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Re: Betty
I think it's better to have a name that offers more possibilities rather than fewer. Name a girl Betty and she's stuck with it, even if a serial killer named Betty lives in the same town. If she'd been Elizabeth, she could have reinvented herself with no fuss. Even Bettina is preferable - could be Betty, Bettina or Tina!I've got a niece named Laine and a friend named Vickie. They both report that in times of stress, people who don't know them that well call them Elaine or Victoria - and that they've often just kept walking, 'knowing' that whoever was being called, it wasn't them. Tricky if it's your boss who needs to tell you that you're late for your disciplinary hearing or your mother's just died.
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Name changes for bad associationWhy would someone need to change their name just because another person with it does something bad? Gosh forbid if there’s ever a serial killer with my name I won’t just go and change it. Why let the awful person own it?
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That's a good point. I have a cousin named Jenny, and new teachers would always try to call her "Jennifer". No matter how gently she corrected them, some people in positions of power don't take well to being corrected. She said there were at least a couple of teachers over the years that she felt resented her a little.
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I hate when domineering people do that with names! Sadly, many adults do that to children with names frequently.
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