Double-barrelled names?

[jessicaellen]

Hi! (I'm new here by the way, ive read a few threads and have no idea what all this dds,dd,dh talk is about? But anyway I'm pregnant with my second child, I've already got Harley (boy) and second is a girl, My partner is black and likes the name Tiana but I think it sounds too unoriginal, a mixed race girl called Tiana? it sounds common. I love Olivia-Mae or Olivia-Rae, thoughts?
Also I need help with afro hair! Harley is light skinned, and I don't have a clue how to control his hair and this baby girl is gonna be a nightmare! Tips?
Thanks :)

[mollyevieem]

i think olivia-mae and olivia-rae are beautiful names :-) i think if you just talk to your partner and get a small list of names you both like, then when your daughter is born, see what she looks like and pick which name from your list suits her best!
good luck with the new arrival and i wish you all the best :-)

[TallulahBetty]

Not keen on double-barrelled names, or names spelled differently. So for me, it would have to be Olivia May. However, you go with what you want.

DD, DS and DH mean dear daughter, son and husband.

No idea on the afro sorry

[miffybun73]

Not keen at all on Olivia-Mae. Love Olivia with May as a middle name, no hyphen.

[Stat]

For what it is worth, I like Tiana and don't think it is unoriginal. How about Tatiana or Tia, which are along the same lines.

I like Olivia, but it is so popular that would put me off, it depends whether popularity bothers you.

Also not keen on double-barrelled names, but that is obviously down to personal taste. Regardless, I think Olivia goes well with Mae/May and Rae.

There are some great blogs on the net about afro and mixed race hair, this one springs to mind beadsbraidsbeyond.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/miss-as-updated-natural-hair-care.html

[EhricLovesTeamQhuay]

Double barrelled names are cliched and naff IMO (and I'm not alone in that view) plus anything-Mae, Rae, mai, lee etc is the most cliched and overused of all.
Tiana is a nice name, as is Olivia. Don't ruin either of them with a -Rae monstrosity.

[squoosh]

I hate hyphenated names, it looks like people couldn't decide between two so just went with both. Olivia is ok, they do seem to be everywhere though, but I think Rae by itself is gorgeous.

You should start a thread on Chat re. looking after afro hair, I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat

[Fifi2406]

Majority on mumsnet hate double barrelled names! So most people will say no to anything -Mae -Rae I like the suggestion of Tatiana think that would be really cute!

[TheContrastOfWhiteOnWhite]

I think -Mae is reallllly popular, so you would stand a good chance she would be in a class with another few (Lily-Mae, etc). Would that bother you?

Hyphenated names aren't my personal taste, but if you like them and popularity bothers you I would probably try and find something other than -Mae. Also, Olivia is already 4 syllables long, so turning it into five stands a good chance of other people dropping the -Mae, or shortening it to something like Livy. Would that bother you?

How about other names a bit like Tiana? Tatiana? Sienna? Kiara?

[Feelslikea1sttimer]

I am not overly keen on double barralled names but I prefer Olivia-Rae out of your 2 suggestions.

And with the afro hair, my stepson is mixed race and has the most gorgeous curly, longish hair, which surprisingly I have found out of all the products I have used specifically designed for afro hair, the Avon detangler has been the easiest and best to comb his hair, the grease ones are good but if you have a child that doesn't like their hair washing/ brushing/ touching then I would give it a miss as it needs washing daily if you use that.

Hope that helps :)

[TheContrastOfWhiteOnWhite]

Oh, on the hair, does your partner have sisters, aunts, etc? My two friends in this situation found that their partner's extended family was quite pleased to pass on advice. Making the 'in laws' feel useful is always a bonus!

[noisytoys]

I love Tiana

Don't call her -Mae/May unless you want her to be one of 16 in her class it is so popular (common)

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

I know a lovely Tianna. Not black, very fair in fact. Really not keen on the -Mae/-Rae thing.

[CruCru]

Re the hair, I agree on asking your mother or sister in law. Also, have you taken your boy to a black hairdresser (I.e. one specialising in Afro hair).

I also am not very keen on double-barrelled names. I love Olivia, think its beautiful.

[Oriunda]

No to hyphenating and to Mae/Rae. Tatiana, as someone suggested above, is lovely. Then you could shorten to Tiana as a nn.

[Fraxinus]

The problem for me with a mixed race girl called Tiana is disney

There is a whole section on here called multicultural families, do pop in. There are several threads about caring for mixed race hair on there.

[Weegiemum]

My dh has a double barrelled first name (names which are traditionally like this in Germany where his Dad is from, DFIL has similar name).

Dh hates it - the first part of his name is Hans which he really hates, and he's always explaining hat he's known by the second part of his double-barrelled first name rather than by his middle name (it's only when you deal with officialdom with an awkward name that you realise just how official they are!! ).

We have 3 dc - both girls have a middle name, ds has 2, but there isn't a hyphen to be seen, dh insisted on this!!

[BlueStarsAtNight]

I love Tiana. And I love the Disney link :) Really not a fan of double-barrelled names at all though, and the popularity of Olivia would probably put me off, though it's a nice name.

How about Keira, Cara, Alanna, Selena, Serena?

[DanicaJones]

I like Tiana best out of those names