I don't actually like my first name very much, but considering some of the other names my parents almost chose, it's good enough. I'm nicknamed Katie, though, which I DO like, but everyone who ever finds out my "real name" gets all upset and goes "BUT KATIE IS NOT A NICKNAME FOR CATRINA!" and "WHY DO YOU SPELL KATIE WITH A 'K' BUT CATRINA WITH A 'C"?!" and "ARGLBLARGL I DO NOT UNDERSTAND." (Some of my own family members cannot remember that it isn't "Katrina." For reals.)
People try to call me "Trina" or "Tri" (pronounced "tree"), which I hate. My aunt tried to call me "Trina" when I was really little, and every time she did, I looked around for the other kid she was talking to, because "Trina" is not me. In high school I tried both "Catie" and "Caity" as spellings because I was tired of the complaining I get and they just... didn't feel right. It was a weird feeling, like wearing someone else's underwear or hair. I'm "Katie." "Kate" to immediate family when they're bellowing for me across the house, but mostly "Katie."
My last name and I have had a tumultuous relationship. See, it's pronounced like a common beverage, but spelled a little differently. I hated it growing up because of all the awful jokes I'd get from unimaginative people and the fact that no one, to this day, spells it properly. (Though there are a couple jokes about it that have genuinely made me laugh.) Now, though, I love it. It's part of nearly every handle I use online, except this one, and it's in my e-mail address. Combined with my first name and/or nickname, it's alliterative, and it just sounds good together. So it all worked out, I guess.
