What's in a name?

"Jane Galt" briefly references her own real first name:

Megan says I said I didn't like her. What I actually said was that I don't like being around other Megans, because I get confused when someone else says their name. If you're a David or a Jennifer you get used to this, but I was a rare breed in my generation.

Growing up, I had a relatively obscure name. I don't recall meeting anyone else named Nick, Nicky or Nicholas in my neighbourhood or at my school, so I felt a bit singled out. I hated my own name, largely because of all the jokes (especially near Christmas), and being quite a self-centred little brat, it took me a long time to realize that almost everyone's name is a burden to them at some point in their childhood.

I started to prefer being called "Nicholas" when I entered the working world, and I've stuck with that ever since.

The more recent problem is that the name has been quite popular for the last dozen years or more, so that I'm constantly hearing parents bellowing my name at their misbehaving children. Some twitches, you just can't ever quite shake off, I assure you.