[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Popular and Unpopular Names

[Lita]

On 7/30/03 8:25 PM, "Melanie Black" <princessmelabela at yahoo.com> wrote:

> What bugs me is when I go to the doctor..and they can
> never pronounce my name correctly...
> 
> "Me-lane-eee is the most common.  I mean it always
> amazed me because I know my name isn't too common..but
> there are people with it.  I mean there's melanie
> Griffith, Melanie Wilkes...I don't know...
> 
> At least it isn't common in the US I have a hunch it
> is more common in Britian..why I couldn't tell you.

People mispronounce it? Really? Where are you located, if you don't mind me
asking? I've always thought of "Melanie" as an incredibly common name--we
had at least five or six Melanies at my small (probably ~150 students) high
school in New Mexico. We even had two Melanies with the same last name. :)

Now, if you want to talk about mispronouncing names, I'm your girl--at least
when I'm outside places where Spanish is common. My first name is
"Manuelita" (which I've always thought was dreadful, even though it was
meant to be an honor--I'm named after my great-great-grandfather). Before I
was married, I had a hyphenated last name--and both were of Spanish origin.
When I went to college, no one could say my name. Any part of it. :) I used
to feel kind of sorry for professors during roll when they got to the H's,
as they were so clearly stumped.

But now I find that people know my nickname, "Lita," which I've always
thought of as really uncommon. There's a WWE wrestler who goes by that so I
get asked all the time online whether I'm a fan and if that's why I use it
as a handle. :) (It's really too bad she's not a very good wrestler, IMO.
All image and no skills.) I liked it better when people thought I was just a
rabid Sailor Moon fan. :)

Lita