I gave myself a name after having another name for 26 years of my life. After re-introducing myself to some people, I've had some tell ME to pronounce my own name. There are multiple ways to conceivably pronounce it depending on what root/language you wanna derive the pronunciation from, but I chose a specific pronunciation when I picked my name. That really activates my almonds. But when I hear my name the way I intended for it to be pronounced, it feels good. Not at all surprising. It just feels right

The only surprise I’ve given people is that they knew my grandparents who owned a music store with our last name in it so people always look at me and ask like - the store name?- and then speak to me fondly of my grandparents which I do enjoy. And then I usually share stories back of how I was there too, just really little running around.

Yes, especially because I think I'm one of only 2 or 3 people in the world that have my name. So I was genuinely shocked to find out that there was someone else!!

I have a rare combination of first/last name. And not only that, the way it’s spelled in English is also rare. Someone in my town has the same exact name/last name as me, spelled exactly the same way. She is a few years older and apparently got a divorce years ago (I got notices from lawyers trying to locate her). Then, she had an affair with a married man and this man’s wife called my parents pretending to be my friend and when my mom refused to give her my number she stated cussing them out and then calling every hour to leave horrible messages about me being a ho. Wonder what my namesake is up to these days. 🤔 the end.

I’m not sure, but I DETEST when I correct someone on the pronunciation of my surname and they then try to CORRECT ME on how to say my own name. NO! I SAID WHAT I SAID!

At least people will pronounce your name correctly. At least 90% of people pronounce my surname wrongly. It’s actually quite surprising when someone does pronounce it right. The last time was a French waiter. I was so shocked that I commented about it on my way out. He said the only reason he knew how to say it was because he’d had a manager with the same name.

I guess just that thing where people I've e-mailed for ages meet me and they expect me to be Irish

Yeah, some people want to confirm they understood my name and ask:"Just like the car brand?" Me: "Yep, exactly!"

My name is better than julius caesar and fuckin saxons.