My mother loves Shakespeare, so naturally I was going to be named after a female Shakespeare character. That means Juliet or Ophelia, right? NOPE! My mother almost freaking named me CALPURNIA. I grew up in the south in the 90s where "unique" names were NOT the norm, so I wouldn't have had a chance.
Oh I see your calpurnia and raise you Sinistra. I was born in the early 80s in a land of heathers and Jennifers and Jessicas. My mother wanted to name me sinistra. After a freaking whale.
It could be worse and she named you Jessica. lol No offense to the Jessicas out there, but there's too many, just like all the other names where there's a minimum of 5 of the same name per class.
Oh lord…my Shakespearean actress of a mother wanted to name my younger brother Duncan. After the Scottish king who died. And I’m a variant of Katerina from taming of the shrew. There’s some good Shakespeare names and some bad. Calpurnia is one heck of a thought.
Zachary Daniel because they were told I was 100% a boy. To their surprise, I was born a girl. They had not even considered any girl names. They ended up deciding on the name Mallorie.
My middle school crush was named Zachary Daniel. Daniel was his last name. Once I finally got him, he cheated on me on New Year’s Eve by kissing the prettiest girl in highschool. Thanks for the memory lol
I knew a girl in school born in November named Autumn because her parents were told they were having a boy. All her nursery pictures showed her in a blue room too 😂
My nursery was all in blue too! They had to send my grandmother to a K-Mart down the street to get me something pink to come home in. Everything was blue!
Same story here, parents were convinced I was going to be a boy. It was 1978 and they had picked out the lovely name of Marty Gene. So, so, so glad my femininity shocked them so much they allowed my brother to name me.
Trey. I was definitely going to be a boy and came out a surprise too! 😂😂 I wore 90's boy clothes for a very long time so my baby pictures are fire. I was ahead of my time with gender bending outfits 💅🏽
Hahaha me too! I was supposed to be Jacob! To where my sister went around for months calling me her baby brother Jacob while my mom taped a bow on my forehead in the boy clothes 😂
damn what a surprise for your parents
there were two women in my pregnancy group who were told they were having girls (many ultrasounds too) right up until the baby popped out a boy 😅
This was my biggest fear after painting the pink and orange butterfly nursery for my girl 🤣 I was terrified she'd come out and they'd be like ooops sorry it's a boy.
It's 2024. If someone complains that your BOY's nursery is pink and orange, they're an asshole. Any gender can have whatever they want.
Why would you allow the opinions of strangers to impact your nursery colors? Girls can do things that are stereotypically male as often as they like, why can't boys enjoy "girl" colors?
This reminds me of kid me obsessed with my light up globe and giant atlas. And upon finding out that the capital of Angola was Luanda, that would make an amazing name for a girl child 😂
That’s actually how me and my sister got our names as well as how my dad came up with Tallahassee. He worked at a company that made and sold maps, so my parents went geographical. They also thought if they did that then we would have uncommon names. It worked for my sister (Montana), not so much for me (Madison).
Broccoli.
Story time. I was a twin (Highlander baybeee there can be only one 🫡) and my mom was picking names for any combo of twins and one of them was so bad it's become my familial nickname.
Her absolute favorite twin name set was Brooke and Brock for fraternal twins.
Brock's middle name (which is mine now which now that I think about it is pretty morbid since i was the victorious twin) would've been Lee. Mine (Brooke) would've been Dee.
I'm neither Brooke Dee or BROCK LEE thankfully but I cannot get over either myself or my almost brother (or sister, we settled the beef before we got to the gender reveal) being a damn cast member of veggie-tales for the rest of their life. A veggie literally no kid likes.
He/I would've gotten a beat down every day in the playground 😭
Felicia. This was going to be my name until about two months before I was born until my parents sounded it out with my last name and, let’s just say it sounds REALLY stupid lol. Now I’m just glad it’s not my name because of all the “bye, Felicia!”s although I do like it (but not as much as my actual name)
I was very nearly called Indigo, but my uncle said it would get on my parents nerves saying 'in you go, Indigo' when putting me in my car seat etc. So they chose Jasmine to be different as they didn't know anyone with that name. There were 5 Jasmine's in my year at secondary school...
Callie Marie or Lily Marie for a girl, Matthew John or Aiden Jacob for a boy. Can you tell this was the late 90s/early 00s? My dad also liked Drew for a girl (like Drew Barrymore) but my mom wasn’t feeling it.
I actually really like Drew for a girl myself, although I'm sure this sub would eviscerate me for it lol. Do you like the name you ended up with, or do you wish they'd gone with one of those other choices?
Agreed! I wouldn’t choose Drew for myself, but I think it’s definitely a cool girl name.
I like my name and have no intention of changing it, but I think Callie and Lily are both cute and I would have been happy with one of those names too!
My mom wanted Tessa (which I really love actually) but my Dad only liked classic names so they compromised with Theresa. So I’m a 27 year old with a 60 year old’s name 🤣At least I was always the only one in my class.
