Why assume she minds it so much? She's apparently been married twice and I note she hasn't changed it. Even when jerks make fun of them, a lot of people are really proud of their distinctive, unusual, clever names. Even Ima Hogg, for example.
ETA: That may not have been the best example, actually! From what I recall my dad (who was an admirer of hers) telling me, Ima always graciously defended her father for giving her the name, chose not to use an obscuring nickname throughout her life, and, as a great philanthropist and patron of the arts, ended up with various funds and probably buildings and whatnot named after her -- on the other hand she did deliberately tend to obscure her first name in her signature (though that may have had as much to do with people not believing it was her real name as anything else) or sign herself "I. Hogg" when possible. All in all, as unusual names go, it was undoubtedly not the easiest name to live with. But anyway.
I do remember reading this article that suggested that people with unusual names are generally quite proud of them, like the fact that their names stand out, rarely choose to hide or change them (and that's more true the more unusual the names are), are glad that their parents had given them those names, and often don't even recall getting more than usually teased about them as kids (although they've certainly heard every tired old joke you can think of): A Boy Named Sue, and a Theory of Names
I thought one really interesting fact from the article was that the only evidence that unusual names ever disadvantage anyone comes from the fact that people who are less literate, less educated, or have fewer advantages to begin with, are the parents who are more likely to give their kids unusual names.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-10-14 02:48 pm (UTC)ETA: That may not have been the best example, actually! From what I recall my dad (who was an admirer of hers) telling me, Ima always graciously defended her father for giving her the name, chose not to use an obscuring nickname throughout her life, and, as a great philanthropist and patron of the arts, ended up with various funds and probably buildings and whatnot named after her -- on the other hand she did deliberately tend to obscure her first name in her signature (though that may have had as much to do with people not believing it was her real name as anything else) or sign herself "I. Hogg" when possible. All in all, as unusual names go, it was undoubtedly not the easiest name to live with. But anyway.
I do remember reading this article that suggested that people with unusual names are generally quite proud of them, like the fact that their names stand out, rarely choose to hide or change them (and that's more true the more unusual the names are), are glad that their parents had given them those names, and often don't even recall getting more than usually teased about them as kids (although they've certainly heard every tired old joke you can think of): A Boy Named Sue, and a Theory of Names
I thought one really interesting fact from the article was that the only evidence that unusual names ever disadvantage anyone comes from the fact that people who are less literate, less educated, or have fewer advantages to begin with, are the parents who are more likely to give their kids unusual names.