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?
Jennifer W-M says
My boy alternate name was Michael. So needless to say my parents were not sooooo creative with my name.
When it came to my brother however, they went all out. At one point they were going to name him Sebastian Reuben. I was like REALLY?? Thankfully they changed it to Zachary (Zach), but his middle name is still Reuben. And yea, it’s like the sandwich.
Jamie says
My maiden name was Spears and my dad was adamant that if I was a boy my name would be William Shake Spears. I am so thankful to be a girl! And that by the time my brother came around my sister and I were old enough to veto my dad!
Megan says
I was almost named Daniel, had I been a boy. Once I was born my parents took- get this- 2 WEEKS! to choose a name for me. Suggested were. Sarah, Emily, they finally settled on Megan.
My sister came thisclose to being named Fern. (It was 1977 and my parents were living in the country…)Her name:Stephanie.
My friend’s dad is named Lars. I have actually always thought it was a nice name….?
Susan says
My Norwegian and Bavarian father wanted to name me Pilar and my brother Olaf. Or Horst (that was a toss up). Thankfully my mother pointed out that we weren’t European royalty.
Ruth H. says
Mom’s first pick was–you won’t believe this–LuJean. (Pronounced loo-jeen.) Her second pick was Rita. These might be more believable if I had been born in the 50’s. But I was born in the late 70’s, with all the Jennifers, Kimberly’s, Amy’s, and Amandas. Thank goodness Dad stuck to his guns and insisted on Ruth, which, admittedly, I never was too crazy about. It’s the name that when I say it, someone always says, “Oh, I have a great-aunt Ruth. But, it’s definitely better than LuJean. What ISN’T better than LuJean?
Sarah Smith says
My ‘would-be’ names are super boring. My Mom wanted to name me Michael if I were a boy and my Dad wanted to name me Jessica. The funniest is with my little brother. His last name is Legg (parents remarried) and my parents considered naming him Margaret if he were a girl ….. get it…. Peg Legg? Oh what a riot.
Karen says
I got the girls beat, try Gertrude! Not just that, but Gertrude Margaret. *shudder*
Gracie says
Ok, my parents didn’t really have any weird names that they almost named me. However, it did take them three days after I was born to come up with a name for me. They said the hospital staff kept putting ‘Missy’ on my baby crib/cart thing and it was making my dad really mad, lol. The nurses would just laugh and say give us a real name or ‘Missy’ stays! My parents finally came up with ‘Amanda Sue’ only to realize because my last name started with a ‘S’ too it made my initials ‘ASS’. It was back to the drawing board again. Thankfully they were better prepared with names when my brother was born!
Kaitlyn says
My husband’s parents were convinced he would be a girl and planned to name him Katrina, or Katie for short. Ironically Katie is my nickname. My father-in-law recently said, “See, we’ve always wanted a Katie in the family!”
Tiffany says
Nothing too interesting about my own name, but I once new a girl whose name was Sky. Well, she married and her name became Sky Rider. Funny hey…?
Christina Marie says
When my dad and stepmom were preggers with both my lil’ sisters my dad was adamant that he would name his next son Wolfgang.
Luckily they had 2 girls. With normal names.
Christin says
I actually like both of those names, especially Lars. I know a Lars. But to each his own I guess. :)
Caroline says
I went to school with Summer & Winter McFall!
Keira says
My mom wanted to name me Felice. Felice Coates. Say it out loud.
Brittany says
My last name is Miner and if I was a boy my Mom wanted to name me Colten Jeffrey Miner and call me Cole for short. Cole Miner…how awful!
Jackie says
My name is Jacqueline (Jackie for short)…it’s a family name. However, if I had been a boy, dad wanted to name me Saul so he could call me Saulie.