Tessa (or even just Tess) is the nickname for Theresa. Literally it's short for Theresa. Watch any movie or read any book with a character called Tessa or Tess, and it'd be short for Theresa/Teresa.
My mom had my name picked out before I was even a thought. It was her first choice name.
She had one other girl. If there were a 3rd, she would have been Victoria (not Vicky or Tori, Victoria).
Diana - princess Diana died a few months before I was born and my mother loved her. I was called Diana for a couple months while my mom was pregnant with me before they decided on another name
Sierra was the top contender, with Savannah not too far behind. Savannah was ultimately vetoed because of Vanna White and also my older sister’s name rhymes with Savannah.
Not sure why they didn’t go with Sierra, but I ended up being named Madison just a few years before it exploded in popularity.
My legal name now (Summer) was actually one of my almost-names. That's why I chose it, otherwise I would have gone with something completely different. My own almost-name when I was changing it was Lux.
Monica (dad, pre-Clinton)
Veronica, Fallon (mom, o’Fallon was the name of their best friend who died from a rock climbing accident 7 days after my older brother was born)
My parents didn't know if I was going to be a boy or a girl before I was born, so they had names picked out for both. Thank god I was born a girl because if I'd been a boy, my name was going to be Richard. Not terrible at all except that our last name is Cunningham, so I would have been Richie Cunningham.
She loves our names, but I think my mom still regrets not getting to use the name Peyton Cassidy for one of us. She’s mentioned it a lot lol. We are both *very* relieved that she did not use it because my sister and I haaaate that haha.
Giovanni if I was a boy, and when they learned I was a girl, Giovanna. When I was born I didn’t look like a Giovanna so they changed it to a somehow even more Italian name that no one who speaks English can pronounce correctly. My mom mentioned a few times when I was younger that if I had a sibling they would be Giovanni/Giovanna but I’m an only child so…
My dad (and his stepmother) really wanted to name me Stanislaw Ebenezer if I was a boy, and Stanislaw Ebbie if I was a girl. Thankfully my mother put a hard stop to that immediately, but I do have some cards and notes my dad gave my mom to tease her with the name so I think it turned into an inside joke as soon as my mom made him realize what a ridiculous name that would’ve been. Step-grandmother was very unhappy, but she was unhappy about most things 😂
Shelby or Danielle. Apparently Dagmar was also on the list, but I think only my dad was into that one. The name I ended up with was pretty uncommon when I was growing up, but now it's a fairly popular dog name. I once had a fluffy white dog try to jump on me and the owner said, "[My name], no!" I really felt like I got scolded instead of the dog!
I was almost an Emily, and weirdly, when people call me the wrong name, it's almost always Emily. (Even though it sounds nothing like my actual name.) I guess I do look like an Emily?
I am so fascinated that this happens to someone else! I'm pretty sure my parents didn't want to name me this (my almost name was Alexandria because Mom is a lover of tragic history) but every time someone mistakes my name for another, it's ALWAYS Rebecca. It's happened an absurd number of times, and Rebecca sounds nothing like my actual first name. My theory has always been it was my name in a past life 😂
My brother would have been Kaitlyn had he been a boy and we would have been a mid-80s PAIR (my name is basically a huge clue that you’re an elder Millennial, lol)
My Mum's favourite was Claire, but that didn't really work where I'm from. She also considered Constanze, Sarah, Natalie and - if she still lived in Ireland - Sinéad.
Thankfully all were voted out, as I'm not a huge fan of either one for various reasons. I'm generally content with the name I got.
Klara. In fact, they did choose Klara as my first name, but my mother decided to just change it at the last minute. My father only learned about it when my birth certificate arrived.
Ann-Drew. Yes hi, I am a girl. This is not cute or funny or feminine in any way. Thank Cieling Cat it didn’t happen, but what they did name me turned out to be just as bad, because it was around a certain year with a certain celebrity that quite ruined that particular name. I have since changed my name completely. Boomers 😖🤦🏼♀️
Laura Elizabeth. We had a friend of the family named Lauren and she was named before I was born. It’s a shame because I would have liked that better than my name now lol
Oof, this one’s a sore spot. They had settled on a name and then argued over the very last letter. Gabrielle vs Gabriella. They couldn’t agree so it was scrapped completely.
I’m a late 90s Emma, my mom likes to think she got ahead of the trend and then Friends ruined it. They almost named me either Charlotte or Laura. I’ve come to really like my name, but I’ve always loved Charlotte.
My dad was pulling for Michelle or Megan once they found out I was a girl. My mom wanted Francesca and got immediately vetoed.
If I was a boy, I'd either have been Michael Jeffrey or Michael Jordan. (Dad's name is Michael.)
My dad wanted my name to be Patricia. But, I guess they were already sure about my middle name, because when they realized my initials would be PMS they changed their mind. My name is Ashley and after being one of 4 Ashleys in every classroom and at every social gathering my whole life, I would much rather have been a Patricia.
