When we’re painting we talk about all sorts of weird things that we probably wouldn’t otherwise get around to. And while painting the bedroom we got to the topic of “names that our parents almost gave us.” Get this. My mom wanted to name me Gina. We would have been John & Gina. That made us titter. Not sure if it’s a had to be there thing though. Either way, John’s dad’s choice of names takes the cake. He wanted to name John… wait for it… Lars.
Lars Petersik.
How funny is that? If I had seen tall dirty blond John at work and asked a coworker “oh who’s that?” and heard them respond with ” that’s Lars Petersik, he’s an account manager.” Let’s just say I would have been all “niiiiice to meeeeeeet you Laaaaars” with that over-enunciated-because-I’m-not-sure-you’re-great-at-deciphering-super-speedy-NY-talkers connotation. The same long drawn out delivery I use with my only-speaks-Italian grandmother. It would have been hysterical. John probably never would have let me live it down. Or asked me to marry him a year-ish later.
But that’s not all. Apparently John’s dad also wanted to name John “Vector.” Because he liked math. How I was able to continue painting with tears of laughter streaming down my face is beyond me. So it got us wondering what you guys were almost named. Come on… someone out there can beat Vector and Lars, right?
katy says
My husband knows a guy whose last name is BlaBla. Sounds like Blah Blah. Whenever we talk about him we end up in hysterics.
jenn says
my parents thought my brother was going to be a girl so they wanted to name him pat. not patricia. just pat. after the SNL character that no one could figure out of it was a male or female.
Alice says
My parents didn’t pick the names of any of us 6 kids born in the 1950’s (pre ultrasounds so they didn’t know the sex until birth) until after we were born. My grandmothers wanted my parents to name me and my twin sister Lucy and Mary after them, my mother nixed that. While those are nice names, we ended up Alice & Candice. Sometimes my sister and I called each other Lucy (me) and Mary (her) just for kicks.
Becky says
My maiden name is Sexton and my sister, Sharon, was almost named…Trixie! Trixie Sexton. As if the Sexton jokes that we both had to endure in jr. high and high school weren’t bad enough! Not sure what my parents were thinking/smoking!
Grace says
My parents almost named me Haleakala, after an extinct volcano in Hawaii. We aren’t even Hawaiian, they just went hiking there one time on vacation and thought it was a good name. Seriously, naming a child after a volcano? I am infinitely grateful they had a change of heart.
Jen Forland says
I ended up with the most common name ever – Jennifer…however my husband was almost Trigve. Scott was a much better choice! We also talked friends out of naming their daughter Blue Heron…instead she is just Blue, with the middle name of Juniper. Not a lot better, but a bit.
Mrs. Moore says
Hi Sherry!
You mention that your grandmother only speaks Italian. So does that mean that you speak Italian as well? If so, do you plan to teach Clara?
Thanks!
P.S. I love names that have strong family ties.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Mrs Moore,
I wish! I only speak a bit of Italian (although I can understand a fair amount) but John studied Spanish in school and I studied French so sometimes we work in little foreign language tips here or there with Clara. Like book/libro/livre. Don’t know what she’s absorbing but it can’t hurt!
xo,
s
Windy says
You guys are gonna get me fired at work! I could not contain myself when I read the name Lars. My hubby’s name was going to be Sippy…?!. To this day my in-laws talk about how they regret not naming him that!What crazy peeps we have in our familia.
Michaela says
My parents had planned on naming me Kelly Rae, which I don’t believe suits me at all, and then my dad decided once I was born that I was a Michaela. Out of no where.
But my Dad really wanted to name my brother TURBO GUERRERO…….He was hoping he would grow up to be a football player hahaha…o thank goodness they went with Nicholas instead
carolinaheartstrings says
Nope I am pretty sure Vector takes the cake. Can’t beat that one. Too Funny.
Lacy says
Paisley Brocade, my moms choice
Lacy Summer, my dads choice, won
everyone say aww your parents were hippies, well it doesn’t count because my older sister has a plain jane name, Jessica
Michele Daggar says
Hey Gina & Lars!!!
