Being named Milton was not a good experience in school. My parents named me after my maternal grandfather. There are a few of us and when we meet it's always a topic for discussion.

So, in school it was Uncle Milty which I hated. Then there are the idiots that have never heard the name (so I guess they flunked English class because John Milton was always brought up in literature) and they mistakenly thought I was Milk. Mel, Melt, I've heard some doozies.

"Milt." how do you spell that? Yes, I get that too. I think it was some 45 years ago my working partner called us Zeke and Jocko, a reference to 2 characters in Jack Kerouac's novel, On the Road. I think that was it. Anyway, we became Zeke and Jocko but ironically called each other Zeke, and we do this to this day.

I raced karts for many years and on the entry I wrote "Zeke." That was it, no last name. Everyone knew me as Zeke. It's still sewn on my old driving suit.

I've only had one or two ask how to spell Zeke. I've never met a real Zeke.

Faack. I wouldn't even look at those license plate thingies.

Having a unique name--well, no one can ever pronounce it correctly the first time. Rarely does anyone spell it correctly, even after several tries. Which is what you have to do for people when you first meet them because there's no way they heard you correctly when you just told it to them 2 seconds ago. And from the point of trying to stay anonymous, especially in today's world of identity theft, it's not always good to have a name so unique that no one else has it. Heck, I don't even need a last name.

For several years I worked with a gal whose name sounded (phonetically) like Champagne Booty. She was Asian, so it was actually spelled something like Chenpeng (but when pronounced it sounded just like the name of that bubbly fermented grape juice), and the last name was spelled something like Budhi. So of course we all called her Champagne Booty.

I had a co-worker many years ago whose married name was Kimberly Chee.

I like Milt. It's a real salt of the Earth name, like Hank.

Back in my old neighborhood it was like boys names came off of a church mandated list. When my name was called out, half of the schoolyard turned around, but I don't hate it.

Don't be Creepy Joe, be all of the other Joe's!
(Creepy any name is . . . well . . . creepy)

Funny thread and interesting. I never really considered my name. But there are many interesting things in how it has been used.
Speeder points out the familiarity portion of the various versions. In my case, Daniel: formal; Danny way to informal; and simply Dan, Just right! Maybe it is because my sisters and their friends would gang up on me and tease me using "Dannnnny" (yuck, except for Peggy, she could call me any darn thing she wanted too); "DANIEL MICHAEL", well that was Mom, just before my inevitable execution for my youthful misdemeanors (but she did not yell it nor say it in German).

And then there is one of the best parts of being Confirmed in the Catholic Church, and that is you get to pick your very own confirmation name. I chose Martin, the best Man I know, my Father.

Brings back a very funny memory. When the Naval Construction Forces were getting ready many years ago to stand up two more battalions and a regiment; they added additional billets to OCS. So for awhile, our Battalion, NMCB FIVE, had about twice as many Ensigns as it should have had (we were to be the future LTs for the force when the three new units were to stand up). SO many times someone would call out in a passageway or on the field, "hey ensign" and we, awkward and goofy and green as could be would all turn around, in near perfect military order. It was funny as heck and the Senior Petty Officers had a grand ole time with it. Great Memories.

Norman?
There was a kid in my class when I was in grade school named Norman, and there was also a song out called "Norman." The kid got serenaded a lot! He hated it. :D

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George Foreman had five sons and named every one of them George Edward Foreman.

My stepson has no middle name, just a middle initial.

Due to the anti German backlash in the early 20th Century my grandfather was given the family last name as his first name (in order to keep it in the family) and changed the last name to something less Germanic sounding. I could have had a totally different last name.

In the 19th Century the folks on my mother's side were very religious and there were a lot of old testament names. Sarah, Rebecca, Jemima etc. We got a toy poodle and we agreed to give it a family name - Jemima. A few years later I got a complaint from one of my African American employees about naming my black dog after Aunt Jemima. She was offended. It didn't make any difference to her that my grandfather actually had an aunt Jemima and she was a white English woman.

