wow I'm so surprised at how many people don't like their names.
My name is Jodie which I don't mind and can't think of anything else I'd rather be called!!. Most people call me Jod which is said Jo'd not as in jod-phurs lol. I've never been called Jo cause my mum hates it, but thats fine by me.
My mum is called Barbara which is usually shortened to Barb and by very old friends as Babs.
I have always liked boys names to be the ones that can be shortened eg Samuel - Sam, Thomas - Tom, Jacob - Jake etc.
I think a lot of names are liked and disliked by the people we know or have known.
Must say that I hate it when people spell my name wrong and write it down as Jody, don't really know why, but I assume its just because its the wrong spelling (and i think that is the way that the boys version is spelt?)