MARALEE

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Name: Maralee Rose Ruth

What name you go by: Maralee to almost everybody. Close family calls me Mara.

Ethnic background: Mostly English

Place of birth: Oregon

Year of birth: 1990

Popularity of name that year: Maralee has never ranked in the top 1000.

Meaning/origins of name: The meaning for Mara is: Derived from the Hebrew marah (bitterness). The name is borne in the Bible by Naomi after the deaths of her husband and sons. And the meaning for Lee is: Transferred use of the surname derived from the Old English lēah (wood, clearing, meadow), lee has the meaning “dweller by the wood or clearing.” In Middle English, the spelling lēah evolved to leigh, legh.

Why did your parents choose this name for you? They invented it based on parts of each of their names.

Does your family have any naming traditions? Not at all. I have 4 siblings, and only one has a name similar to mine (Karlee). The others are all completely different.

What names have people called you based on your name? Mare-Bear, Marley, Mare…

Do you like your name? Yeah, it’s okay. I don’t LOVE it, but I don’t HATE it either.

Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? YES. It’s been spelled probably 20 different ways, and pronounced a few different ways as well.

If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? I’m not sure.

CRYSTAL (CRITTER)

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Name: Crystal Moss

What name you go by: Critter

Ethnic background: African American

Place of birth: North Myrtle Beach, SC

Year of birth: 1988

Popularity of name that year: Ranked 28th

Meaning/origins of name: A 19th century coinage derived from the vocabulary word crystal, which denotes very clear, brilliant glass, or a clear, transparent quartz.

Why did your parents choose this name for you? My Aunt Carolyn gave me this name.

What names have people called you based on your name? imp, demon, spirit, spiritual demon, crit, big eyes, whore, critter, babish, oshi

Do you like your name? Yes, because I know my name fits me perfectly.

Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Yes, sometimes they would spell it with a K or CH.

If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? La’Sabre

Any stories about your name? Yes, my mom gave me my nickname from watching the movie little critters in the hospital.

KAITLIN (KATE)

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Name: Kaitlin Kathleen

What name you go by: I go by Kate most of the time. Kaitlin is just used professionally.

Ethnic background: Caucasian

Place of birth: Newfoundland, Canada

Year of birth: 1993

Popularity of name that year: With this spelling, ranked 99th (Kate ranked 335th)

Meaning/origins of name: Borrowed from the Irish, Caitlin is a variant of CaitrÍona, the Gaelic form of Catherine (pure, unsullied).

Why did your parents choose this name for you? My Pop came up with this suggestion when I was born and my mom thought it suited me.

Does your family have any naming traditions? Not really, just that most of the time middle names are after grandparents.

What names have people called you based on your name? Kate, Katie, I also get a lot of misspellings like Kaitlyn, Caitlin, Katelyn etc.

Do you like your name? Not at all, which is why I go by Kate. It was very trendy when I was born and I went to school with 3 other Kaitlins in my class which was really annoying. I wish I had a more unique or classic name.

Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? So many spelling mistakes. I’ve probably gotten every spelling possible. I also always have to spell out my name to people when they ask what it is. I am 18 and my dad and my grandfather still don’t know how to spell it.

If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? Just Kate.

CELESTE

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Name: Celeste Renee

What name you go by: Celeste

Ethnic background: German, Irish, Czech

Place of birth: Midwest, US

Year of birth: 1987

Popularity of name that year: Ranked 466th

Meaning/origins of name: Derived from the French céleste which is from the Latin caelestis (celestial, heavenly).

Why did your parents choose this name for you? My mom liked the name Celeste, my dad liked the name Renee.

Does your family have any naming traditions? Not really.

What names have people called you based on your name? I get called Chelsea fairly frequently, usually people misreading my name but its also happened when I was introduced as Celeste and they somehow misheard it as Chelsea. There have been plenty of mispronunciations as well. I haven’t really had many nicknames- Celestial, Celestey, Cellie. I got Celester the Molester like once or twice, surprised I hadn’t heard it more, hah.

Do you like your name? I like my full name because I think the combined meanings are somewhat poetic (especially with my last name) I like that my first and middle names are French. I don’t really like the way my name sounds though, it doesn’t really roll off the tongue. I get compliments on it though.

Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? I used to wish that I had a more common “normal” name like Lyndsey or Katie or anything a bit more mainstream.

What happened for you to have a change of opinion? I’ve come to appreciate the fact that my name isn’t uber common, I don’t think I’d ever want a really common name and I would never give my kids over-common names.

Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Occasionally spelling or pronunciation.

If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? Maybe Sadie, Lydia or Evelyn, something simpler and more recognizable but still not too common.

LEAH

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Name: Leah Kaye

What name you go by: L.K. Most of my family and very close friends call me Leah. People always seemed to have trouble pronouncing or spelling my name. It’s been spelled: Lia, Lea, Leighah, Leigha, Leeuh, Leea, and Liah. It’s been pronounced Leia (Star Wars), Lean, Leann (for some reason the verticle line on my lower-case “h” is never high enough for some people and they assume my name is LeAnn). I decided to forego the trouble and go by my initials.

Ethnic background: English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, French, Native American, Scandinavian

Place of birth: Indianapolis, Indiana

Year of birth: 1987

Popularity of name that year: Ranked 82nd

Meaning/origins of name: Derived from the Hebrew lā’āh (weary, to tire). The name is borne in the Bible by the eldest daughter of Laban and the first of Jacob’s four wives.

Why did your parents choose this name for you? My parents went through a few drafts of my name. They really wanted something biblical. First, I was going to be named Tirzah, but they could not find a middle name they liked. (My hilarious grandmother recommended Joy, but my parents didn’t find it funny.) Then they picked Jenny Kate, after two of my great-grandmothers Jennye and Kathern. But dear old dad felt bad that his other grandmother, who was still living at the time, would feel left out. So they went through the bible again and picked Leah. Partially because my father’s mom’s middle name was Lee and my mother’s mom’s middle name was Martha. Kaye was decided on because it was both of my aunts’ middle names.

Does your family have any naming traditions? Not that I know of, at least none that my parents followed.

What names have people called you based on your name? Leah doesn’t lend itself well to nicknames, but I’ve been called Leelee by a few friends, as well as the aforementioned mistakes.

Do you like your name? It’s okay. Every name causes some kind of problem, whether it is too simple, common, difficult, wierd, etc. All in all, I have never really felt like a “Leah”.

What is it like to go through life disliking your name? I always felt left out having a name that was just different enough. There were no pencils with my name on it, people had a hard time pronouncing/ spelling it, no one else had my name (which was good and bad).

Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? Since the meanings of my name are not particularly pleasant: “weary” and “wild cow” (although I love cows and my kitchen is covered in them), and since my biblical namesake didn’t have the best story, I never got what was so appealing about it. However, being named after four amazing women in my family was pretty special.

What happened for you to have a change of opinion? I realized that while name meaning and historical or literary references are nice, what really matters is your personal history. My parents named me for people they loved dearly, and I was certainly no exception.

Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Yes, as explained above.

If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? I’m happy with my initials, though when they told me I was almost named Jenny Kate, there were times I would have killed to have the name Jennifer Katherine as opposed to the cutesy Jenny Kate or Leah Kaye.

Any stories about your name? Well, like the biblical story of Leah, her younger sister Rachel and their cousin Jacob, when I got married, I gained younger sister-in-law Rachel and cousin Jacob. So that’s interesting.

Is there anything else you’d like to add? Name your kids what you want, if they don’t like it, they’ll change it.

LAURA

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Name: Laura Rose

What name you go by: Laura

Ethnic background: Northwestern Euromutt

Place of birth: New Hampshire

Year of birth: 1994

Popularity of name that year: Ranked 46th

Meaning/origins of name: Derived from the Latin laurus (laurel, an evergreen shrub or tree whose leaves were woven into wreaths by the ancient Greeks to crown victors in various contests). Originally a Latin name, Laura came into use in England in the 19th century, and is now popularly bestowed throughout the English-speaking world.

Why did your parents choose this name for you? My mother loved the Little House on the Prairie books growing up, and always knew she was going to name me Laura. I was originally going to be Laura Ashley, but then they realized that was a designer, and she gave me her middle name, Rose, after her mother, Roselee. If I was a boy, I would have been Tyler William, William for my grandfather

Does your family have any naming traditions? Not particularly, I plan to pass down Rose, and one of my cousin’s middle name is John, my grandfather’s name. The only “family” names we really have are Rose(lee), John/Jack, and William.

What names have people called you based on your name? I’ve been called Lauren a lot, even Laurie a few times. My best friend and my father occasionally call me Laur, but I am usually just Laura. My best friend also calls me Laura-Pandora, Laura-Boo, and Laura-square.

Do you like your name? Yes, I do. I think if it wasn’t my name, I’d still like it, it’s exactly my style. (Classic, feminine)

Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? I went through a three or so month period when I was 12 when I wanted to be called Holly, but I got over it.

Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? People hear Lauren a lot, and my last name has been spelled a bit funky a few times.

If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? Rose Isabel.

Any stories about your name? I used to think I was the only Laura on the planet, and the first time I met another Laura I was not happy.

MAURILIA

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Name: Maurilia Renee

What name you go by: I go by several names, Maurilia, Mo, Maur, etc.

Ethnic background: Puerto Rican/German/Irish/Scottish

Place of birth: United States

Year of birth: 1995

Popularity of name that year: Maurilia has never ranked in the top 1000

Meaning/origins of name: Couldn’t find any data on this name at all! The closest I came was an Italian man’s name Maurilio, which is derived from the Latin Maurilius and means “magnanimous”. There was a St. Maurilio, the bishop of Angers, France.

Why did your parents choose this name for you? My father chose my name because he got my mom pregnant when they were teenagers, so he wanted to suck up to my mom’s parents. He named me Maurilia after my maternal grandmother. Renee was after one of my mother’s best friends.

Does your family have any naming traditions? No.

What names have people called you based on your name? Almost everyone comes up with a name for me at one point to shorten or make Maurilia easier to say. Mo, Maur, Mau, Maur-Maur, Malaria, and Mitochondria are all things I answer to. Malaria and Mitochondria just happened during science classes.

Do you like your name? I do like my name. I like it because it’s different, and it fits me.

Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? When I was younger, my name bothered me. It bothered me pretty much for all the reasons I like it now; it was different and no one else had ever even heard it.

What happened for you to have a change of opinion? I just grew up. I became less concerned with conformity.

Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Everyone butchers the pronunciation. It’s pronounced Muh-ril-ee-a, but I get Muh-ril-a and Mor-il-a. Most people comment on how pretty they think it is, and how they’ve never heard it.

If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? I don’t think I would ever change my name.

Any stories about your name? I had a teacher that didn’t pronounce it correctly for an entire semester. I also had a teacher that told me he wanted to name his daughter Maurilia.

AMANDA

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Name: Amanda Louise

What name you go by: I was always “Mandy” (or “Mandi”-depending on the hip spelling of the week), until a college boy I was into didn’t like it, so I dropped the diminutive and introduced myself to everyone as “Amanda” after that. Actually, I insisted on “Amanda” in kindergarten, too, but it didn’t stick…

Ethnic background: American deep-south hybrid

Place of birth: Lake City, Florida

Year of birth: 1970

Popularity of name that year: Ranked 108th

Meaning/origins of name: Derived from the Latin amanda (lovable, worthy to be loved). Amanda originated as a literary coinage of English playwright Colley Cibber (1671 – 1757).

Why did your parents choose this name for you? My mom was kind of into “Erin Paige” (which I always thought I would have liked better when I was in school…), but My dad (Whose name is “Terry”) was opposed to anything as gender-ambiguous as “Erin”. My mom (whose gender-ambiguous name is “Roni”), out of exasperation, said–in the hospital bed with the pen in her hand, the story goes–”Fine. Then what’s your grandmother’s name?” The rest is history.

Does your family have any naming traditions? Seems a lot of people are named “Grace” or “Susan” after my dad’s mother (she had 8 kids who made it to reproductive age, and reproduce they did…). Generally, in our family, people are named after someone. It need not be anyone in particular, but for my two (and the third coming soon), I have picked a name I like from each side of the family.

What names have people called you based on your name? Nobody ever mistakes my name. Its easy to say and easy to spell. When I was little, I was the only Amanda I knew, but nowadays you can find it on off-the-rack keychains in Spencer’s. It’s been funny, having an “ascendant” name. Nicknames I didn’t like–Moondog, Mander-moo, Mandinka. None of them bother me anymore. Get away from me with the songs, too! I don’t know which song is worse, “Mandy” or “Amanda”. Horrors.

Do you like your name? I like it fine, even though I’ve never thought it suited me. I rather liked when people would point out to me that it means “She who must be loved.” I always thought that was nice, if a little pushy…

Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? We’ve had our ups and downs, but I’ve made peace with it.

What happened for you to have a change of opinion? life.

Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? never.

If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? I have a hard time imagining living with any other name. I sort of own it now.

Any stories about your name? Meh.

Have you ever changed your name? Well, I used to hide the “Louise”, because it was very unfashionable in the 70s and 80s when I was growing up. I had a lot of friends with the middle name Lynn, which I considered trying on, but Amanda Lynn is just all kinds of wrong if you say it out loud.

