster.Quite trendy!
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Quite! I think it's funny how some Mac/Mc names are so popular (or at least trendy) and others totally passed over.
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My mom's maiden name is a fairly unique Polish name ending in "fajn". A third of my family pronounces it "fawn" and a third of my family pronounces it with "fane" and another third pronounces it ending in "fine".I guess I would go by "Fawn" since that's the pronunciation I use and the closest thing to a first name I can get out of it. It would be spelled Fajn though, and that would be odd. Somewhere way back in my family tree is someone with the last name "Bagelopter" (or something similar to that). Now, that would make a terrible first name.

This message was edited 7/1/2012, 7:34 PM

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I read that as Bagelcopter...Carry on...
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And I read it as Bageltopper. Definitely not first name material. :)
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I was thinking dinosaurIt just had kind of that dinosaur feel to it.
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Rhymes with "Ripple". Would've been unique, I suppose. I don't think I would like it, not at all. Maybe with an a on the end it might be alright: -ippela.
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FlickingerYep, my name would've been Flickinger.
Though my mom would never have cursed me with that, though. She was often teased with "my friend Flicka" and "hey, Flick me!" jokes throughout her school years.
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Witton
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Mine would have been Cohen. It wouldn't have worked.
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WardWard as a male name I don't mind. But as a female name, I think it's really lacking something. Or maybe I just can't see its charms because I hear it a lot and all the shine's worn off it.They used it for my brother's middle name!
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I'd be seriously unhappy to have been given my mom's maiden name. It's Polish and complicated by Js that sound like Ys and fun letter combos like "sz." Definitely not the sort of surname that usually crosses over into first name use.
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mine would have been 'Fitting' it's not really a name so i would defiantly NOT like it.
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x

This message was edited 7/2/2012, 7:21 PM

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Barclay. I would have been teased because that's the name of Linda's dog on Sesame Street. I also remember what my one cousin said to help us remember how to spell our grandma's name. You BEAT RICE with a BAR of CLAY. Luckily (?) I'm not the first granddaughter on that side. If Chelle would have ended up with it, I'd be off the hook. Unless my parents decided to use a grandma's maiden name. Mueller or Grandy.Although, since we have plenty of last names that came from first names in my dad's side, two of my cousins (one male, one female) got that kind of a name (Peter and Danielle). Dani's son has a middle name that is a translation of her last name, Pierre. Yes, my aunt's maiden name and my uncle's last names are both forms of Peter, but come from different languages. My sister and another female cousin on that side gave their sons the mn Daniel, from their maiden names.

This message was edited 7/1/2012, 2:55 PM

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This message was edited 7/4/2012, 2:11 AM

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PeyronIt's one of my surnames (I have 2) and I don't exactly like it as a first name. I'd prefer Peyton.
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I can so see that working on a girl though. Seriously.
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Well, it would rhyme with Twitter, Critter and Knitter... it really would NOT have worked as a first name, especially as my mother went back to her maiden name after my parents divorced.By the way, it's "piqued" not "peaked". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pique
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If I had a nickel for every time I've seen "phase" on BtN when it should be "faze", I'd be rich. Not naming any names, and I actually don't remember any in particular. I've never bothered to correct it, but it's grating. Or should I say "greating", heh heh. Instead, I'll make a general announcement:If you are using the word to mean "disturb the composure of", it's "faze", not "phase". "That doesn't faze me", not "That doesn't phase me." Thank you!
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Haha, that one really gets me too!
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Another one I tend to mix up is "effect" and "affect."
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Oh yes, that's one I see misused a lot too! I don't get quite as bothered by the more uncommon homonyms, but still.And this just reminded me, another wrong one I see a lot (but not necessarily here) is "per say" when they mean "per se." Blah.We could have a whole fun thread on this in the Lounge I'm sure. :)
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If you post this in the Lounge, I'll reply...and I'm sure I won't be the only one. :)
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You're right. My bad. :)
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Well, my mother's maiden name wouldn't work for me, way too masculine. Holdread (pronounced like whole-dred) No good or even decent NNs could come out of it, at least in my opinion. Maybe Red? *Bleck* I think if I turned out to be a boy, though, it might've worked. And if I ever have a daughter, I wouldn't have her named after my maiden name, which is Asberry. Too many ass and dingle berry jokes, lol. I'm SO glad we don't have that tradition up here.

