Reminded of this frequent experience, I went asking Google for help. I did happen to find this exchange here:
I find this fascinating for a couple of reasons: 1) Other people have had the same experience as me, specifically on the phone (i.e. Rachel=>Lisa), 2) This happens to other seeming dissimilar names, 3) it works in reverse (i.e. Lisa=>Rachel, or Rachel=Lisa=Rachel, etc), and 4) someone goes on to say that Rachel is mistaken for Rebecca. This is same story is lore in my family.
I was named after my grandmother. However, as a young child, this confused me because everyone called her Jean. Well, the story goes that when my grandmother was a child, her neighbor often mistook her name and called her Rebecca. This so infuriated her mother (my grandmother), that she decided to use my grandmother's middle name, Jean. And it stuck ever since.
