Hi, Jed!
 
Love your story. I too am a contraction 'Jed', But in my case it's Jonathan Edward. There were five Jonathans in my Kindergarten class, and my mom would sometimes call me "J. Edward Peele" so she just told the teacher who called her in consternation, "whatever, just call the kid Jed!"
 
It stuck. Other kids made fun, and at every change of schools, i tried to change it, but it still stuck. When I moved to New York, I had the perfect chance to change it, but by then I liked being a jed. When i got into the world and finally got a job where i got business cards, I stayed Jed.
 
The only thing that annoys me about being a Jed is no one gets it right the first time. This is the normal conversation when i meet someone new:
 
"Hi, I'm Jed."
 
"Chet?"
 
"No, it's Jed."
 
"Chad?"
 
"No, Jed."
 
"Jen?"
 
"No, JED!"
 
"Jett?"
 
"J-E-D, Jed."
 
"CHEN?"
 
"You know what? You're right, It's CHEN. Thank you. I've been mispronouncing my own name for the last Thirty-Four Years!"
 
 
I wonder if every other jed has that problem.
 
Thanks for the Site.
 
Yours,
 
Jed Peele