I’ve always liked my name. Dana. Easy to say, easy to spell, short and sweet to go along with my (maiden) surname of ten letters and four syllables. I never wanted to change it, but there were some times when I didn’t love it so much.Like in middle school, when my name wasn’t on the class list for P.E. I started to panic, and then I heard the laughter coming from the boys’ class on the other side of the gym. I was on their class list, because evidently the idiot making the schedules thought I was male. Yes, I still had the build of a prepubescent boy, but really? Some guy Dana was a famous football player, blah, blah, blah…the only famous Dana I knew at that time was Dana Plato – and Kimberly Drummond was definitely a girl.
My name annoyed me when I was in all of the same classes with another Dana – from sixth grade on. Actually, her name annoyed me, because she pronounced it with a short “a” instead of a long “a.” I am Day-na, she was Da-na (rhymes with banana). So in every single class I had to endure the same routine at the beginning of the year, and listen to the teacher screw up her name for a month before he got it straight.
I feel like a Dana. I like that it can’t be shortened to a nickname I don’t want, although I don’t mind when friends or family call me Dane. One college professor couldn’t pronouce my name and called me Daner. My parents called me Dana-Banana (changing the second “a” to a long “a” so it rhymes). Sometimes Matt just calls me D. And putting “Aunt” in front of my name makes me love it even more.
I began thinking about my name when I was looking at my friend list on Facebook —
Don’t you do that? Scroll through your friend list just to feel good about yourself? No? I guess it’s just me.
–and I noticed how some names were much more numerous than others. For example, I know:
- five Amys and Melissas
- six Karens
- eight Jennifers and Lisas
My 14 year old daughter, however, has different popular names on her friend list:
- five Hannahs, Julias, Laurens, and Rachels
- six Allies/Allisons
- seven Matt/Matthews and Sara(h)s
- eight Emilys (and three Emmas)
- nine Mike/Michaels
I find it interesting that the most common names are fairly classic ones, even across the decades. Trends come and go, but Emilys and Michaels are forever. My name was in the top 100 for girls from 1960 to 1990, peaking in the 1970’s, the decade of my birth. Its popularity has steadily declined since then; I have actually never met a Dana younger than me. In thirty years, “Dana” is going to be one of those names that only old ladies have – like Ethel and Maude.
Did you like your name as a kid? Do you like it now?
I found this post really interesting!
My real name (Joy is only my screen name) is quite oldfasioned for someone my age. I only know women who are at least 10-15 years older than I am that have the same name. I got accustomed to it but I do not love it. It sounds quite harsh.
Apart from that it is very difficult to pronounce for anyone outside of Germany (which is where I come from). If I meet English speaking people I always offer them to call me a similar-sounding English name to make it easier for them. This was one of the reasons why we chose a name for our son that is easy to say for anyone, no matter where s/he comes from.
There is a horrible trend going on in Germany: a lot of people tend to give their kids the most eccentric names. Combine it with a very German sounding name = awful. Like e.g. Cheyenne Destiny Haylay Hinterhuber or Morten Sky Brain Müller (yes, Brain, not Brian, because when you say Brain in German it sounds like Brian in English). You get the idea. The other trend is to give your children names that our grandparents had like Theodor, Emil, Anton, Lotte….
Interesting! I never thought about that before, but both of my kids’ names are easy to say regardless of your native tongue. I just don’t get the eccentric names – why saddle your kid with a name like that? Btw – I love that your screen names for you and your son (I assume that’s a screen name?) are so bright and optimistic!
Thank you! It was a very conscious decision I made when I dug in my brain to think of some names that I found suitable. I think they both represent our personalities quite well.
As for the eccentric names: I seriously cannot tell you and I do not get it. I guess it is just to stand out from the crowd or something like that.
My real name is boring, and I never liked it growing up. My fake blogging name is a little bit cooler, but I probably should have named myself something I always wanted to be called–or perhaps embraced my collegiate nickname of “Skank” and used that. Haha
I didn’t know Shay was your blogging name – I like it (better than Skank!). But better a boring name and an exciting personality than vice versa, right?
I wish I’d known when we named our son that there were going to literally be 3 kids with his name in his grade at school. To distinguish him, his name has his classroom number added to it when kids mention him. Not exactly what we had in mind when we picked it!
That stinks. My daughter had a girl with the same name in her class at preschool; for a few years she thought her first name included her last initial, because that’s what the teachers call her. I have cards from her signed like that – it’s kinda cute now, but I hated it at the time!
I hate my name because it sounds like a fungus. The good news is, I never had to share it with anyone! My mom told me that my name is unique just like me.
