Grown-up Names
 

Recently I took a position in sales and I decided to use Ken rather than Kenny because I felt I would get more respect with a more "grown-up" sounding name. I've been Kenny for 21 years and it's been very strange to here myself called Ken or Kenneth. It'll take some getting used to but I think I'll manage.

Has anyone else had a similar experience where you've had to ditch the "kiddy" name for a more mature one?

I can't speak for myself because, face it, there isn't much you can do with the name Tracy!

But I purposely named my first daughter Kathryn (we call her Katie) so that she will have a variety of nicknames from which to choose as she goes through different stages of her life. Katie, Kate, Kay, Kathryn...

My real name is Tristan, and I went through that name from Day one until my 2nd yr of college (when I joined DSP). My family and close friends from HS still call me Tristan, but everyone else calls me Stan.

I think it's more plain/normal (and masculine) and everyone knows how to say it.

I;m kinda the opposite. I went by Allison when I was younger. But now my family and friends call me Ally.

My parents named me Sandy because mom thought "Sandra" sounded "old". She figured that people were going to call me Sandy anyway.

People try to call me Sandra just to piss me off. I guess Sandy sounds pretty neutral.

I think my nickname "Jess" sounds more grown-up then my full name "Jessica". When I hear the name Jessica I think of a little kid....I don't know why....I'm thinking about ditching them both though and going by my middle name in the professional world.

I went by Chris until I got married. At that point, I was Christin because I was going into banking and Christin sounded so much better with my new last name. Seriously. The only people who still call me Chris are my family and those AOIIs who've called me that for years. DH only calls me Christin when I'm in trouble :)

Talking about adjusting to a new name, I really think this one is a sorority phenomenon, because I've seen it in various places in the US. A sorority sister gets married and becomes Chris Smith. But her sorority sisters will still call her by her maiden name of Chris Jones, or will refer to her as Chris Jones Smith. You've got to move really far away to drop that maiden name :D

Two of our boys have names that can't be 'nicknamed.' The other is Nicholas, we were calling him Nicky before he was born! As soon as he hit 2nd grade, he informed us he was Nick and NOT Nicky any more. Yikes :)

Christin

My name is megan and that's really not too bad, but i've never shortened it until now. most of my friends and family now seem to think two syllables is too much and they call me meg now. it used to be megs which is very young sounding so i guess meg is better.

yay..thats how i spell my name too..why a Y! :)

i was katie until about 8th grade, then I switched to kate..i've thought about using kathryn professionally, but up to this point it hasn't been necessary, i think it would be weird though..the only people who ever called me that were my grandparents..shrug, we'll see

My sis in law's name is Kathy. When I asked (many years after they were married) if her "real" name was Katherine, Kathleen, etc., she said "No, because her parents knew she would be called Kathy".

Parents, here's a hint from someone who know;) :p It is a pain to be called by your middle name for decades but when you go into the "real world", you are called by your first name. People would ask me my name and I go uggh??

Ahem...variation= my name is Lori. :p
Not much I can do with that, but since I'm home with my son now and my next job will likely be as a sub, I'll be 'hey, teacher,' lol

My husband's name is Timothy and he was Timmy to his family until about 10 ago (he's 38!!!) It took dedicated effort on his part to to get his mother/aunts/uncles, etc. to stop calling him Timmy. As a matter of fact, he has a few distant elderly cousins that STILL call him Timmy and his mom slips from time to time. He says he started trying to be Tim in about the 8 grade, but folks weren't hearing it! He says it's hard being a 6 foot 2, 200+ pound black man named Timmy! LOL

He still let's me call him Timmy though! ;)

My fiance is a James III, and was Jimmy for much too long. He was able to reclaim Jim once his father passed away, but he "allows" his immediate family to still call him Jimmy at times. He has had a very hard time making the switch, but calmly tells people, "Please call me Jim" each time someone calls him Jimmy. Since he's in sports, Jimmy is a bit more natural!

Honey is my childhood nickname, and of course, doesn't work so well in business. I go by my real name, Melissa, but have given "Honey" rights to those I love. People who knew me prior to college are shocked to hear me called Melissa!

My family calls me Nikki, and my mom calls me Nic sometimes... but I NEVER went by Nikki in school, it was always Nicole.

That's exactly how I am with family and certain close friends calling me Nikki and my sister calling me Nic. I just always preferred Nicole in school, though...

