Asymmetrical Information

Try being a Steve sometime. My freshman year in college I lived in a 14-man dorm suite with 11 Steves. By necessity we all went by our last names. In my case, Walsh, that doesn't exactly fix the problem.

Many blame my parents, I blame George W. Bush.

My brother-in-law is called David. This causes a certain amount of confusion at family gatherings.

A while back I was standing at the bar of my favourite local pub. It was a bit quiet, only four people in the joint apart from the staff, and we realised we were all called David.

I am also a Megan from our generation, and yes, it is annoying. Aren't you glad you weren't born an Amy or a Jennifer? Those were the names that were popular among my friends. I think I knew 5 girls called "Amy S" in high school.

Yep, or you could always be an Elizabeth.

Does this mean you're going to start a No Megans Club in the treehouse?

I didn't mean to slander you! I was being literal when I said that it was my favorite conversation of the year; I also don't like being around other Megans, because I didn't meet another until I was in my late teens.

Next time I hope we'll talk more; we can call each other by our last names.

Or a Michael. I can't go to a mall without some woman screaming at me. I think.

*I* came by it honestly - I was named after a grandfather.

Next time I hope we'll talk more; we can call each other by our last names.

Well that's no fun at all. You need nicknames like Sparky Megan and The Big Red Megan.

Nope, never had that problem ...

Surely you know that every Tom, Dick, and Harry is named Tom -- or Dick -- or Harry, as the case might be. But my co-author is a Russian-born Alexander who is therefore called Sasha, and in a current project (http://cs-ling.blogspot.com) with a bunch of Russian linguists I suddenly realized that there were definitely too many Alexanders (or Alexandres) who were therefore called Sasha; this seems to be the most common Russian name.

I have to agree with crankyprofessor- Michael seems to be the male equivalent of 'why-bother-having-a-name'. That's why I don't go by it.

I have to share a phone extension at work with someone who also shares my first name. Really really bad planning when they rearranged the office.

My sister is married to a man named Michael William (Mike). His brother is William Michael (Bill). When they first got married my sister and her husband found out that his credit history and his brother's had been mixed up. It took years to straighten out which debts were Bill's and which were Mike's.

So now they are thinking of starting a family and Mike has stated that he wants any son of theirs to be named after his brother. You'd think he'd have learned better by now.

Funny that no one has mentioned the two most common names for men and women: James and Mary.

Of course this info is about 15 years old. (Also, a lot of Marys use their middle name in addition to or instead of their first names. It was probably the only way to survive Catholic school. A lot of Jameses and Johns use their initials or go by their middle names.)

http://www.behindthename.com/top/lists/1000usaa1990.php

Behindthename.com is one of my favorite web sites. Found it when I was pregnant and looking for baby names.

I'm a Michael and it's very annoying. I've been in meetings and projects where there are three or more Michaels.

Also, I use a different pseudonym every time I go to starbucks. Sometimes it freaks them out when they check my credit card...

"Megan says I said I didn't like her." Geez, someone is channeling her inner junior high school student!

In forty years of life, I have yet to be in the company of anyone with my name.

I know a Yancy- never met a Yancey, though.

I never met another Joan until I was in my 20s, and she was a much-older-than-me colleague of my sister's. Now the only other Joan I know is my mother-in-law; compounding the amusement there is the fact that my husband and his father are both named Robert. Over the years we've somehow or other figured out who is talking to whom by some unconscious method, but back when we were first married it could get pretty funny when we were visiting.

It's easy to be around others who share your name when you like them. It's a lot harder when you think they're idiots. Plus there's all the baggage that famous people bring to a name. As a Joan, it's less than ideal that the first people that spring to mind are either psycho actress Joan Crawford or psycho teen warrior Joan of Arc. At least there aren't any crazy Megans running around out there.

Oh, please.

I know how you feel. The Megan is a common find in the US compared to the Jens. When I was in a group dance class, and the instructor called out "Jens, come to this corner" and two of us moved to comply, I felt almost violated.

You want to spare your kid this? Edna. Or Arline. Barbara - nobody is minting any new Barbaras. Walters are thin on the ground, as are Bernards. Clement, now there's a name. My kid was on a baseball team with an Urban, the only one I have ever met. Adolf would do it too, but, well, maybe not...

I am Ed junior, as is my brother-in-law. When both families were together, both before my wife and I were married and for several years thereafter, confusion reigned supreme when someone called out for "Ed". Both families (happily) avoided the possibility of an "Edward the Turd".

I've been going by my middle name for 24 years. There are way too many guys named David around.

My elder daughter married a Mark, and my younger daughter is going with a Mark. So we are Mark I, Mark II, and Mark III.

I drew the line at "old Mark."

Try being a Steve sometime. My freshman year in college I lived in a 14-man dorm suite with 11 Steves.

Having once held a student job working with my own school's offices of Student Life and Residence Life, I can assure you that was no accident. Think in terms of a cynical junior, sitting in front of an Excel spreadsheet, trying to liven up his/her afternoon.

You want to spare your kid this? Edna. Or Arline. Barbara - nobody is minting any new Barbaras. Walters are thin on the ground, as are Bernards. Clement, now there's a name. My kid was on a baseball team with an Urban, the only one I have ever met. Adolf would do it too, but, well, maybe not...

Or Harold -- very few Harolds these days. 'twas not always so; both of my grandfathers carried the name. Fortunately, they were separated by a distance of several states, which reduced opportunities for confusion. Also, I tended to call both of them "Grandpa"...

There was only one other Henry in my high school and he went by Hankie. No confusion there.

But now our friends have a son named Henry -- a five-year-old just like our son. It's funny how often parents say the names of their kids. You're always needing to reclaim their attention. I risk whiplash when we all get together from hearing my name so much.

Timothy has worked out pretty well, I've known few other Timothies. My first college roommate, though, of course, also named Timothy.

I thought about going by my middle name then, but "Andrew" isn't exactly unique. My paternal grandfather was named "Elford", the only one I've ever known of.

Chalk up another Mary here -- named after my grandmother and my oldest aunt. Moreover, I have three cousins named Mary (fortunately in different generations or branches of the family). We appended middle names or used nicknames to keep ourselves sorted out.

My hearing is somewhat eroded through years of working in a noisy computer room, so whenever someone calls "Gary" or "Larry" or "Jerry" or "Carrie" in a crowded area, I always embarrass myself by turning around to see who's calling me. ;-)

Mine is not that common, but I've known both male and female "Dana"'s. I don't like being around any of them!

I was once in a rotating poker game -- we each took turns being host. My least favorite host was a man whose wife had taken in a dog and named it Leo. I swear, every time I got a good hand, she would start shouting, "Leo, stop that!" or "Leo, you know better than that!" Maybe that's why I have cats now, though I admit to having given them human names -- Dutch and Maggie. But at least I never invited Mr. Reagan or Mrs. Thatcher to a poker game.

Being "Anthony" has had its advantages, as most of the other Anthonys go by "Tony", and I do not. But I understand how you feel when I meet another Anthony - it's supposedly one of the top two baby names in California right now, but it wasn't anywhere near the top in 1966, so it's ok for a while.

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