Jump to content

Menu

When you don’t like a name given to a new baby close to you


Ginevra
 Share

Recommended Posts

Don’t take this post too seriously; I’ll get over it soon. But can I hear an “aww, I know what you mean. My grandchild is name Floribunda, but thankfully, they call her Flori, which is a little better”? 

There’s a new baby in my extended family and yes, it’s such a precious, joyous event. Also, the baby had a couple of issues and is not in perfect health, so yeah, there are other things to focus on. That name, though. Not a fan.

There have only been one or two times when I didn’t come around to a name eventually. This might be one such time, though. I really just wish they would pick a cute nickname and call the baby by it. But oh well. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOL,  I dislike the name of one of my niece's kids.   But the name sort of is a nickname so there's no getting around it.  I like "serious" names and names with a family connection and this name is neither.  Not connected to his dad's family either, yes I asked. Not like "ewww, where did you get that name?" but more like "oh! Does that name come from [husband's] family?" 

Actually there is another kid in the same generation whose name I dislike.  It also doesn't seem to have a nickname though it's a more "serious" name; I just have never liked it. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have an older cousin whose first name coincided with the first name of someone who jilted his aunt.

So the whole family started calling him by his middle name, and it stuck, for years.  When he was around 50 or 60, he decided that enough was enough and started insisting on his first name.  That was 10 years ago and I still haven't gotten used to it.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, right there with ya!  Like you, the name eventually fits but those first few times of saying it, just don't roll right off the tongue. LOL 

DD11 (biologically my great-niece) has a first name that I can't stand. Ironically, I know 3 other children with the same name, and they are all 3 being raised by various family members (due to drug addicted parents)! It is a completely made up name and became popular when a celebrity used it about 13 years or so ago. We almost had it changed legally but decided to let it be her choice.  We just call her a different name and only have to fuss with her bio-name on legal documents.  When she is a teenager, we will let her decide if she wants to change it legally or not. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aww

I was the one who named a child a name it took folks a while to come around to.  It's an old Bible name and really very popular now.  My g'ma's comment was she couldn't wait until he was old enough to call him by a certain nickname (which, ironically, I cannot stand).  Everyone has come around, though, even my mom who spend years amazed as more and more of her friends had grandsons with that name.(And actually, I detest my youngest brothers name even though I also have 2 uncles with the same name)

My cousin named her oldest after her father.  He hates the name, so he calls him by a nickname.  Her dd has a family name (that is a middle name for boys in our family).  We were all hoping for a nickname which was super cute, but she goes by her full name.  And we all got used to it and really like it.

You will come around.  I used to hate the name Emily (when I was a teen I cringed when a youth leader used it and thought-who would give their dd an old lady name).  Now I love it bc I know so many adorable Emilys.

So, either you will come around or you won't.  But isn't it great that folks have different tastes and everyone isn't actually named Jennifer or Michael or Isabel and Jaiden?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

I’ve noticed parents with really normal names can be the ones who go super odd as a reaction to being the third Jeremy in their class growing up, but as a person with a weird name it’s never been an awesome identity thing.  It just makes life harder with everything from spelling to people forgetting it to being teased with higher frequency.

I agree.  We picked very standard, easy-to-spell first names because we knew our dc would always have to spell their last name.  I know people whose dc usually have to pronounce and spell both their first and last names, and I don't think they did them any favors by making them so unique. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ha. This is timely. We know a new baby with just such a name. I knew we wouldn't, as we don't like the names of the two older siblings either. But this one takes the cake. Even DH (who normally couldn't care less about what others name their babies) was taken aback by this name. The name doesn't lend itself to nicknames. And I don't think we will like one the parents pick anyway.
 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

I just grit my teeth and try to only ever say nice things about the name.  But it’s hard, when someone them are genuinely atrocious.  I’ve noticed parents with really normal names can be the ones who go super odd as a reaction to being the third Jeremy in their class growing up, but as a person with a weird name it’s never been an awesome identity thing.  It just makes life harder with everything from spelling to people forgetting it to being teased with higher frequency. 

