Mumsnet Talk

We cannot agree on a boy's name. My husband has suggested Raven. My first response was ' Why on earth are you suggesting that? We have already agreed not to send him to a Steiner school!'. But Dh said it is actually an old English name and not a hippy name. I admit I quite like it but think this is a theoretical like and that I am imagining our son called Raven as the dark, brooding, but deeply charismatic, hero of some gothic teenage flick. When I imagine our son called Raven in the real world I see him being chased around the playground by a group of other boys flapping their arms up and down and shouting 'Caw! Caw!' What do you think? I am not so much asking if you like the name, I have seen enough mumsnet discussions to know how deeply divisive names are, just asking if you think life will be harder being a boy named Raven.......

Well I don't think it would make life any easier for him. What happens if he turns out to be a fair haired quiet type instead of a dark, take over the works type?

Damn it. World, not works!

I don't think it will cause him any problems at school. But are you likely to have a dark, brooding and deeply charismatic son? I would be worried that if I called my son Raven he would inevitably end up stocky, sandy-haired and indomitably cheerful, none of which would be a bad thing but would not really go with his name!

I think life is already hard enough without the burden of a name like Raven. You're really just handing both the ammunition and the gun to any random bullies who may feature in your boy's life.

Blue stocking, if he is like me he will be fair and quiet, if like my brother ginger, small and highly social, if like his dad dark and ranty! : ). I was just trying to sort out my imaginations from likely realities. Childhood is about fitting in really isn't it? You have to wait till you are older to be an individual really....

Yes. Having Raven as his name will make life a little bit harder, IMHO.

I think it would be easier on a girl than a boy tbh. In fact I think there is an annoying show on Disney channel with that as the main character, female.
I suspect it will be the thing that gets picked on, in the way that kids always find something to pick on, sorry. It was a good effort by your OH tho!

I agree it would suit a girl better.

The only Raven I can think of is a girl

Also - only people with black hair can be called Raven.

I know a baby girl called Raven. No hair yet but I hope it's black! I like the name but think it would only work on a 'raven haired beauty'. Which can never be guaranteed when naming a child obviously...

Raven sounds more like a girl's name to me.

Agree that having a name like that could make things harder, especially if you have a son who's on the quiet and shy side.

Ah but will he look like a Raven?

If he turns out to be fair, freckly and jolly he's going to face a lifetime of isn't he?

I say nay to Raven.

I think it will be OK if he has black hair. But if he's blonde with freckles, it will just be silly.

Only works on a certain type. He's not going to carry it off if he turns out to be, say, adorably rotund and freckly.

There was a girl called Raven in DS1's class at secondary school. AFAIK she didn't get any stick.

My 23 yo has a name with a similar sort of feel to Raven. It has raised eyebrows over the years but also acted as an icebreaker. Children who bully will find anything to use so that really isn't a worry.

I was a TA in a rough secondary school and we had a girl transfer in called Doris. She was Y8. All the teachers and TAs said "Doris?! WTF?". None of the kids batted an eyelid.

You can't say only people with black hair can be called Raven. That's as daft as saying only people with red hair can be called Rufus (means red-haired - Rufus Sewell anyone?) or only girls with very pale skin and white-blonde hair can be called Lily.

I thought it was a girl's name too.

Sounds like you have misgivings. There's far more variety in names these days, so he won't necessarily get teased for it. But it is so specific and he might not suit it.
If your DH likes old English names, look for others: Edward, Edmund, Alfred, Wilfred, Bede - all popular enough without narrowing down what sort of person they suit.

I think names absolutely can be the source of piss-taking and Raven would make him more vulnerable to this. Also, it has sinister connotations imo. Sorry

Here's a list of lots of Old English boy's names. there are some really lovely and unusual ones in there.

I think dh will change his mind once he realises it is a Disney girl's name. it won't have the same unusual and masculine appeal...

That said, I know boys called Ocean, Wolf, Forest (not double r ), and various other slightly woo names that attract no attention at all.

But raven is without doubt a girl's name. Sorry. That's ok if dh is up for it, but I suspect he was imagining it was somehow innately masculine.

And it just isn't. (It's also a totally lame show)

Mortimer is a nice name

How about Wilf? That's English and manly without being dark and brooding dependent.

It's not really my usual style, but I actually really like Raven. It brings to mind the Tower of London and lots of bloodthirsty male history (not that I am particularly bloodthirsty, you understand - it just seems like a more masculine name to me because of those connotations).

My son got called Theo Wee-o at his first school. No name is safe, in all honesty!