Aaaahhhh...... I relate to this!! David and I spent months weighing the pros and cons of various names and the resulting initials. We felt (and still feel) that we came up with the best possible name for our precious girl. My daughter adapted her name from Jenny to Jenna when she went to college and I still cannot wrap my tongue around it. It doesn't offend me or upset me....I just keep calling her Jenny. Luckily, she doesn't mind. I think of it as just the grownup version of her name, but as her Mom, I am allowed to continue calling her the kid version because she will always be my child.
I have several family members who have changed the spelling of their names--Carrol from Carol, Judie from Judy, Sande from Sandra--and that's who they are now. I was 'Mona' forever, until I began writing, and even then some of my early published pieces still say "Mona Grigg'.
At some point, I began using 'Ramona', my real name, with the idea that it would stand out more, but I have to tell you, I'm still not comfortable being 'Ramona'. It's as if I'm someone else now and I don't know how I feel about that. To my friends and family I'm still 'Mona', so all's well.
I gave my kids goofy long names with the expectation they would use nicknames instead, as well as simple middle names in case they preferred those. I decided to give them options after growing up with Laura Nichole as my names, neither of which really seemed to fit. I'm glad I renamed myself, even if there was a bit of awkwardness and confusion around an adult who wasn't transitioning changing her first name. And even if my mom will call me Laura until the day she dies. :P
Aaaahhhh...... I relate to this!! David and I spent months weighing the pros and cons of various names and the resulting initials. We felt (and still feel) that we came up with the best possible name for our precious girl. My daughter adapted her name from Jenny to Jenna when she went to college and I still cannot wrap my tongue around it. It doesn't offend me or upset me....I just keep calling her Jenny. Luckily, she doesn't mind. I think of it as just the grownup version of her name, but as her Mom, I am allowed to continue calling her the kid version because she will always be my child.
I have several family members who have changed the spelling of their names--Carrol from Carol, Judie from Judy, Sande from Sandra--and that's who they are now. I was 'Mona' forever, until I began writing, and even then some of my early published pieces still say "Mona Grigg'.
At some point, I began using 'Ramona', my real name, with the idea that it would stand out more, but I have to tell you, I'm still not comfortable being 'Ramona'. It's as if I'm someone else now and I don't know how I feel about that. To my friends and family I'm still 'Mona', so all's well.
I gave my kids goofy long names with the expectation they would use nicknames instead, as well as simple middle names in case they preferred those. I decided to give them options after growing up with Laura Nichole as my names, neither of which really seemed to fit. I'm glad I renamed myself, even if there was a bit of awkwardness and confusion around an adult who wasn't transitioning changing her first name. And even if my mom will call me Laura until the day she dies. :P
Yes, and I'll answer to either!