[Kaslin]

You know John Wayne's real first name is Marion. In Germany this is strictly a girls name, and you can not name a boy with that name. Also you can not name a baby with a ridiculous name, because the child is stuck with the name his entire life.

My late twin sister's name for example was Gabriele. A boys name is Gabriel. You are probably familiar (not personally) with the late actress Michael Learned who played Olivia Walton in the Waltons. The feminine name would be Michaela.

The good thing here in the states is that you can change your name legally. Not in Germany. I could have changed my name when I became a citizen in 1977, but my parents would have never understood.

Besides although I hated my name when I grew up; what child does not? I learned to like it as it is a very old Germanic name.

[Buckeye McFrog]

the late actress Michael Learned

Always billed as MISS Michael Learned. Otherwise audiences would never have figured it out.

I went to school with a Michaelina. You could have named her Boris and it would have still been obvious she was a girl. She had all the assets to keep a bunch of 16-year old males totally distracted during the school day.