I’ve always been a fan of my name. To me it sounds cool. Stephen Anthony Ressler. Stephen A. Ressler. Steve Ressler.
Crisp. Somewhat unique. Not too old-fashioned. Not too hipsterish.
To me it’s like being from Ohio. My name is a good middle-ground. Gives a slightly positive general vibe but is somewhat neutral.
And based on the Freakonomics research, I do think names matter. They conjure up memories of celebrities, or politicians, or people we once knew.
For example, I think Malcolm Gladwell is a great name for Malcolm Gladwell. Just sounds like a cool, smart dude.
Do you like your name?
My favorite name has always been James Bond for a male. For a female it has always been Modesty Blaise.
I like my surname, its unusual. Would not have been good adding it to my husbands name though – Peachey-Green always seems to make people laugh! I decided to keep my surname but you would not believe the amount of older people who were disgusted I didn’t take my married name. Peachey I think sounds clean, crisp and fruity.
I love my name. Especially when people pronounce it the same way I do 🙂
Krzmarzick is a pretty weird last name, I must admit, and has caused all kinds of trouble for folks. But it’s unique and I don’t run the risk of too many people sharing it (though I did get a call out of the blue from another “Andy Krzmarzick” in Oregon one night a couple years ago – random!). Andrew’s cool, means “strong”, is Biblical, so I like it.
And having a baby due in 4 weeks, I’ve got to say that deciding on a name has been the toughest decision my wife and I have ever made…because we want him to like it, too, one day.
I’m a big fan of Peachey as well. That sounds cool.
Dejewski was not an easy name to grow up with – especially for a blond guy with no chest hair trying to survive in a high school dominated by Italians in New York. It’s one of those names that was changed by a bunch of non-English speaking Polacks once they landed on US soil. Somebody obviously thought “Dejewski” was somehow cooler than whatever we were called in the homeland – like maybe we would blend in better. Ha!
It kinda grew on me over the years though.
For one thing, it makes sorting mail and screening telephone calls easier. Anyone who writes or says “DeJew” “Dejenski” “DeJesus”or any number of a thousand similar combinations says “Marketer!” loud and clear. This saves lot’s of time.
My 96+ year old grandmother claims that we have Royal blood (sort of) in our heritage. Reportedly, the last King of Poland (or one of the last Kings) had his hands full managing a Kingdom that was continuously assaulted by neighbors. Anyway, he decided to divide the Kingdom into smaller sub-Kingdoms to make management a little easier. The “ruler” of each sub-kingdom was selected on the basis of how many horses they owned (an indicator of wealth).
If the story is true, then I am 1 bazillianth delegated royalty by horse. Definitely not a cool story to share as a kid growing up in New York, but it works pretty well as a story for adult social gatherings.
Try public speaking with a name like Dejewski. A major liability, right? Who’s going to remember that name? Well, like all good lemonade makers, I figured out how to turn this name into an asset. Around age 17, I finally figured out how to teach people to say my name correctly. Just ask me the question: “Did you ski?”
Say it fast and you’ve nailed my name. Well… almost. You have to remember that I’m from New York. In New York, we say EVERYTHING with attitude. Place the emphasis on the “you” and ask me again: “Did YOU ski?”
Bam… you’re an instant expert and should no longer be afraid to approach me at the coffee pots between sessions.
I like my name… Jay Solomon Daughtry. Jay is common but not too common. It doesn’t get misspelled. I like the nicknames such as Jaybird and Bird that have come with it. Solomon… I like the reference to the Biblical king’s wisdom. My older son is the 6th of the last 7 generations to have Solomon as a first or a middle name so I also appreciate the family history going back to the early 1800s. Daughtry… it’s Irish. People in places like North Carolina and Georgia are familiar with it and know how to spell it. It’s more recognizable now that Chris Daughtry (as far as I know we’re not related… he is from about 2 hours from where my family is from in NC so there’s a good chance that we’re distantly related) has arrived on the music scene via American Idol.
Thanks for that Steve! Feeling just Peachey today!!
I haven’t a;ways liked my name – Bill Bailey. In elementary school kids made fun of me. It wasn’t until I got into the professional world that I really started liking my name. When I started out in planning I always used William R. Bailey. Very professional but also very aloof sounding. So I started using Bill Bailey again. I think it sounds more friendly and sociable. And it is easy to remember. As an added bonus, it is also easy to use as a signature!
I have to say I like my name as well…Brian Bee…rolls off the tounge and it’s not a common namel. Some have mentioned that there names were made fun of and mine was as well and still is from time to time but have to say never in a bad way and always when asked what my name is I always get “B what?”
I’m okay with my name. My dad always wanted a “Joey” so that’s what I was. Not Joe, Joey. They were always insistent on that. I suppose it’s good since there are tons of Joe’s and not many Joey’s. It was confusing though because my legal name was Joel. My parents didn’t like Joseph and my mom liked Joel and didn’t want Joey on the birth certificate…the confusion was enough of a pain that I legally changed my name to Joey when I got married.
I like my last name, White, with the exception of the obvious occasional racial references that are made. It’s common enough that I don’t have to spell it but isn’t common enough – at least in Minnesota – that everyone else has it.
“And having a baby due in 4 weeks, I’ve got to say that deciding on a name has been the toughest decision my wife and I have ever made…because we want him to like it, too, one day.”
Andrew, having just had to name my week-old twins, I can totally relate here! We both thought naming them was the hardest part. I’ll still probably be asking my kids what they think about their names when they’re older to see how we did (Carson and Keira were the names we chose).
Oh, and I love my middle name, Benjamin. Nice and strong. Of course, nobody ever knows the middle name is there, so it’s largely irrelevant…
I like my given name but think that Maggie suits me better. Wasn’t thrilled when the song hit the charts and my college roommates labeled me, but now that it’s actually a write-up on Wikipedia I’m okay with it! History live with it don’t repeat it!
I like my name despite its oddness and the occasional mispronunciations; it is memorable. My poor children, however, are always last in line. Thank goodness they are tops academically!
I like my name because it’s easy to remember (because of the movie), and I think it has a nice ring to it. Unfortunately, I’ll be losing it this June when I get married. Social media makes changing your name even more complicated! I reserved the @jacquemyers Twitter account 10 days after he popped the question and grabbed the facebook.com/jacquemyers this summer even though it was a year before the wedding.
I like my name. There aren’t that many Shamun MahmudS on the web!
I love my name, but it’s taken some tweaking to get there. I was born Karen S. Wesner, and when I was 12 changed the spelling of my first name to Caryn. Ten years later, I got married, and hyphenated my two last names together. Considering that these changes took place in 1971 and 1981, it’s astonishing that I’ve ended up with a perfectly Google-able name! I was ahead of my time.