If you could change your first name what would you have ?

I always wanted to be named Elizabeth. I remember going to Sunday school with my little brother and I made up our names I said I was Elizabeth and he was Michael. My mother thought we were being given special names maybe saints names.

My first name is one that could be shortened, and depending on which name and the tone used, I could gauge my mothers mood and respond accordingly, was often good early warning.
Both my next sister and I have French second names and would sometimes have fun having a French day.
But back to the choice of names. That tends to be dependant upon what I am reading at the time.
So have liked Eleanor for many years.
Also Elizabeth as had a good friend who mattered a great deal , and of course the great Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, who it must be said , was a great model for me. Katherine is my other choice.
I didn't like the name Maureen, as many years ago there was someone of that name used to bully me, and try and drop me in it. Then another Maureen I got to know, used to wear a lot of purple and the colour and the name sort of stuck in my mind, but years later met a lovely person called Maureen who became a great friend and has been my friend for over 40 years. So that of course means my view of Maureen has changed!

My grandaughter is also Isla.... Rose is her middle name,her big brother got to choose it...he loves Rose in Titanic..🤣 No idea about me.. but I love Isla

Spartacus, so I could tell everyone "I'm Spartacus.".

I love the name Anna as well, and have never forgiven my parents for leaving the ‘a’ off so I was just plain old Ann. I was mortified when I was about 7 or 8 and a spiteful nun at the Convent I went to said it wasn’t a proper name the way I spelled it, as it didn’t have the end ‘e’, and forever after, she called me ‘Arn’. I could have murdered her!

He could have changed it within the first year. Sadly too late now!

That’s why I hate my name as it’a unisex. I wanted a solely female name. It was my father’s choice. My mother wanted to call me Caroline which I would have preferred.

I have a granddaughter called Isla too😊

valdavi

I love nearly all the Irish girls names.

I would've liked Anna, Florence, Orla for myself.

So do I.

I have a fairly unusual first name which was shortened by one of the girls I shared a flat with in London who was from New Zealand and who was not familiar with the name and she asked me if I would mind her shortening it and I said I was ok with it. I wish I hadn’t.

I met DH around the same time and he used the shortened version and he only very rarely uses my full name which is much nicer. Too late now.😩

I love the name Anna.

I am proud of my name - Margaret. It was my aunt's name and she died the year before I was born. When doing my family history I learnt that her (and my mum's) grandmother was a Margaret, and her mother as well. There was also a great aunt with the same name (same family branch). I'd love to be able to go even further back into the 1700s to see if there were others with the same name.

I like my first name, it's my surname since marriage that's the problem and I always have to spell it because people always get it wrong.

My name’s Kimberly. I’m 65 and I don’t know of any other women with that name of my age!! I was born in the USA (hence the spelling), but it had a short period of being popular in the 1980’s - I was shopping in Tesco’s once around d 1995 I guess and suddenly this man shouted “Kimberly!” in a loud, cross voice - I nearly jumped out of my skin - then a little girl ran past me towards him haha! I get a load of issues particularly with email as it doesn’t have an “e” between the “L” and the “y”. Obviously, it gets shortened to Kim a lot….. if I could have chosen my name though it would’ve been Celia or Helen.

I like my name (Melanie) now, but went through a time when I wanted to change it to Sharon or Tracey 😂.
I was the only one at Primary & Secondary School with my name.
I do get annoyed with people who shorten my name, without asking.
I don’t have a middle name (apparently nothing sounded right with it).
I’ve always wanted a middle name, I quite like Naomi or Mabel

I also loathe my given name, this month I would choose Anna but I change it on a regular basis. Our granddaughter was to be called Maud 😱 but fortunately it rhymed with her surname. I love the one she ended up with. Naming a child is a nightmare! Will it date? How will other people perceive that child/person? Will it be abbreviated? Then you have to look at initials. I have an Irish friend who spent the first two years of her life being called Baby. She is now called Marion, but was eventually christened Eileen.

Bethany
Rhiannon
Briony

I have always really hated my first name and only kept it as I was named after my Mother! For a very short spell, I worked with someone who misheard my name and thought it was Helen, she called me that for several very happy months, even though I corrected her! One of my friends had a French mother, she was very, very beautiful,so stylish and glamorous and she insisted all we children call her byher first name, which was Anita, that was always my very favourite name!

My daughter’s name is Delma named after a very good friend. Never heard of it before I met her

I remember a relative saying that names are a minefield, you have to consider what they'll get shortened to?

My mother was Betty (originally Cecilia Betty, but no surprise she went by the middle name?!), however I doubt she ever got called 'Bet' (as per Bet Lynch).

One of the most lovely and talented film stars was Audrey Hepburn, but I don't suppose she ever had to suffer friends or neighbours saying "Orright Ord"?

I had a friend who said she'd been told she should have been 'Rose', as she looked lovely, smelled exotic, and could sometimes be prickly!

My name is very common in my age group there were 4 of us in my school year and I knew two more outside school. My family always shortened my name unless I was in trouble then it was my full name.
Names I would have liked to be called were Rebecca, Charlotte or Amanda.

Lucy
Louisa
Gabby

When I was at school I longed to be called Karen as there was a very attractive older girl with the name. Of course now the Americans have really killed Karen as it’s used for a horrible entitled white person.
I love the name Chiara though it would not suit someone my age.

Celieanne86 same here. I’ve only met one other person with my name and that was the person I was named after, my mum’s friend. She was very nice, but it was a name from the 1920s and not very popular even back then! I think Shakespeare had a minor character with the same name and there’s an actress with that name. I was careful to call my children fairly ordinary names. I’ve heard of other people being called after Enid Blyton characters

Eloise or Francesca

I'm happy with my name and grateful to my parents for their choice... but when I was about 11 or 12 I longed to be called Pamela. I was a big fan of Enid Blyton's books and I think one of her heroines must have been called Pamela.

My Father wanted me to be Sarah, after his Mother, my Mum could'nt stand her, so I ended up being Joan, which I have never liked. I do use Sarah for Ebay though.