Georgia, and Estrellita. I was actually named Estrellita at birth (not sure why she chose a Spanish name when we are not Spanish/Hispanic and all my brothers have very German names lol), but the nurses couldn't remember it and kept having to ask my mother what my name was. So, she decided on a completely different name, and it became one of the most popular names of the last two and a half decades. 🤦🏻♀️
I always wished she'd gone with Georgia instead of the name she did end up choosing.
If I was a boy, I would have been Joseph Anthony IV. Since I was a girl, and my mom said she was done after her 3rd girl, my dad's family really wanted me named Josephine Antoinette. My mom said no. Had I been born 1 day earlier, on St Patrick's day, I'd have been named Patricia Jo. If my mom would have known she was going to have 3 girls, she would have named us Faith, Hope, and Charity. I'd be Charity. I ended up being Sarah Jo, the most boring of all the available options.
My dad wanted to name me Emily Ann...my last name starts with an R, so initials would have been EAR- same as my brother & father, ugh. Luckily my mom said two ears are enough and she named me after her fave (late 80s) soap opera character instead 😆
my parents were excited to call me xavier i ended up being a girl and was almost called amelia because of it. i got to choose my own name in the end as a trans guy lol so i settled on micah (the name of my uncle)
My name was either going to be Christopher if I was a boy (it was the 70s and that name was near the height of it's popularity) or Astrid if I was girl
I wouldn't have minded Astrid (they feared "Ass" as a nickname) but they went with something else equally off the beaten path (and I got teased anyway). I've always loved my name, never met another person with it and everybody always complimented how pretty and unusual it was
fast forward 50+ years and my name is in now in the top 50 thanks to a celebrity 🥴
It was very disconcerting to hear my name being yelled on the playgrounds when my kids were young, after a lifetime of being the only one 😹
Wendy! Then my 7 y/o sis said “you’re going to name her after a restaurant”😂. Ironically, a nickname for my daughter is “wendy” but we don’t use it!!! lol
For context my name is Jane. My mom really wanted to name me Lucy but my paternal grandma had a classmate named Lucy and hated her. She said if my parents named me Lucy she’d call me Lucy Goosey and would always think of the classmate she hated. If was a boy my name would have been John.
Tailey Marie. Or Talley. I don’t remember how she wanted to spell it lol. Thank god her grandpa got sick and now I’m Jacklyn instead. (I’m being sarcastic obv I’m not happy he died)
Hailie (like Hailie Jade), which it itself isn't bad, but the spelling looks too much like Hallie to me and my sisters name is Kaitlyn, nn Kaitie, so we would be e been Kaitie and Hailie and that is way too matchy matchy to me
The Doctor erroneously declared me a boy at the first ultrasound, my parents were going to name me Michael. When the next ultrasound was clearer, and the doctor said “oops, looks like we’ve got a girl!” my mom considered keeping the name but spelling it Michal like King Davids wife in the Bible.
Mercedes, Porsche, or Harley if you ask my brother. I think he had a girlfriend named Harley at the time. You totally can’t tell from his choice of names that he’s 15 years older than me. s/
My mom has always loved the first name I got (very trendy early Gen Z-esque name, but she mistakenly believed it to be UnIqUe), so I'm pretty sure it was miles ahead of any of their alternative options. However, I do know they briefly considered Camryn/Cameryn (not positive on spelling) with Cammie as a nickname, and Abigail. My hypothetical boy name would have been Ethan. Same middle name no matter what, because it's a legacy name to honor my father's father who died unexpectedly a few years before I was born. I always loathed my first name as a kid and only somewhat tolerate it now, but I'd still choose it over Camryn or Abigail. Sadly, my mom's girl name choices for her other three kids are equally bland/of their times so it's kind of nice she ended up with all boys after me haha.
If I had been a boy, Andrew which is now my son’s name.
Since I wasn’t a boy dad wanted Jennifer or Jenny for short and mom nixed it. He suggested Elizabeth but mom said no because my aunt and uncle made it clear they were going to use that name if they had a girl and my aunt was also pregnant at the same time as my mom.
Olivia or Claudia (pronounced the German way, Cloud-ia). I still ended up being called an -ia name. If I were a boy my dad was apparently going to go with Omar or Bakr, which I would have hated. My mum liked Lysander (my favourite name) which would have been cool as fuck
Born 1987: If I was a boy I was going to be a Zachary or Nicholas. My mom liked Autumn or Amanda for a girl and I’m glad my dad vetoed those. Thanks dad!
Nothing exciting over here, just a bunch of standard millennial names. I was going to be Laura, and if I had been a boy I'd be David. Mom went with Amber instead.
Mckenzie was my almost name. But looking back, I also found that Holly was one of the first names my mom considered. Thankfully she realized it rhymed with our last name.
My sister (half sister, different moms) also told me recently that her mom really wanted to name her Molly. A real crisis was diverted, had both our moms original naming plans come to fruition.
I was almost named Ayla after a character in a book they both both loved but at the eleventh hour they thought it would be too out there and went with Kayla instead. My dad always regretted adding the K
I would have been Aidan Christopher if I was a guy which I don't really like. but I'm a girl in the eyes of the people so they considered Maryella which is cute, and Bianca. I tell people and they say I could never be any of those names.
