Growing up, I hated Carlene because it was not common. I would have killed to have had the luxury to walk into a card store and pick up "Carlene" pencils and "Carlene" notepads!! All my friends had pencils with their names on it....why couldn't I?!?!
I found out from my mother that I almost was named Michelene. It's pretty, but my goodness! I would have been "Mikey" all through school!
Now that I'm an adult, I find I really like my name. It is unique and I get a lot of compliments on it. The only thing that really gets me, though, is when people call me Charlene. Nothing against that name, but it is not mine. (Just a little pet peeve I have -- I kind of like it when people call me by my correct name!)
And really...it's quite an honor to have two songs written for me: "Carlene" by country singer Phil Vassar
and "Carlene" by the New Monkees!!
At least they both spelled it right!