Ha!
There were four of us, and mom would get mad and try to yell at one of us and get so flustered and tongue tied she would go through the list trying to spit out the right name. "Patrick William! Raymond Michael! Carol .... Urh!! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!"

We had some family friends named Casey. They had 9 or 10 kids and every one of them had a first name starting with K, so their initials were KC. They got creative with spellings, their daughter Kolleen went to the 1976 Olympics in gymnastics. :)

I have a family of cousins, (my father's sister's kids), where every girl is named Mary and goes by their second name. Or double name, like Mary Catherine and Mary Jean. That is an intense Catholic thing, their mom and her sister, (dad's sisters), were both named Mary.

I also went out with a girl in HS who was one of 9 girls, all named Mary. They went by second or middle names but Jane was really Mary Jane, etc. She had a sister named Madonna. Names are a trip. :)

I chose Francis because it's a big name in my family, (Frank Sr./Jr./3rd), also because I was an animal lover and St. Francis was my guy. Three out of the 4 of us surviving siblings had a "y" added to our names as children. I think that it's very important to call people what they want to be called, IOW, if someone introduces themself as Robert, I don't start calling them Bob or Bobby.

My dad used to like adding a "y" to the end of people's names if he liked them but I've always thought it was a low grade bullying thing...like, "I'm going to call you what I like, not what you like." He may not have meant it that way but it's a sign of disrespect, IMO. Now, just to complicate it, I have friends as an adult who have started calling me Denny on their own, (not people I grew up with), and it does not bother me at all because it's genuine affection. It's all in where it's coming from.

We have a serious number of life long nick names in my family. I have a cousin Woody, an aunt Punkin, had an aunt Buffy and another cousin, Chipper or Chip. Plus a couple who go by initials such as JP and MJ. None of these people have gone by their given names since they were born. 99+% of the people they know have no idea what their actual names are. And absolutely no one knew my Dad's actual first name because he went by middle name from birth. I always liked that if someone was trying to pull ID theft on me and the security question involved my father's name, they would flunk it. :)

Never had a problem with Michael Angelo. Named after my grandfather and an uncle. My son is a Jr.

Family tradition.

My wife's first name was very common girl's when she was born. In the first grade she had a class with two other girls with the same first name. The teacher decided on the spot, the first one she came to got to use that name, the second girl had a common shorter version and my wife had to use her middle name.

I would guess very few people know her real first name unless she is signing her name, or filling out paperwork with full names needed.

We were both in our late 30s when we got married, and she had a career and we have no kids, so she kept her maiden last name. At Porsche club events it is easier for her to use her common middle name, as that is what she goes by, and to use my last name as almost everyone knows me, and that ties her to me. It is awkward when we are checking into the hotel, and they want to see our ID to check into the rooms. Suddenly her legal name is 100% different than the name badge she has on. So far it has never been a real problem.

My high school English teacher was Melvin Theodore Dick. Melted Dick.

My computer science prof in college (1977 or so) was Indian and always wore a white turban.
His name was Dr Kudlip.
He was know among students as “Cool Whip.”

My first, middle and confirmation name be cool.. My last name not so much, ass end of the alphabet and pretty sure that the nationality is 3,000 off the mark. Dadz always thought he was adopted.

Bud in school, Peter Holder, dad was Richard....big old MOFO, you laughed just once....

Tonto...... friends call me Bubba.

At my previous work I am a bit of a legend (sorry to brag - they still call me for help all the time from field guys to top level management and I always oblige - they have helped me out a bunch of times too so it’s reciprocal), our receptionist ordered me coveralls with ‘Shermanator’ as the name on them as a joke. I developed much of the technology still in use at that company. I think my cell number may still be in some of the rigs as a last ditch call for tech support.

It just sorta stuck and from then forward, all of my new coveralls said Shermanator on them.

I gave a pair of my Shermanator coveralls to my brother who worked for an oil company and was out working with a crew from my former company. They really wanted to know how he got them and how he knew me.