 

Nopers.  Uncommon names are fine, but nothing grossly trendy, odd, or weirdly spelled.  And when it’s a kid who will be in my life for a long time like a few of them are, ugh ugh ugh.

It’s interesting to me and I would like to know the psychology behind the parents choosing this name. The father has a name that sounds like a common name, but it is spelled differently and is slightly different. (Think sort of like if you named your son “Bendimon” instead of “Benjamin.”) No doubt, he has had to clarify his name all his life. The mother has a pretty, feminine name that is neither unusual not super popular. I am curious what the dad thinks about having had a name that surely confuses many people, because I think that will happen with the baby, too. 

This name is like a surname of a celebrity. That is part of what I dislike, because I can’t put the name together with that precious little baby. I just keep thinking of the celebrity. Kind of like if you named a baby Clooney. Or Paltrow. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a relative whose daughter's name is a very pretty old-fashioned name. The nickname they call her by though (part of her given name shortened) is really ugly to me. Maybe she'll go by the full name when she is older, or maybe she loves the nickname!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Ravin said:

I can't really relate. Mostly because I gave my kids names out of Tolkien, thereby rendering myself automatically a hypocrite if I think someone else's name choice is weird.

I knew an Arwen when I was a teen. At the time, I thought that was the most awful name ever, but I also wasn’t familiar with Tolkien. At the same time, I knew a Lydia and thought that just sounded ancient (which it is). But then I chose Lydia for my own child and part of the appeal was that it was a name with such deep roots. I do remember being nervous about using Lydia, though, because I assumed it would sound “different” to a lot of people, which was probably true. But I still think that’s a beautiful name and I always get a little thrill when I meet someone who used that name. 

I do know another little Arwen now. And a baby Septimus. 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, iamonlyone said:

I have a relative whose daughter's name is a very pretty old-fashioned name. The nickname they call her by though (part of her given name shortened) is really ugly to me. Maybe she'll go by the full name when she is older, or maybe she loves the nickname!

Yes, I know a little girl with a nickname like that. Her full name is beautiful and the standard nickname for her name is cute. But her parents made up a nickname from her name and it is awful. Seriously, it makes me cringe. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well with kids name Rosalyn, Percival, Persephone, and Cillian no one is going to hear me make an odd comment about their child's name. But we have gotten comments from relatives. My response, "well you'll get used to it or just continue to hate it i suppose."

 

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My niece and nephew both have names I strongly dislike.  LOL.  I totally get it.  Every time I write the names, I shudder a little.  I dislike each of the names for different reasons.  1 is after a famous sports figure and is a bit of a trendy but dated name.  The other just doesn't sound like the name of a professional adult to me.  Yes, petty.  I'm over it and I've never said anything to anyone but my husband.  

I don't mind many names actually.  I generally like literary or historic context names.  Or I can get on board with almost anything that has family or cultural history context.  

I like names that work with President X Y, Chief Justice X Y, or Doctor X Y.  If a  name can work with any of those titles, it's a winner in my book!  Like CandyLicker McDuffins is not a name I'd want to strap my kid with.  And that name is in line with my niece's name IMHO.  

  • Like 1
  • Haha 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Well with kids name Rosalyn, Percival, Persephone, and Cillian no one is going to hear me make an odd comment about their child's name. But we have gotten comments from relatives. My response, "well you'll get used to it or just continue to hate it i suppose."

 

Yeah, but I dig your kids names and they have the added bonus of being really cute kids. Plus, you called Persephone “Sephie” and that just sounds so sweet to me. 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only names I really hate are the ones my cousin gave his kids. But then he pilfered my deceased sister's names (both of them!) without even bothering to ask my parents if that would upset them (it did). So there's that. We're not on speaking terms with him or his family for a host of reasons, so I haven't said anything. If I ever am forced to speak to any of them, I'll probably give them a piece of my mind, lol!

