When we’re painting we talk about all sorts of weird things that we probably wouldn’t otherwise get around to. And while painting the bedroom we got to the topic of “names that our parents almost gave us.” Get this. My mom wanted to name me Gina. We would have been John & Gina. That made us titter. Not sure if it’s a had to be there thing though. Either way, John’s dad’s choice of names takes the cake. He wanted to name John… wait for it… Lars.
Lars Petersik.
How funny is that? If I had seen tall dirty blond John at work and asked a coworker “oh who’s that?” and heard them respond with ” that’s Lars Petersik, he’s an account manager.” Let’s just say I would have been all “niiiiice to meeeeeeet you Laaaaars” with that over-enunciated-because-I’m-not-sure-you’re-great-at-deciphering-super-speedy-NY-talkers connotation. The same long drawn out delivery I use with my only-speaks-Italian grandmother. It would have been hysterical. John probably never would have let me live it down. Or asked me to marry him a year-ish later.
But that’s not all. Apparently John’s dad also wanted to name John “Vector.” Because he liked math. How I was able to continue painting with tears of laughter streaming down my face is beyond me. So it got us wondering what you guys were almost named. Come on… someone out there can beat Vector and Lars, right?
June.
Apparently, my dad thought I was going to be 87 when I was born.
AHAHAHHAHAH I know this is very late on the up take btu this made me laugh SO hard outloud because that’s what I always say when someone says they’re going to name their baby “Ruth” or “Elmer” ahahaha.
I just found out this past week that my name could have also been Gina! Haha! I am glad my parents chose Katie for me instead! : )
My parents used to torment me and say they would name be Pearly, since my maiden name is Gates.
Pearly Gates. I would have died probably.
I’m a twin, and my dad wanted to name my sister and I, Thelma and Velma….h***z no said my momma! (Thank the good Lord!!!) We ended up Kristen & Amanda :)
Had I been a boy, my father wanted to name me Beauregard. That would have been epic.
I was named after the Invisible Woman, does that count as weird? As a kid I wanted my name to be Tina. Ew.
Vector?!?! Nope, can’t beat it. My dad named me and he was down to Stephanie and Melissa. My mom said she did not to risk me being nicknamed Missy, so Stephanie it is.
The list of potential names for me included:
Cherry
April
(and a we-made-up-our-own) Tupin
I’m very happy they went with Windy.
I was almost a tiffany…but it worked out…I was Rachel Davis…then i got married and now I’m Rachel Ray! haha!
OMG that is amazing! Lars…really. All I can think of now is that movie Lars and the real girl.
Was that taken in front of Brio? Love that place!
I was born at 11:15pm on December 6th – if I had been born on the 7th my parents were going to name me Pearl! Thank God for being born 45 minutes ahead of schedule!
Hey Kristen,
Yes! So good. Love it there.
xo,
s
I was supposed to be Amanda Marie. My mom told everyone that was my name. Then the day I was born, she changed her mind and basically admitted to pulling Rebecca out of her arse. So I have no middle name, because apparently she couldn’t come up with 2 names that quickly.
My husband was supposed to be Michelle….
Sort of along the same lines, not as bad as Vector (although I’m good friends with a Lars)… when I was in college a girl emailed me because she googled herself and we had the same first and last name. Admittedly it’s pretty weird, we have a pretty unique maiden name. She told me her middle name was Lynn and when I told my parents about it, my mom said she wanted to name me Amanda Lynn too but my dad wouldn’t let her because he didn’t want my name to be an instrument (a-mandolin). Good old dad, always looking out for me.
I was going to be ‘Roy’ if I was a boy.
My mother wanted to name me Kirby. Mind you that my maiden name was Hoover. My uncle asked her, “What’s her middle name going to be? Eureka?” I could have been a vacuum triptych.
I was almost a Melanie, which is SO not me!!!
my brother and I were almost Wallace and Veronica…GROSS!
We had a Swedish foreign exchange student in my high school named Lars. He was gorgeous!!! Ah, the memories.
If I had been a boy, they were going to name me Todd. Not exciting. Certainly not as good as Vector. :)
Ok…this sounds utterly ridiculous…
But my grandfather wanted me to be named Peregrine. Peregrine you ask??? Yes, apparently it was the first child born on the Mayflower when the English settled in New England. I always thought that was hysterical!!
“Stagger” as in “Stagger Lee”
Yeah, thanks but no thanks, Pop! Glad mom prevailed.
i made the mistake of telling my 5 year old daughter those ugly names i almost had— now ihave to hear them all the time since thse are the names of HER babies now. :)
I would have been called Brandy, if not for the woman sitting next to my mom in the delivery room. The kind lady told my mom that all the Brandies she knew turned out to be alcoholic. (I’m sure that’s not true, but I guess at that time it was enough to scare my mother.)
My mom wanted to name me Abraham if I turned out to be a boy. Abraham! Oh the humiliation.
My FIL wanted to name my husband (who’s also named John) Buck. BUCK. I can guarantee I would not have married him then…
That is hilarious! I hated my name as a child, and my mom told me that she almost named me Zelda to get me to quit complaining. I used to sign cards to my parents with the name Crystal because that’s what I wanted my name to be.
Okay, I am the 4th of 5 girls in my family–so they were counting on me being a boy after 3 girls already. My baby blanket was blue and had “Billy Joe” embroidered in it. Noooooooo! Hahahaha. I am so glad I was a girl. :)
Dropping “Dang Gina” would be kinda fun. :)
My mom says she knew my name before they were even pregnant (I’m named after her mother who died a year before I was born). However, if I was a boy, my hippie parents would have named me Cedar Isaiah Morgan. Thank God it worked out the other way!