Carolyn Perkins says
Speaking of names, I found out today that a couple in our community (John and Sherry) just welcomed a baby girl back in December (Clara). I thought it was so funny! Maybe they are fans of yours! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Carolyn,
That’s so funny! We actually know of 3 other Sherry & John couples. Must be the fact that John is such a common name that helps Sherrys marry them. Haha. As for Clara- that’s too cute! What a trip!
xo,
s
Amanda says
Doctors thought I was a boy and my mother was going to name me Remington Steele. Glad I’m girl. :)
ginai says
LOL Sherry, Gina is good!!! so you are Italian! hence all them beautiful looks! Sherry my daughter and I think you are simply gorgeous!!! ((:
Ok get this… my Mama like the name…….Sheree! but she being only 16 when she had me her mother wanted to name me after my grandmother “Judith” ………… My mom went out ona limb and named me Gina ((:
Lars……….. well, remember the cute little movie ‘Heavyweights” please see it if you have not, it is a cute see. anyways Lars was one of the camp counselors.. and he was really cute cute!! lol
Love your bedroom colour choices… everything is looking sooo pretty!!! Keep up the great work you perfect couple!
love you guys!!!
-ginai
Alicia says
My mom once admitted that she was pushing my dad to name me Shasta Lee. Hmm. I’m not sure if she was inspired by the soda or the RV but either way, I’m glad my dad won that argument!
Jean says
Craighead. Fortunately, I was a girl.
Cathy Reisenwitz says
No, no one can beat Vector.
Andrea K. says
My parents had decided that if I was a boy I was going to be named James Michael, after my dad. My parents didn’t even consider that I might be born a girl. After I was born they had no idea what to call me. I sat in the hospital nameless for days. Finally my dad told my mom that he wanted to name me “agahboo” after a childhood friend. My mom was dumb founded. He then explained that his friend’s name was Andrea, her little brother couldn’t say Andrea so he called her “agahboo”. I am guess that I am glad that my parents could pronounce Andrea. :)
Ana says
I was going to be Leila (pronounced Layla, after the song). My mom loved loved loved that name. It came right down to filling out the birth certificate form when my dad vetoed because he said he had a vision of what a teenage Leila would be like. Ana’s a family name so that’s what I ended up with. (Well, after the nurse’s misspelling with a double n was corrected.)
If I had been a boy, I would’ve been David Santos. My dad never liked his first name and always wanted to be David and Santos was his father.
Valerie says
I think Lars Petersik sounds nice!
My brother wanted me to be a boy & name me after his 3 best friends. Cory Martin Travis. My parents decided on Valerie whether I was a boy or girl. My maiden name starts with a D so growing up my initials were VD. Good thing I was born a girl & when I got married I was able to change those initials! If my husbands last name had started with D, I never would have gone out with him.
Here are few others I know: my parents know a musician named Jackson Jackson, who named his son Jazz. My mom went to high school with a guy named Harry Butt. Harry was short for Harold of course.
Cindy says
My mom liked Melissa Sue. My dad liked Carly.
My parents finally agreed on Cynthia after my mom was washing their wedding china and noticed that was the pattern’s name and remembered it’s Christian meaning is “bringer of light.” So they named me that and then nicknamed me Cindy, which is what everyone has called me my whole life.
I love my name, and am grateful for the nickname. I always knew I was in trouble when I heard my dad call out, “Cynthia.”
Holly says
My dad is a landscaper and really into plants, his number 2 choice was “Thyme” yep like the herb. As it is I still got saddled with a plant name, but I think I dodged a major bullet!
Susan says
When asked, my parents use to tell people I would be Zelda Esmeralda Schwartz if I was a girl or Jesus Pierre (pronounced Hay-sus) if I was a a boy. They didn’t tell people they were joking.
Jo says
Oh my gosh!! You have to watch Despicable Me now. One of the villains’ names is Vector!
Cheree says
Regina was a contender for me. Which is weird because my mother-in-law’s name is Regina.
Paula/adhocmom says
My husband’s last name is Vitale, and his mother was going to name him CARMELLA if he was a girl, but call him Candy for short. Candy Vitale. Hello? If you want your daughter to end up in a girls gone wild video, absolutely use Candy.
ashley c says
Not sure if my parents had a boy name picked out or not but my grandmothers begged my parents to name me Connie Pearl (each of their first names) but thank goodness my dad nixed the idea. My maiden name is Rice so I got enough flack growing up about Rice A Roni I couldn’t imagine what they could think of with a name like Connie Pearl lol.
Sarah B says
I don’t think there was a “runner-up” name for me–Sarah was it. Being the first granddaughter on both sides I was a big to-do. My Granddad B even made a visit to my other grandparents to make sure they were all in agreement that I’d be “Sarah” with an “H”.
