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I am a Caroline and I associate the name not so much with myself as much as the masses of women I know named Caroline from the southern US. Most of these women are, how do I say this nicely? They’re not my type. They have struck me as superficial, silly, shallow, and conservative on the whole, though I know there are variations of course. I think it’s kind of an “I want to fit in” type of name and I hate that. I can’t imagine why my hippie parents chose it for me.

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But when I think about the name itself, I realize that its sound is really open, happy, sunny even. It’s not aggressively pretty or gentle. When I try to disconnect myself from all the Lilly Pullitzer wearing cultural Christian sorority sister Carolines I’ve known, I think the name is actually really nice and bright.

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