There are several of you who share (with me,) having a very common name and understand the feeling of wanting to stand out from the crowd. All of you Jessica's, Sarah's, Michael's, and Christopher's, I can totally sympathize with you!

Parents of Jennifer's would try to alleviate the situation by going with one N, Jenifer or even a three N Jennnifer, no lies! I've known Jennifer's that have gone by the standard Jenn/Jen or Jenny/Jenni/Jennie. Then, there were those girls who took Jennifer to another level using Jenna, Jay, Nifer, you name it.

In Kindergarten I can remember having two other Jennifer's in my class, and I'm from a very small town, so our classes were maybe 10 or so. I was Jennifer C. there was Jennifer H. and Jennifer P. This naming continued through middle school and high school. Finally when I got to college, where there were a number of Jennifer variations I became JennCarl-one word. It was just easier that way. I sort of felt like Madonna, with one name, but only for a second.

I've also had people try to give me other names, mainly trying to get me to take on my middle name, Elaine, as my first name. My issue with that was that people typically think of Elaine from Seinfeld and luckily with Jennifer I didn't have to worry about comparisons or anyone making fun of my name, so I never went down that path. Not quite sure if I look like an Elaine though, maybe if I fixed my hair a little.

Going back to the standard versions, I believe most people, with a few exceptions to the rule, either ARE a Jenny or are NOT a Jenny. For those of you who know me well enough I am truly NOT a Jenny. Again, a couple of exceptions;

1. In first grade I was Jenny, but ONLY in first grade, and that was before I learned the error of my ways.

2. My Aunt Teresa and her two daughters will occasionally call me Jenny, but hey, they're family.

and lastly:

3. An old friend from church who's name is Liana, but I call Annie is allowed to call me Jenny for the "Even-Steven" rule, she doesn't really go by Annie and I definitely don't go by Jenny.

To remind people, I had an "ad" shall we say on Myspace.com touting, "Don't call me Jenny." Most of my efforts these days are letting people know that I am a two-N-Jenn. I know it sounds weird, but I think there are a few differences in the one-N-Jen's versus the two-N-Jenn's. I don't have any scientific evidence to back any of my theories up so, I'll keep them to myself for now.

I can always remember wanting a different name, as I'm sure many children do. My favorite name, that was close to mine was Genevieve. At the time I thought it very royal, intelligent, and much more unique than Jennifer. But now, I think if my name was Genevieve I would definitely want to change it, (no offense to you Genevieve's out there,) but I definitely could not pull off the namesake.

So even though every time someone says, "Jenn/Jennifer," I turn my head to be disappointed that they are talking to someone else, that's totally me, just, "Don't call me Jenny!!"