I've heard some doozies in my time, though. And like you, I just smiled and kept my mouth shut. Eventually the kid either seems to grow into his/her name somehow, or they start going by a nickname, and you don't think about it so much.

I was going for classic but not too popular with my kids. Unfortunately, within a few years, they both ended up on the top 10 lists. So much for that! 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

There is only one of those names I wouldn’t have considered using, myself.  And they’re all spelled normally, even if they’re uncommon names they’re not made up (like mine). 

 

But relatives and friends should only be making positive comments and keeping any hate faces to themselves.

 

Hahaha, dh's family can't help make comments about names. They are the worst.  Dh goes by his middle name specifically because when he was a baby one of his aunts made a incredibly awful comment about his first name and I guess his parents rethought what they'd call him.  Both his middle name and first name are common names. One of his siblings made a comment about one of our name choices, another awful comment, and then had the nerve to say she was keeping her name choices a secret because she didn't want to hear peoples' comments about them.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

DH's family win points for unoriginality. They are overly attached to one extremely common, English name. This is DH's first name, his father's first name, and he has a first cousin (his father's brother's son) who also has it as a first name, and no one in the family thought this unusual. I would not be shocked if it was all over the place further back in the family as well. DH did get saddled with using his middle as a first name for many years to distinguish him. And he wanted a junior! We did compromise when expecting DD that she would have his first name, but a different middle name. She was a girl, so we went Tolkien, and by the time DS came along, he no longer advocated for a junior--we stuck with the theme instead.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

 

Hahaha, dh's family can't help make comments about names. They are the worst.  Dh goes by his middle name specifically because when he was a baby one of his aunts made a incredibly awful comment about his first name and I guess his parents rethought what they'd call him.  Both his middle name and first name are common names. One of his siblings made a comment about one of our name choices, another awful comment, and then had the nerve to say she was keeping her name choices a secret because she didn't want to hear peoples' comments about them.

Yeah, that doesn’t seem like the best plan to me and I have known several people who did this. I think I would rather know if the name is very negative to a LOT of people before I write that name on the birth certificate because they might have a point. Or, someone might be aware of an association you didn’t know about which would change your mind if you knew. I think that happened with one of the Duggar babies several years ago. The name they first said they were using changed. I think it was the same or similar to a historical person with a bad rep. 

In this case, the grandmother of the baby does seem to be having a hard time with the name, but I don’t know how much was said about it. There is a little ironic twist to the story though, because the grandmother of the baby received tremendous flack when she named one of her children and she vowed never to do that to her kids. Well, now there’s this name she doesn’t like...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, I have relatives who pick some real doozies. No specifics, but think of naming a kid after a country (like "Czechia") or a name that sounds like you are going to go around setting things on fire. We have our own internal nicknames for these kids, but I'm so bad at names that I can't hardly remember what the nicknames are & what the real names are. This is true for me for just about everyone, though, so people generally just figure I don't remember their real names. (Because I don't.)

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Ravin said:

DH's family win points for unoriginality. They are overly attached to one extremely common, English name. This is DH's first name, his father's first name, and he has a first cousin (his father's brother's son) who also has it as a first name, and no one in the family thought this unusual. I would not be shocked if it was all over the place further back in the family as well. DH did get saddled with using his middle as a first name for many years to distinguish him. And he wanted a junior! We did compromise when expecting DD that she would have his first name, but a different middle name. She was a girl, so we went Tolkien, and by the time DS came along, he no longer advocated for a junior--we stuck with the theme instead.

