What other names did your parents consider for you?
Okay, so here I am, not planning on using this here Vox blog for anything save listing books I am reading, but this question can't be passed up.
Until right before I was born, I was going to be called Rhiannon, but my family made a fuss about it being "airy-fairy," which is how I ended up with my current name. In a further ironic twist, I started using the name Rhiannon myself when I was about... 12. I didn't find out that I was going to be named Rhiannon, until I was 18. My best friend named her daughter Emily Rhiannon, after me- it's just as much my name as the one on my birth certificate.
My middle name is the one that usually raises eyebrows though. My mother decided that it would be a great idea to find a middle name in the dictionary for me. "Lustre" was a possible choice, but it would have given me the initials "TLC." She decided that was a bit twee. "Horizon" was the other major contender, but that would have given me the initials "THC," which might have made for interesting social interactions. And less-than-friendly nicknames.
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