I remember an article I read a few years back for a Sociology project. It was about "old-fashioned" and how they could hinder a person's chance for employment in competitive positions. I'm not talking old-fashioned like 'Mabel' or 'Hazel'...although there was a brief description about those, but the specifically mentioned (and no offense intended to anyone who has these names, I didn't write the article!) Sherry, Connie, and Cheryl...thes are just a few of MANY! The article claimed that the names made employers think of their mothers (housewives) or secretaries from the 70's! I wish I still had it, it was very interesting!

aj

Most everyone calls me Kiki b/c it seems like just about no one can ever say my first name right. Obviously though once I get out in to the "real world" I will start going by Kiran. I don't think any employers would be all that impressed with a woman who calls herself Kiki. :p :D

My mom named me Kristi. It throws people off because it's not short for anything. I absolutely hate it when people try to call me "Kris." I will refuse to answer. If my mom wanted me to be called Kris, she would have named me Kris.

For a while, I didn't know my fiance's real name! Long before he became my fiance of course! He was always "Carter" to everyone, and me too.

Born with the name Chad and I guess thats as grown up as i can get.

I think those names are adorable! :) My younger daughter is named Caroline but we've always called her CeCe. Since she started kindergarten, though, she has informed us that CeCe is her "baby name" and Caroline is her "big girl" name so we aren't allowed to call her CeCe in front of her friends. Attitude already and she's only 6!

I've always gone by the same name . . . there's really nothing you can do with "Heather."

Yeah . . . one of my friends went by his middle name because it was a family tradition to name the first son James, but his parents didn't want to call him James . . . so they gave him that as a first name but always called him by his middle name. People would call him James in some situations and we'd all be confused for a couple seconds before we realized what they were talking about.

yeah, i have several nick names

my name is Christia (not Christina, Christia)
and you can see how long some one has known me by what they call me.

I was Tia till the 3rd grade. Chrissy from 3-7 Chris from 7-11 and Christia now. and there are random people who use my middle name (Melissa) or last.

There is nothing grown-up about my name-- Wendi. No way to change it to something grown- up either.
Every so often I am asked if it's short for Gwendyln-- nope, it's just Wendi.

My mom and a couple of friends call me Winni-- which I kind of like. And a few call me Wen. But most of the time its Wendi. I have often asked why I couldn't have been given a grown-up name. My dad named me, and that explains it all...

-wendi

My first name is Carolyn. :) I'm of the opinion that Caroline is a completely seperate name. You can tell how much I like a person if I don't correct them when they call me Caroline.

But as far as CeCe goes, I adore that! Convince your daughter to keep it. A manager at my first job commented one day that it was a shame that my last name didn't start with a C, cause then they could call me CeCe! Until then I always associated the name with the character on the Nanny. But when he said it with his little North Carolina drawl, I was so sad that I wouldn't be called CeCe. :) I once read though that Carrie is the official nickname for Carolyn and Caroline.

=
As far as middle names as first go, that almost happened to me. Carolyn was far from my mom's first choice. She was going to go with Lisa since my first name was supposed to be Elisabeth. But the nurse spelled it with a z and Mom refused to call me Liza.

My dad didn't fare as well though. His first name is technically John. But that only appears as his first name on his birth certificate and marriage license. Everything else has it listed as his middle name with his actual middle name listed first. :D
=

eta Killarney~ Did you name your daughter after the character in Sixteen Candles???? :D

I'm with you. Caroline is a separate name from Carolyn. I absolutely hate it when people call me Caroline.

As for the nickname - some of my family and really close friends call me Carrie. When I started kindergarten there were two Carolyns in the class and both of us also went by Carrie so the teacher told the first Carolyn, you'll be Carrie from now on which meant I was always Carolyn through school from then on.

My manager is named Ken and his family will come into the jewelry store and ask for him by Kenny. We always laugh cuz they're the only ones who call him that. Its hard for me to picture this 30-something year-old man who has four children and sells diamonds as a KENNY!

Anyways~
My name is AMY and it's pretty basic. I don't spell it funny and no one calles me Aims or something. I've always wanted to go by Amy Michelle (my middle name) for a longer name...but I'm not sure that sounds as professional or more childish.

I'm Andi to my close friends/family and Andrea to everyone else. There are times I've tried to bring Andi into general usage, but it just doesn't work.

My sister's name is Joan which she thinks is very old fashioned. Since she was about a minute old, she has been Joanie. When she started working at her previous job, I called one day and asked for Joanie.

Whoever answered said, "There was no one by that name here."

I said, "I mean Joan."

