How Do You Thin A Bout This Name

What do you think about your name?

My first name is fine here in the United States, but it was awkward introducing myself to people when I visited the UK. There was more than one person who did not believe Randy was actually my real first name. One person in Scotland didn’t believe me, so I got out my California driver’s license. We were sitting around, nothing better to do, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. My passport was inaccessible, and I thought maybe he’d enjoy seeing a random government document from a distant land.Do you know how people can sometimes talk in a manner that is emotionally equivalent to throwing one’s hands up in the air in frustration and resignation? Just the prosody of their voice, not actually making the gesture?In that tone, he shouted “Your name isn’t really Randy! It’s Randall!” And that was the end of all discussion of the matter.My last name is a different story. My father was about 3 years old when he and my grandparents came to the US. It was very important to my grandparents to learn English right away and become full 100% complete US citizens, both of which they did. To this day, my 97 year old Papa and 96 year old Maye remember a man from what was then Yugoslavia in their English immersion class.But this is about the name. I wish I did not have to use my real name on Quora, but we all do. I definitely don’t feel comfortable writing my father’s name here. But, suffice to say, as part of their total English language immersion as US citizens, they Anglicized his name, first name and last. Today, he still uses the first letter of his original name as a middle initial (though it is not his middle name).And, there is no tilde (~) in English. (I can’t even put one in place with my phone’s type screen: n~ ~n nope, didn’t work.) So our family name became Nino, no diacritics, because we’re American and they don’t use them here.Oddly, had they not changed it way back 70 years ago, I would be furious not being able to type my own name with this mobile device!

What do you think of the name Henry?

Thanks for the ask. As someone with three boys, the name never came up on my list of possible names. It is a pleasant, strong, name, but it is considered old-fashioned. But old-fashioned is also coming back. There will not likely be many kids with that name so it may stand out. There won't be many kids in the classroom with the same name, which is nice. Famous Henry's come to mind like Henry Fonda, Henry Ford, Henry Kissinger, and the well known King Henrys of England. Harry is a common nickname.I don't think people associate any negatives with the name. I consider it to be a vanilla name.