"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..."

Hello blog world,
Today's topic: Names.

I've been thinking a lot about names lately, since my ceremoniously naming my car "Gertrude". Names define people for one reason or another. It seems that there should be more people out there where they're name doesn't suit them because their parents picked it out before they even knew anything about their child's personality. Even still that child's name becomes part of who they are.
I don't take names lightly. People who want to be called a certain name should be called by that name. If they want to go by a nickname or whatever, so be it. My name doesn't have a nickname and I personally hate nicknames given to me. People have called me "Rach" or "Rae" and they just don't work for most people. To me, it's not the nickname itself, it's the person saying it. I'm more likely to tolerate a close friend calling me Rach than for somebody I don't really know. I tend to let my best/close friends call me "Rach". It's faster to type and one less syllable I guess. I could see some of my friends calling me that now. Other than that I don't go by many other nicknames, and there are only a few that I allow. Example, There is only one person in the world I will allow call me "Ray-Ray". My roommate from Freshman year is the sweetest person I know, and somehow her calling me "Ray-Ray" works. Sometimes I can't stand certain people saying my full name let alone a nickname. A previous friend would say my name and I would always cringe. Just the way it sounded coming from her mouth bugged me. I'm pretty sure I even told her to stop saying my name when addressing me once lol. I'm pretty sure part of it was because she would always say it whiny-like and like she was trying to guilt me into something.  "Rae" was given to me by a short-lived boyfriend. Although I agreed to let him call me that, I regretted it immediately. Even my friends thought it was strange. There are also some people who go by their full name to one group of people, one nickname to others, and another entirely different nickname to others. I commend these people for being able to remember what their name is at any given moment lol.
I'm also very cautious and aware of spelling. Although my name is common and there aren't an awful amount of spellings, my name has been misspelled a lot. It just makes me very observant of how to spell other people's names and usually after spelling it once or twice, I will always have it memorized. And oddly enough there are people's names in my memory that only come out in my thoughts as full first and last names. Instead of thinking "Oh I wonder what Rachel is up to." it comes out "Oh I wonder what Rachel Andrews is up to."'. Same as when referring to celebrities or internet icons of mine. Anyways...back to spelling lol. I get mad at myself if I spell someone's name wrong, and sometimes embarrassed. I also correct spelling of other people's names when I get the chance.
As for fun nicknames, I've been called Shanequa, Pretzel, and Twisted (Sister). I think I've been called "Rachie" once or twice. I also went by "Raquel" and "Marie" for Spanish and French class respectively. I techinically will still answer to those. (But probably only the latter if you say it in a French accent).
I don't know. Names are just something I think about sometimes. lol.  Ok enough rambling.
Anyways. Today is my mother's birthday, so happy birthday to her.
uhh more blogposts to come I guess lol.