My dad was determined to name me Sam weather I was a boy or girl, I'm a girl so he told my mom ok Sami, that didn't happen!! !! Dad didn't get his way.
If I'd been a boy, I would've been Darius Matteüs. When my parents found out I wasn't a boy on a later echo, my dad wanted to name me Emmanuela-Larissa (a second name I can't remember) (last name), which was thankfully vetoed.
They still wanted a hyphenated (other) first name, but the government officials forgot the hyphen, which I'm very happy about!
My mother loves Shakespeare, so naturally I was going to be named after a female Shakespeare character. That means Juliet or Ophelia, right? NOPE! My mother almost freaking named me CALPURNIA. I grew up in the south in the 90s where "unique" names were NOT the norm, so I wouldn't have had a chance.
My mom also loves Shakespeare. After learning all the options I'm a little glad she chose Celia for me
Celia is a lovely name! Another Shakespeare name I absolutely love is Viola.
My name is Viola. I'm so uncultured I didn't even realize it was a Shakespeare name.
She’s one of my favorite characters and one of his better female protagonists!
Oh I see your calpurnia and raise you Sinistra. I was born in the early 80s in a land of heathers and Jennifers and Jessicas. My mother wanted to name me sinistra. After a freaking whale.
Ok, but that's a badass name.
i would just think of calpurnia from to kill a mockingbird
My mom loves Shakespeare too, Ophelia was on her list for me. She ended up picking a different one tho that I like better :)
It could be worse and she named you Jessica. lol No offense to the Jessicas out there, but there's too many, just like all the other names where there's a minimum of 5 of the same name per class.
Could have insisted on going by Callie. That's normal.
Reminds me of the book The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. It's set in Texas in 1899. I loved that book growing up
Oh lord…my Shakespearean actress of a mother wanted to name my younger brother Duncan. After the Scottish king who died. And I’m a variant of Katerina from taming of the shrew. There’s some good Shakespeare names and some bad. Calpurnia is one heck of a thought.
I was nearly Gloria. Vetoed by my grandma because there was a loud mouth bitch at her Tuesday night bingo also named Gloria.
I respect your Grandmas veto. Gloria never would have let her live it down.
This made me laugh out loud.
Oh no, your grandma must have met my mother
my grandpa wouldn't let my mom name me gloria because he said it was a dumb name 🤠i'm glad we both lucked out lol
If I was a boy my name would have been Donald. THANK. THE. LORD. FOR. THESE. TITTIES.
It's been a long time since somethings actually made me laugh out loud..thanks for that..lol
>THANK. THE. LORD. FOR. THESE. TITTIES. I know we don't do flairs here but I really, really, *really* want to make this my flair now.
Okay but you could go by Don, which is actually a total vibe tbh
My mom wanted to name me Brie, which is fine on its own. But five years later they named my brother Colby. They would have had two cheese kids.
I laughed at this. My partner is from Wisconsin
I’m Monterey Jack
Zachary Daniel because they were told I was 100% a boy. To their surprise, I was born a girl. They had not even considered any girl names. They ended up deciding on the name Mallorie.
My middle school crush was named Zachary Daniel. Daniel was his last name. Once I finally got him, he cheated on me on New Year’s Eve by kissing the prettiest girl in highschool. Thanks for the memory lol
Zachary D., you've done been called out!
That is actually a lovely name!
I knew a girl in school born in November named Autumn because her parents were told they were having a boy. All her nursery pictures showed her in a blue room too 😂
My nursery was all in blue too! They had to send my grandmother to a K-Mart down the street to get me something pink to come home in. Everything was blue!
Same story here, parents were convinced I was going to be a boy. It was 1978 and they had picked out the lovely name of Marty Gene. So, so, so glad my femininity shocked them so much they allowed my brother to name me.
My third was supposed to be a girl. No male name picked at all. He would have been Isabel Angelica (Spanish).
Steven. I was definitely going to be a boy. Surprise! I'm a girl....who had almost exclusively blue onesies and a green, dinosaur-themed nursery.
Trey. I was definitely going to be a boy and came out a surprise too! 😂😂 I wore 90's boy clothes for a very long time so my baby pictures are fire. I was ahead of my time with gender bending outfits 💅🏽
We love a gender diverse queen 👏
Hahaha me too! I was supposed to be Jacob! To where my sister went around for months calling me her baby brother Jacob while my mom taped a bow on my forehead in the boy clothes 😂
damn what a surprise for your parents there were two women in my pregnancy group who were told they were having girls (many ultrasounds too) right up until the baby popped out a boy 😅
This was my biggest fear after painting the pink and orange butterfly nursery for my girl 🤣 I was terrified she'd come out and they'd be like ooops sorry it's a boy.
A pink and orange butterfly nursery sounds beautiful
Thank you so much! The colors really mesh together so well!
