slo’s THURSDAY 1/15 poll - Your Name On Items

[fla4fun]

My name, in both the long and shortened form, was always fairly easy to find, so I became sort of indifferent to it. When we were on road trips as a child I would look to see if my name was there but rarely bought anything. In fact, I think the only thing I did buy was a license plate for my bicycle.

 

[KPeterso]

I have always had fun looking for my name. While I frequently see my name, it is often one of the other spellings (and mine is a common spelling and correct) or similar versions of my name. Kristin vs Kristen vs Christin vs Christen vs Kristine vs Christine vs Christina vs Kristina. And then there are the spelling adding in a Y. Ugh.

 

[leebee]

I rarely find things with my name on them, unless it's spelled incorrectly. I can find plenty of stuff for "Leigh" "Lea" or "Leah," but I am Lee, which meant I could find all kinds of things with boats, planes, or trains on it, but nothing pretty or girly. It used to bug me when I was in high school (named stationary, pens, etc were pretty popular then) but now I don't really care, and probably wouldn't buy anything I'd find with my name on it anyhow.

 

[NYCgrrl]

If I were in a different country I could find my name on items but but I know who I am and everything in the house belongs to me ( saying that out loud when my kiddos were growing up made them think they could start a revolution and win ).

 

[evilmommie]

I rarely find things with my real name and that’s ok. My first name starts with a D, so it’s fun to sometimes to get a D necklace at Disneyland..since it’s my initial too.

I do love receiving things with my grandma name — Gigi. My kids have given me all kinds of cute gifts. Mugs, t-shirt, ornaments,

 

[CGB]

I never found my name on items as a kid. Princess Charlotte has changed that almost single-handedly though. As far as my own kids, they have unique names. DD got a movie in 1997 with her namesake, so I don't think it hurt her. I do not buy items with my name on it. My SIL, however, did gift me a cake pan with a lid that had my name engraved on it and THAT has been so useful for potlucks.

 

[amcnj]

I mostly looked for my children’s names. And names do go in and out of favor, and so can be easier or more difficult to find. When my daughter was young her name was always on every rack of personalized products out there, now it isn’t always a given. Late last year I was looking for items with a child’s name that to me isn’t real common, and thought it was going to be a tough task. I was wrong. The name must be one of the ”in” names now.

 

[tvguy]

I use my middle name, and it is a very uncommon name. A character from a TV show had the same name. My wife found a stuffed animal named after this character and so she gave me that about 30 years ago and it sits on our headboard on my side of the bed.
But as a kid I never found my name on those novelty license plates, coffee cups, key chains, etc. I have met exactly three other real people with my name in my 68 years. Even worked with one briefly, which made things a bit confusing.
My first name is a VERY common name. But my parents wanted me known by my middle name, which is my paternal grandmothers maiden name. They felt it "flowed" better as my middle name, than as my first name. And I have two cousins on my mom's side with the same first name, and THEY go by their middle name too. My mom dropped her first name when she became a naturalized U.S. citizen, she never used it. And my MIL hated her first name, it was a boys name, so she did not normally use it and when she did she added an "ie" to the end to make it sound feminine. Her father always called her by her first name, and he was upset that my wife not only used the "ie" version on her niche marker when she passed, and put that name in parentheses.

 

[Kitty 34]

I've never seen my name on an item, so I've never had the opportunity. No, it's not Thomas. My user name comes from a nickname my father gave me back in the day. I have a very unusual first name that I've never seen on pre-made items. I'm sure I could special order something, but it's not something I'd want either way.

Ahhhh so you've sparked this Kitty's curiosity!!

Of course I will always refer to you as Tippy.

 

[Diznygrl]

I still think it's fun to look for things with my name on it every time I see a rack of personalized goods, though obviously I don't buy something every time I see it. Back in the day my name was pretty popular, so I didn't have a problem finding it. In fact, sometimes my name was TOO popular because there would be a space there for my name but it was out of stock!

Since most personalized items are more geared towards kids, it's been interesting to see the evolution of 'common' names that are available. My name has actually been harder to find over the past several years because I guess it's not so popular anymore. I'm old, LOL.

 

[RedAngie]

I don’t want any trinkets or even useful items (coffee mugs, etc.) with my name on them, but I’ll often check at gift shops and souvenir stands that feature such items. I suppose “Angela” and “Angie” are out of fashion these days, because it seems more often than not my name is missing among the selection of currently popular names.

Angelica and Angelina are almost always available. (Ooooh!!! Alliteration!!!)

I looked it up. According to one site, Angela was the 324th most popular name for girls born in 2024. It was a top 25 name throughout much of the 1960s and 70s.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I've never looked for items with my name on it. However, back in about 1984, '85 maybe, Marie and I took a trip to Las Vegas. Natalie was 4 or 5 at he time, Vince, 6 or 7. While we were there in LV, we stopped in one of the shops at the resort. I think we were probably at Caesar's. I saw a rack of neat, little ceramic name plates that had a nice little picture on them, below the names. I first saw a Vincent one,. I took one of those off the rack. I spun the rack a bit, looking for a Natalie. They had it. Then I thought, maybe Marie and Dan. They had all four!

So I bought them, brought them home. They had a sticky back of some sort. I put Natalie's on her bedroom door, Vince's on his. And Marie's and mine on our door. And they are still there, like more than 40 years later.

I just went and took pictures, see below. Our two are still on our door, ha. Natalie's is gone; I think she took hers with her when she moved out, like 20 or so years ago. Vince apparently left his when he moved out, about 25 years ago. They are each 4 inches wide, 2 inches high. The ceramic looks great after so many years.

I think that is the only thing I've ever 'collected' over the years, other than credit cards, checks in a checkbook I never use anymore and legal papers.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

My name is almost never on anything. It really doesn't bother me. I do check if I'm browsing around somewhere just out of curiosity but I don't really buy anything just because my name is on it.

 

[clappyclaps]

My name is incredibly common (Sarah) so can usually find it in most things, but it's not something I tend to look for. Having my full name on something isn't really of interest, although I do quite like having things with my initial S on them. I have an S necklace that I adore even though it's nothing special.

I think the last thing I bought with my name on it was when Coca Cola first brought out the named bottles years ago, although I am often tempted by anything in a Disney park that has my name on it...

 

[georgina]

Perhaps if I was in a gift shop in Ireland...or maybe in an Irish store in the US but honestly don't care about my name on things and don't look for it.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

My name is so common it's always been easy to find it on stuff. I don't have a lot of stuff my name on it however. I never seem to get that as a gift or buy it for myself.

 

[Grand Koalafornian]

My name is rare enough that I have never found it on anything. When I was little, my mom ordered things with my name and my sisters' names. A coworker once got me a travel cup with my name on it and I love it, but I did think it was a little weird at first.

 

[soccerdad72]

I would normally just look for my boys' names when we're in a gift shop. My name (Steve / Stephen) is very common, so I assume it's usually there (although sometimes not the 'ph' spelling). Our boys names are not uncommon, but not always necessarily available.