Hello, my name is Jennifer.
What? That doesn't seem right to you? To many people's surprise, Jenni isn't my real first name. Obviously my name is short for Jennifer, but to a lot of friends when they ask, they're shocked that the name they have been calling me was a nickname all along.
I decided to have people call me Jenni in the beginning of seventh grade. However, this wasn't the first nickname I wanted to go by in school. "Jenni" was just the only one that happened to stick with me the longest. In elementary school I remember asking to be called Jen and Jenn (specifically in fourth grade I really wanted the double "n"). In other lower level grades I was just "Jennifer." Before seventh grade I remember thinking of all of the ways I could alter my first name into something shorter. Once I asked my mom if it'd be cool to be called "Jenny". The funny thing is, she said no to that nickname only because I didn't have a "y" in my full name (so if you were ever curious as to why my nickname ends with an "i"-- there's your answer).
After settling for "Jenni," I've come to realize that there are a few pros and cons with having my nickname.
Something I like about being called Jenni is that it's unique. When people happen to be talking about a "Jenni/y," it's easier to tell if it's me or not when they write or type my name since it isn't a common spelling. Another way this helps is when I have classes with peers also named Jenny. It's easier to tell whose homework is whose, and all that. So, basically, I'm doing all of my future professors a favor.
Even though my nickname is convenient, there are a couple of downfalls. Every time I go to Starbucks, Taco Bell, or any other place that asks for my name, and I say Jenni, it always shows up as "Jenny," because that is the default spelling for the name. At first, I used to go over the top trying to explain that it's "Jenni with an i," but now that I've gotten older I haven't cared about it as much. I now find it humorous. And, at least they heard what my name was.
Last summer I debated if I wanted to keep going with being called Jenni. I ended up sticking with it so as to not confuse everyone that had already gotten used to calling me by my nickname. So, “Jenni” stuck with me into college as well. Now that I think about it, I’m glad it did. I’ve now been called Jenni more years in school than I’ve been called Jennifer, and I feel if I decided to go by Jennifer in college, things would be different.
To friends and family who are still unsure on what I’d prefer to be called, it really doesn’t matter to me. I am referred to as Jenn, Jenaynay, and Ginger just as much as Jenni, so I’m fine with any style of my name that you choose.
I don’t know how long I’ll keep my nickname for. I can imagine being 70 years old and in a retirement home with this shortened version of my name. On the other hand, my full name may be more appropriate when I get to that age. Regardless, that’s 51 years from now, and I have a lot of time deciding what I want to do by then.
Until then, I’m going to keep going with this name, no matter how difficult it may be to specify to professors, Starbucks employees, or friends. It’s part of who I am now, and I don’t think that could ever change now.
Lastly, could you ever imagine “Jenny Stephenson"? That just looks so unnatural to me.
