I've written on Swiss Lark about choosing a name for your baby and changing (or not changing) your name after getting married. But, what about your own name?
As modern humans, we like to subscribe to the idea that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," but just as was illustrated in Romeo and Juliet, played by Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey (pictured), we all know that there is more to a name that just a combination of sounds. Names carry plenty and can give someone an impression of us before they've even seen our face.
All throughout grade school and high school, I always really liked my name. I felt that Lindsey was a strong, solid name; the type of name people would take seriously and respect. It was lucky that I was named Lindsey before the name got really popular. I was always the only Lindsey in all of my classes and it felt like a unique and great name to have in general.
Then, Lindsay Lohan came along. At first she was ridiculously cute, like in The Parent Trap. Adorable! Then she was just delightful in Mean Girls. But then she entered her total train wreck phase, and she doesn't seem to have come out of it since. I kid you not, Lindsay Lohan really seems to have tainted the name Lindsey. People seem to react differently to the name since she went off the rails. At least it seems that way to me.
Then, a few years ago, I saw this movie clip from Our Idiot Brother and could not believe its portrayal of the name Lindsey. (Starting at 45 seconds). It is like the complete opposite of what I've always thought of my name. Gah!
What is your impression or your name? Do you think it matches what others think of when they hear your name? I've had many unrelated people over the years tell me I look more like a Megan than a Lindsey. Ha! So tell me, do you like your name?
(Photo of Leonard & Olivia via Cloudpix)
I actually love my name (Amanda Jane) as well and felt very pressured to find a great name for my first child! Amanda was not very popular in the late 70's - early 80's and I liked having an uncommon name. We named our daughter Daphne Marigold and we felt like it was unusual but still soft and feminine. We honestly are obsessed with her name! ;D We did not know what we were having so we had boy names selected too. Our other choice for a girl was Imogen. We won't be recycling names for baby number two. I just felt like those names were for Daphne and are sort of 'hers'? Weird, I know. So we are starting over from scratch! But your original question - do I love my name. Yes, I do! Good job Mom and Dad! They named my brother Larry so I lucked out LOL!
ReplyDeleteI love that you're still so into your daughter's name! And so interesting that you won't recycle the names. We wrote down Coco's and Theo's names on the paperwork in the hospital when she was born because we didn't know the gender. Totally used the unused name on round two! ;)
DeleteMy name is Jessica, and I was born in 1980. NO ONE was named Jessica before 1980, and then, BAM, the 80s happened. I haaaaated it growing up. I hated that I always had to have my last initial stuck to my name because there was always another Jessica in my class. As an adult, I'm more at peace with it, but that hate did affect how we named our first two children (and how we'll name our third). Case in point: I love the name Jack but flat out REFUSED to name my son Jack because it's so popular!
ReplyDeleteI know many many many little Jacks. Probably a smart move! I feel like all the Lindseys came along about five years after I did. I was born in 1979. And one of my best friends growing up was named Jessica! ;)
DeleteI like my first name but am so so glad my parents picked it over my middle name, which I dislike for no good reason really! But as Jessica says, being a Lucy in the late 80s early 90s meant being Lucy S as there were always others in my classes. No danger of that for my little Silvia! I still love her name so much, very intensely. I don't feel as strongly about names for our second- but with her I almost knew before I was pregnant we would have a daughter called Silvia Marianne ��
ReplyDeleteLucy was actually one of our name picks for Coco because we love Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View so much! Such a great name. If you had grown up in the US, I think you would have been the only Lucy most of the time. I don't feel it's very popular here. So interesting! Silvia's name is beautiful - and very unique. Love it!
DeleteLove a literary reference. Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility is a factor in Silvia's middle name 😍
DeleteLOVE A Room with a View!!! <3
ReplyDeleteMy name (Sabine) is a VERY popular German/Swiss name, but when I moved to Canada I was the only with that name in my classes/schools all the time. I didn't mind it either way (popular/non-popular). I did always know when a teacher would come upon my name when reading the attendance...a big pause...and then mispronounce it ;) I still automatically spell out my name when someone asks me for it. :)
My name is Helen, which is a lot more popular with women my age in Australia where I grew up. In 2008 I moved to the US, and people think I'm 80 years old until they meet me. My mother nearly called me Elspeth but decided it might be too old fashioned. Haha!
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