1. I had always wanted to name a future daughter Emma, but when I met my husband, I found out he had previously lived with a woman who had children, one named Emma that began calling my husband, “Daddy” before he and the woman split up. It would have been too weird to have my own Emma, after I learned about that.
2. I also knew a Renee in high school that used to slap me around and bullied the hell out of me (the fucking teachers didn’t care) until I’d finally had enough and fought back. Violently. Directly after that, I found out she had AIDS and felt horrified at the memory of getting her blood on me. I’ve hated the name Renee ever since then.
3. A 29 yr old man I knew took horrible advantage of me when I was 17. His name was Jerry, or Jerome. This is the man I constantly talk about when people ask if there is anyone I actually want dead. Jerrys and Jeromes do nothing but piss me off now, and make me want to vomit. (Which sucks, because my uncle and cousin are both named Jerry.)