This message was edited 7/1/2012, 1:31 PM

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DearmanI'd be Dearman. I am SO glad I escaped that! I've lived in Alabama for several years and now another Southern state and I honestly don't think I've met anyone with their mother's maiden name as a FN. I've known quite a few with it as their mn but not fn.But when I was born she wasn't married so for a few years I had that as a last name, so I guess I wouldn't have been likely to be named that.
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Wood.I see that going down well in middle school. My parents did use a slight variation on my grandmother's maiden name for my sisters name, but the name was also my grandmother's fathers name.

This message was edited 7/1/2012, 1:03 PM

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JonesWhich I think is actually kinda cool. It has the Joan sound in it at least, even though I think I'd prefer it on a boy. I think it makes an awesome mn for a girl though.
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Doesn't work eitherThere's a reason Slavic last names are not usually used as first names, lol. Just to give a few last names from my my family tree as an example: Popović, Šimunec, Remenar, Mudifaj, Šantić, Skubić, Kolarić, Kolčić, etc.
I'd rather not share my mother's maiden name, but it's similar to Jambrošek.
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It sounds basically like (but looks nothing like) Young. I feel like that would be a strange name, male or female.
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Bieler.I'm not so sure that's workable, though you can get the nn "Bea" or "Bee" or something out of it, so...maybe?
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WeberEh.. No thanks.
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Hayamizu. Can't see it working. Although there would be some really cool nickname possibilities.
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I think that's one of those cases where it would be more constructive to just take 1 kanji from the name and do something else with it...
Hayato for a boy.
Mizuki for a girl.Could kinda work as a sibset.What area is that from anyway? It LOOKS Jpns., but I've never encountered it. Some names are quite regional.
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Let's just say I would of gotten a lot of Futurama jokes if I was named after my mother's maiden name.
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Must be Fry.
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I truly believe I would have the most unfortunate life if my name had been Horn."Hi, I'm Horn. Nice to meet you." Not only are there horny jokes but it is rather close to the word "whore". Just not a suitable first name.
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I'm not going to say it on here, but it's a well known boys' name so wouldn't work on a daughter! (And I don't think it works as a crossover to girls either, too well known for boys). If I liked it I'd consider using it for a future son but I'm not that keen on it. Might use it for a middle name though.
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BrogdonIt'd be like a cross between Brogan and Bogdan - very masculine.
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Doesn't work in my caseMy mom was never married to my dad. Therefore, both my mom and I share the surname Rowe. However, if I had been given my grandma's maiden name (which would be cool, too), then my name would be Rackham.
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Story
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McKaySounds trendy as a first name. Wouldn't like it.
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Fratarcangeli. No thank you! That'd be one heck of a name.
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It's a no go...Wouldn't work for the reason Polish last names don't really work as first names.
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I would be Boudreau. Meh, all set with the corrections in spelling and pronunciation tied to that thank you.
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Hamilton... uh. Yeah. Glad my brother got that one instead.
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wouldn't work eitherIt's an Italian patronymic name in two parts and with an apostrophe. Actually part of it is a first name, though a traditionally male one in Italy (but female in other places).
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it wouldn't work...Well, for one thing my mother was not married and I got her last name by default. But for the sake of the question, we'll imagine she was married.Nope, still doesn't work, not in this day and age. It's a two-word descriptive Indian-style name. We'll call it Tight Pants. (It isn't but it's an adjective plus noun combo.)
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I would die laughing if I met a Southern belle named Tight Pants. :)
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My name would have been Moore. I'm very glad I'm not named Moore. It does seem to fit in fine with some of the surnames that are being used on girls now--I've heard of baby girls being named Miller and Emerson and the like, and Moore is no worse than them, but as we all probably know by now, this is a fashion that I abhor.What I have always thought is that my mother should have made my brother's middle name Moore. He was given the same first name as his father, but a different middle name, so he wasn't a Junior, anyway. His name is John Richard--his father's first name was John, and Richard was the name of my mother's brother. But I could never see my mother using that name to honor her brother, being that she wasn't at all close to her brother and never even seemed to like him much. She did tell me that she was planning on calling my brother Ricky but it didn't take---he ended up being called Johnny. So I guess that was the rationale behind Richard. Being that it didn't take, though, I've always thought that John Moore would have been a lot better.
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Denehy, Dena for short.

This message was edited 7/1/2012, 8:50 AM

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Could totally work. I kinda like it.
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edited because it's basically only my family with this surname. It's a syllable shorter than Elephant and "Alfie" would be a nickname.

This message was edited 7/1/2012, 2:08 PM

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Wright. Yeah... no thanks :)
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