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I had a friend of this name back when I was in middle school. She was an overweight, not all that attractive girl, and the name always makes me think of her. She always said that she was given the name because her mother had prayed to St. Gerard when she was pregnant with her, to implore him to see to it that she had a healthy baby, due to the fact that she had previously had two miscarriages. For that reason, it always makes me think of Catholicism, though I don't know that it IS a particularly Catholic name. My friend didn't have a nickname, she was always called Geraldine.

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Okay, so that's a personal association, and not really a great one, but of course I'm the only one who would have it. What do I think of the name when I can free myself from the association? I think it's clunky and ugly, and I don't think that I feel that way just because my friend was...well, you know. I *think* that I would feel that way even if I had never known her.

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The nickname Geri is very unfortunate. If I had to have a nickname, I'd prefer Dina.