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?
Julie says
My not-at-all-a-hippy father wanted to name me Summerfall Wintersping. Yikes. Apparently she was a character on Howdie Doody. Thank god for my mother, however, part of me wonders how I would have turned out. Hmm :)
Becky says
You asked for it….
My maiden name is Babe, let’s just get that out of the way. So my name now is actually Rebecca Babe.
Rebecca who they wanted to name Pollyanna Babe.
As in Polly wanna cracker?
hannahammonds says
my parents wanted to name me hoshi hoy(maiden name). after my grandmother couldn’t pronounce it and a friend made a very un-pc comment it about it, they decided on hannah.
Jamie says
My name if I was a boy would have been Michael Wayne Payton, which sounds sort of serial killer-ish to me, but the best name story in my family is my mom. Her name is Margaret Vernell (very old south) and she is named after two sister’s from Mississippi that my philandering grandfater had affairs with. He named her while my grandmother was passed out, but to put the cherry on top my mother was born at 12:01 on March 5, 1963, the day after my grandmother’s birthday (March 4)and the doctor was going to change to time so that they would have shared the same birthday but grandpa let them take the paperwork before my grandma woke up, so now my poor mother shares her birthday with Patsy Cline’s plane crash. She has finally started going by Maggie, just to try to forget the whole cherade.
P.S another funny name in my family is Ardriss (sp). Not saying who that one belongs to for fear of being murdered:)
Emma says
Omg! Some of these have me crying!!! My name was always pretty set, but my brother, Jon was going to be Americo Dante!!! Ahahaaa!!! Uh, maybe okay if we were Italian, but nope, we’re Mexican!!
Nadia says
I hated my name as a kid, now, not so much. But I always wished I’d have a cool, cute nickname like Alli or Maddy. NOPE!!! My older cousins stuck me with…Nads! 15 years later it stuck and now I don’t even hesitate to turn when I hear, “Nads!”. Not cool guys, not cool!!
Anna says
My mom wanted to name me Anna Laura and have me do the whole go by two name thing. They ended up with Anna Whitney instead. To this day I still love that name (Anna Laura), and my dad still vehemently denies vetoing it.
On another note, my husband’s name is Lars so I have a fondness for the name (naturally). The only other way his name (including our last name) could be any more Swedish would have been if his parents had named him Sven. :-D
Becca says
My full name is Rebecca and my parents were going to call me Reba. Thank heavens that passed and they just went with Becca. If my brother had been a girl they were going to name him Liberty because he was born in 1976. My mother loves America….all of our dogs have been named after great Americans…Besty Ross, Woodrow Wilson, etc.
Averill (Odi et Amo) says
My husband’s mother wanted to name him Lance; his dad nixed it and he was named David. Lance? Very boy band…
My mother wanted to name me (Averill) Claudia for my grandfather Claude. Yuck.
The worst though? Dave’s suggestion for our soon-to-arrive son: Giles Blyzzard (a remote Puritan ancestor he dug up in his geneological research). Now that’s scary.
Gina says
Well, coming from a “Gina”, I have always liked my name because 1. There weren’t a bunch of other “Gina’s” 2. As someone else noted, Bon Jovi did pick it to be in their song. It now goes pretty well with my very Italian married name. In any case, I’m thankful I didn’t end up with my grandfathers suggestion of “Lita”, that’s right up there with Lars. (Sorry to any Lita’s out there.). On another note, I’ve learned so much from your blog. Keep it coming!
Svenja says
First, I was supposed to be Nina. Then my parents’ friends “stole” the name for their daughter, who was born before me. So from then on, my father came up with a decoy name and told people he was going to name me “Angelique” in case anyone else wanted to steal names. I ended up with Svenja (I’m German, so that makes it less unusual than it sounds), but Stephanie and Stella were also strong contenders. Stella would have been the best, because my married name is Xeller, and I can just hear some old lady say “Stella Xeller (Xella)” in a Bostonian accent.
My grandfather was totally into atoms and wanted to name my mother Atomia.
Shavon says
My cousin Tamra is really grateful she’s a girl…her parents wanted to name her Brock Lee. They didn’t even get the joke.
I have an other cousin, my Uncle David’s son….Harley. They do love motorcycles.
Gina says
My name IS Gina. lol
But my mom was considering Rebecca. My Grama wanted her to name me Hatti.
My Dad won with Gina, as it’s the name of a song he loves.
Holly says
I think I have you beat. I could have been Ladonn. I’m not sure on the spelling (Maybe LaDawn?).
Stephanie says
My name was supposed to be Steven Wayne.
Brittany says
My dad wanted so badly to name me Casiopea. My mom did not like it. Then he fought for me to be named Camille, as in the famous 80s waterskiier Camille Duvall. He lost that one too. So he whined enough that my mom agreed she could pick my first name (Brittany) and my dad could pick my middle name (Casiopea).
