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What's in a name?

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Ethan Hawke

15:05 / 17.04.03

In response to a particularly silly thread in me livejournal, I typed -"Already, when I introduce myself to people as "Todd," they look at me funny and say "You don't look like a lifeguard."

Now, obviously, I'm not laboring under the burden someone named, say "Adolf" or "Osama" might be, but what connections/references/associations do people have with your given name? Do people automatically assume I'm blonde and beachy ( or maybe todd oldham-esque) because of my name? What are the associations the general public has to your name, if any?

*Bonus points are given if you do not list your given name, while listing a bunch of qualities, so that we can guess your name from the list of qualities.

Sax

15:12 / 17.04.03

Car salesman.
Swims like a fish.
White gloves and flourescent vest.

That's what my name evokes.

gingerbop

15:15 / 17.04.03

sax= gary?

that

15:17 / 17.04.03

I don't think people think anything particularly when they find out my given name. It's plain, ordinary, fairly common, boring. Someone (an American) once said 'ooh, that's old-fashioned', but it really isn't.

Jack Fear

15:20 / 17.04.03

There's a horrid little book called The Baby Name Survey Book: What People Think of Your Baby's Name that D and I cackled over during both pregnancies: it addresses exactly these sorts of preconceptions, as you can see from the sample page at the above link.

pointless and uncalled for

15:27 / 17.04.03

Fortunately my name has little association due to it's vast proliferation. Most preconsiderations revolve around the surname attached.

Sadly my surname evokes the image of a low-rent, white collar, Cavalier driving conservative.

Should I ever get married I am going to be adopting my partners name on the grounds that it can't be worse and the change would be nice.

Matthew Fluxington

15:33 / 17.04.03

Weird. I always thought the stereotype for the name Todd was that of effeminate, sickly, bookish young men. I've never heard of the "blonde lifeguard" thing. People like that are usually named "Samson," I think.

Ethan Hawke

15:52 / 17.04.03

Hey! Watch it! I'm not "young."

Tryphena Absent

16:07 / 17.04.03

My first name tends to get a kind of aah-that's-very-pretty reaction from old women and a but-that's-just-a-derivative reaction from Polish old women. I actually rarely like people with my name, they tend to simper and stand in the corner looking sweet and they're often rather stupid.

My surname is generally greeted with slight shock and a rush of questions on spelling and pronounciation.

Olulabelle

16:32 / 17.04.03

Todd, it does conjour up images of lifeguards and tanned American body perfect types.

Harry Potus = Dave? Brian? Keith?

Anna, I think I know yours anyway, it's a lovely name. I get the 'Ahh, that's a pretty name' reaction too.

My name is one you will all have heard of, but have probably never met anyone called it, until now. (You have probably come across variations of it.) I myself have only ever met one person with the same name as me. It makes me sound foreign, (Latin) elegant, it's old fashioned and quite regal. I am not any of these things!

Yes, and it's also the name of a foreign Queen.

Andrew C*** passing himself of as Haus

16:33 / 17.04.03

I have absolutely no interest in this thread whatsoever.

Kit-Cat Club

16:40 / 17.04.03

Olulabelle: Juliana?

I had an acquaintance once called Juliana and everyone had the same reaction to her name. She absolutely insisted on shortening it to Julie though - always thought that was a bit of a shame, though obviously her choice.

Mine's common enough to have no obvious associations, which is, I think a Good Thing... you should be able to guess from my fictionsuit anyway.

Char Aina

16:47 / 17.04.03

graham.

i tell you my name, because i know not what it evokes in the mind.

can any of you tell me?
what does it say in your baby name book?

i always thought it was a crap name really, but if anyone can show me other facets i may not have seen, well then i'll just be that tiny wee bit happier.

Matthew Fluxington

16:59 / 17.04.03

I really like the name Graham. I think it sounds intelligent and dignified, but without being humorless.

The first celeb-type that I think of is Graham Kerr. That's pretty cool.

MissLenore

17:14 / 17.04.03

Shannyn. Most people assume I'm Irish, or that one or both of my parents are Irish. Neither of which is true. Other than that, I don't really know of any associations with my name. I always get comments on the spelling, though.

Matthew Fluxington

17:29 / 17.04.03

My name is Matthew.

