What's in a name?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20228060

[spudqueen]

I'm English, with a thoroughly English ancestry, apart from one great grandparent and a couple of great great grandparents who were Irish. But I have an Indian first name. Goodness knows where my Mother got it from, she wasn't well travelled, the furthest she got was a day trip to France! But people often mis-pronounce it or mis-spell it (or both!). I have been mistaken for a Mrs Patel before now. It's a bit late to change it now, though I do wish I had a middle name that I could have used instead.

[abstibus]

Many traditional families here give the first-born sons their mother's maiden name as a first name.
This has led to some really weird combinations.
If they had done this to my ex OH, his first name would have been 'Black'.

[Le Chat]

ummmm...is your surname Costello perhaps? My first name is Kerris, which gives people a lot of problems if they hear it over the phone. I have been referred to as Kirsty, Clarice (think Silence of the Lambs) Kerridge and Terry, or even 'that girl with the weird name!'
Once they see it written down, then it's easy!

[ummmm]

No, Moriarty.

[ummmm]

Kerris is a nice name.

[sp1814]

I would immediately think that Kerris is spelled Cerys (like the lead singer of Catatonia).

Nice name.

[whiskeryron]

I am white English & I read the news item with real genuine sadness. I can only say that it mst be awful to have a name that brands you as someone who is [ different ] I am very proud of my English name & as I said it fills me with great sadness to see that folks are having to resort to a name change in order to survive. Do not ever forget that if your name sounded Jewish or Romany in Nazi Germany in the 1930s you were automatically condemmed.

WR.

[rockyracoon]

My maiden name was a pain in the bum, it comes from Belgium/Holland, it was never pronounced properly and I was constantly having to spell it for people, the thing is it's not that difficult. When I married I got a really common name and that gets spelt wrong too!

[shaneystar2]

My surname is short and foreign .Nobody can spell it correctly or pronounce it correctly .I have to spell it out every time and it's only four letters !
People don't seem to be able to spell my christian name correctly either .
My husband takes his middle name as his christian name as is the custom in his country of origin .But officialdom insist on addressing him by his first name .

[WELSHYORKIE]

I was born Carling and as a kid in the 60s got called Black Label and I hated it. when Mum and the barsteward she was married to divorced she had our names changed by deed poll to her maiden name - not a problem you would think but I get called all sorts now and have to spell it phonetically- Charlie Alpha..........The number of times people have said 'crikey thats a lot of christian names'

[Le Chat]

sp1814 - A bit of a late response but my Mum had heard the name Kerris but had never seen it written down (had she lived in Wales it would have been quite different) so she spelt it as she thought it should look!