With names like we're talking about, though, they don't go by "Mary," they go by "Mary _______." So, to go with one of KSUViolet's examples, Mary Carter Lastname would be called Mary Carter by family and friends. You still do find just plain old Marys here and there, but Mary ______ is probably more common.

Yep, my mom is a Mary _____. She has an aunt who was a Mary _____. I wanted one of my daughters to be Mary Charlotte, Mary Claire, or Mary Margaret. My husband vetoed.

Still.. Mary in any way, shape or form isn't common where I am.

Hm.. but Mary Katherine Gallagher is sounding better and better by the minute...

I'm named after three great-grandmothers. Both of my parents had a grandmother with the same name, and then they picked my mom's favorite grandmother for the other name. It's nice from a family heritage perspective, but I don't remember meeting then, I don't even really know my grandmothers (and barely know my aunts/uncles/cousins) so family heritage isn't something ingrained in me, and the names are old fashioned and often misspelled. It's also annoying to go by a nickname- trying to figure out when you have to use your legal name and when you don't.

Having said that, I do have a pseudo-adoptive grandmother (passed away several years ago) who I would consider naming a girl after- either first or middle. I'd change the spelling slightly, though. it's partially because I like the name, and partially because she's the closest thing I had to extended family growing up- even if I only SE her a few times a year.

One last comment on family names. My dad and bother have the same exact name. While technically my bother is 'the second', mail is just addressed to the name. You never know who it's meant for- even if one goes by a nickname, it goes back to the legal name/nickname fun I deal with. My dad's dad has the same first name, and now my nephew has that as a middle name. My dad was upset that his grandson didn't get to be 'the third'. I don't like that kind of pressure- or confusion.

One thing that will come into play for me when the time comes is international pronouncability. My husband is from another country and all of his family are there, so we need to ensure they can pronounce any names we'd choose. Some names that are fine in English don't translate well in another language or pronunciation!

And last thought. I know I'm not actually naming names, but it's hard! Especially for boy's names. I feel like for every boy's name there are 20 girls names to choose from. Girls names have so much more creativity. It feels like boys names are all either biblical or conquerors. As an agnostic I'd rather avoid an overtly biblical name, which leaves very few options! So in a way a girl would be easier- more names I like to choose from :) I do avoid girl names that are big names with an 'a' or 'e' or whatnot in the end to make them feminine.

This is the case for my stepdad and stepbrother. My stepdad says he regrets giving his son his name. So confusing! Even when my stepbrother visits and I try to address one of them, it can be quite confusing/annoying for them.

People ask why I refer to my stepbrother as ____ Jr., as I tend to do this even when they don't know my stepdad and/or he's not around. It's purely out of habit, because I know how frustrating it can be when they're both together.

How in the world does the quote say MC? For a second I was reading and thinking "wow that sounds familiar- wait, did I somehow repeat everything he said??" Ha.

One example of a name that wouldn't translate well for me: Ella. I absolutely love that name, but in Spanish it just means she/her. In Portuguese it only has one L- ela- but same thing. So given the Brazilian in-laws, it's off my list.

My daughter's name is Laurielle. It's a mixture of Laurel (what I wanted) and Arielle (what he wanted). and no...it's not pronounced like the shampoo lol
I also like the name Seraphina, Denisa (my daughter's middle name), and Evangeline.

You think? I've never found that to be a problem. To me, the bigger problem is that there is more than one nickname for my given name, and the one I go by is not as common as some others. People who don't know me (and even a few who do) inavariably assume the wrong one, which I really dislike being called. They get demerits for that.

I was trying to figure out the same thing. :D

This! I have the same problem. Growing up, I had many teachers who would assume I used the more popular/"older" nickname. It drove me crazy. Just assuming that someone even uses a nickname is ridiculous. Again, my second cousin has the same name and she doesn't use a nickname.

What also throws people is that my nickname doesn't start with the same letter as my given name. I even had one teacher tell me, "You can't do that."

:rolleyes:

On an old Kojak tv episode one criminal uses three names: Margaret, Peggy and Gretchen. Kojak mentions all 3 names are derivations of the same name. What you can't learn from television...

People are forever telling me that my nickname doesn't make sense because it's longer than my actual name. Who are you, the nickname officials? gtfo.

In my family there is a Mary Margaret (nickname Molly), a Mary Laura (called Mary) ,and a Mary Kathleen (another Mary), all under 15 yrs. old. Mary Kathleen's father said it honored his heavenly mother (Mary), his mother (Kathryn), & his godmother (Eileen). We also have a Kelleen (nn Kelly), and another Kelly. I like longer names that have nicknames.

If I had a daughter, I would have named her Zoe (no nn) or Anneliese (nn Elise). I also like Biblical names, but for middle names, although for boys some of my favorite names double up on Biblical names; like Matthias Stephen or Jude Elijah. Most of the names I like tend to be the more traditional Greek names like Alexander/Alexandria, etc. I have a friend from Greece named Andronikos; we sometimes make fun of his name and give him fictional nicknames. :)

I always love the "but where did that name come from" and you break down the legal name to show the nickname. Mine isn't that hard to figure out. It's similar to a girl name Jordan having the nickname of Dani. Jordan to Dan to Danny/Dani.

I have been surprised by the number of people who ask me about my youngest child's name.

"It's Liam."
"Oh, what an unusual name. Where did you get it? "
"It's a nickname - his name is William."
"How is "Liam" a nickname for 'William'?"
"Um, last four letters of 'William'."

It makes much more sense to me than 'Bill'- my husband's nickname.

My nickname isn't even an uncommon nickname for my real name, but many people question the first letter difference.

Although, now that there's a very famous person whose name and nickname are exactly the same as mine, I guess it's ok...