If I was a boy I’d probably be “Benjamin”… not bad.
What I want to know is how’d they go from “Lars” to “John”?? That’s quite a difference!!
Sarah says
I almost got Lucille after my great grandmother and they were going to call me Lucy for short. I think Im juuuuust fine with Sarah.
ps… Sherry, we’ve noticed you like you wear your hair up, any recent hair down pictures??
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Sarah,
Ha, I get that all the time. It’s usually back in a ponytail (for easy hammering, painting, and babywrangling) but maybe I’ll throw in a hair-down pic soon…
xo,
s
JD says
My maiden last name is Mohle, pronounced “Moley” like in Holy Moley! My dad thought it would be great to name me Guaca so that my name would be… Guacamohle like the avocado dip. Thank goodness for MOM!
Julie says
My husband’s name is Erich (pronounced Eric). The “h” at the end makes it hard enough. He get’s E-Rich a lot. He’s parents wanted a good german name so he was almost Gunther or Gotliev(sp?) I’m pretty sure he could have pulled it off but so happy his parents decided on Eric with an “H”.
jannell says
In honor of my mom’s great aunt I was going to be Cornelia. As it so happened she could possibly name me after just one favorite relative and had to work Janet into the mix. Hence their nicknames, Jan + Nell add up to my misspelled first name. (but I’ll take misspelled over Cornelia any day!)
Liesel says
If I had been a boy, my mom wanted to name me Charles after my dad’s middle name. Here’s the kicker. She wanted my middle name to be Joseph so she could call me Chucky Joe for short. Chucky Joe? Really?
allison says
Marcy. My father wanted to name me Marcy.
Oh gosh.
Marcy Marie McDonald.
How awesome would that have been? Good thing my mom put her foot down.
Callie says
My mom wanted to name me Bobbi Sue. My grandmother wanted my parents to name me Polly. Luckily, they went with the name that every new person I meet sings “Goin’ back to Cali.” geez.
Kelsey says
I don’t think I can beat Lars or Vector but if I had been a boy my parents were set on Arthur Steele Kidd. This name makes me crack up but apprently my dad is really attached to it because he mentioned it as a name for future grandsons – sorry dad but I don’t think so!
jodi says
a friend of mine named heather almost married a guy whose last name is woods. she would have been heather woods and joked that it sounded like the name of a subdivision.
also, a former co-worker of mine was named sandy and her married name was sandy creek. you gotta watch out for those nautre-y names!
Linda says
My “almost-name” isn’t as funny as the fact that I was named after my dad’s high school sweetheart…who isn’t my mom. :o)
Cristin says
My mother almost named me Yvonne.. Ugh. My last name started with a ‘Y’ and she thought it was “clever”. Thankfully my dad hated the name, and they settled on Cristin.
Jamie P. says
My mom wanted to name me Amber Dawn. I am SO not an Amber Dawn (no offense to any Amber Dawns out there).
Rachel H says
My parents have always joked that they wanted to name me Rottweiler so instead of getting a “Baby on Board” sign for the car and only having it up when I was a baby, they could get a “Rottweiler on Board” sign and have it up forever.
I like to think they are joking.
Rachael says
My boyfriends dad wanted to name him Beavis. Good thing that didn’t stick, especially after Beavis and Butthead came out in the 90’s. Beavis Ward. Ugh. I can’t imagine i would have wanted to date him with that kind of name.
Jennifer B. says
Okay, so if I was a boy, my parents would have named me William Lee. It’s two family names. Not so bad. However, get this…
I married into the last name Beard. My husbands parents joked about naming him Blue Berry Beard. haha!
Jennifer B.
Lauren H. says
My parents’ were first told I was going to be a boy, so they picked out the name Trevor Walker. (So country sounding.)
When they asked my brother what he wanted to name me, he replied “Bing Bing Fighter.” Oh goodness, I am glad I’m not Bing Bing Fighter.
Ali says
Dad wanted to name me Azure-dee. Mom veto-ed that!
Hubby works with a guy with the last name Flowers. Named his daugther Georgia Wilde. OMG!