I did it, I changed my name

[Jamash]

By the way, how do you pronounce "Gaius", is it "Gay-us", or "Guy-us"?

Sod it, I'll just call you Mr. Coffee for convenience.

Think Battlestar. No more Mr. Nice-Gaius.

Changing your name is, I hope, a matter of pride because you just don't feel your own hits it right, so I hope it was worth it, Guy...us.

Gaius, Gay-us, Guy-us... it will still probably be legitimately pronounced "Gay-ass" in some accents, perhaps even more so given the OP's Antipodean origin.

"Gayass Maxwill, welcome to New Zealand, I hope you enjoy your visit".

 

[Lucem712]

January 2014 on the Escapist.

The month of peculiar names, or, How to make your future children hate you.

But whatever, it's your name, so feel free to change it to whatever you want. I think it's ridiculous, only a few pegs below Remmington Thunderknife, but whatever floats your boat.


...

...

BRB, changing name to Remmington Thunderknife.

It isn't a strange name at all. You, of all people should know about interesting given names, Daystar.

OT: Pretty good name, interesting but a "normal" surname as to not potentially embarrass your offspring or spouse(s). Congrats and I hope you are satisfied.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

January 2014 on the Escapist.

The month of peculiar names, or, How to make your future children hate you.

But whatever, it's your name, so feel free to change it to whatever you want. I think it's ridiculous, only a few pegs below Remmington Thunderknife, but whatever floats your boat.


...

...

BRB, changing name to Remmington Thunderknife.

It isn't a strange name at all. You, of all people should know about interesting given names, Daystar.

OT: Pretty good name, interesting but a "normal" surname as to not potentially embarrass your offspring or spouse(s). Congrats and I hope you are satisfied.

Why should I?

Ashley is a perfectly common name in these parts.

 

[Silvanus]

Having never played the 'Tales of' series, I don't mind the name much at all. It was a Roman name, wasn't it? Similar to giving your kid a slightly-less-well-known biblical name.

Like Nebuchadnezzar.

 

[FalloutJack]

By the way, how do you pronounce "Gaius", is it "Gay-us", or "Guy-us"?

Sod it, I'll just call you Mr. Coffee for convenience.

Think Battlestar. No more Mr. Nice-Gaius.

Changing your name is, I hope, a matter of pride because you just don't feel your own hits it right, so I hope it was worth it, Guy...us.

Gaius, Gay-us, Guy-us... it will still probably be legitimately pronounced "Gay-ass" in some accents, perhaps even more so given the OP's Antipodean origin.

"Gayass Maxwill, welcome to New Zealand, I hope you enjoy your visit".

Fair point, but THEY won't mean anything by it if they do.

 

[Charli]

You'd expect nerds who grew up being bullied because of stupid social standards would want to encourage bucking the trends rather than reinforcing them for a new generation, and bullying the people trying to buck them in the process.

Trauma and fear are powerful deterrents to encourage others to step into line. You can claim it didn't phase you much but some of them have gone through alot and don't want it for their kids.

However each generation changes, and its something in the blind panic to protect and care for children that is quickly forgotten. It's nothing you should scorn, it's a powerful emotion and one not easily seen through with clarity.

For instance my parents were notorious trouble makers, and therefore pretty much stifled me and my siblings from ever taking risks or doing anything dangerous. Why? They knew the consequences, never considering that actually it might have some detrimental effects, like diminished self confidence.

You want the best for your children. That's all a parent tries to do. And often you can't see the trees for the forest regarding that.

 

[Fractral]

January 2014 on the Escapist.

The month of peculiar names, or, How to make your future children hate you.

But whatever, it's your name, so feel free to change it to whatever you want. I think it's ridiculous, only a few pegs below Remmington Thunderknife, but whatever floats your boat.


...

...

BRB, changing name to Remmington Thunderknife.

It isn't a strange name at all. You, of all people should know about interesting given names, Daystar.

OT: Pretty good name, interesting but a "normal" surname as to not potentially embarrass your offspring or spouse(s). Congrats and I hope you are satisfied.

Why should I?

Ashley is a perfectly common name in these parts.

And there I'd always assumed you were male.

OT: Good on you. If nothing else its fun to say. I've liked the name Gaius since playing through Fire Emblem: Awakening.