I think this is very common.  My dad was John, he had a cousin John, grandchild John, (and another Jonathan called Jon) uncle John and Grandfather named John.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not a fan of some names in the family, but the kids are adorable and well loved.  On the upside, if they grow up and decide they don't like their names they can change them or go by their middle names.  I think once they're separated from being a set it'll be easier on them, though.  But my first reaction....I had a case of speaking my mind too quickly- thankfully only with dh to hear.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Quill said:

I knew an Arwen when I was a teen. At the time, I thought that was the most awful name ever, but I also wasn’t familiar with Tolkien. At the same time, I knew a Lydia and thought that just sounded ancient (which it is). But then I chose Lydia for my own child and part of the appeal was that it was a name with such deep roots. I do remember being nervous about using Lydia, though, because I assumed it would sound “different” to a lot of people, which was probably true. But I still think that’s a beautiful name and I always get a little thrill when I meet someone who used that name. 

I do know another little Arwen now. And a baby Septimus. 

 

If we were to have another daughter, her name will be Lydia.

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

I'm not a fan of some names in the family, but the kids are adorable and well loved.  On the upside, if they grow up and decide they don't like their names they can change them or go by their middle names.  I think once they're separated from being a set it'll be easier on them, though.  But my first reaction....I had a case of speaking my mind too quickly- thankfully only with dh to hear.

 

I figure, we gave them relatively standard middle names, so if they decide their first names are too weird, they can go by those. Or, well, having done it myself, I'm aware that it's not actually all that hard to change one's name.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

 

If we were to have another daughter, her name will be Lydia.

 

 

On the one hand, I think Lydia is a perfectly lovely name. On the other, when I hear it, I get a certain Tom Lehrer song in my head...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Ravin said:

 

On the one hand, I think Lydia is a perfectly lovely name. On the other, when I hear it, I get a certain Tom Lehrer song in my head...

 

Which song? I remember quite a few Tom Lehrer songs but I can't think of one about a Lydia?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Ravin said:

 

I figure, we gave them relatively standard middle names, so if they decide their first names are too weird, they can go by those. Or, well, having done it myself, I'm aware that it's not actually all that hard to change one's name.

Both of our older kids first names are uncommon for different reasons.  Ds's name is biblical so we gave him a common middle name. While his name was very uncommon when we named him, over the years is has become Very common.

DD19s first name is very feminine and a bit long with 10 letter. Her middle name is specifically gender neutral to give her options. 

DS loves his name (still a bit different than most since we used the Hebrew spelling) and dd has gone by her middle name since 5th grade.  She is going to legally change her name all at once now that she is married, to get rid of her feminine name and just go with the middle name. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everyone in our family hated our choice for #3. Hated. We told names before birth and my in laws are famously... blunt. We are famously stubborn and thick skinned. 

They tried to talk us out of the name every opportunity they could, they made up a joke/rhyme and taught it to my older children, they really went hard on the 'how could you? Poor child!' line. When he was born and named, they said they'd use the middle name instead. 'Why can't you call him James?!' (Lovely name, not our style)

Fyi, it is not a made up or celebrity name, it's quite common - if old fashioned - in the part of the world my in laws emigrated from. Dh wanted a name from his culture. Like if I used Llewellyn because my dad is Welsh (which I totally would...)

DS is nearly 8 now, everyone got over it. It probably hasn't grown on them but they're used to it and he's a fabulous kid. And we're all still friends! ?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

 

Which song? I remember quite a few Tom Lehrer songs but I can't think of one about a Lydia?

 

Correction. Song was older than I thought. Bing Crosby and Groucho Marx is who I'm thinking of: Lydia the Tattooed Lady!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know.  I have a relative who recently named her child something awful.

And I've heard of foster children with names so atrocious there was a meeting with social workers, attorneys, and foster parents about what nickname would be both respectful of the child and their family and also not the profanity put on their birth certificate.

  • Sad 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dd’s paternal grandparents were determined to call her by a variation of her middle name because they hated her name so much.  Ds’s paternal grandma said the same thing. In fact, she didn’t even remember his name for over a year (misspelled on his birthday card).

Their names are not *that* bad... (IMO :p)   It is super-hurtful and disrespectful to the kids. I mean, it’s not the kid’s fault that their parents have no taste, so please try to remember that.   As I remember that when I have to call out atrocious names during competition season ?

