Improving on what your parents gave you

[naomikritzer]

Molly informed me the other day that when she grows up, she wants to add a silent E to both her first and middle name, to make them look better. Mollye Jeane.

Kiera, meanwhile, is going to change her name to Kate. Ed offered to start calling her Kate immediately, but she declined. She wants to be Kiera until her 18th birthday, and Kate thereafter.

Comments

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Well, I really did change my first name ;).

On the other hand, I didn't change it to what I called myself in second grade.

[naomikritzer]

Well, I really did change my first name ;)

From what, to what?

In second grade, I wanted the name "Arabella." I got over that, though...

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

What, you don't think "Arabella Kritzer" goes together? (Or that you have a second career as a romance writer?)

[cnoocy]

I think "Arabella Kritzer" sounds more like a character's name than an author's. In fact, it sounds a bit like one in particular.

[naomikritzer]

Molly loved those books.

[joxn.livejournal.com]

Geeze, Molly's thinking small. -- joXn

[naomikritzer]

And I think I even told her the story of your silent X recently.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Hee :) I suppose suggesting that Molly go with silent Q's instead would fall under the heading of Contributing to the Delinquency of Minors? ;^)

When I was ten, I decided "Sylvia" was an old-lady name and told everyone I wanted to be called ::blushes and hides under desk:: Sylvey Rae. It lasted a few months before I, um, thought better of it.

I also for many years wanted to be named Laura (as in Laura and Mary). I still think Laura is a great name.

[naomikritzer]

Mqolly?

Mollqy?

Where would you put the silent Q? I suppose it doesn't really matter, since it's silent...

[cnoocy]

Qmolly. Then you get the cool initial.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Yes, the beauty of the silent Q is that you can put it anywhere you want. Really messes with people's heads. If, you know, you like that sort of thing.

[yankee-in-texas.livejournal.com]

In 8th grade, on the first day of class when the teachers called roll, I informed tham that I was called Ty. Including the teacher who I'd had in 7th grade. She was cool about it.

I was Ty from 8th grade to 12th grade.

When I was going to college, I thought about what I wanted to be called for the rest of my life, and switched back to my actual name. I learned from my grandmother, who was called "Dickie" in college and remained "Dickie" to all her college friends for the rest of her life. He mug from her 50th college reunion said "Dickie Bird" on it. Nobody calls this woman Dickie Bird now. She is a world-class athlete and she'd tie your arms behind your back if you tried. :)

[naomikritzer]

My freshman year roommate arrived with the nickname "Ruby." She switched back to Rukaiyah sometime in early October, which gave me a few hiccups, but fortunately they start with the same syllable so it's easy to switch midway through and pretend you were saying the right name all along.

So you can make the switch partway through college, but you do have to do it early.

[cnoocy]

One of the members of the band Girlyman dropped "amm" from the middle of her name to become Ty between the first and second release of their first album. It's possible that it's easier to change your name if you have a mailing list already.

[mngwinn.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

Whenever people ask us if Zoe's name has an umlaut, we let them know that she can add it herself when/if she's a pretentious teenager. It's good to plan for future expansion.