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ADDAMAINE
Name: Addamaine Alison
What name you go by: Adda to family, Addie to everyone else
Ethnic background: Not sure. German, Welsh
Place of birth: Sioux Falls, SD
Year of birth: 1952
Popularity of name that year: Addamaine has never ranked in the top 1000
Meaning of name: Couldn’t find any direct meaning for Addamaine or Adda, but presumably it is a spin-off of one of these: Adelheid and Adelaide mean nobility.
Why did your parents choose this name for you? It was my maternal grandmother’s name. Her first name was Adda and middle was Maine. My parents put it together and gave it to me.
Does your family have any naming traditions? My dad was Eldon Edward (E.E.), his father was John J. (J.J.) so all of us have double initials..A.A.,M.M.,H.H.,E.E.,T.T.,B.B.
What names have people called you based on your name? Ratamaine, Fatamaine by mean HS boys when I was in elementary. We were all together in one building…small town! 
. Names by mistake: Addamine, Addamarie, Addaline.
Do you like your name? Not so much when I was younger because people would always get it wrong, but as I got older I loved being the only Addamaine …….anyplace.
Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? Same as above.
Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Yes.
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? Wouldn’t change it.
Any stories about your name? Nope.
Have you ever changed your name? No.
KACEY
Name: Kacey Karlene
What name you go by: Kacey
Ethnic background: German
Place of birth: Austin, Minnesota
Year of birth: 1981
Popularity of name that year: Ranked 811th
Meaning/origins of name: Variant form of Casey, which is a variant of Cassie, a pet form of Cassandra. Cassandra is derived from the Greek Kassandra, the mythological daughter of Priam and Hecuba who had the power of prophesy.
Why did your parents choose this name for you? My dad did not like the name my mom picked out. They saw this name, Kacey, on a program at church and both liked it.
Does your family have any naming traditions? Yes, everyone is named with their first name and middle name starting with the same letter. KK
What names have people called you based on your name? Kace, Kacer, Kaceroonie toons, Roonis, Kacey Jones, Kacey and the sunshine band, Kacey Macey, Kason (mine and my husbands name combined)
Do you like your name? First name yes, middle name no. Middle name sounds too hick. I’m not a fan of the “lene” names.
What is it like to go through life disliking your middle name? I just don’t use it. I usually just sign my name as Kacey K. I only use my middle name for legal purposes.
Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? Nope. Always liked it.
Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? YES! Everyone gets it wrong. Casey is most common. Or, if I say I spell mine with a “K” they spell it Kasey. 
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? I wouldn’t want to change my name.
Have you ever changed your name? No.
Any stories about your name? Nope.
CAROLINE
Name: Caroline Anne
What name you go by: Caroline
Ethnic background: English
Place of birth: Stoneham, Massachusetts
Year of birth: 1955
Popularity of name that year: Ranked 314th
Meaning/origins of name: A feminine form of the Latin Carolus, which is a cognate of Charles (full-grown, a man, a freeman).
Why did your parents choose this name for you? Caroline was my father’s mother’s name and Anne was my mother’s mother’s name. My father’s mother died around the time I was born.
Does your family have any naming traditions? Not that I’m aware of.
What names have people called you based on your name? All my life people have called me Carolyn. At some point in an early acquaintanceship, a person will ask: is it Carolyn or Caroline? I’ll tell them Caroline, like the princess. Even so, many will persist in calling me Carolyn. I judge these people to be dumbasses.
My sister calls me Carolina, and in college certain people called me “Carolin-skya” or “Carolin-gean.” Also, my brother used to call me Carrie, he’s the only one who ever did. I didn’t mind, but it used to annoy my mother no end.
Do you like your name? I like my name now, or since I’ve been an adult. When I was a kid, I thought it was a little snooty, or something. There weren’t ever any other Carolines that I knew of, except for the President’s daughter–Caroline Kennedy. But when I got to be older, I had no problem, and even decided that I had been well-named. It is annoying though, when people continue to call me Carolyn after I have been introduced as Caroline.
Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? I toyed with switching over to Carolyn as a child, just to conform to the expectations of others, but rejected the idea.
What happened for you to have a change of opinion? I decided that the problem was with the other people, those who wouldn’t say my name correctly, not me.
Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Constantly. But if someone says my name correctly from the first meeting, I will have a more positive feeling about that person.
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? I don’t know.
Any stories about your name? No.
Have you ever changed your name? No.