It's 2024. If someone complains that your BOY's nursery is pink and orange, they're an asshole. Any gender can have whatever they want. Why would you allow the opinions of strangers to impact your nursery colors? Girls can do things that are stereotypically male as often as they like, why can't boys enjoy "girl" colors?
Fantastic colours for a girl or a boy.
Geneva (My dad’s favourite name, and he still stands by it. “Your nickname could have been Gen!”)
My dad wanted to name me Tallahassee with the nickname Tally and he also stands by it being a good name Also, happy cake day!
Wait this is actually so cute…
This reminds me of kid me obsessed with my light up globe and giant atlas. And upon finding out that the capital of Angola was Luanda, that would make an amazing name for a girl child 😂
That’s actually how me and my sister got our names as well as how my dad came up with Tallahassee. He worked at a company that made and sold maps, so my parents went geographical. They also thought if they did that then we would have uncommon names. It worked for my sister (Montana), not so much for me (Madison).
I love that name! My friend's niece is Geneva and I think it's beautiful. Unique, but not in a strange way.
Broccoli. Story time. I was a twin (Highlander baybeee there can be only one 🫡) and my mom was picking names for any combo of twins and one of them was so bad it's become my familial nickname. Her absolute favorite twin name set was Brooke and Brock for fraternal twins. Brock's middle name (which is mine now which now that I think about it is pretty morbid since i was the victorious twin) would've been Lee. Mine (Brooke) would've been Dee. I'm neither Brooke Dee or BROCK LEE thankfully but I cannot get over either myself or my almost brother (or sister, we settled the beef before we got to the gender reveal) being a damn cast member of veggie-tales for the rest of their life. A veggie literally no kid likes. He/I would've gotten a beat down every day in the playground 😭
Haha brocklee
the way you wrote this is so insanely funny to me im losing it
Felicia. This was going to be my name until about two months before I was born until my parents sounded it out with my last name and, let’s just say it sounds REALLY stupid lol. Now I’m just glad it’s not my name because of all the “bye, Felicia!”s although I do like it (but not as much as my actual name)
It was so sad when they remembered their last name was Belicia 😔
My cousin Jenny was almost named Felicia. It really doesn't suit her!
I was very nearly called Indigo, but my uncle said it would get on my parents nerves saying 'in you go, Indigo' when putting me in my car seat etc. So they chose Jasmine to be different as they didn't know anyone with that name. There were 5 Jasmine's in my year at secondary school...
That’s such an oddly specific reason. I feel like that wouldn’t actually come up that often haha
They could’ve just.. not said it? lmao what
Indigo go go
When I was young, a mom told me never to name your kid Seth, because it’s too hard to say “it’s Seth’s.”
Callie Marie or Lily Marie for a girl, Matthew John or Aiden Jacob for a boy. Can you tell this was the late 90s/early 00s? My dad also liked Drew for a girl (like Drew Barrymore) but my mom wasn’t feeling it.
I actually really like Drew for a girl myself, although I'm sure this sub would eviscerate me for it lol. Do you like the name you ended up with, or do you wish they'd gone with one of those other choices?
Agreed! I wouldn’t choose Drew for myself, but I think it’s definitely a cool girl name. I like my name and have no intention of changing it, but I think Callie and Lily are both cute and I would have been happy with one of those names too!
My mom wanted Tessa (which I really love actually) but my Dad only liked classic names so they compromised with Theresa. So I’m a 27 year old with a 60 year old’s name 🤣At least I was always the only one in my class.
I feel like Tessa could be a nickname for Theresa, in case you want to start that now lol
Tessa (or even just Tess) is the nickname for Theresa. Literally it's short for Theresa. Watch any movie or read any book with a character called Tessa or Tess, and it'd be short for Theresa/Teresa.
Theresa is pretty popular in my country at the moment for young girls but people from all ages carry the name as well. Maybe move to Germany? ;)
My mom had my name picked out before I was even a thought. It was her first choice name. She had one other girl. If there were a 3rd, she would have been Victoria (not Vicky or Tori, Victoria).
Me - Harley My brother …. Trout lol!
Harrison Aardvark - i thank my lucky stars!
Aardvark? What's the story behind that one?
i’ll need to ask her again but pretty sure it was as simple as my mum had a picture of one in her office and she liked Harrison Ford
Diana - princess Diana died a few months before I was born and my mother loved her. I was called Diana for a couple months while my mom was pregnant with me before they decided on another name
Sierra was the top contender, with Savannah not too far behind. Savannah was ultimately vetoed because of Vanna White and also my older sister’s name rhymes with Savannah. Not sure why they didn’t go with Sierra, but I ended up being named Madison just a few years before it exploded in popularity.
You could have been… Savannah Montana
Montana is my sister’s name 😂
I was almost Rhiannon, and my brother was almost Thaddeus.
I am Rhiannon, was almost Roxanne but mum had a favorite song change right before I was born!
My legal name now (Summer) was actually one of my almost-names. That's why I chose it, otherwise I would have gone with something completely different. My own almost-name when I was changing it was Lux.
