Names

[celticdragonfly]

I can never figure this out. As I go through life, inevitably people end up referring to me as Laurie. I don't know why. I'm not a Laurie, I dislike the name. When it was just the inevitable gym teacher, I figured they must have misheard it and I coped. But as an adult I see again and again someone gets it FROM A WRITTEN SOURCE and still refers to me as Laurie. Like when I'm sending out an email to an email list, signed Laura, and the reply comes back referring to Laurie.

I cannot figure this out. It's not like Laura is a rare unusual weird name.

Comments

[technomom]

It's that whole diminutive thing - the same reason that people who have ONLY been introduced to me as Cynthia try calling me Cindy. Ick!

I've yet to see anyone trying to call Sam by a diminutive, and I really doubt your husband is ever referred to as "Karlie," now is he? It's only about females, because we're like little girls to those people.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is annoying. I'd never do that to people. I have occasionally referred to you as Cyn, but that's on the heels of having seen other people who know you closely do so - and I've usually twitched afterwards and wondered if it was okay.

If somebody signs themselves as Kathryn, say, I'd *never* call them "Katy". Ugh ugh ugh. And Laurie doesn't just seem like a diminutive, it seems like a different name.

Apparently it does happen some to guys - I know James Bryant gets snarly about people who call him Jim.

Affectionate nicknames are another matter, but those don't come from strangers!

[technomom]

Cyn is totally fine. Okay, except when I'm in such a snarky mood (with a stranger, generally someone who is SUPPOSED to be providing some kind of service for which I'm paying) that I am Ms. Armistead :-)

[bibliotrope.livejournal.com]

A lot of people seem to think my name is "Louise", even sometimes when they see it in print.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Yep, that and the people who think it's Louis McMaster Bujold. Some people just don't read. Bleagh.

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

I take names very seriously, and go to pains to call people what they want to be called, and spell names the way people want them spelled. Luckily there isn't much you can do w/ Joyce (although the kids in my middle school tried their damnedest). Cyn is right, though--people like to cutify women's names to make us seem smaller and more manageable. Hell with that.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

I take them very seriously, too. (I use Joy on you - but that's because I met you somewhere you were signing yourself that way.) Names matter.

Nicknames and affectionate diminutives are another matter. Those can be great fun, but those are from people who care about you, not strangers. ('Little Rabbit', :-) )

I never really got a diminutive per se, since I tend to think there's nothing you can do with Laura, since I see Laurie as a different name. And as Mom points out, it was for Lara from Doctor Zhivago (gods, what a depressing movie), and if you read the book, that was short for Larissa.

NOT Laurie

[bkseiver.livejournal.com]

And you're not Laurie because (a) you were intended to be Lara, which we Anglicized to give you a break in the world; and (b) a classmate's mother had a late-in-life surprise, who she named Laurie...a real brat! No, I don't like that name, either.

Re: NOT Laurie

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Yep. And of course Lara was short for Larissa, another pretty name. Laurie, though, ugh. Always ticked me off. I applaud your taste.

[technomom]

One of my best friends back in high school is named Dorothea. The number one guaranteed way to cause an explosion is to call her "Dorothy." She will launch into an extensive explanation of the relative meanings of the names, then go on into detailed speculations about the offender's intellect and education.

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

I get really p.o.ed at persons who pronounce the end of my first name as -lyn, who obviusly have never heard me addressed that way. It's CaroLINE, you a**h*l*s! And anyway, I'm addressed by my _middle_ name!

Names

[mama-lynx.livejournal.com]

That's okay, they call me Jennifer. Go figure.

Stephanie
http://www.caerdroia.org/116

Re: Names

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Goodness, why on earth do they do that?