I’m a Christmas baby so my mother wanted to name me Holly Noel. My father put his foot down on that one pretty fast. I am soooo not a Holly. The funny part? When I first met my husband he was dating a Holly…as he says “I was dating the wrong Holly”
Well, If I was a boy I was going to be name Corey. I just can’t see the male version of me being a Corey…nor do I know what the male version of me would be like….the other girl choice was Laurel after the flower (mountain laurel). But my dad always said that he wanted to name my brother Belvedere. I’m pretty certain he was joking. I hope. :)
I can’t seriously be the first commentor – I’m usually # 426!
I don’t have a funny ‘would have been my name story’ but a funny how I met my dh. Years ago, my girlfriend wanted to set me up with some great guy, telling me how he just broke up with his girlfriend who had the same name as me. So he wouldn’t forget my name – wouldn’t that be great? Surprisingly, I passed :) A year later, she set us up (unknowingly), we hit it off, and 2 months later I connected him back as the same setup guy! Still cracks me up!
My mother was desperate to name me after Travis after the Air Force Base on which I was born– despite the fact that I was a GIRL!!! (Way to win THAT battle, dad!)
Ironically, I married a Travis.
A few years ago I found the list of suggestions in a baby book. My mom’s list of names were fairly common. Sarah. Allison Page (after her siblings). And so on. My father’s list of names on the back was insane. I was *this* *close* to being named . . . Freda Athena. You have GOT to be joking!!!
I don’t know if it’s as out there as Lars, but my dad wanted to name me Chesney. This was in the pre-Kenny Chesney days, but still… can you imagine what it would have been like to be in middle school then all of the sudden it looks like you are named after a mediocre country singer? Yeesh!
While I was going to be Kevin if I were a boy, my fiance would have been named Cokissa if he had been a girl. My best friend was almost named Cristobelle, and her dad was almost named Aloyisius.
My parents already had three girls and were convinced that I was going to be a boy. My name would have been Dane Christian. When I was born, they took me to my sisters and asked them what my name should be…and here I am today.
Hah, Lars.That’s pretty bad… but a good friend of mine’s dad wanted to name him Thor. Or Nikon. Both were firmly vetoed by his mother, who chose a much less oddball name!
My mom wanted to name me Bronwyn. To me that sounds like the name of the meek and mild librarian in a trashy romance novel who becomes gorgeous and wild when she takes down her hair and gets rid of her glasses.
My mom wanted to name me Carrie after her grandmother, but didn’t because the movie had just come out. They referred to my sister as “Elmo” before she was born, if I remember correctly.
My husband was supposed to be Sarah Elizabeth. Surprise!
Sadly, I don’t have an awesome ‘almost’ name. If I was born a boy, I would’ve been Christopher. Lame. Lars and Vector would make great future baby names!! kidding ; )
My maiden name is Yacus…my Ukrainian-American grandparents almost named my dad Yuri instead of George. How cruel would it been for the kid growing up in central Jersey to be Yuri Yacus?! Oh the horror. ;)
Thanks for sharing the laughs, as always.
At one point, my parents thought about going old-school-Welsh and naming me Blodwyn or Bronwyn. Yeah, I lucked out there! They also thought about Gwyneth, though, which wouldn’t have been so bad.
Holly.. worst part? my former last name was Wood *shakes head* Thank goodness they went traditional LOL
My sister who is 4 years older than me wanted to name me April Tiger. If I had been a boy it would have been Matthew Everett which i think is pretty cool. Either way i lucked out Penny is great but it took me a while to appriciate it.
Um both my Dh and I are math people and scarily, Vector is appealing to me as a future kiddos name :) Darn you!
My mom has told me a ton of crazy names that she “considered” for me, but I highly doubt any of them were actually considered. My other half on the other hand… his father was set on having him named “Heath”. I’m glad they decided to go with Brett instead! :)
I was almost named after my great-great grandfather: Erasmus Lafayette. My parents instead went family agnostic and came up with Adam Dell.
My husband’s father wanted to name him Falcon. Luckily his mother intervened and he was named Christopher instead.
I was almost named Lewis…
Up until the moment I was born, my parents thought I was a boy. When my dad had said ‘it’s a girl!’ my mom still didn’t believe him.
My brother was almost Sandy. SO glad they chose Alexander instead!
What about Clara and Burger? What other names did you consider for them?
Hey Sophie,
We went through a lot of family names for the bean, but Clara Kenley paid homage to three different family members (John’s grandma Clara, my dad Ken, and my great aunt Lee) so it was a strong contender for a while. We did have to meet her to make sure it fit, and it totally did. She looked just like a baby Clara the moment she came into the world. As for Burger, he was 2 lbs and liked to sleep curled up in a little hamburger patty shape. He also had a spotted belly like a cow. Hamburger was just the perfect name.
xo,
s
This isn’t exactly the same thing but when my mom was pregnant with my brother I wanted to name him Fritz if he was a boy and Gladys if he was a girl. Good thing she ignored the suggestions….
My mom wanted to name me Esther. I actually like the name Lars (for an animal). I have a cat named Fritz and I think that Fritz and Lars go together nicely!
There is a couple who used to be the am radio show for KLOVE that were John and Sherry, they used to refer to each other as dumpling… I think of them everytime I read the blog!