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of my nieces (older brother's child) has a top ten girl's first name and then a boy name as her middle name. Not a name that could go either way, a very common boy's name, like Jason. It is a family name, but the one with the name hasn't had kids yet, so there's no urgency to making sure this name occurs in every generation. When asked if she was named for her uncle, the answer was no, she was named for two figures from popular culture. It's just weird.

  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Katy said:

I don't know.  I have a relative who recently named her child something awful.

And I've heard of foster children with names so atrocious there was a meeting with social workers, attorneys, and foster parents about what nickname would be both respectful of the child and their family and also not the profanity put on their birth certificate.

DD11 came to us through the foster system.  Her doctor knew that and that I didn't care for the name (dr needed to know we called her something else so dd would respond during the exam).  She commented that the bio-name was quite common in the foster world and that it definitely aligned most commonly with a specific demographic of her patients (drug addicted adults).  I thought that was interesting at the time, and over the years the three others with her bio-name that I know, are all from that specific demographic so I tend to believe the doctor was correct.  BTW, I work in pharmacy so the kids I see aren't from a higher population of a certain demographic, in fact I work in one of the most expensive parts of our city.  

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The times that I had my eyebrows raised due to names was:

I knew someone who somehow accidentally put down, "Geppetto" on her sons birth certificate. When I meet her, she had been calling her son Joseph since he was born, and he never knew what name was on his birth certificate. 

Another person I know gave her son the name, "Nathaniel" with the intent of calling him by the nick-name , "Nolen". 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ravin said:

 

On the one hand, I think Lydia is a perfectly lovely name. On the other, when I hear it, I get a certain Tom Lehrer song in my head...

I always thought, “Why did Jane Austin have to go and name her unreliable character Lydia?” ? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Quill said:

It’s interesting to me and I would like to know the psychology behind the parents choosing this name. The father has a name that sounds like a common name, but it is spelled differently and is slightly different. (Think sort of like if you named your son “Bendimon” instead of “Benjamin.”) No doubt, he has had to clarify his name all his life. The mother has a pretty, feminine name that is neither unusual not super popular. I am curious what the dad thinks about having had a name that surely confuses many people, because I think that will happen with the baby, too. 

 

 

My husband has an unusual name and loves it. His isn’t weirdly spelled or made up but it is just uncommon. If you do the ssa search thing to see how common it is, it’s never been in the top 1000 names in this country.  But it’s recognizable because of a couple of famous people who had it. The point being that I think some people have the “oh, no, I don’t want my kid to have to deal with an uncommon name psychology” and others embrace it as part of their personality. When we were picking baby names it was really important to dh that we not pick common names.

I, on the other hand, had a hyphenated last name in the 1970s and 1980s when that was just weird and I did not like constantly having to explain it. I didn’t want anything super weird or unusual. And no weird punctuation. 

1 hour ago, Quill said:

Yeah, that doesn’t seem like the best plan to me and I have known several people who did this. I think I would rather know if the name is very negative to a LOT of people before I write that name on the birth certificate because they might have a point. Or, someone might be aware of an association you didn’t know about which would change your mind if you knew. I think that happened with one of the Duggar babies several years ago. The name they first said they were using changed. I think it was the same or similar to a historical person with a bad rep. 

In this case, the grandmother of the baby does seem to be having a hard time with the name, but I don’t know how much was said about it. There is a little ironic twist to the story though, because the grandmother of the baby received tremendous flack when she named one of her children and she vowed never to do that to her kids. Well, now there’s this name she doesn’t like...