 

[Apostheum]

Good for you mate! Personally I would never change my name. It's not that I'm brought up in some strict or religious home. But my given name is my parents' gift to me, and my surname is the legacy of my ancestors.

But whatever floats your boat! Hope your happy with your new name, it's badass!

 

[shrekfan246]

You'd expect nerds who grew up being bullied because of stupid social standards would want to encourage bucking the trends rather than reinforcing them for a new generation, and bullying the people trying to buck them in the process.

Trauma and fear are powerful deterrents to encourage others to step into line. You can claim it didn't phase you much but some of them have gone through alot and don't want it for their kids.

On the other hand, people who were bullied and grew up to become well-meaning, balanced, productive members of society should be able to recognize that being bullied doesn't mean the end of the world. In some cases it can even become the burning inspiration for somebody to better themselves.

We can speculate and postulate about the future as much as we want, but at the end of the day none of us knows what's going to happen. Trying to keep someone in a metaphorical bubble as they grow up won't help them any more than giving them free reign to do as they please. To bring it back around to the original subject, trying to minimize the potential mockery someone might receive for something like their name by giving them a rote name isn't really any better than making them stand out by giving them a ridiculous name.

However each generation changes, and its something in the blind panic to protect and care for children that is quickly forgotten. It's nothing you should scorn, it's a powerful emotion and one not easily seen through with clarity.

I'm not scorning any attempt from parents to protect their children from the vile, ugly nature of the world. While I believe that many things while growing up are woefully inadequately designed to prepare children for "the real world", I wouldn't deprive them of the wonderment of being children, either.

What I'm scorning is the patronizing guise of protecting children that people who don't have them adopt on the internet. Making sweeping assumptions that one odd thing is going to make a child's life hell, that they're guaranteed to be relentlessly mocked and bullied as they grow up, when there's just no way we can actually know that. It doesn't matter what happened when we were growing up, and we shouldn't be trying to force archaic standards upon children, especially other peoples' children, out of some misguided belief that it will keep them from being bullied or something, when they could just as easily be bullied for a multitude of other reasons.

For instance my parents were notorious trouble makers, and therefore pretty much stifled me and my siblings from ever taking risks or doing anything dangerous. Why? They knew the consequences, never considering that actually it might have some detrimental effects, like diminished self confidence.

The same thing happened to me. Which is exactly why I think children should receive guidance, rather than commands.

Bad things will happen. It's basically a fact of life. While we can fight it every step of the way, there's nothing I can foresee humans ever being able to do to completely remove that from a child's life. The bad things should be turned into learning experiences, for the sake of growth. Every little thing doesn't needed to be blunted out of a fear of scarring someone, and they should be able to forge their own identity.

You want the best for your children. That's all a parent tries to do. And often you can't see the trees for the forest regarding that.

And honestly, I won't deny that my views could very likely change whenever I have a child of my own. It's entirely possible, hell, maybe even probable given my personality. But I'd like to think I wouldn't do something like name my child "Tom" out of a fear of stepping outside of societal norms. (Though perhaps not the best example since I do actually quite like the name Tom and Thomas, the point is more that it's generally acknowledged as a "socially acceptable" name.)

 

[CloudAtlas]

Having never played the 'Tales of' series, I don't mind the name much at all. It was a Roman name, wasn't it? Similar to giving your kid a slightly-less-well-known biblical name.

Like Nebuchadnezzar.

Gaius is a common Latin name, yes, in fact, it is the name of the name of the most famous of Romans, Gaius Julius Caesar. And Maxwell is a common English family name. So most people are probably simply assuming that his parents were called Maxwell and they named him after Caesar. A somewhat peculiar choice, perhaps, but not too much. So it's no surprise really if the OP doesn't face many questions or problems. Some people might even assume he's from a rather educated family and think more highly of him for that reason.

Now whether it's very wise to name yourself after a character from some anime or Japanese game or whatever is another question, and one that I'd decidedly answer with no, but as long as the OP doesn't decide otherwise, nobody will notice, so good for him. And if he should ever grow out of his fandom, but doesn't want to change his name again, he can at least claim that he's named after Caesar.

 

[Able Seacat]

January 2014 on the Escapist.

The month of peculiar names, or, How to make your future children hate you.

But whatever, it's your name, so feel free to change it to whatever you want. I think it's ridiculous, only a few pegs below Remmington Thunderknife, but whatever floats your boat.