She said, "Oh hold on. Joannnnniiieeee, you have a call!" Everyone in the office started laughing. My sister was not very happy. I didn't realize that she was Joan at work. :)

I have an unusal name. Makeda. Very rarely will my firends and family call me keda. It just doesn't flow. I think my name is very grown up. Not to wild about my middle name so we won't go in that:o :D

My first name is Jaclyn, but for as long as I can remember, people have called me Jackie. In sixth grade, my teacher changed my name on my records to Jackie too! It stayed that way until I graduated high school.

When I went to college I attempted to have people call me Jaclyn instead of Jackie....it didn't work too well.

Now, most of my family/ friends call me Jackie, but at work they call me Jaclyn.

It doesn't really matter to me either way, I just feel that Jaclyn sounds more grown up!

My name, depending on the record you look at, is either Ginger or GingerAnne. I've never seen my birth certificate, and my parents don't remember how it's down on paper, so anything goes.

I have a lot of people ask me if my name is short for Virginia, Jennifer, Imogene... you name it. But I'm just Ginger.

Though I like my name, it doesn't sound very "adult" to me. And if it does sound "Adult", it usually is in the manner of adult films :rolleyes: It would be nice to have a more professional name, but since I don't have any intentions of being a banker, lawyer, politician, etc, I guess it doesn't matter too much :)

I can agree with that. My mom named me Jennie (pronounced just like Jenny) rather than Jennifer. She didn't want the shortening of my name to Jennie and I was also named after a great-great-aunt. Anyways, now my family is calling me Jenn more and more often, and I just feel that it's more "grown-up" than Jennie (especially when you say it out loud rather than see it written out). But how to get everyone to call me Jenn? That's the question to answer for me, especially in an area FILLED with Jenny's!

My brothers have good names (imo).

One is Benjamin but we've always called him Ben. The other is Andrew and my mom insisted that NO ONE call him Andy for short. My dad's mom used to call him Andy all the time (I think to just piss off my mom, but oh well). I think if my brother Ben went my Benjamin at this age in life (he's 20) he wouldn't be taken seriously, where as he could certainly go by Benjamin if he were in his 40's and it'd be seen more professionally.

My name is Bess, and it is short for Elizabeth--I don't know where my mom got that! Anyway, most of my old friends call me Bess, as does my family, but at work and school, it's Elizabeth. Not to be more grown up, but just because it is easier. And then there are some who call me Stewie and other takes on the name Stewart--my middle name. :)

I still use Ricky although my real Name is Richard. Also some of my bros call me Rick.

My real name is Shannon, but I've been called Shae (like the stadium) since I was about 7. I don't like the way people down south say my real name, so Shae works out fine. I'm planning on going to law school and hopefully becoming a lawyer, and I don't think Shae sounds that professional so I'll probably go back to Shannon. Even though every time I hear it, it's like my parents are yelling at me!

My name kind of sounds like a stripper's name and doesn't exactly go with being a professor...oh well, too late to change it now.:rolleyes: FuziCrayon, no fair telling!

We didn't plan it this way but only one of our 13 kids has a nickname. He had to...we have parents, brothers, cousins, etc., with the same name and it would've been mass confusion otherwise.

But I know! ;)

My first name is Darla. Yes, I was named after a character on "The Little Rascals". When I graduated from college I got a job working as a juvenile court counselor. I'm working with all the delinquents, and the name Darla is just not portraying the professionalism I want. So I started going by my middle name Michelle two weeks into the job! It was most confusing in the beginning - people would say "Michelle", and I would ignore them! I worked at that job for eight years, and everytime we hired a new secretary I would have to tell them if someone called for Darla - that would be me! My family, childhood and college friends still call me Darla, and every one I know professionally and my husband call me Michelle. It's funny - I'll run into someone from high school (you know - those people who remember you but you don't have a clue who they are) and tell them my name is Michelle. They are like - Oh - I thought you were someone else. I know you from somewhere....and then I'll tell them I went by Darla in school and they say that's how I know you! Oh well, that is my story on changing my name for the sake of professionalism!

Nicknames are my life!!
My real name is Jillian but I was always Jill through out high school. When i went to college people started calling me Jillian and i always write Jillian but I alway introduce myself as Jill. At work my old boss called me Jilly and it stuck....but very young sounding. I also have been called Jizel or Jiz....long story there!
My bother's name is Jason but since about 7th grade he has been called Gibson(last name) to seperate from the other Jasons. Most people at his school dont even know him as Jason and get confused when i call him that. Gibby is also a popular one for us!
All in all i love all my names!:):)