I like it as a middle name, it’s just different enough to spark a conversation on names, and not too different to the point that people wonder if my parents hated me or something.
Also, I didn’t learn to spell it correctly until I was about 13 – so good thing it’s just a middle name.
Rachel Webb says
ooh my parents wanted to name me Charlotte S. Webb.
no middle name…just S!!!
Heather @ REOlisticRenovation says
Seriously you people are hilarious. I was supposed to be Hunter. Not too terrible.
Mary Sterck says
I had picked out the name for my first daughter long before she was even a thought. It was to be Amanda Leigh. My father who had waited for a long time for a grandchild (brother and sister 8 and 6 years older didn’t want children) He was very serious and he called me and said that he had an epiphany and that she should be named Peragren, he then went on to explain that this was the name of the first baby born in America from the pilgrims. I don’t know if it was true but I wasn’t about to name my first born after a falcon. He was so funny.
Kamra says
Munika Anne. The reason…my mom liked a “hard K sound.” For the life of me I have no idea what that means. Or what is “soft” about names like Katherine, Kristine, Kimberly. So instead they named me Kamra. Thanks mom and dad.
Sarah says
Nothing on the funny names front. But I wanted to take a moment to let you know that I recently stumbled upon your site and am TOTALLY hooked. I am a bit of an excited-to-try-anything-new DIY project myself. I bought a house at the very end of 2007 and DIY’d just about everything in the house- from paint to bathroom remodels, to electricity, to a bit of a kitchen overhaul, and flooring, and decorating. Later, my bf and I constructed (if I do say so myself) a pretty awesome deck with inlaid custom tile work 2 summers ago (it is to be seen on my blog, if you’re interested) and resided a portion of the house this last summer. But for new kitchen counters there isn’t much left to do in this house….which leaves me sort of half-itching for a new place just to get more projects in. (that’s crazy, right? who does that?) Anyway. love that I found your guys’ blog…will be coming back often. DIY on…Lars and Gina ;)
Michelle says
I worked at a pre school in 1992. The director had a four year old daughter. The daughter’s name was Lynnecia Aquanetta pronounced (Li-knee-she-ya ) and yes the middle name was pronounced just like the hairspray. No joke!
Jo says
I had a really hard time deciding on a name for my new little daughter. I ended up writing a long list of all the possible names, and I’m saving it for her in her journal so that she can hopefully laugh at the oddball ones in the future when she can read. (If I was a boy, I would have been Buck).
jami says
One day I was having this discussion with my own daughters, Madeline and Amelia ages 6 and 9, and after discussing what we almost named them (both were almost Claire), my six year old said, “Did you ever consider naming me Bitsy? or maybe Starlight? because I think those are really great names.”
Belle says
Adrian if I were a boy and Ursula if I were a girl. They settled on another girl name instead.
Julie says
My father really wanted to name me Tallahassee . . . as in the city in Florida. Thank the Lord my mother talked him out of that one.
Kathryn says
My parents considered Kirsten Elise but ended up choosing Kathryn Elizabeth. I like the alternative, but what I got is fine, too. And I go by Kathryn, no nicknames!
Lars' Mom says
I think the funniest part of this is not that my son’s name is Lars, but that John totally looks like a Lars to me! Dirty blonde hair and tall! What’s not Scandinavian about that?!
Don’t worry, no offense was taken by you, making fun of the name Lars. He is named after his great-greatgrandfather and he is from Norway!
His almost name was Levi. If he has a brother, his name will be Thor! Hope that gives you a good laugh!! ;)
YoungHouseLove says
So true, Lars’ Mom – I do kinda fit the Lars profile. What we find funniest about the potential name is its combination with our last name, which people always try to pronounce with some complex foreign accent. So we can just imagine how stunned people would be to find out Lars Petersik is just this average American kid who grew up in the suburbs. And actually one of my cousins is currently considering the name Lars for her son!
-John
Sherri says
Well,my name is Sherri Dianne,but had I been a boy,my name would have been Jesse Daniel and other girl name possibilities were Jeannie Rebecca and Amanda Rebecca (My mother got Amanda from that old country song that went, “Amanda,light of my life”…
Ashton says
If I was a boy my parents were going to name me Forest. I was 12 when Forest Gump came out, and had I been a boy my life would have never been the same after that!
Kate says
I would have been Andrew had I been a boy, but my brother’s almost-name takes the cake: our mom swears she wanted to name him Hawksworth, yes, HAWKSWORTH but he lucked into our dad’s name: Jerome. WHEW!
Carshena says
My name is middle name is Candy. My Dad once told that he should have made my middle name Bacon. He must have been hungry?
Kimberlea says
My cousins (twins) were adopted at birth. Their biological mother asked that they be named Summer Day and Autumn Night…real shocker that my aunt and uncle didn’t take her advice. The girls are Hartley Vanessa and Sarah Stephanie, all family names.
Sevi says
I could have been a “Heidi”. As in the book. My dad used to love the book when he was young, so he made a pen-friend who lived in Switzerland and started dreaming of having a baby girl in the future and naming her Heidi.
