My full name is 9 syllables, 21 letters. My middle name is Regina, and the US seems to be the only English-speaking country that pronounces it re-GEE-na, which is how I pronounce it. My last name is unpronouncable to anyone who doesn't speak German and unspellable on hearing it. It also contains a Z and a G, both of which my lisp mangles to some weird sound that I can't even begin to figure out how to type. So, even when I spell out my last name, it usually ends up with a T and a P.
I'm pretty much against changing my name when I get married, but if they guy I marry has a last name that's unusual, meaningful, and something I can pronounce perfectly, I might consider it. I probably wouldn't do it, but I might consider it. Also, there's no way I'm going to give any child I have a name with sounds that are frequently difficult with speech problems. (Until we were about 10, one of my friends said my name as Hiwwawy. Which I guess was OK from him, but would have been hell if his own name had that many Ls and Rs.)
Along with unfortunate name combinations, let us not forget initials. Mr. & Mrs. Smith, please do not name your darling daughter Anna Sue.
I do know a couple whose last initial is T. They named their sons Adam Christopher, Alan Charles, and Andrew Carter. Yes indeedy, boys and girls, ACT 1, ACT 2 and ACT 3. More of an in joke for family friends, since it won't be a point in their adult lives, not being formal successive appendages, i.e., I, II, III, etc.
I mispronounced DH's name when I first introduced him to my parents. Never again, though.
When I got married I went from the name of Schram--ugly-sounding, no interesting meaning, and one I ALWAYS had to spell, to "Miller." After the divorce? I kept Miller.
I took husbands' surnames both times, because I liked them.
If I ever do write stuff under a pseudonym, though, I'll pick a surname that stands out and is shelved right at eye level. Something that starts with "D" is a good safe bet...
Tardily backflung, Deb. Sorry, but it's been a bitch of a day and night.
Hopefully it's not too late to be of use.
I was teased constantly when I was a child. A lot of it was my name (last name). My looks came in for a lot of sneering comment too. (only blond in a mediterrianian neighborhood) I identify with people who have been teased or persecuted unfairly.
I named my son with names he could change around. He had his choice of many abbreviations. He chose one. He hated the nickname I called him when he was small, but I wasn't really aware of it until later.
I am comfortable with my name now, as long as I don't mention my middle one. Um, must amend that. I have different first names now. Marta and Marty. Either one is fine.
WHEEE!
Library Journal just listed "Weaver" in Best Mysteries of 2003!
Grabien, Deborah. The Weaver and the Factory Maid. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-31422-1. $22.95.
This charming cozy, the first in a new series revolving around British folk ballads, incorporates mostly unseen but quite often "felt" spirits in an old English cottage. Out of the ordinary. (LJ 10/1/03)
Go Deb, it's your birthday. Or something.
Dude, I'm thirty and I have a trophy wife. Woo hoo.