KEJA
Name: Keja Lys
What name you go by: Keja
Ethnic background: Mine: Italian, Czech Scottish, English, etc. My name’s: Romani (Gypsy)
Place of birth: San Francisco, CA
Year of birth: 1972
Popularity of name that year: Keja has never ranked in the top 1000.
Meaning/origins of name: Could not find any reference to what this name means.
Why did your parents choose this name for you? My parents were reading The Gypsies by Jan Joors while my mother was pregnant. It is the memoir of a young man with artist parents who allowed him to join a gypsy caravan. His gypsy sister, with whom he fell in love, was named Keja.
Does your family have any naming traditions? Not that I know of.
What names have people called you based on your name? Ketchup (my mother-in-law who had trouble pronouncing it); queja (the Spanish pronunciation of my name); déjà (the exact pronunciation of my name in French, switching the first letter).
Do you like your name? I love my name: I appreciate its uniqueness; I like the sound of it, solid and soft; I like the connection it offers me to fantasies of wild wanderers.
Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? For a short time when I was younger I wanted a more “normal” name, and sometimes told people my name was Katherine.
What happened for you to have a change of opinion? It was rather temporary, part of a period of wanting to fit in in the most superficial ways.
Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Always. It’s often hard for people to pronounce the soft J; when people look at my name written down they rarely know how to pronounce it (the best mispronunciation is Ke-ha, like hee-haw). People reading my name from a list usually pause. It’s useful in identifying telemarketers.
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? I would never change my name.
Any stories about your name? The one of the book it came from. I’ve met one other person with the same name spelled the same way; her parents had read the same book.
Have you ever changed your name? No.
Anything else you’d like to add? People often tell me that they like my name. I never know what to respond, since it’s not something for which I feel responsible and yet it’s something to which I feel my whole self to be deeply attached, as if my name is not only what my parents gave me but also the way that I inhabit it. But I most often respond, “Thanks, I’ll tell my parents.”
JEAN
Name: Jean Mary
What name you go by: Jean–only my college friends ever called me Jeanie, don’t know why.
Ethnic background: British
Place of birth: Isleworth, England
Year of birth: 1941
Popularity of name that year:Well, in 1934 in the U.K., Jean was ranked 2nd, and in 1944 it was ranked 5th. So presumably, in 1941, it was 3rd or 4th. In the U.S. in 1941, Jean was ranked 32nd.
Meaning/origins of name: English cognate of the French Jeanne, which is a feminine form of Jean (God is gracious).
Why did your parents choose this name for you? Don’t know–they were also thinking of Jill.
Does your family have any naming traditions? We thought for a long time that Keeble was a family name on my father’s side, it was his 2nd middle name–but after doing genealogical research this turns out not to be true.
What names have people called you based on your name? I had various nasty nicknames as a child (Lanky Lamppost, Black Widow Spider, Fairy Elephant) but they were due to skinniness rather than my name. Well, not the last one–my mother called me that because I was clumsy–nice, huh?
Do you like your name? It’s OK–although I think I’m more of a Jane.
Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? Well, when I was in jr. high I thought it would be cooler if it were spelled Jeanne.
What happened for you to have a change of opinion? This was very much frowned upon by the Oppressive Parents.
Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Only lately–people think it’s spelled Gene–this never used to happen back in the days when people were better educated!
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? How about Giovanna? Much classier.
Any stories about your name? No.
ZIGRIDA
Name: Zigrida Margarita
What name you go by: Zigrida
Ethnic background: Latvian
Place of birth: Latvia
Year of birth: 1944
Meaning/origins of name: Latvian version of the Scandinavian name Sigrid, which is a given name for women from Old Norse Sigríðr, meaning “victory” ” wisdom ” and “beautiful”.
Why did your parents choose this name for you? They liked the name.
Does your family have any naming traditions? No.
What names have people called you based on your name? Zig, because it is easy to remember/pronounce.
Do you like your name? Yes. It reminds me of my heritage.
Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? No.
Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Yes. People stumble over its pronunciation. Also, in Latvian, the first syllable is stressed but in English the second syllable gets stressed so it people’s pronunciation sounds incorrect to me.
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? I wouldn’t change it.
Any stories about your name? No.
Have you ever changed your name? No.
Anything else you’d like to add? Even it Latvia, Zigrida is an unusual name. I have met only two other women named Zigrida. One in Latvia and one in the USA.
