I have a unusual first name... it was a source of dread and embarrassment in grade school because it was similar to a local restaurants name I was made fun of till High School.. Then girls discovered they liked the “unusualness” of it and I took full advantage of that :D
Now it gets miss pronounced or mistaken for another name... I have only met one other person with my first name and unfortunately he has passed away...
There are times I wish I was named Tom or Bob or something simple...

I go by my first name Shelby! As it is the name of the late Chad Everett's wife. Who also passed away. Born in Vietnam and adopted. Plus my middle name is Thuy Linh a Vietnamese name.

People are always trying to shorten my name. I hate that...

I'm. Gay.

Did Chad Everett's wife save your mom's life, or was she just a really big fan?

Have you considered going by your middle name instead?

Kinda depends on who they are. If I expect to have some kind of at least passing relationship of any sort, it’s the common shortened version of my name. If I don’t know them or expect to really get to know them better, it’s my formal name.

In print, it’s always my full first name.

It was my number when I was a kid racing dirt bikes, then turned into part of my call sign later in life

I always introduce myself with my first name. My family and wife, commonly use a couple nicknames I have based on my middle name. I really have no preference.

Middle name usage is much less common than I expected. For some reason, I thought that more than 5 percent of people would go by their middle name.

I go by a nickname.

Who told you about Sparkleberry Manor?

Every time I see this thread, I read it as "tell me about your first time", which would probably be a much more interesting poll...

Well with a screen name like "Shag" is there any wonder why you'd say that? :hmmm:

I was named after Frankie Carbone, the guy who was frozen in Goodfellas.