I had a Twilight Zone-like moment last night when I went on one of my favorite sites, Jezebel.com, and found an article about my own name, which is Courtney. Blogger Anna N. has this to say about Courtneys:

Sorry, but Courtney: kind of a stuck-up name. . . .

Based totally on my personal experience, I can see a Courtney being the kind of girl who makes the teacher’s life hell by constantly talking, laughing, texting, and gum-chewing during class. She’s not the class clown — that would be beneath her — instead, she’s that girl who thinks she’s too cool to pay attention. And who maybe feels kind of bad for the teacher because she has ugly shoes and is, like, teaching junior high school. She’s the girl who’s way cooler than you in eighth grade and who, if you ever actually become a teacher yourself, you totally dread.

While I’m sure the world abounds with humble, down-to-earth Courtneys, the Courtneys I have known have generally been princessy, popular, and blonde. The name doesn’t say “bitch” to me exactly — Courtney’s not the type to, say, fill your locker with tampons. She’s the type to laugh when they all fall out, then go back to forgetting you exist.

Ouch! I’m tempted to start listing Anna stereotypes, but: a) there aren’t any; and b) that would just make me one of the obnoxious Courtneys, so I’ll refrain.

I knew my name had some “too cool for school” connotations about it, but I never realized people felt this strongly about it. Now I’m wondering whether, whenever someone learns my name without meeting me, they imagine I’m going to act like a member of the Plastics. I don’t fit the stereotype at all, for the record: in high school, I was the dorky, quiet girl with glasses who hid behind her hair all the time. I was actually the student that teachers loved because I read constantly and knew how to write a decent essay. I’ve always been solidly middle class, am miserable at tennis, and never once have I been remotely considered ‘popular.’ My hair is brown, and, most of the time, it’s up in either a ponytail or a bun. And I blog about Star Trek, for crying out loud!

But, even though Courtney may not match up in the public eye with my nerdy self, I still like my name. It’s feminine, but there are enough crunchy consonants in it to keep it from sounding too girly. It looks good at the top of a resume or on an application to grad school. It’s not overly popular, or at least it wasn’t when I was in school, but neither is it too strange. Most people know how to spell and pronounce it, although a French roommate I once had confused it with “Coralie,” and there was one in high school, who, honest to God, though it was spelled Quarkney. Maybe I was giving out Trekkie signals even back then.