My family is terribly terrible with names. There's what is down on your birth certificate, what you're called by family, and insert random other name here.

I have one aunt who I introduce to friends as "Denese, my Aunt Ann." Because she's my Aunt Ann, but she's Denese to you, bucko. Basically, her mother wanted her called Ann, but the woman who filled out her birth certificate preferred Denese. I have relatives that have dropped the Galileo entirely from their names, or shrunk Horace or Herschel to initials, or changed genders and therefore names. I have relatives (and me, to be honest) that were given "Well, just call her [blah] then!" (I was "it," which got expanded under pressure to "ita," and I have another cousin who was "the no name baby" and ended up "Nonaine" for her troubles. Then you have my sister who's essentially "Cathy." Not "Catherine." Just "Cathy." Which is totally not her name, by the way. It's just a parallel. It was reasonably recently that my father realised (read: found out) she was legally "Cathy."

My parents never let us have nicknames, despite my father going by his mother's maiden name except to his side of the family that called him "Brother Less" because he had a brother named Moore. My mother (the middlenamed Delores Delrio) is "Del" to family.

The most I have is either "fluffy bunny" or "hot and sour." Either of which I'm good with. My sister got re-diminutised, because people just like doing that.

eta:

Oh, yeah--I was "ita ita pumpkin ita" in grade school for a second--I swear, if you didn't get teased about something it's because you were too busy doing the teasing.

Oh, and I joined the "People Who Always Have To Spell Their Names For Other People" group on Facebook as soon as I saw it existed. They also need a "People Who Always Have To Spell Their Sister's Names For Other People" for lo I did spell hers more often than mine. People think they can spell mine (and are often wrong). They know they can't spell hers until they hear it spelt, and then they get it right for eternity.

I know a real Candy Kane. Seriously. (At least, that was her maiden name--she's now married to a manager in my department, but I don't know if she took his name or kept the Kane.)

I got "Doubting Thomas" when I was in first and second grade. Which I guess was worse than one might think since I went to a Christian grade school, and Thomas was considered bad. But at the time I thought Thomas was kinda' cool for the whole doubting thing. Maybe the seeds of my atheism were planted early....

For some odd reason the one group of people that always insisted on calling me Andy were PE Teachers.

I know a real Candy Kane

A woman I went to school with was named Candy Sweet.

Thanks for all the people who like the name "Garson"

Are you named after the AWESOME Garson Kanin?

Umm no. Cause to anyone whose family was a victim of the McCarthy Era , unrepentant stool pigeon and red baiter Garson Kanin - not so made of the awesome.

I don't know how I could have forgotten the best evah in the names thing! My mom's mom was named Fay and she married my mom's dad, William Gay. Thus she became Fay Gay. His third wife was named Kay.

I always got people making comments about "Alice in Wonderland" -- stuff like "how's wonderland?" very unoriginal. I would always reply, with a withering stare and a hard voice "Alice went to Wonderland. I didn't." because my name is Allison damnit!

Or I'd get Elsie The Cow because Elsie is pretty close to my last name.

Mom said that when I was little and we were at the doctor's office the way they'd call out my name made it sound like two people Alice N Elsie and it made her think of a vaudeville act so she always was tempted to soft shoe shuffle right through the door. (Mom's got an odd sense of humor).

Names are ... well, they're important. I dropped my first name when I started college, although it's still my legal name. It's one of those really popular names and, while I don't dislike it, I got tired of being called by the diminutives (which never felt right), as well as the confusion. And my middle name was my great-great-grandmother's maiden name, and I'm quite pleased with the family connection.

My mother got a family name, which has been passed down through several generations. My sister got an unusual spelling on a not-uncommon name and our parents never could come up with a middle name to fit, so she didn't get one (yes, she feels deprived).

There's also a blues singer and songwriter named Candye Kane.

I shall now call you "Sunny" or "Suns".

Don't you dare.

Too bad "Nilly" is taken. We could try Sunilly.

And when he gets older? Senilely.