My name is too popular (Michele) and I’m still mad at my Mom for not going with the two “l”‘s version. But then I up and name my own daughter the most popular name of her generation…. Emily!!! Sorry sweetie….
My sister-in-law has a niece named Autumn Frost. Isn’t that awful? At least if she gets married and takes her husband’s name she can change it!!
When I was a little girl I lived across the street from a girl named …… April May June. Seriously? Were her parents drunk???
But my own Mom has the worst name …. Demaris Jolene. She goes by “Jo” now! Her sisters are named Eunice, Shirley and Delores. My Grandma had terrible naming skills!!
LOVE THIS POST!!!!!
gesikah says
My mom wanted to name me Peaches (yes, really). If I were a boy I would have been Beau.
In case it wasn’t painfully clear, we’re Southern. :)
Tracey says
Lucky I was born a girl because if my Mum had a boy I was going back. (to where I don’t know?????) Anyway if I was a boy my Dad wanted to call me Dean Martin Deering! Not that I’ve got anything against Dean Martin but let’s just say I’m glad I’m a girl.
I loooove your blog:)
JessP says
I was “Cinnamon” right up to the last moment!
Lyndsey says
oh yeah I have a question (that’s what happens when you try to watch jeopardy and comment on blogs)…What other names did you consider for Clara? I’m not even married, but have a list of names my future spouse is going to have to choose from…and none of them are normal
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lyndsey,
Scroll back for a few of the names we liked but didn’t end up using. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Angie says
I was almost Allison, rather boring, but was saved by the Stones song Angie. Whew! My cousin takes the cake though. Her name was thisclose to being Robena Magnolia. (Pronounced ro-bean-ya.) Her Dad still calls her that at the age of 38. He really wanted that to be her name and just can’t give it up that he lost the name war.
Becky says
I was going to be William Jeffrey–my parents had no girl’s name picked out. My mom thinks she saw the name Becky in a comic strip–it isn’t even Rebecca, just Becky.
I once worked with a woman named Teal Beale.
Rachel says
I am a Texan girl with a very Texan last name…Crockett. Yes, Crockett like Davy Crockett. Thankfully my mom put her foot down, but my dad wanted to name me Dallas. Yes, my name was almost Dallas Crockett.
(we ended up naming the family dog Dallas!)
Samantha says
My dad wanted to name me Georgetta. Thank goodness my mom stepped in!
Samantha says
I think I can beat Lars.
My parents thought I was a boy their entire pregnancy. They wanted to name me Phillip Bascom (Bascom is a family name). But do you know what they wanted to CALL me? BASS. Like a fish. Like Bass Pro Shop. Like worst name ever, basically.
Are you freaking kidding me? I would’ve been the most teased human alive. Thankful that I came out with girl parts!!
Ashlee says
My grandma wanted to name me Cinnamon! Mom wanted Stormy or Scarlett. Dad wanted Alexis or Ashleigh. Ashlee was the compromise. Thank God!
kelsey says
Oh now come on! You cant do a post like this and not tell us what you almost named Clara! Spill it!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kelsey,
Scroll back for those deets. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jenny G. says
Well, my mom wanted to name me Anna Maria, but my dad nixed it because we had a REALLY Italian last name. So instead they went boring and named me Jennifer. My middle name is Ann, but after my grandmother died, my mom wanted to change it to Diane. If my husband had been a girl, he would have been named Jennifer Diane.
My brother had the best one though. Our name ended in “ario”. Let’s pretend it’s Bellisario. My uncle tried really hard to get my parents to name him Mario. Mario Bellisario. He got Anthony instead, but he was still always “that Italian kid”.
OH! But my other brother’s middle name is Hannibal! Yes, like the cannibal. I can’t believe I almost forgot about that!
Jessica says
I love the idea of John as a Lars! That’s awesome! My mom almost named me Ebony. No I am not african american, nor do I have black hair-I’m not really sure what her inspiration was. My best friend Amanda was almost named Meesha. We were almost Meesha & Ebony, two white girls from the suburbs. My husband, Corey, was going to be Corey whether he was a boy or a girl. Poor guy! I personally like the name Cadence, but we are music geeks here, so we’ll see if our someday daughter has a “you’ll never guess what my parents almost named me” story. :)
Gina @ Temporary Nest says
Oh my god some of these are so funny! But I AM Gina!! Hahaha!
