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[MauraLeeBee]

Hi fellow boxers,

I know I don't come on here often, but I was wondering if you guys would mind answering a question. It's the sort of question that I couldn't answer for anyone but myself, and I wasn't sure if people felt the same way. So, here's my question for you guys:

Do you feel like the name you were given makes you feel obligated to be a certain way?

In other words, do you feel that you owe something to some higher vibrational pane, or to society, because your parents decided to name you ____? Do you feel a specific way because of the name itself, or because of the thought process behind why they named you that (ie was it a popular name, were you named after a relative, a celebrity, etc.)? I know there's shadowboxers of different ages and generations, upbringings and social preferences, so I figured it would be a good place to ask people. Kind of just a philosophical question that I wanted to throw out there. Hope you guys are able to answer it, or maybe come up with a few questions yourselves!

[Astica]

Not. At. All.
My name (Amy) is ridiculously common over here, and has been a major inconvenience on many occasions where I've been confused with or mistaken for a multitude of other people, but I've never thought of it as anything more than a plain old meaningless noun. Perhaps it's because my name is so common and I've known so many different types of Amy's that I feel this way, but that's how it is, anyway.
My name came off a grave stone my mother passed while out walking, so no special significance there. My middle name is Leah, because my mother loved the name Amelia and my father didn't, so Amy Leah was the compromise. I think it sounds like an awkwardly broken up version of Amelia, and that Amelia suits my last name better, so I wish my mother had won that one. I hate the rhythm of my first and last names, so insist on shoving the middle one in there all the time anyway, even if Amy Leah does sound a bit weird. I've considered going by 'Leah' instead of 'Amy' several times, simply because 'Amy' sounds awful with my southland accent and doesn't suit my last name, but eh, too much effort.

I know quite a lot of people who have changed their names, or who go by nicknames all the time, so I wonder if this is the reason why, or if it was for purely surface-level reasons of not liking the way it sounded, or something. Varies for person to person, obviously, but now I'm tempted to ask people...

[imaginary friend]

no.

can't say I've ever even thought about it.

 

[Cirque]

No obligation at all.
I do frequently think about how Shane doesn't seem like a name for an older person, it's fine seeing as I'm only 18 but in the future...
A man in his 60's named Shane doesn't really seem right.
In the same ways as some names don't seem very 'child appropriate'.

[The Angel Raliel]

weeeeeell...kind of..i was named after Robin Goodfellow (puck etc) although i very nearly was Peregrine named not after the bird but after the apprentice to merlin

[Captain Oblivious]

My name is an Irish name (Róisín in its unadulterated form). Even at home though it wasn't very common where I grew up. In primary school, there was one girl who then left and then in secondary school, not a single other Róisín. My parents named me that because it means little rose, and there are a few women called Rose in our family. And also cos it's Irish, and I think they just liked it.
I don't feel obligated to act in a certain way, but since moving to Scotland I've had to pronounce it slightly different (slightly different emphasis) than I would at home so that they can understand it and pronounce it correctly. People say it in the oddest way, completely missing out the "sh" sound and I have no idea how they manage it. In Starbucks, I go in sometimes and they ask me for my name and it's just easier to give them my boyfriend's (who is usually with me) cos I'd have to talk them through how to say it and then how to spell it and it's all too much hassle.

I don't have any particular love for my name, but it's kind of cool that it's Irish. There are a bunch of Irish names that are both nicer and easier to say, but what can you do.

[Savannah]

My answer to this question is, nope.

The only thing i don't like about my name is that it's quite common in my generation. It's like, whenever somebody calls my name inside a big crowd, lots of girls turn around to see if somebody's calling them.

Other than that i actually like my name because it's simple and everybody can understand it.

When i meet somebody from another country, which is quite often because of my job, i simply tell them how to pronounce my name and that this name comes from the temple mountain called Moriah in Latin and Marwah in Arabic.

Mum doesn't like my name for it's given by my father, but i'm actually happy at least he didn't name me after my grannie.

