Who were you named after?

There are 12 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 643 times. The latest Post (September 28, 2025 at 9:16 PM) was by UK Man.

    On InfoBAE there is an article about a father who regrets giving his son a unique name, Pruno (in honor of a song by Stone Temple Pilots). He says the child now avoids answering the question ' What's your name?' because they have to explain the story behind it, and confirm it is Pruno and not Bruno.

    I am very glad that my parents gave me a quite plain and unoriginal name, it saved me some hassle! My mother intentionally gave me only a first name, as in Italy if you have more than one name, but use only your first, it causes inconsistencies across the documents are you are considered two different persons.

    When I was a child, it was already possible to name children with non-Catholic names (since 1946), but it was not very common. Yes, I had some unconventionally named friends (Jessica, Edith, Daphne, Heathcliff that nobody was able to spell or pronounce correctly, Brian, David etc.) and when I was younger I almost envied them. However, I later realized that it is much simpler to have a plain, standard name when socializing. At least you stand a chance that the other person can actually catch your name!

    Who were you named after? Are your happy with your name choice?


    My parents named me after my great-grandmother, but as the custom here is to have two “given” names, the middle name they chose was one they liked, and I have always been called by that name. Of course this caused teasing if not complications in school because teachers calling the roll always called out my first name, which until then was unknown to my classmates.

    As for happiness with my name choice, one grows up, right? As an adult, I’m fine with it. At least it’s a simple and non-humorous name, not something like Mergatroid Hermione McGillicuddy!

    Quote from serafina

    Who were you named after? Are your happy with your name choice?

    For several reasons I've never been happy. First problem is I'm known by my middle name rather than my first name which has always neen a nuisance. Plus my full name is too bloody long and doesn't always fit in especially when filling name boxes. Since childhood I've always wanted to have a simple short name....something like Ian Smith would have done me fine.

    Do I know you by your first or your middle name? I find very original and old fashioned, like a gentleman's name!

    I wasn't named after anyone. My mother had two names in mind, but the other one (Alice) eventually didn't convince her enough. I can't remember if the fact that there was an Italian singer whose stage name was Alice was the reason why she included it in the finalists or why she dropped it.

    Rice , I was asking to UK Man but forgot to add the tag.

    Interesting that I know you by your middle name. Do you use it only socially or also for legal purposes? In the US, it is pretty easy to change name and in some States you can simply switch names yourself, as long as you are consistent over a certain period of time.

    Quote from Rice

    My parents named me after my great-grandmother, but as the custom here is to have two “given” names, the middle name they chose was one they liked, and I have always been called by that name. Of course this caused teasing if not complications in school because teachers calling the roll always called out my first name, which until then was unknown to my classmates.

    Very smilar to me. My father and grandfather had the same full name as me so I followed them despite me having an older brother. I had similar problems to you at school and even more here where my first name is always used when I'm called due to it being in my DNI.