 

We didn’t tell people our choices because we didn’t want to hear the criticisms. With our first, I told my Mom some of our choices and she was critical about the one we ended up choosing. I was pretty sure that was what it was going to be so I finally told her “I think it’s likely that it will be that if it’s a boy so you might want to think about anything else you say.” To her credit, she didn’t say anything else negative. And it’s not a super odd name or made up. It’s just not common. We didn’t say anything about the other two and I have no idea if anyone didn’t like them. And I’m happy not to know. We like them and they fit the kids and that’s what matters. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My daughter has a friend with a fairly common name. It is a trendy name from the 80's that is also a common word in the English language. I've never been fond of the name. The original spelling has no double letters. This girl's name has 3  sets of double letters. It drives me nuts. 

A family we know just had a boy. The name they gave him is the same as a very well known pedophile church leader.

My youngest daughter's name was suggested by my husband. When I aske him why that name he said, "There was this girl in high school with that name..."

I told him it was rude to suggest a former girlfriend's name. He swore it wasn't. Not sure if I believe him. We don't run into many people with her name. There was a very destructive hurricane with the same name 5 months after she was born. 

Kelly

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If ds had been a girl, my former MIL would have hated the name we picked out. 

The only baby name I've heard that gives me pause is Anakin, and I've known more than one. I just want to tell them, you know he ends up being the bad guy right? 

Personally, I don't like my first or middle name. I'm 51 and still cringe a bit when I hear it. It's dated and was never really popular, so there isn't a lot of us, but common enough that probably everyone of my generation knows at least one. My middle name is a shortened version of an aunt's name. I wish my mom had just used the longer version. I'd never change it because it sounds all right combined with my last name. 

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We got a few negative comments about my youngest's name before he was born.  Friends said he would get teased.  My MIL didn't like it.  DH and I decided to go with something else, but last minute I changed my mind.  I was in the OR having an emergency c-section and really wanted to go with the original name we had picked.  DH was fine with it, and no one said anything after he was born and named.

The only one who really seemed to like the name a lot was one of my grandmothers.  It is an unusual name for our area, but fairly common elsewhere.  My grandmother remembered a song her dad used to sing her that had the name in it, and it brought back good memories for her.  Even when she was going through dementia and couldn't remember most of us, she remembered DS's name and it made her happy because it brought back those good memories from her childhood. 

  • Like 6
  • Sad 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 20 nieces and nephews and there is only one name I don’t like. It still hasn’t grown on me,  but that’s ok. It is strange because I actually really like his sisters’ names. If I would have had girls, I would have picked the same or similar names. Obviously, we have very different tastes in boy names.

I really wanted names that were easy to spell and pronounce. One of my boys is named Silas. I thought that would be fairly obvious. However, it has been spelled Sylas (lots) and Cylas (a couple of times). It also often gets pronounced with a long e sound instead of long i. I really couldn’t have predicted that.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

About 16 years ago a friend with the last name Rhodes had a baby boy.  She proudly announced they were naming him Dustin so they could call him Dusty Rhodes...on purpose.  "Is that adorable!?" she asked me.  All I could do was smile and say, "Wow!" I didn't tell her what I thought because he's not my kid.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, elegantlion said:

If ds had been a girl, my former MIL would have hated the name we picked out. 

The only baby name I've heard that gives me pause is Anakin, and I've known more than one. I just want to tell them, you know he ends up being the bad guy right? 

Personally, I don't like my first or middle name. I'm 51 and still cringe a bit when I hear it. It's dated and was never really popular, so there isn't a lot of us, but common enough that probably everyone of my generation knows at least one. My middle name is a shortened version of an aunt's name. I wish my mom had just used the longer version. I'd never change it because it sounds all right combined with my last name. 

 

 

Actually, he was the bad guy for a good part of the triology, but he doesn't die a bad guy. He's a great picture of grace, or love, or redemption.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my gosh. So with you.

I do not like either of my young nephews' names. The first one for political reasons. It's an okay name in how it sounds... it just conjures a certain political reference that I know the parents don't even like, so then I don't get why they gave the kid this name. I think they just didn't think about it and liked the way it sounded. The second one I just don't like as a name. I don't like the way it sounds with his brother's name - together they form the name of a famous person, but it's clearly not intentional on the parents' part, which makes it weird to me.

