Alex at 7If you’ve been reading for a while, you might know that I refer to my firstborn as Aly, short for

About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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34 Comments

  1. My son’s name is Coriander Jay. I was going to call him C_Jay but he was a cori from day one decided to spell his name Cori as it was the first halve of his name but later found out Cori is the girl spelling for Cory my son has been aware of this since he was about 7 and he was given the option of choosing a different nickname or a different spelling of Cory but chose to keep Cori it is who he is period. He is 18 now has a build and stance that makes people afraid to cross him and a heart of a work of with a feel no pain show no mercy in battle attitude yet has a heart of gold and would help anyone in need especially woman and children. Surprisingly no one has ever really made a big deal of his “girly” name.

    My daughter is two years older than Cori she was adopted out do to circumstances shortly after her birth. I was going to name her Julianna but her father announced her name as Jessica while I was out of it from blood loss due to borderline hemoraging. So she was named Jessica Lynn I call her JessiLynn or Jesi for short never Jessica. Her adoptive parents renamed her Jasmine and dispite having no contact with me or her father until she was grown her friends at school call her Jessie to her parents frustration

    My real name is Crystal Dawn I hated it as being too norma. My parents not only did not like nicknames (except dad calling me butch sometimes because I was a tomboy), and most the extended family called me Crystal-Dawn like it was all one name and over my adult years I tried to take on nickname Crys (Chris) which caught on slightly but never spelled my way, I’m trying now CrysDawn (like kinda like Kristen its chris +Don) which isn’t catching on at all. dispute my dislike of my name every one agrees I’m either a crystal or cat to some.

    Its weird how names and nicknames come about and the effect of who we are effects the name.

  2. Oh, I’m way late to this party, but – my two took ownership of their names very early on. When she was 2 1/2, my oldest decided she was a mermaid, and of course her name was Ariel. For 2 1/2 years, she introduced herself that way. She learned to write Ariel long before her real name, Gwen. There are still kids from her preschool that call her Gwen-Ariel. I had to cut a deal with my youngest before I dropped her off at camp each day last summer – she was only allowed to pick one name. Mostly it was Robin, sometimes it was Batman, every now and again it was Princess Blossom Pepperdoodle von YumYum. Before we set up the rule, it was often all three in the same day. People used to look at her funny, because when you asked her 3yo self her name, she’d hesitate for a long time, trying to figure out which name to use. I’d let her pick, then say,”At home, we call her Julie.”
    Formally, they are Gwendolyn and Julia.

  3. I went to Kindergarten as Julie Anne, but came home Julie. I’m guessing that’s pretty
    common.

    Regarding the boy named Delaney: That’s my oldest niece’s name and when she was born our family heard a lot of “That’s a boy’s name!?!” It’s interesting how names “recognized” gender can change.

    My stepdaughter is Kat, sometimes Rina, but never Kate or Katie.

  4. This reminds me of me. Before I was born my parents went overboard buying tons of monogramed crap that said “Christy,” assuming that that was going to be what I wanted to be called. Never happened.