I hate being called "Matt." That name grates on me so much - it's just not me at all, it's a name for a guy who wears backwards baseball caps, has a large collection of Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Bands live bootlegs, and thinks that Friends is the funniest show to ever be on television.

Matthew suits me well, and I quite like it.

MJ-12

17:38 / 17.04.03

Oh, thanks very much.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

17:45 / 17.04.03

My name makes me sound much posher and more personable than I actually am.

Char Aina

17:45 / 17.04.03

fishing for compliments without even a baited hook, and i caught one!

thank you flux.

that

17:48 / 17.04.03

My ex was called [name removed for propriety's sake]. Apart from being an abusive fuckhead, he had some qualities. The name doesn't bother me at all - I still quite like it. His middle name, which suited him far more, I always fucking hated.

Basically, I think this stuff all varies from person to person - one person's view of what someone with a certain name is going to be like is probably going to differ wildly from the person next to them. Our impressions of names vary depending on the names of people we come to know.

gingerbop

19:31 / 17.04.03

Yeah, I agree- i used to think "Debbie" was such a slags name. Then i met someone fabulous and called debbie, and i despise it much less. Craig used to be for tinks, and now craig is for lovely people. Whereas Kelly used to be nice people and now its fuckhead slags. No offence any passing Kellys.. im sure ur a kelly of the first kind.

Baz Auckland

20:30 / 17.04.03

Kodger the nodger wrote: I have absolutely no interest in this thread whatsoever.

Come on! We share names! The only thing mine has evoked was at the first London Barbe-meet I went to. When I introduced myself everyone shrank back a bit and asked "you're not The Knowledge are you?"

w1rebaby

20:36 / 17.04.03

Nobody can spell any of my names (apart from my middle name which I hate). They all think they can spell the first one, but they can't, unless they're Scottish possibly. They don't know what the second one is at all. It's even worse in the States. I spell out my name by default now.

Oh, and my first name is routinely used to denote "ineffectual middle-class twat" in English TV sitcoms, dramas and soaps.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

21:03 / 17.04.03

Olulabelle, are you an Adelina by chance?

my name should be pretty obvious, ive been posting with it for years...

i usually get "like the bible?" to which i respond, "no the torah"...they usually dont get it...

i have gone by Eli for a long time in general, always made me think of someones old man unkle...

Char Aina

21:06 / 17.04.03

see, fridge, you make me think you mean geoffrey by the "ineffectual middle-class twat" description, but you made me think of ruaridh with your scotch comment.

hmmm....

w1rebaby

21:23 / 17.04.03

Good guesses, but no. Hint: I'm in the Archers.

Matthew Fluxington

21:34 / 17.04.03

I already know Fridge's real name, so I won't play along, but I think he's right on. But it doesn't have to be a bad thing - there's a lot of anglophile girls who would probably think his name is really fantastic.

Olulabelle

21:45 / 17.04.03

Fridge, Oscar? Hugh?

Elijah, no, not Adelina, Kit Cat, no, not Juliana and I agree it was a shame to shorten it.

Eli makes me think of an old wisened fisherman in a smock with a long white beard. And he lives somewhere in the Mediterranean.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

21:53 / 17.04.03

off topic but my ideal retirement is on a beach house where young people gather for spring break, so i can be the old guy in the off white suit who no one really knows, and they all wonder why im there...

olulabelle, if not adelina or juliana, perhaps your francesca?

Or Beatrix, perhaps?

Elijah, Yes, but will you throw their ball back or just keep it in a shed to be mean?

Not Francesca either. nor Beatrix - but I'd quite like to be, it's really sweet.

Kit-Cat Club

22:03 / 17.04.03

Silvia?

(I'm just really curious now!)

w1rebaby

22:05 / 17.04.03

Not Oscar or Hugh, or Kenton for that matter.

Olulabelle

22:09 / 17.04.03

No! hehe!

Joshua? Joseph? edward? Lynton? (Please tell me it's not Lynton.)

Char Aina

23:48 / 17.04.03

Hint: I'm in the Archers.

not a clue, no idea what the theme tune even sounds like.

okay.

my second guess, both of them, for the fridge and the money...

outonafukinlimb...

quintin?

notquitesomental...

alisdair?

oullabelle;
Yes, and it's also the name of a foreign Queen

no way! latifah?

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