Conversation with ds before the younger nephew was born.

Me: We have to gripe to each other about it now, because once he's born, we just have to live with the name and like it. We can't tell him he has a terrible name when he gets older.
Ds: Please, Farrar. He'll totally know.

  • Haha 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

At least one of my kids' names is not a favorite, but most people have had the sense to keep their opinions to themselves, LOL.  Except for one relative, who seemed to think she actually had a say-so when I told her.  ?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, xahm said:

One of my nieces (older brother's child) has a top ten girl's first name and then a boy name as her middle name. Not a name that could go either way, a very common boy's name, like Jason. It is a family name, but the one with the name hasn't had kids yet, so there's no urgency to making sure this name occurs in every generation. When asked if she was named for her uncle, the answer was no, she was named for two figures from popular culture. It's just weird.

My middle name is a male name. It's a family name, but it's clearly masculine. It's actually never bothered me. But I'm also, I suppose, not that fussed about gender stuff around names.

Someone above talked about the psychology of naming. It does interest me. Like, I have never minded having a weird name. Y'all can all find me easily in the world, I'm sure. I'm the only one. My last name is common, but dh and the kids' last name is very unusual. There's them, their grandparents, one aunt, and two distant cousins that we're not in touch with with this name in  the US. That's it. There are additionally maybe 20 or so people in France with it. It's interesting to have a unique surname, I think. Dh's parents were both named for their parents. They were insistent that dh and his sister each have a name that was only theirs - no family connections, no famous people connections (at least intentionally) - and was relatively common. My mother has an unusual name. Everyone in her family has family names that stretch back, and that was common on my father's side too, so all the names she considered were family names. I have some cousins who were named by someone else - not their parents, who gave the power of naming to another family member. One of them has a name that was invented just for her, I think. It's easy to spell and say and all that though.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Farrar said:

My middle name is a male name. It's a family name, but it's clearly masculine. It's actually never bothered me. But I'm also, I suppose, not that fussed about gender stuff around names.

Someone above talked about the psychology of naming. It does interest me. Like, I have never minded having a weird name. Y'all can all find me easily in the world, I'm sure. I'm the only one. My last name is common, but dh and the kids' last name is very unusual. There's them, their grandparents, one aunt, and two distant cousins that we're not in touch with with this name in  the US. That's it. There are additionally maybe 20 or so people in France with it. It's interesting to have a unique surname, I think. Dh's parents were both named for their parents. They were insistent that dh and his sister each have a name that was only theirs - no family connections, no famous people connections (at least intentionally) - and was relatively common. My mother has an unusual name. Everyone in her family has family names that stretch back, and that was common on my father's side too, so all the names she considered were family names. I have some cousins who were named by someone else - not their parents, who gave the power of naming to another family member. One of them has a name that was invented just for her, I think. It's easy to spell and say and all that though.

If it were just a boy name that would be fine, truly. It's using a really common boy name that is already the name of the child's uncle and great uncle, but saying the kids is named for two fictional characters (one of whom is a very minor character in that world). The whole thing is weird to me. Particularly as the great-uncle has joked about leaving his money to kids named after him (but he also jokes about "you're outta the will" whenever we tease him, and it's all clearly joking) and I worry that my brother, who is extremely literal, has actually been believing this the whole time. If they have deep reasoning they don't want to share, that's fine, but I feel like the kid might have been named due to a misunderstanding. And my brother may have believed we were being written in and out of a will all the time.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my in-laws didn't and probably still don't like my son's name.  He is named my maiden name.  It's a name commonly used for boys and not an uncommon last name.  Like imagine something like Tyler or Jackson or Riley.  That was super radical for them.  LOL. 

All the nieces and nephews on that side have ok names but would have fit into the mold of 10 kids of the same name in their high school in the 80's.  Which is odd since they were all born 90's or after.   I have a name like that.  It was great having 3 of us in English class in 12th grade.  I never had to participate.  ? 

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...