Which doesnt sound that weird. But in Turkish, it’s weeeeird dude. Cause we are not allowed to give foreign names to our babies here. And when you say the word “Heidi” it sounds like “Come on” in Turkish lol!! So I could have been a “Com’ooon”.
Of course Dad couldn’t name me Heidi. So he picked another freakin different name, Sevi. Yep it’s Turkish, but no one gets it.
rfd says
My mom was dead set on Charity. Thank god my dad nixed that, I’m so not a Charity.
Tanya says
I’m named after an elephant from the local zoo. I kid you not!
Meghan says
Had I been a boy my father wanted to name me Hans Wolfgang. Apparently it was the name of his best friend when he was stationed in Germany in the 70s. My mother evidently told him through gritted teeth that ‘they ask the mother for the name and there’s no way my child will be named Hans!’ So they called me Meghan, which has given me no end of grief throughout my life what with that pesky (silent, people, silent!) h.
Jacquelyn says
My Father wanted to name me Mortimer and he wanted to name my sister Rastus. He even went so far as to name his bowling team Mort’s Marauders while my mother was pregnant with me…
Ann says
I almost got named Aslaug! ….
betty in munich says
My mom’s original choice for my name was Sonia. I personally love that name. Sonia like Sonia Braga the Brazilian actress conjurs up images of a dark haired, dark eyed seductress. But instead she named me Betty. That just conjures up the image of a dark haired Betty Rubble from the Flinstones….
betty in munich says
Another funny name story…Growing up one of our neighborhood families had 5 daughters and 1 son. The girls where named (and I kid you not): Mary Beth, Mary Ellen, Mary Ann, Mary Jean and Mary Lou and the boy was named Albert. We all called him Mary Albert…of course not to his face. Hee Hee – this still makes me chuckle to this day 20 years later.
Cait says
My mothers side of the family is packed with weird names so I was very lucky my dad was there to veto 90% of the names she suggested for me and my brothers. I was supposed to be named Hurley Felicity but my dad convinced my family that Caitlin Gallagher was much better.
Names of cousins, aunts and uncles include: Eaughn (pronounced Owen but spelled like that for god knows what reason), Alastair (Harry Potter anyone?), Clifford (the big red dog), triplet grandmothers named Cecelia, Delia and O’felia, Esme, Edith, Mildred, Sven, Seamus, Beryl and my personal favorite… aunt Alzayda
Alys says
Had I been a boy I would have been Beau.
Had my sister Ellen been a boy, she would have been Beau.
When my brother came a long – well he is named Beau.
My baby sister Katherine though, is lucky she was a girl as they were completely at a loss for what to call her if she was a boy.
My partner Richard would have been Thomas, except that the year he was born a guy called Tom Holz won an Oscar and they worried that if he became super famous he would have been mocked.
annabelvita says
My dad wanted me to be called Helen. My boyfriend’s parents had a girl’s name picked out – but ultrasounds weren’t as accurate back then and he surprised them!
Eates-A-Lot says
Okay. So I don’t have a funny name..
But I know of a girl, who I kid you not, is ‘ABCDE’ pronounced ‘AB-CEE-DEE’ If you catch it… it’s the first letters of the alphabet…
I promise, I’m not lying!
Karis says
My father has alwys been a greek mithology lover, so he named his children after some greek deity…
My name is Karis Andromeda, my sisters are Venus and Aphrodite… Of course every day I thank God for being a girl, otherwise I would have been named Zeus!
Meaghan says
Last name – Miracle.
Middle name – Joy.
I only wish I was making this up! That’s bad enough, and my parents almost named me “Maria” . oyyy. way too happy of a name!
Claire says
My father wanted to name me Antigone. Yes. Like the Greek tragedy. Thank goodness for my mother’s good sense and ability to override, because Claire is sooooooo much nicer than Antigone. His other suggestions were all Gaelic names (he’s a dual citizen) that my mother told him no one would ever be able to pronounce nor would I ever be able to spell. Any of his other suggestions would have been better than his favorite. I still shake my head in disbelief at the thought that I could have been named Antigone.
christina says
My mother was orphaned young, but I always new her mother’s name was Beverly Dawn. When I told my Great grandmother (Beverly’s mother) how I loved her name, she confessed she hated it. Apparently she had originally named Beverly, Dotti-Drewcilla Dawn, but after a year of being tormented by her husband and friends, she changed her name. To her dying day at age 98, she regretted changing it. I’m guessing Bev was glad her father won out!
tarynkay says
I was supposed to be a boy, so my parents picked my name (Taryn) at the very last minute from the credits of a creature-feature movie. Taryn Power was Tyrone Power’s daughter, and Tyrone Power was a big deal movie star back in the day. Tyrone, by the way, is a very Irish name- someone commented earlier that her Irish-looking husband was almost named this, which actually would have been quite fitting.