[Indja]

I tend to use different forms of my name for different things, because I do think names change the way people think about you, even in a subtle way. And here on this thread, I'm going to go crazy and break my self-imposed ban on using my real name on the Box xD My name's Helen, with Rose as my middle name. Sometimes I go as Helen Lastname, or Helen Rose Lastname. When I'm being musically creative I tend to go as Helen Rose, so with Rose as my last name. I like the syllables better like that, I think it's a bit punchier. But when I'm writing I'll use Helen-Rose as my first name, so it's Helen-Rose Lastname. Again it's the syllables, but also I think it makes my name a bit prettier and a bit more... artistic, I suppose xD So Helen Rose is when I'm feeling straight and to the point, when I want a bit of punch, and Helen-Rose is when I'm feeling more flourishy. It might not be how other people see my names, but that's how I feel about them. Also, I like how it makes it possible for me to divide things up clearly so that one name goes to one part of myself and another name goes to another. They're not very solid divisions, but I like to acknowledge them all the same.


As for whether or not my name changes how I behave, I think the fact that Helen is quite a sensible, middle-class name means that people don't have any negative connotations when they see it, like they would with so-called 'chavvy' names like Chelsea, Ashleigh or Kyle. I know it's not fair that those names have that label, but in my experience they do and it changes the way people treat them.

[The Angel Raliel]

Oh and i should possibly explain that Raliel is a name i have used for a very loooooong time that is in fact a very obscure angelic name from medieval alchemy and demonology (despite the obscurity...not actually a fallen ) initially one that i thought that i had made up but dilligent research showed it to be a true angelic name....seriously i have used this for longer than a lot of you have been alive

[CeeGBee]

I like my name, but to address it in the context of this question:

My parents named me "Charles".
In elementary school, I was "Charley", which evolved to "Charlie".
For about a year and a half after college, people at work took to calling me "Chuck".
While student-teaching, I was required to be "Mr. Bizzell"...
There are other people who call me such charming things as Cee, Chuckie, Charles-face...


Now, each of the above is a different person, with a different personality, not in the serious
psychiatric disorder sense, but like wearing a different outfit.  Sometimes I kinda wish I was
really a "Chuck"... but I'm really not....






Oh, and by the way, has anyone out there ever met a "Larry" who wasn't something of an asshat?

[imaginary friend]

has anyone out there ever met a "Larry" who wasn't something of an asshat?

yeah. he was a classmate of mine from 3rd grade to...about 9th, I think. really funny guy, and nice to everyone.

then again, my opinion may be skewed because his older sis confiscated my v-card.

[Captain Oblivious]

has anyone out there ever met a "Larry" who wasn't something of an asshat?

yeah. he was a classmate of mine from 3rd grade to...about 9th, I think. really funny guy, and nice to everyone.

then again, my opinion may be skewed because his older sis confiscated my v-card.

I have a friend called Larry, he's really funny and a little weird but he's awesome.

[Pope Totalfrog]

My name is Sherona. My mother liked the song when she was pregnant and decided that it would be a great name, I still haven't forgiven her.
I use it for official stuff but my family and friends have always called me Sheri (my parents have always spelled it like that, they've never actually called me Sherona).

It could be worse. I was almost called Calliope, I love the name but constantly spelling it/telling people how to pronounce it would have driven me insane.

[Mr. Leave Me Alone]

Not really.

I associate my birth name with poverty and never being able to feel safe anywhere. I changed my name when things started looking up in my life because it depressed me to still be the person who had experienced all the stuff that I've had happen. I might not have magically become an awesome person with a totally clean slate and I still don't feel safe anywhere, but since I started using a new name, I feel less tethered down by my past and like I get to pick who I am now.

If that makes sense.
It probably doesn't.
I totally don't care.

[Astica]

^It definitely makes sense. Even if a name has no pre-attached connotations, it can take on ideas and memories through use. A lot of people change names after they leave major phases in their lives.