Glad we connected via SITSSharefest on Twitter 🙂 I’m also glad my name is not Kate since you’re no longer accepting any more bloggers named Kate. LOL that was too funny!
Yours is the funniest comment I’ve had – your name looks so pretty! I would pronounce it Grass-e-elle. Anyway, I’m glad you’re not Kate also – I have room for bloggers named Grace! So nice chatting with you yesterday – have a great Sunday!
I got confused with boys too. Ahh the seventies, when boys were named Dana and Shannon. I LOVE name facts and trends too, so no, it’s not just you. I have a running list of names/characteristics in my head, I can’t help myself. It does make it hard for me to take Tiffani seriously. And I assume that boys named Dakota maybe have been too one too many monster truck rallies.
I knew a guy Shannon in high school. You’re right about making assumptions about people based on their names – I guess being mistaken for a boy is not the worst thing people could think of my name!
I hated my name growing up….Miranda was nowhere near any form of popularity. I have grown into it and really like it now but it led to lots of teenage angst
Your name became mainstream when Sex and the City came out! It’s a great name – glad you’ve grown to like it!
I’ve never minded my name but it annoys the crap out of me when people say “Krissy” – because Krissy is dumb in the dumb way. Kristi is dumb in the good way. Never thought about Dana become like Ethel or Maude but I can see what you mean (I was adopted and my bio mom named me Esther – so I was another old-lady name for six days – glad I’m Kristi now).
Oh! You reminded me, I went to school with two sisters (as in they were sisters to each other and both girls) named Kevin and Karter.
Fun post, Dana (long a)!
My name seems to have fallen from grace, although I think it was popular at one point. I like it. I’m glad I hardly ever run into anyone that has it. I’m not a huge fan of my middle name, but its a family name, so my daughter has it too (she doesn’t like it either). The only nickname I have is Michy (pronounced Mishy) and the only people who use it are my hubby’s guy friends. I don’t for the life of me understand people who name their kids really bizarre names. I think they are thinking more about attention than anything else!
Michelle is my middle name, and my daughter has a friend named Michelle, but you’re right – you don’t hear it much anymore. And I don’t get bizarre names either – don’t these parents understand that they are saddling their children with a weird name for the rest of their life??
I’ve reflected on this topic before, especially when we were trying to come up with names for our 3 kids. For my own name, I think there was a time when it was popular, but my parents were very purposeful in how they wanted to spell it. A certain horror movie had come out, and they were freaked about spelling my name the same way. So far, my head hasn’t started spinning, and no one threw pig’s blood on me. Thank God!
My name was fairly common when I was growing up, less so now. I think it suits me – I can’t imagine have another one. 🙂
I agree, Kim – not many girls with the name Kim now. I like it – short, sweet, and never mispronounced!
I am an Ashley and growing up there were tons of girls with that name. I don’t love it and I don’t hate it. One of my best girlfriends is named Dana. And that was my mom’s name, too. So I love it! :)-Ashley
I love it too, Ashley. Your name is pretty common, but I don’t know any Ashleys in real life, and you are the only one I know in blog-life!
This is so cute. I will never forget one day when I was middle school and met a guy named Lindsey. I was shocked because my mom’s name was Lindsay and I always thought it was a girl’s name. Not both!
Just last night some friends and I were talking about names, and we decided we knew too many Deborahs and too many Mikes. We were simply going to have to start making up new names for these people because it was getting too confusing!
Funny, I don’t know any Deborahs (except my cousin, but she goes by Debbie). My dad and brother-in-law are both Michaels – that name never goes out of style.
I like Kristen but I don’t like (nor answer to) shortened versions.. no Kris, Krissie, etc. I am Kristen Elizabeth and I went to school with a Kirsten Elizabeth so our names were ALWAYS mixed up. Love my girls name although Mackenzie Grace was almost Hannah Grace until I heard it one too many times and changed it. Glad I did, too because I think there are at least 4 Hannahs in her class and not another Mackenzie.
There are a lot of nicknames for Kristen. Mackenzie Grace is a pretty name – if my second child was a girl her name would have been Grace…but it was a boy!
I’ve always liked my name, but it does come with a few issues. I posted about it here: http://theliebers.blogspot.com/2013/04/rabia-story-behind-name.html
Cool – I’m going to check it out now!
Kate the Great…hmmm I like the ring to that! Lol, so cute! Funny thing is my name is short for something and no one ever could say my name right or spell it correctly. Good one blog friend!
So cute!
Hmmm – I’m intrigued!