VELZORA
Name: Velzora Standish
What name you go by: Vel
Ethnic background: Yankee (English & Scottish from 350+ years ago)
Place of birth: Massachusetts, USA
Year of birth: 1944
Popularity of name that year: Velzora has never ranked in the top 1000.
Meaning/origins of name: Arabic, meaning blossom.
Why did your parents choose this name for you? I’m female of boy/girl twins. I have my mother’s name & my brother has my father’s name.
Does your family have any naming traditions? No.
What names have people called you based on your name? Vel. Those who know only my nickname often think it is “Val” and that my formal name is “Valerie”.
Do you like your name? Yes.
Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? No.
Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Yes. It is an unusual name so even though the spelling/pronunciation is straightforward, people often stumble in remembering/pronouncing it.
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? I wouldn’t change it.
Any stories about your name? The first name, Velzora, has been in the family for 8 generations. It is Arabic (“blossom”). The Yankee sea captains in the family would often be away for a year on a merchant route and formal naming of newborns would be delayed until their return. The name was picked up during a merchant trip along the Barbary Coast on North Africa. The second name, Standish, is my mother’s maiden name. Her family’s tradition was for women to have no middle name and to use their maiden family name as their middle name after they were married.
Have you ever changed your name? No.
Anything else you’d like to add? After giving birth to us twins, my mother was in recovery and now knowing we were boy/girl, asked my father what we should be named. He suggested using their own names for the two of us and that is what happened.
ERNEST (ERNIE)
Name: Ernest Cyril
What name you go by: Ernie
Ethnic background: Yankee (English & Scottish from 350+ years ago)
Place of birth: Massachusetts USA
Year of birth: 1944
Popularity of name that year: Ranked 59th.
Meaning/origins of name: Cognate of the German Ernst, a name derived from the Old High German Ernust and Ernost (earnest, resolute).
Why did your parents choose this name for you? I’m male of boy/girl twins. I have my father’s name & my sister has my mother’s name.
Does your family have any naming traditions? No.
What names have people called you based on your name? People who know me call me Ernie. All the others call me Ernest.
Do you like your name? Yes. My first name is bimodal. Ernest is “Beethoven, ballet and badminton”. Ernie is “beer, bowling and broads”.
Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? No.
Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? People often spell Ernest as “Earnest”.
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? I wouldn’t change it.
Any stories about your name? I have my father’s name. His mother was a fan of Tennyson and English novels and gave her three sons “English” middle names – Arthur, Harold and Cyril.
Have you ever changed your name? No.
Anything else you’d like to add? After giving birth to us twins, my mother was in recovery and now knowing we were boy/girl, asked my father what we should be named. He suggested using their own names for the two of us and that is what happened.
CATHERINE
Name: Catherine Judith
What name you go by: Cath or Catherine
Ethnic background: British – Irish
Place of birth: UK
Year of birth: 1980
Popularity of name that year: Couldn’t get UK stats for 1980, but in 1974, Catherine ranked 22nd, and in 1984, it ranked 37th. In the US in 1980, Catherine ranked 77th.
Meaning/origins of name: English cognate of the Greek Aikaterinē, which is derived from katharos (pure, unsullied). Catherine has remained a perennially popular name and has been borne by many saints and members of European nobility.
Why did your parents choose this name for you? My mum chose Catherine and my dad chose Judith. Apparently, my mum thought that there weren’t many Catherines at that point, although by the time I got to school there were at least 5 in my year of 120 people. I’m pretty sure there’s the link to Catholic saints’ names too.
Does your family have any naming traditions? Not for girls, but on my dad’s side the oldest son was named Thomas Francis after his father and then alternate generations were called either Tom or Frank. And on my mum’s side, the boys were named John, but then alternate generations went by the name of Jack.
What names have people called you based on your name? Cath, Cathy, Cat. I don’t like being called Cathy, it’s someone else’s name. And I’ve only been called Cat once or twice.
Do you like your name? I’ve always liked Catherine.
Did you have times in your life where you felt differently about your name? Yes, I really didn’t like Judith when I was little. It just felt really old-fashioned. No one else I knew (small town!) had the name. Jude would’ve been better – at least then there would have been a tenuous link to the Beatles (though that was actually linked to Julian Lennon).
What happened for you to have a change of opinion? Got older!
Have you had difficulty with others understanding your name? Spelling always, there are so many ways to spell Catherine.
If you could change your name to anything, what would it be? Wouldn’t change anything.
Any stories about your name? Nope.
Have you ever changed your name? No.