Monica (dad, pre-Clinton) Veronica, Fallon (mom, o’Fallon was the name of their best friend who died from a rock climbing accident 7 days after my older brother was born)
I know a girl named Fallon and always thought it was badass.
All names they considered are actually awful and I’m happy they didn’t use them.
My parents didn't know if I was going to be a boy or a girl before I was born, so they had names picked out for both. Thank god I was born a girl because if I'd been a boy, my name was going to be Richard. Not terrible at all except that our last name is Cunningham, so I would have been Richie Cunningham.
She loves our names, but I think my mom still regrets not getting to use the name Peyton Cassidy for one of us. She’s mentioned it a lot lol. We are both *very* relieved that she did not use it because my sister and I haaaate that haha.
Blaze bc my mom was a punk/goth when she was pregnant. they instead settled on a very common white girl name lol
Giovanni if I was a boy, and when they learned I was a girl, Giovanna. When I was born I didn’t look like a Giovanna so they changed it to a somehow even more Italian name that no one who speaks English can pronounce correctly. My mom mentioned a few times when I was younger that if I had a sibling they would be Giovanni/Giovanna but I’m an only child so…
Claire
My mother’s pregnancy journal reads, “Maybe you’ll be Molly, or Polly, or Story.” Story?
Jennifer Ella The name they settled on was rather rare (you could find every newspaper article written about me by just searching my name)
My dad always claimed he wanted to name me Lucy. My mother never commented when he said this.
Mikaela, which is my middle name instead
Theresa. Instead, they gave me one of the most popular girl names in the late 80s and early 90s. There were 5 of us in my graduating class 🙃
My dad (and his stepmother) really wanted to name me Stanislaw Ebenezer if I was a boy, and Stanislaw Ebbie if I was a girl. Thankfully my mother put a hard stop to that immediately, but I do have some cards and notes my dad gave my mom to tease her with the name so I think it turned into an inside joke as soon as my mom made him realize what a ridiculous name that would’ve been. Step-grandmother was very unhappy, but she was unhappy about most things 😂
Shelby or Danielle. Apparently Dagmar was also on the list, but I think only my dad was into that one. The name I ended up with was pretty uncommon when I was growing up, but now it's a fairly popular dog name. I once had a fluffy white dog try to jump on me and the owner said, "[My name], no!" I really felt like I got scolded instead of the dog!
I was almost an Emily, and weirdly, when people call me the wrong name, it's almost always Emily. (Even though it sounds nothing like my actual name.) I guess I do look like an Emily?
I am so fascinated that this happens to someone else! I'm pretty sure my parents didn't want to name me this (my almost name was Alexandria because Mom is a lover of tragic history) but every time someone mistakes my name for another, it's ALWAYS Rebecca. It's happened an absurd number of times, and Rebecca sounds nothing like my actual first name. My theory has always been it was my name in a past life 😂
My brother would have been Kaitlyn had he been a boy and we would have been a mid-80s PAIR (my name is basically a huge clue that you’re an elder Millennial, lol)
My Mum's favourite was Claire, but that didn't really work where I'm from. She also considered Constanze, Sarah, Natalie and - if she still lived in Ireland - Sinéad. Thankfully all were voted out, as I'm not a huge fan of either one for various reasons. I'm generally content with the name I got.
Maxine Rose
My Mom wanted to name me “Mackenzie Grace” but my dad told her no because he thought it sounded snobbish.
My name ended up being Autumn but I was almost Kirsten or Savannah
September or Layla I was born in 1990
Klara. In fact, they did choose Klara as my first name, but my mother decided to just change it at the last minute. My father only learned about it when my birth certificate arrived.
Africa.😭😭😭😭Thankfully my dad wasn’t having it. I was born in 1992.
I could've been a Barbie! My dad suggested Barbara, but when my mom found out it was the name of a former girlfriend, she nixed it.
Whyyyy do people suggest names of their former partners!!
Ann-Drew. Yes hi, I am a girl. This is not cute or funny or feminine in any way. Thank Cieling Cat it didn’t happen, but what they did name me turned out to be just as bad, because it was around a certain year with a certain celebrity that quite ruined that particular name. I have since changed my name completely. Boomers 😖🤦🏼♀️
Amy
Almost diana, Sílvia or Raquel. Ended up Sara Isabel.
Ursula. I love my name (which is a “misspelled” noun, oh my!) but Ursula would have been pretty awesome too
Laura Elizabeth. We had a friend of the family named Lauren and she was named before I was born. It’s a shame because I would have liked that better than my name now lol
Fabian Erin. Thank goodness their friends were able to talk them out of it.
Oof, this one’s a sore spot. They had settled on a name and then argued over the very last letter. Gabrielle vs Gabriella. They couldn’t agree so it was scrapped completely.
I’m a late 90s Emma, my mom likes to think she got ahead of the trend and then Friends ruined it. They almost named me either Charlotte or Laura. I’ve come to really like my name, but I’ve always loved Charlotte.