My name is very different (Kimbra) but I have always hated it because no one can seem to pronounce it. I have been called Kendra, Kember, etc all my life…. I gave my kids very different names as well.
June is Hydranencephaly awareness month – help spread the word
http://mommysrambles.blogspot.com/2013/06/i-love-someone-with-hydranencephaly.html
It doesn’t seem hard to pronounce to me – different but straightforward. I like it!
This is a fascinating post because it points out how people want to have unique names, such as yours. While I have a common first name, I have such a unique last name that people I’ve encountered throughout the years have easily been able to find me. Example: a boy I was in a regional spelling bee back in 8th grade found me on Facebook several years ago. No way he would have been able to do that if I was a Catherine Smith. Another example: My boss copied me on an email to an investor and the investor responds, “Is that the one and only Catherine Gacad who got an MBA from the University of Chicago?” I thought that was hilarious and my boss got a real kick out of it.
People are now doing a ton of research and going out of their way to give their children very unique names.
That’s so cool about your last name! I thought of you when I was writing about the Kate bloggers I know – wondering if they were truly Katherines (or Catherines). Your name may be common, but it’s elegant and timeless. I’d pick that over very unique any day.
I have never really given my name that much thought. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either. Like yours, it is short and rarely misspelled or mispronounced. Despite it’s popularity in the 70’s I don’t know many others named Lisa and never knew any when I was growing up!
I noticed that three of my favorite bloggers are Kimberlys (or Kimberley or just Kim). Weird! And my friend list has a Tammi and two other Tamaras. One is pronounced like mine – rhymes with camera. The other is Tah – mara. I also know one whose name is like tomorrow.
Did any of that make sense?
I was raised with the nickname “Tammy” which I was never quite sure about. As an adult I finally took the plunge to be “Tamara” and I’ve never looked back. My old friends and family can call me “Tammy” but if someone “new” does it, I want to slap their face.
I knew one Tammy growing up. Tamara sounds so different than Tammy – it’s one of those nicknames that has such a different feel than the full name. I love it, I love your pronunciation, and I will avoid the face slap by never calling you Tammy!
I never liked Lisa, and even more boring with my middle name Ann. I always wanted it to be Elizabeth. Funny thing is that when I got older my mother told me she actually wanted it to be Liza. When the birth certificate got filed they wrote Lisa instead and she never changed it. I would have liked to be Liza!
Liza is a great name – but you probably would have to spell it a lot and correct everyone who called you Lisa. I don’t know any Lizas, but you are one of the eight lovely Lisas I have the pleasure of knowing 🙂
I didn’t like my name growing up, I always wanted one of the cute names the other girls had – Cathy, Kathy, Lori, Laurie, Susie, Ally, Nancy…(I guess you can tell what decade I grew up in). But now I love my name – it’s simple, pretty, and somewhat unique.
It is – you don’t hear it too often, but it’s known enough that it doesn’t get misspelled or mispronounced. Glad you grew to love it!
Really love your post. You are obviously a maker of lists, and a keeper of records and interesting bits of trivia.
In answer to your question, no, I never liked my name. Oh, my name is Joanne. I thought my parents gave my sisters better names. But, Have to admit, that I am my nickname…Jo…I am indeed Jo!
Jo makes me think of Little Women – and I loved that character! She was by far the more interesting March sister, and for awhile I wanted Jo to be my name too. Love it!
Interesting topic! I never thought about Dana as being an Ethel or a Maude, but who knows what society will do. I like Julie well enough – nothing exciting or awful about it. Just is. I guess it’s a classic name huh? We named our kids Evan, Eliana, and Eden. So not really classic. Wonder what will happen with theirs?
Julie is a classic name – I think Evan is too. And as long as your girls’ names don’t become popular stripper names, I think they’re ok 🙂
I was Nicki until third grade when I decided I wanted to go by Nicole. Only my parents, husband, and a few very select friend are allowed to call me Nicki. When we were choosing our daughters’ names, we wanted that perfect combination of classic but not overly popular. We ended up picking short names that can’t really be shortened to annoying nick names, but people still manage to find innovative ways to rhyme or otherwise butcher them!
That’s exactly what we did for our kids – two syllables, no nicknames. I love the name Nicole – it’s my sister’s middle name and I was always jealous of it!
I love Kate from Another Clean Slate and your diddy!
My name is Julann, not Juliann, or Joanne, or Julianna. Just Julann. But NO ONE ever gets it right. Some days I really hate it, other days, I could care less if you call me hey you.
I can imagine you get called a little bit of everything. My grandmother used to say, “Call me anything you want, just don’t call me late for dinner.” I’m going with that!
