Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A to Z blogging challenge: J is for...


J is a popular letter in my family. All three of us have names beginning with J.


Thus, J is for: Jennifer!


When I was born Jennifer was THE top name on every baby name list.

And because of that I hated it.


My neighbor was named Jennifer. During my school years, I was one of three (maybe four) Jennifers in each class. Always. It made it kind of difficult to set us apart. So I was known as "tall" Jennifer.


Ugh. Even less original.


I wanted a nickname but I definitely wasn't a Jenny. So people usually just called me "Jen".

But I didn't like Jen any better. So when I was in college and around people who didn't know me as Jen or Jenny--I went back to the full name in an attempt to be original again because a lot of Jennifers never really went with the full name. It's stuck ever since. And then I finally liked my name! (It only took thirty years) LOL


When my daughter was born, I decided to give her a J name too, but one that was a little more unique, so she wouldn't go through what I went through in school. In fact, she is the only one in her ENTIRE school with her name. She's kind of like "Madonna" or "Cher" that way. LOL But she still complains and wants a name that is more common.


So you see, you never can win. :-)


What about you? Do you like your name? Is it very common or is it unique? Do you like your full name or nickname better?

26 comments:

Along These Lines ... said...

These days, people like to change the spelling of names to make them unique. Thus, Jennifer becomes: Jenifer, Jenifa, Jenapha, Janifa, Jinifer, Juniper, Jupiter - and suddenly you find yourself named after a big old planet with a giant red spot in its middle!

Unknown said...

I agree with you, no way could you win with a name. You just hope that years later they love their name. I finally do but it took me several years playing with different variations. I prefer Jen but always introduce myself as Jennifer. Strange isn't it? When I say Jen they often think I say June... causes confusion.

I am now curious about what your daughters name is. I love unique but not overly unique names ;)

Anonymous said...

I took years to write and pronounce my name, and then spent years correcting others spelling or writing my name..so no, I'm not really in love with it :)

Yeah, when it comes to names, there are very few people who are entirely pleased with theirs:)

Great to meet you via A-Z!

Kelly Polark said...

I like J names. Both my sons have J names. And I always call them the wrong name or a mishmash of them both. :)

Jessica R. Patch said...

I've been Jessica almost my whole life. Right up there with Jennifer! When I went to college, friends started calling me Jesse. I've been Jesse since, except when I go back home--no one calls me that there. In the writing world, I'm Jessica again and I think I like it better. I gave my daughter an original name too, but then a few years later--it took off. Sigh.

Jaydee Morgan said...

Not a lot of people share my name - and I kind of like it that way :)

Suzy, The Grey Brunette said...

I like the names Jenny and Jennifer, probably because Jennifer is my elder sister's name but she goes by the name Jenny. Apparently she was going to be called Jane at one point - for a time she wished she had been but I think she's happy with her name now. I'm a Suzanne, but only on paper. To everyone who knows me I'm Suzy. I hate being called Sue though... it's just not me at all!

Joanne said...

J's rock :)

Author Joshua Hoyt said...

We named our daughter Tamar (Tamer) after a great grandmother. She says that she likes the name and has enjoyed it. My middle name has always been my problem it is Dusk and in the early days of my life I had a lisp and so I would say Duck. One day my teacher had to know if my middle name was really duck so she called my parents to find out.

Linda G. said...

I've always loved the name Jennifer. It's mellifluous. :)

Laura S. said...

I've always liked my name! It's not unique; I went to school with two other Lauras. Even in college there was always one other Laura (or Lauren) in my classes. In my dorm freshman year, just on my side of the floor, there were four Lauras and 2 Laurens! That got really confusing, lol.

Marcella is my middle name, which I love love love. It's my grandmother's name. I come from the generation where every girl's middle name was Marie or Lynn or Nicole, so I've always liked having a unique middle name!

My nickname my parents started calling me is Lo or Loey, which I used to dislike because it sounded so babyish. But then my friends started calling me Lo in 7th grade and it's stuck since then. I like it now. Even my niephlings call me Aunt Loey!

M.J. Fifield said...

When I was in school, there were two girls with the exact same name, first, middle and last. I shared a a name very similar to theirs. Needless to say, there were plenty of mix-ups. Some hilarious, others not.

Anonymous said...

I went through that with my name. When I was younger, I didn't like being called Susanne. I went by Susan, Susie, and Sue. Now I go by Susanne, but those that knew me in my Sue days, still call me Sue. Even my husband introduces me as Sue. Oh well.

Theresa Milstein said...

I had FOUR Jennifers on my soccer team one year. Jennifer and Michael were the #1 names the year I was born. And I think Jennifer is the most popular name of all my blogger followers.

My named isn't as popular, but I've never loved it.

I hope my kids like their names because I put so much thought into them.

Glynis Peters said...

I don't mind my name because it is different. I dislike it when people call me Glen or write Glenys.

I have a friend, Jenny and never knew that is her whole name, until she married. For twenty five years I thought she was a Jennifer.

Nancy said...

My name is Nancy and it isn't common now, but it was when I was in school. There were sometimes two Nancy's in my class.

I like the name now, it means "grace" and that's a good thing.

Heather M. Gardner said...

I hated my name growing up because it couldn't be shortened to anything cool.
I have a habit of shortening names down to only 1 or 2 letters. I'd end up calling you J!

Leah (aka Mary_not_Martha) said...

Ah, but the Jennifer's have so much clout. Who didn't listen to their sister talk about, "Jennifer said this," and "Jennifer said that." and who didn't want to have a song with their phone number in it? 867530-niiEEiine!

I never had a friend named Jennifer. Just as cool though, my best friend's name was the same as mine (Leah).

Debora Dennis said...

Oh my, I so feel your pain. I was one of dozen Debbie's in my class. I finally like my name too - took me about 40 years to get to that point LOL.
My kids aren't happy with their names either - so no, we can't win :)

septembermom said...

When my mom named me Kelly way back when in 1968 (I feel old!), she thought she was original. There were 6 Kellys in my first grade.

I favor J names. All my kids have J names. They call themselves the J club.

I wanted to name my daughter Jillian but we already had too many in the family :)

Mary Aalgaard said...

Indeed! I do know lots of Jennifers in your age range. Actually, as I was naming characters for my next play, I was trying to think of what were the popular names in the 60s and 70s.

Cricket McRae said...

For some reason I went through a period of wanting to be named Barbara. Signed my school papers that way for a few months and then, apparently, grew out of it.

Craig Edwards said...

Relatively uncommon I think, and spelled more ways than I would have believed! I have met both a Creg and a Kraig, and a couple of other Craigs. I like the name fine, though with the slightest background noise or ear problem on a listener it'll be misheard as Greg in a heartbeat. My favorite pronunciation was an Italian co-worker's from a few years ago - his "Grrrreg!" with a big rolling R was so iconic other friends from that time still call me that in the accent! Wonderful post! Cheers!

Kim said...

We had two Jennifer's in my class. In our family we have three K's...and I do believe we all love our names, so that is a good thing!

Halli Gomez said...

Great post! I had to comment. I HATE my name - Halli - and still complain to my mother about it 41 years later.

I have four major complaints with it:
1. Unless they see me, people don't know if I am a female or male and I've been called "Mr." several times
2. No one can pronounce it properly.
3. No one can spell it.
4. I know I'll never be able to walk in to a store and find a key chain or coffee mug with my name on it.

Oh well, could be worse!

Unknown said...

Fankly, I love my name "Kelvin" It's really unique in the sense that most people bear Kevin, not Kelvin. hahaha...and people hardly forget me thanks to my name :)