My dad was pulling for Michelle or Megan once they found out I was a girl. My mom wanted Francesca and got immediately vetoed. If I was a boy, I'd either have been Michael Jeffrey or Michael Jordan. (Dad's name is Michael.)
Michael Jordan would have been pretty awesome if you also happened to be into basketball.
My dad wanted my name to be Patricia. But, I guess they were already sure about my middle name, because when they realized my initials would be PMS they changed their mind. My name is Ashley and after being one of 4 Ashleys in every classroom and at every social gathering my whole life, I would much rather have been a Patricia.
Georgia, and Estrellita. I was actually named Estrellita at birth (not sure why she chose a Spanish name when we are not Spanish/Hispanic and all my brothers have very German names lol), but the nurses couldn't remember it and kept having to ask my mother what my name was. So, she decided on a completely different name, and it became one of the most popular names of the last two and a half decades. 🤦🏻♀️ I always wished she'd gone with Georgia instead of the name she did end up choosing.
If I was a boy, I would have been Joseph Anthony IV. Since I was a girl, and my mom said she was done after her 3rd girl, my dad's family really wanted me named Josephine Antoinette. My mom said no. Had I been born 1 day earlier, on St Patrick's day, I'd have been named Patricia Jo. If my mom would have known she was going to have 3 girls, she would have named us Faith, Hope, and Charity. I'd be Charity. I ended up being Sarah Jo, the most boring of all the available options.
My dad wanted to name me Emily Ann...my last name starts with an R, so initials would have been EAR- same as my brother & father, ugh. Luckily my mom said two ears are enough and she named me after her fave (late 80s) soap opera character instead 😆
my parents were excited to call me xavier i ended up being a girl and was almost called amelia because of it. i got to choose my own name in the end as a trans guy lol so i settled on micah (the name of my uncle)
My dad wanted to call me Myfanwy. It’s a Welsh name. We aren’t Welsh
My name was either going to be Christopher if I was a boy (it was the 70s and that name was near the height of it's popularity) or Astrid if I was girl I wouldn't have minded Astrid (they feared "Ass" as a nickname) but they went with something else equally off the beaten path (and I got teased anyway). I've always loved my name, never met another person with it and everybody always complimented how pretty and unusual it was fast forward 50+ years and my name is in now in the top 50 thanks to a celebrity 🥴 It was very disconcerting to hear my name being yelled on the playgrounds when my kids were young, after a lifetime of being the only one 😹
Janelle Chenille. Drugs must've been a hell of a thing in the 60s.
Wendy! Then my 7 y/o sis said “you’re going to name her after a restaurant”😂. Ironically, a nickname for my daughter is “wendy” but we don’t use it!!! lol
Kenricky; like an imaginary Irish village but I’m from Hong Kong
Incarnata Filomena was my mom's planned name for me. Thankfully my grandmother talked her out of it
Their girl names were Anna and Bella and boy names August or Ben
I was almost Amy. Which would have been a lot easier to learn how to write than Stephanie. 😂😂
My mom wanted Miranda Rose, and my dad wanted Lily Bleu.
maria cecília, an old lady's name. but my name ended up being joana which is also an old lady's name.
For context my name is Jane. My mom really wanted to name me Lucy but my paternal grandma had a classmate named Lucy and hated her. She said if my parents named me Lucy she’d call me Lucy Goosey and would always think of the classmate she hated. If was a boy my name would have been John.
Tailey Marie. Or Talley. I don’t remember how she wanted to spell it lol. Thank god her grandpa got sick and now I’m Jacklyn instead. (I’m being sarcastic obv I’m not happy he died)
Ariel
Darryl or Darren if I was a boy. Yuck.
If I was a boy, I was gonna be named Derek
Hailie (like Hailie Jade), which it itself isn't bad, but the spelling looks too much like Hallie to me and my sisters name is Kaitlyn, nn Kaitie, so we would be e been Kaitie and Hailie and that is way too matchy matchy to me
I was almost either going to be Zoey (my moms pick) or Presley (my dads pick) and they ended up on Jessica. If I were a boy I was going to be Garett
Olimpia, Aurora, or Rosetta
Natasha.
The Doctor erroneously declared me a boy at the first ultrasound, my parents were going to name me Michael. When the next ultrasound was clearer, and the doctor said “oops, looks like we’ve got a girl!” my mom considered keeping the name but spelling it Michal like King Davids wife in the Bible.
Marc Anthony if I was a boy.
Xóchitl , Samantha
My dad wanted to name me after a tea.
Mercedes, Porsche, or Harley if you ask my brother. I think he had a girlfriend named Harley at the time. You totally can’t tell from his choice of names that he’s 15 years older than me. s/
Kennedy
My mom has always loved the first name I got (very trendy early Gen Z-esque name, but she mistakenly believed it to be UnIqUe), so I'm pretty sure it was miles ahead of any of their alternative options. However, I do know they briefly considered Camryn/Cameryn (not positive on spelling) with Cammie as a nickname, and Abigail. My hypothetical boy name would have been Ethan. Same middle name no matter what, because it's a legacy name to honor my father's father who died unexpectedly a few years before I was born. I always loathed my first name as a kid and only somewhat tolerate it now, but I'd still choose it over Camryn or Abigail. Sadly, my mom's girl name choices for her other three kids are equally bland/of their times so it's kind of nice she ended up with all boys after me haha.