I was alomost named Juliet. But the nickname Julie
(which I actually like) reminded her of a Mafia Boss’s name
like “IT’S BIG JULIE!”(in your best Sopranos voice) And if I was a boy
I would have been Tyrone. But my grandmother desperately wanted me to
be named Mary Margaret since my brother is Joseph. Mary and Joseph. Oh my.
I see insane amounts of names at work and I have seen some pretty insane
ones that would be inappropriate to post here… lets just leave that to your imagination….
Chrysalis says
My son’s names is oakley! But he was almost named Ajax or Wicker. I so wish I was joking. Hormones or something. I think he got off easy! Lol!
Corrie @ Blue Horse Scrapbooks says
I don’t have a “could have been” story, mine is a “used to be” story. My parents first took a poll of friends and relatives and the name “Nicole” won, but they decided to ignore these results and name me Marie Bernadette. But after a few weeks they changed their minds and named me Corrie instead. Apparently the vital records office was too lazy to issue a new birth certificate, because they just crossed out “Marie Bernadette” and wrote my new name in the margin.
susan says
Love Lars…..not so much Vector. Almost named my son Robyn.
That would have been a BIG mistake.
Signed, Just plain, boring name
Susan
Alison says
My dad REALLY wanted to name me Cassiopeia. After the constellation. I am SO glad my mom stepped in and opted for Alison instead!
Lauren says
My fathers actual middle name is Poindexter. His first name is normal, Joseph. My mom’s name is Mary. They joked they were going to name me Jesus.
Alyssa says
I don’t know what my other names might have been but the best crazy name I have heard was a mom who named her daughter Le-a. The girl’s mom confronted her teacher and claimed she’d been pronouncing it incorrectly when she said it like “Leah.” How might this name be pronounced?
Le…dash…a. As in you pronounce the dash.
True. story.
Abby says
Mine is pretty good…
My parents are Dan & Shelley, and creatively added their names together to create: Shedaniel. They wanted to call me Shandy for short.
Luckily, Abby won out!
Meri says
My parents were going to name me and my twin sister.
Bonnie & Connie, Dora & Cora , but ended up naming us
Meri Ann & Sheri Jan
Christine says
I was almost named Sarah. Which is a lovely name except that my current middle name would’ve stayed. Making me Sarah Leigh (pronounced Lee). If that wasn’t bad enough, had I been a boy it would have been named Christopher Robin. My parents didn’t know about Winnie the Pooh or snack foods I guess. So glad things work out in my favor!
Anna says
I spit out my coffee with the remark “Thanks for being a perv, Dad.”
Hilarious! (i think that was back in the 100’s).
I am Italian, as well and my sister is Gina, but I have always
called her ‘Bean’. I was always so jealous that Jon Bon Jovi chose
HER name for songs!
My mom was dead set on naming me Betsy Ross as I was due around
July 4. Thankfully, I was 5 weeks early and foiled those plans!
Kristen says
My parents almost named me after my grandmother, Virginia,
which just screams old lady. Thankfully they decided to give me my
own name. I’m really glad they didn’t name me after my dad’s cousin,
Edna Earl. That would have been a fun childhood. We have some crazy names in our family.
Christina says
Nothing exciting other than my mom was SURE I was going to be a boy and was going to name me Christopher. My sister, Jennifer was going to be Rebecca.
The exciting thing with names in our family is that my niece is named Juliana. We just found out by talking to an aunt that my grandmother, whose name was Stephanie, was originally named Julia but at her christening, her godmother named her Stephanie which she just personally liked better. In those days, the godmother and godfather went to the church without the parents. AND the church did the birth/baptismal certificates… so Julia became Stephanie and was on all the official documents. I’d be SO ticked if the godmother of my child just decided to change my kid’s name!! Oh and my great grandmother who let that happen- her name was Ana. So Stephanie (originally Julia) was Ana’s daughter. And my niece is Juliana without knowing any of this.