...

...

BRB, changing name to Remmington Thunderknife.

It isn't a strange name at all. You, of all people should know about interesting given names, Daystar.

OT: Pretty good name, interesting but a "normal" surname as to not potentially embarrass your offspring or spouse(s). Congrats and I hope you are satisfied.

Why should I?

Ashley is a perfectly common name in these parts.

And there I'd always assumed you were male.

He is male, Ashley is a unisex name. Like Alex or Danny.

OT: Good for you, if it makes you happy. I would find it hard to adjust to a new name I think.

 

[deathbydeath]

Is this the replacement for sexism threads? Picking stupid names for you and your children?

I thought it replaced the Mass Effect 3 Ending threads, because there's still quite a bit of gender debating going on here (that I see).

 

[Bug MuIdoon]

Definitely a better choice than your previous ones, that's for sure. I have to wonder though, if you're able to change your decision on what the name will be as quick as that, then maybe you're not taking it serious enough. But it's your decision, you're not harming anyone. If you're happy then I'm happy for you.

I just hope you like the name Guy, as that's what most people will call you from now on.

That or Gay Ass(Gaius).

 

[Mutie]

snip

I dunno... Mithos Yggdrasil is a pretty cool name >.<

Too much history and pride in both my families to change my name, careful planning is gonna have to be implemented when naming any possible future kids... In the event of the Apocalypse, however, I have a few handles to don.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Gaius Maxwell.

Gaius Maxwell.

Gaius Maxwell.

You know, the more I say it out loud, the more I like it.

[hr]
Sounds like a name that would be useful whenever one would be accosted by a mugger.

"Gimme your money!"

*You put your hands on your hips in defiance and laugh before you bellow loudly*

"Do you have any idea who I am? I am...Gaius Maxwell!"
[hr]

Glad you're happy, OP.

 

[Silvershock]

Meh, more power to you, man. As a furry, I've seen plenty of people change their names. Some sound cool, some sound stupid, but that's the risk you take when you step outside the norm. Eventually it comes down to taste, and that's a personal thing that should be entirely down to whoever is making the decision. There are plenty of "normal" names I think sound ridiculous, for example; my own included.

As for my own name, Silvershock isn't just a screen name. It's not a legal name either, but "Silver" is what everyone knows me as, even people close to me like my girlfriend and roommate. I've never liked my given name since I was a kid, so after I developed a 'sona I identified with, I just started using that name instead. When I moved out here people took to it just fine, and now everyone knows me that way. It went from screen-name to nickname. (Obviously I still use my real name for business/legal stuff.)

Do some people give me odd looks because of it? Sure, but then doing what I do I get those anyway. ;-) They really don't bother me, because I'm happy being this person. Would I consider making "Silver Nicktail" my legal name? Absolutely. Sure, it's a silly name, but then the one I had before is pretty daft if you ask me, and I feel more comfortable in this name than that one, so what the heck. I don't plan on ever having kids anyway - too busy making a ton of money and spending it being silly - so they don't have to suffer the awful, back-breaking tragedy of having an unusual surname.

TL;DR - The best piece of advice I can ever give in life is to not take yourself so damn seriously. If you do, other people won't.

 

[Longstreet]

Congratiolations i guess, always wondered what happened to you.

I remember voicing my opinion in that thread, and i was one of the people that thought it wasn't the best of ideas. But in my defense, the options you did mention were pants on head retarded.

This however is a pretty good choice.

 

[thespyisdead]

wow... awesome sounding name... good that you did not let this slide, as sometimes the right decision does not rely on society's set norms, but on one's determination

 

[Tom_green_day]

In the interest of fairness, Gaius Maxwell is a much more recognizable "socially acceptable"

With a first name that is gay-us? Yeeeeeah while PC you may be toeing the line, you'll get teased and pro-LGBT people might feel you're mocking them.

 

[shrekfan246]

In the interest of fairness, Gaius Maxwell is a much more recognizable "socially acceptable"

With a first name that is gay-us? Yeeeeeah while PC you may be toeing the line, you'll get teased and pro-LGBT people might feel you're mocking them.

Erm...

Except, it's "Guy-Us", and comes from the original Latin name. You know, Gaius Julius Caesar and all?

Kinda thought that was common knowledge.