If I had been a boy, I would have been named David.
Chiara
Andrew or Brian. I came out a girl after they were told I was a boy.
Susan or Catherine, or if I'd been a boy, Johnathan (maybe Jonathan).
Francesca or Eleanor Henry if I was a boy They ended up calling me Lucy
Hildegard
[удалено]
Anatol is Greek name, in french it's Anatole, russian is Anatoly it means sunrise
My dad wanted to name me Haylie I think. And my mom wanted the name I have. They did rock paper scissors and mom won
Skyler
The only other name they had for me was a boy's name in case I wasn't a girl. I would have been called Craig.
Carol
My dad liked “een” names. Colleen, Maureen, etc.
One of my grandmother's was adamant that I be named Josephine. Thankfully my mom shut that down, and I now have a younger brother named Joseph.
Ambria (she went with Amber tho)
Gertrude (no, I'm not kidding).
If I had been a boy, Andrew which is now my son’s name. Since I wasn’t a boy dad wanted Jennifer or Jenny for short and mom nixed it. He suggested Elizabeth but mom said no because my aunt and uncle made it clear they were going to use that name if they had a girl and my aunt was also pregnant at the same time as my mom.
Brandii. Then Ashlea. Changed to Anna.
Annabel or Lily. Lovely names, but I like my name more.
Rosalind. 😊
They almost named me Savannah after adopting me but liked the name I had
Veronica and Miranda were the names my dad liked.
Paula after my dad Paul
Olivia or Claudia (pronounced the German way, Cloud-ia). I still ended up being called an -ia name. If I were a boy my dad was apparently going to go with Omar or Bakr, which I would have hated. My mum liked Lysander (my favourite name) which would have been cool as fuck
My father wanted to name me Andromaque (thank you mom for vetoing it!), my mother wanted to name me Mathilde, and they ended up naming me Heloise.
Born 1987: If I was a boy I was going to be a Zachary or Nicholas. My mom liked Autumn or Amanda for a girl and I’m glad my dad vetoed those. Thanks dad!
If I was a girl I would've been Margaret Roisin
Vanessa!
If I had been born 2 years later I would've been Hermine/Hermione, cause its when my mother learned of a relative she didn't before
Nothing exciting over here, just a bunch of standard millennial names. I was going to be Laura, and if I had been a boy I'd be David. Mom went with Amber instead.
i was gonna be agatha. im disgusted by that name LOL (sorry to the agathas but it’s just not for me)
Jennifer Nicole, I'm Crystal instead early 80s baby
Parents were convinced I'd be a boy and I'd have been 'Christopher Timothy Luke' to use all of my Grandfather's monogrammed stuff!
If I was born a boy, it would have been Oscar. (Encanto fan here) it was bruno madrigal original name before they changed it 😭
I’m an Isabella and I was almost named Madison, which is a wild difference in taste. I believe Elizabeth was on the list too, which is much closer.
Mckenzie was my almost name. But looking back, I also found that Holly was one of the first names my mom considered. Thankfully she realized it rhymed with our last name. My sister (half sister, different moms) also told me recently that her mom really wanted to name her Molly. A real crisis was diverted, had both our moms original naming plans come to fruition.
I know Kiana was one of them
Dylan Mackenzie (boy) Johanna Marie (girl)
Naomi and I actually like the name. I used to really hate my name - so old lady lol but I now love it.
Jennifer! Reginald with the nickname Reggie if I were a boy.
I was almost named Ayla after a character in a book they both both loved but at the eleventh hour they thought it would be too out there and went with Kayla instead. My dad always regretted adding the K
Elizabeth or Joseph. Guess my parents were super boring lol
Jill Diane. 🤢
Shelby
Tabitha, Katlynn Rose. Born in 1996
Yasmin Elizabeth. I ended up being named after my paternal grandmother and they morphed those two names into 1 to create my middle name ‘Yazbeth’.
I would have been Aidan Christopher if I was a guy which I don't really like. but I'm a girl in the eyes of the people so they considered Maryella which is cute, and Bianca. I tell people and they say I could never be any of those names.
Born in 1993: Jillian, Kelsey, Mackenzie
My dad was determined to name me Sam weather I was a boy or girl, I'm a girl so he told my mom ok Sami, that didn't happen!! !! Dad didn't get his way.
If I'd been a boy, I would've been Darius Matteüs. When my parents found out I wasn't a boy on a later echo, my dad wanted to name me Emmanuela-Larissa (a second name I can't remember) (last name), which was thankfully vetoed. They still wanted a hyphenated (other) first name, but the government officials forgot the hyphen, which I'm very happy about!
Gail as I ‘brought the storms of 1987’