Arian says
My aunt was a teacher for many years and once had a kid named Orangejello in her class. Still makes me crack up each time I think about it.
penny says
My dad wanted to name me Samantha, mom liked Nicole.
I’m still not sure where Penny came from but I like it ( now that
I’m older ) and its really rare I ever meet anyone else with my
name! :)
Rebecca says
If I were a boy I was going to be Cameron, no big deal. In fact my nephew (only a year younger) actually goes by that name now.
BUT I do know of someone who named their little boy…oh dear this is horrible.
His name is Skateboard Griptape! Ugh, poor kid.
Ali says
We’re a very Aussie family yet my mum wanted to call us
Regita and Yedviga! I have no idea how to spell them but that’s
how they sound!
Kathy says
FIrst of all, HAPPY #600th! WOW!! I will be your 601st comment on this 600th blog post….
I have known some peeps with interesting names (what WERE their parents thinking?) such as KyAnne Pepper, Gay Tidings, and Kelly DeForrest!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kathy,
We’re amazed this little post got so many people talking! The comment count is crazy but we’re having so much fun reading everyone’s name stories. As for the post number, it’s actually our 1,671st post (how crazy is that?!). Don’t know why it’s indicating that it’s our 600th somewhere. Maybe it’s the 600th post you’ve read through Google Reader since subscribing or something? Hmm…
xo,
s
Sarah S says
Nothing spectacular here, but if I was a boy, my parents were going to name me John! They called me “John Sarah” before I was born since they didn’t know if I was a boy or a girl.
The pastor at my church growing up had an unfortunate name: James B. Gross. Wouldn’t be so bad, except I could never for the life of me figure out why he used his middle initial! It was always right there on the program when he did a wedding or funeral. Always made me snicker as a kid.
Amber Lee D. says
my mom wanted to name me Marcie…sorry all you marcie’s out there, but I am just not a marcie…so glad she went with Amber. She almost named my youngest brother Eugene. Glad I was 9 years old and knew what a nerdy name that was and begged her to change it to Michael instead. I don’t think my dad really cared mom seemed to guide that decision. My husband however does have a huge opinion on everything including baby names and he always wanted to name his son after himself. His name is Kevin and my son’s name is get this….Kevinson. Get it??? Thanks goodness he agreed to make his middle name. Phew! As far as i am concerned middle names is where you should put the middle name. Is there any other ____-son’s out there?
Tommy says
My dad wanted to name me Judd.
Lindsey says
That is absolutely hilarious! Gina and Lars!!! :)
My Mom was dead certain I was a boy – even though she kept the boy girl thing a surprise until I was born. Thankfully she had a backup girl name because Gregory Hayden isn’t quite gender neutral! :) .
My favorite thing ever in the names category was a teacher at my high school. She retired earlier than I could ever take her Spanish class. Her names was Margarita Drinker. Spelled just right! Love it!!! My cousin had her for a teacher and I didn’t believe his story one bit so I walked myself into the high school office and pulled out a yearbook from his year and sure enough, there she was! I saw it for myself. Wish I had of met her!!! ;) I bet she was a cool lady!
Jackie says
Story goes that my father in law wanted to name my husband William. Problem is that would have made my husband a Willie Mays. Baseball anyone? Anyways, my mother in law threatened him that if he wanted the name Willie for a boy, the only girl name she would consider was Lafayette. So glad that they worked things out and named my husband Frank. :)
If you think Lars is bad, you won’t like my father’s middle name which is Einar (pronounced A-nar). Very traditional Finnish name. Funny thing is that his name is Ted and his initials are…TED! :)
Jen says
My maiden name is Carroll and growing up the preacher used to tease me that my first name should have been Christmas. But the funny part is my married name is Bell so Christmas would still work for a first name!
Lindsey says
My sister’s name is Lauren but we called her Lars growing up. Now she is Aunt Lars to my kids!
My dad’s name is Steven Erik, and my mom wanted me to be Stephanie Erika after him. He said no way! So they planned to name me Brooke instead. Then that movie Blue Lagoon came out with Brooke Shields being all naked and stuff and at the hospital, the nurse suggested Lindsey. She said it sounded like a bell ringing. And that’s how I became Lindsey Brooke.