Under what circumstances? Well, I did have a fake ID under the name Solange once, but I don’t think anyone who ever used that name actually got my real phone number. :)

ISABEL

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Name: Isabel Kate Helen

What name you go by: Issy most of the time and Isabel occasionally.

Ethnic background: Caucasian

Place of birth: Australia

Year of birth: 1995

Popularity of name that year: Isabel didn’t rank in the top 100 in NSW. Don’t know about other states in Australia. Isabella ranked 34th in NSW.

Meaning/origins of name: A Spanish variant of Elizabeth, which is from the Hebrew elīsheba’ (God is my oath).

Why did your parents choose this name for you? They liked Imogen and Eleanor but not quite enough. After my mum passed the shop ‘Isabel Taylor’ she decided she loved the name Isabel, and I suppose it strikes a balance between Imogen and Eleanor.
Kate was my mum’s longtime best friend’s name (she became my godmother) and a name both my parents liked, regardless of that association.
Helen is my grandmother’s name.

Does your family have any naming traditions? My brother and I both have two middle names which honour family/friends.
My mum’s side of the family (Danes) were always inclined to cram as many family names into the middle spot as possible.

What names have people called you based on your name? Issy
Isa, Ingabel, Isabelly (by my brother), Isabella/Isabelita (by my grandparents who know perfectly well that my name is just Isabel!), Pissy (by close friends, the only people who would get away with it), Ibby (by a childhood friend), Is/Iz (variously), Izzy-Bizzy, ‘Isabel necessary on a bike?’

Do you like your name? I like that it’s classic and elegant; I like it when I read about a historical figure named Isabel – there are quite a few. I also like that there is a great poem by Ogden Nash about a gutsy Isabel. I like the sound. In fact, as a name nerd it’s the kind of name I would be drawn to except for the fact that it is too popular. There has always been another Isabel in my year at school, which I’ve always slightly resented, but surprisingly it’s the rampant number of Isabellas that annoy me the most. It doesn’t help that Isabella is different from Isabel when you are one of three Issys in the class. In the end though, I actually DO like my name.

Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? I have gone through various phases when I wanted to be called ‘Isabelle’ (at about age 14), Isabella (age 13) and, desperately, Ariadne (age 11-12). I guess I felt Isabel was a bit plain then.

What happened for you to have a change of opinion? I’ve always loved names but tastes definitely change. I used to favour more frilly names (see Ariadne), though thanks to boards like nameberry I’ve come to feel that understated can be pretty too, and although I’ve never liked new and made up names, I’ve come to more greatly appreciate ‘old lady names’.

Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? People often confuse the spelling with all of the other spellings of Isabel (my uncle writes ‘Isobel’ on every single Christmas card) and I’m sometimes called Isabella instead.

If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? Wow. I could spend hours answering this but I’d probably wind up sticking with Isabel, because I don’t dislike it and it suits me. I might play around with the middles – I’ve tried to explain to my non name savvy parents that you can honour people by using variations of their name, to no avail. I’ve only recently come to see Kate and Helen as not necessarily boring and drab, so I’ve thought about Catalina, Kitty, Eleanor, Nell and Helena.

Any stories about your name? Over the years I’ve spelled ‘Issy’ in just about every possible way.

JULIA

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Name: Julia Marie

What name you go by: English speaking people call me Julia or Jules ..in Germany (where I’m from) I’m pronounced “Yoolia” and nicknamed “Yoole”

Ethnic background: white European

Place of birth: Germany

Year of birth: 1992

Popularity of name that year: Ranked 2nd in Germany

Meaning/origins of name: Feminine form of the Latin Julius, an old Roman family name thougth to be derived from Iulus (the first down on the chin, downy-bearded). Because a person just beginning to develop facial hair is young, the definition of this name and its related forms has evolved to “youth.”

Why did your parents choose this name for you? My Mum always loved the name Julia because of the Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’ (in Germany it’s called ‘Romeo & Julia’) , I’m called Marie because the lady in Mum’s hospital room wanted to call her daughter Marie but ended up calling her Emily (she is actually my best friend now haha) ..and Mum liked the Marie and I got it.

Does your family have any naming traditions? My parents names are Martin and Marion..Martin is a family name in both their families so my brother’s second name is Martin and I’m also in the ‘mar’ -club ,called Marie

What names have people called you based on your name? People have called me Julia-Coolia and stuff like that, nothing mean… :)

Do you like your name? I like it cause it’s traditional and fresh at the same time, I don’t like the fact that it is too popular in Germany.

Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? No, never.