As a kid, i never liked my name. I was once thinking abou changing my name to Marilyn, because I adore Marilyn Monroe so much. Stopping from #LOBS.
-Honeybee
http://herweightlossdiary.blogspot.com
Well, I love your nickname! I hope you like your name more now 🙂
Aww love that I am one of your favorites and made the Kate cut! At least our names aren’t North West!! When I was in college, I transferred to another school and got my random roommates- Shane, Theo and Marc… turns out Shane was a girl, Theo was a type and was actually a girl named Thea and well, Marc was a guy. But I thought they’d placed me with 3 guys!
That’s funny – although three guys wouldn’t have been so bad, would it? North West is ridiculous – why do people do that to their children? And of course you made the cut – you’re great, Kate!
Oh, I always wished growing up for a different name…. I was never just “Sarah” – I was “Sarah R.” because there were always four other Sarah’s in my class… I went through a phase where I wanted to be “Sara”, and then for some reason a phase for a week when I only responded to “Patty.” wtf. And then I go and name my daughter Abby, which was #6 the year she was born. I guess we do become our mothers!
Ha! You’re funny, Patty 🙂 Sarah is one of those names that is always popular, but I’m sure it was a pain to be Sarah R. I hope Abby doesn’t have to do the same thing!
Always hated my name as a child until I took the executive decision to leave it behind when I went to college at 16. I became ‘Lizzi’ at that point and made friends and had fun without the awful memories that went along with my longer name.
Course, my Dad still calls me Elizabeth – “I chose that name for you because I liked it, I thought it was pretty and I’m sticking to it”. Now, as ever, my opinion, preference and choices are overriden, treated as an affront, and ignored.
/endrant
Elizabeth has so many nickname options – Lizzi seems to suit you! And I think parents have to expect their kids may choose a nickname if their given name is Elizabeth, Jennifer, etc.
You really would think – particularly given the number of options available, but no, not good enough for him 😉
Yours is nice though. I like that the long form is the short form, as it were.
I’ve never liked my name. Probably because it’s so darn common. I was a big T-Rex fan and at one time I wanted to legally change my name to Sucki. My parents wouldn’t allow it though. Glad they didn’t now that I think about it 🙂
Ha – that would have been unique, that’s for sure! One of my best friends in high school was Susan, and one of my best friends now is Sue. Some of the coolest people have your name 🙂
I used to hate my name. First, no one could ever spell it. Second, I wasn’t able to have a cute nickname. But the ultimate worst? Keri Lotion came out in the 80’s. Do you know how often I heard…Kerri is so very (add your insult here)?
I remember when I was pregnant with both girls going through every name to make sure there would be no horrible renditions of their name!
I like Dana. It is unique like you 🙂
Thank you, Kerri! I never associated your name with the lotion, but now I’ll be singing that jingle all day. I can see the issues with spelling your name – there are so many versions of it. I’m sure you say “two r’s and and “i” all the time…
I’ve been pronouncing your name Da-na not Day-na.. I know a Deanah that’s about 18.. I’ve always loved my name but it was hell on me when I was just starting to write. 8 letters were too much for a 5 year old. I never met a next Shanique until high school.
My maiden name is 10 letters long – that was a lot to write as a kid too! You have a pretty name, Shanique – and I bet no one ever thought it was a boy’s name!
I love that you are already predicting your name is going to be an “old lady” name in the future – too funny!
I like my name Veronica and I like my nickname Ronnie.
This is very topical since I saw that Kim and Kayne are naming their baby “North” – making her full name North West. That I would not like!
I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried, Ronnie! North West – like that kid isn’t going to have enough problems already.
Dana is a good name babe, don’t you hate when people can’t pronounce a simple name?
I have never met any Karens until a few years ago, we had a weird neighbor named Karen (thankfully we don’t live there anymore), the reading specialist I replaced was Karen, and a contact person I used to work with is named Karen. I didn’t think that name was that popular.
I hated my name when I was younger. Karen was so boring next to my LONG Italian, last name. Now I love it with my married name. I wanted Dara, Angelina, or Caramia…now I can’t be anyone other than a Karen.
I knew lots of Karens growing up, and one Caryn – she must have spent a lot of time spelling her name out!
Funny, but growing up Jennifer was such a popular name and wished that my mom had named me that at that point in my life. I rarely ever knew anyone named Janine, but must admit now I love it, because it is a bit more rare and not so popular. Just goes to show you can think one way about a name when you are younger, but feel oh so differently as you grow up!!
You’re so right, Janine. I know lots of people who had to grow into their name – hated it as a kid but love it now. Fortunately I always liked mine!