That's Not My Name!
When someone calls you the wrong name...over and over again 🙄
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It’s bad enough when your barista puts down the wrong name, but when someone you’ve already met gets your name wrong? It’s almost impossible to recover.
Case in point, this awkward situation with my colleague Emma’s husband, Max:
If someone calls me by the wrong name, you can bet it’s one of these three: Sarah, Chloe, or Zoe.
These aren’t bad guesses! Sarah also starts with an S and is statistically more common among my generation. Like Sophie, Chloe and Zoe are Greek origin names with strong Os and final EE sounds.
I polled some of the people in my life about the other names that they get called. See if you can guess what their real names are! (Hint: the misnomers are in order from those heard the most to least often).
Answers at the end!
Meredith, Natalie, Marilyn
Brenden, Bradley, Jason
Scott, Tom, Ted
Lori, Tory, Gloria
Laurie, Dorothy, Cori
Bree, Britt, Brooke
Emily, Anna, Hannah
Aaron, Andrew, Ethan
Elena, Briana, Alexa
Molly, Heidi, Colleen
Are these middle names…actually names?
Confession time. I always wished that I had a cool, unexpected middle name — something that I could pull out when I wanted and stow when needed.
Recent combo I heard:
Sammy Moonlight 🌝
These unique middle names are far from traditional, but therein lies the charm. Quirky word names are some of the most evocative. How cool would it be to have a middle name like Hummingbird, Wildrose, or Whimsy? (All real names chosen by our Berries!)
Broaden your name horizon (hey — Horizon would be a great middle name!) and see more real-life examples of unique middle names you didn’t even know were names.
AI meets baby names
In case you need another reason to become a paid subscriber, let me tell you about all the fun we get into with our mid-week newsletter.
We offer free baby name consultations (you heard that right!), give you extra details and extended stats, and embark on name-y personal projects.
Lately, I’ve been interested in how AI can interact with baby names. I recently challenged DALL·E to create baby name graphics to, erm…mixed results.
There’s more AI mischief to come in our paid newsletter, but you can get a sneak preview of some AI baby name fails on TikTok:
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Picks of the week
From the new and improved shopping guide!
The best gift for a tech-obsessed baby. An actual remote control. Genius and cost-effective! Recommended in this week’s How I Named My Baby.
That adorable clementine quilt that’s all over Instagram? We found it. Shop for it here, as seen in How I Named My Baby: Willamina Joy.
The Berries’ most-recommended product. In the 2+ years of How I Named My Baby, one product has been endorsed over and over again: this activity center from Skip Hop.
More fun things
The best rare names from 100 years ago. I love Ida and Agnes! 😍
Celebrity dog names are…seriously wild. A dog named Walk? 🐕
An artistic family’s story about how they chose the adorable and significant name Georgie Rose 🌹
French names we need to borrow. Timéo, please! 🇫🇷
What are the best unique girl names? See our nominations 💕
Quiz Answers: Madeleine, Brandon, Todd, Rory, Dorie, Brynn, Emma, Adam, Alana, and Holly.
Tell us your score (and your top three misnomers) in the comments!
I scored a 5!
I’m Kaila (pronounced Kayla) and so often get Taylor. Next would be Kaylee or Carla