my name was never Joshua
My parents gave me the name Joshua when I was born
It was revealed to me later on that it wasn't supposed to be my name
It was going to be Caleb
My grandma had apparently expressed the importance of me getting a "good christian name"
So my parents landed on Joshua
Turns out Joshua is a pretty dang common name
So people would call me by my last name
Joshua is one of those names with a shortened form too, being Josh
I'd often get asked "What do you go by?"
The question is always in reference to if I prefer Joshua or Josh of course
I'd usually say Josh
Easier to say
Shorter
More casual
Joshua has a weird formal tone to it
Regal Final Fantasy character name energy
There's even a Prince named Joshua in FFXVI
Point proven
So even when no other Joshua's were around for us to get confused
I'd be called Josh mostly, not Joshua
On top of that, my parents are deaf, so I was given a name in sign language with no relation to Joshua
The people that gave me the name Joshua didn't even call me Joshua
Or even Josh for that matter
I was given Joshua as a name that wasn't even the first choice for what my parents wanted to give me, they gave me an entirely separate name from Joshua in sign language, it wasn't practical to call me Joshua due to how common it was and even then if I got referred to as Joshua it was always shortened down to Josh
What do I go by?
Well, I gotta be honest
My name was never Joshua