When choosing a name did you ever consider the 'future prospects' of your child going by that name?

[CarbonEmittingPenguin]

Sorry for long thread title. This isn't in relation to any impending baby but just wondered if parents ever did think something like "James sounds like a name of a future CEO of a fortune 500 company, xxxx doesn't."

Did you just go with what you liked? Was any of the above ever of any concern? Just curious. I have two first names - one of which is loved on here and the other not so much.

[WannaBeAMummy16]

I don't have children yet but I want a name that has been around for decades, so traditional names. Unfortunately that makes them super popular names though! Eg Emma, Sophie, Ruby, Lucy, James, Thomas, Louis.

[Dreamonastar]

No, I always find it bizarre when people do to be honest.

[gingerboy1912]

Someone once said to me to consider that your child will be an adult and will the name carry through into adulthood in any walk of life/career choice as they spend more time being an adult than they do a child.

[Dreamonastar]

Yes, but why wouldn't a name carry someone as an adult? That's what I can never understand.

[fitzbilly]

Although a name can tell you some things about the possible background, child hoof and type of parents a person has, the name is not what will shape that persons future.

So someone named lambrini might not be a bank manager based on their probable background, someone called Emily could come from any background and up bringing so could be a bank manager, a dinner last, a stay at home mum, an artist or any other possible career.

A name wing hold someone back, but their up bringing might.

[Maverick66]

I chose my daughters names with an eye to them (a) being short (b) easy to pronounce (c) names which are fashionable whatever the decade.

[fitzbilly]

A name won't hold someone back I mean

[PennyHasNoSurname]

I did think about the fact that my kids will become adults within 20 years, when settling on a name, but not whether they would become crown court judges or ceo.of MI5.

[fitzbilly]

To answer your question, I chose a name I liked. No I didn't consider what I wanted him to be as an adult when naming him.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

We chose our children's names with an eye to them being (a) easy to spell, (b) easy to pronounce and (c) classless/timeless. Mostly, though, they were just names that we liked. We'd have thought very long and hard, though, before giving them names that were really unusual or long or had suddenly come into fashion not long before.

[mercifulTehlu]

No, I didn't think about prospects specifically, because all the names I like would be the kind of names which would be fine for a CEO/lawyer/whatever, because I'm fairly traditional about that kind of thing.
And conversely, I would think that a person who liked very non-traditional, or 'uniquely' spelled names would be less likely to be worried about the prospects attached to those names. Otherwise they wouldn't like those names in the first place.
I just somehow can't imagine a thought process that goes 'Ooh I'd love to name my daughter Tyynkerbelle-Mae. Oh but hang on - that might cause problems if she turns out to be a high court judge'. Could happen, I suppose...

[EssentialHummus]

I think there's a really, really wide range of names which will scan just fine whether the child wants to be an artist, judge or anything else, even if people might make assumptions about class, ethnicity or whatever. I agree with merciful that the sort of parent who goes for a unique name is unlikely to be concerned but as a lawyer who seems to see a bazillion CVs for every role I wish all parents would think about it.

[toomuchtoolate]

We tried to go for names that were a little bit different but not so unusual that people would have trouble spelling them. Turns out a lot of other people had the same idea and now they both have others in their classes with exactly the same names We also gave them both middle names so that if they have a choice if they ever fancy a change.

[Dreamonastar]

But Essential you'd surely look at qualifications and experience, not someone's name?

[ItMustBeBedtimeSurely]

I chose names that won't hold them back, yes. I can't imagine not even considering it - it's their name, not just a reflection of my tastes.

[Lweji]

I just wanted one that would save him from spelling it every time, so written the same in our two languages.
It's sufficiently neutral that he could become PM.

[LaPharisienne]

I would vote for names that meant the child would struggle to become a lawyer.

[SerenityReynolds]

We chose names we liked, but I think part of the reason for us liking them is that (we think!) they will suit our DD's at any age and not look too wacky that they might be judged on them in the future, or teased relentlessly through school. DD2's is a bit more unusual and we've already had several queries over spelling/pronunciation so I feel for her there

[CultureSucksDownWords]

We chose a name we liked, that wasn't in the top 500 names, but that most people would know how to say and spell. I was aware that my DS would have that name as an adult, so wanted something that he wouldn't find embarrassing or that would cause a lot of knee jerk judgement from people that didn't know him.

[magpie17]

I did. My DH liked some names that were cute for a baby but sound silly on an adult, I have a name like that and sometimes feel like people have a preconceived idea about me because of it (I am not cute or girly but my name suggests I could be). I didn't want to pass that on to my child as sometimes I feel a bit embarrassed introducing myself in professional environments.

[Dreamonastar]

So someone's got a first in law from Oxford and they are never going to be a lawyer because of their name?

Or would they never get on to a law degree in the first place because they are called Mackenzie or Kalvin?

[Madnson]

No, my son is called Sonny. Remember my dad saying what is he ever going to achieve with a name like that? I was furious. People are so frickin judgy. I'm a nurse and one of the consultants at work is called Sonny, he's such a fab fella and obv successful.

[Hoppinggreen]

We have a foreign surname that body can ever spell so we chose names that everybody can spell. We also joke about, " Prime minister" names!!!

[magpie17]

To be clear, I don't think my name affected my 'prospects' and is certainly not the reason that I am not prime minister! It just sounds a bit childish now that I am 35.

[SunnySomer]

We chose a name that we thought he could take anywhere. There are lots of nicknames possible (using your example think Jamie, Jim, Jimmie, Jimbo, Jimi etc) so whatever type of person he turned out to be there would be a version of his name that suited his personality and circumstances. If that makes sense. So far he only uses the full version.