"American" names in London - will they go over well?

[lily3]

As expats in London, I'm wondering how our children's names will go over. I also just found out I'm pregnant with DC 3 and I'd love to hear what names are considered "trendy" (to avoid them) or what names would not go over well, that might be popular in America.

Our baby twins are named Rowan (girl) and Weston (boy).

The other names we like are Beatrice, Winifred & Hadley (for a girl) or Finn, Harrison & Asher (for a boy).

[Tickledyellow]

I'm not too sure how to respond to this... Honestly is best! I love your baby girl's name, although I think it is more popular (although by no means very popular, it is still unsual) for baby boys at the moment. I think it is a great name for both sexes though. Your twin boy name would definitely be considered quite 'American' over here I think.... Certainly not popular. Actually names ending in son and ton, ie. Ashton, Samson etc leave people divided. Some love them, others loathe...

As for your name choices I love all of them! my least favourite is Asher probably (quite American for me!).

Congratulations by the way and good luck with names

[amazingmumof6]

I'm not trendy and have chosen Biblical names for all our kids, but I'd say your boy names are all lovely!

I like Beatrice, but the other are a bit old fashioned I think, though I like Winifred also.

you can google most popular names in UK

[amazingmumof6]

Tickled would you have guessed I like Asher the most! (read my previous post)

[lily3]

Thank you! Yes I am looking for honesty! I'm just curious to hear what the name trends are across the pond. Are Brits big on nicknames? We like to shorten everything. Weston goes by Wes (hardly call him Weston) and honestly if we went with Winifred or Beatrice we'd really be going with Bea or Winnie..and so on.

What names are uber trendy now in the UK? We definitely want to avoid those...

[AGeeksWife]

Hadley was on my girls list, love it

[maillotjaune]

Well as you're in London I don't think I'd worry too much about it. I might raise an eyebrow when Brits with no connection to the States use 'American' names but as you are American...

The thing is that wherever you live in London, you'll be surrounded by people from all over the world so your choice of names will not stand out as much as they would in a small, homogeneous community (assuming such places still exist, don't get out of London much )

[PurplyWurply]

Hadley for a girl would be unusual here - I would assume it to be a boy's name - surnames as first names tend to be used for boys here. Also, even for boys, using a surname for first name divides people. Personally, I would rather have a 'real' first name rather than 2 surnames iyswim.

Beatrice is nice, with nicknames Bea and Trixie

Winifred will be unusual, but probably called "Winnie The Witch" after the storybook.

Finn is a very popular name here, I know several boys called Finn/Finley/Finlay.

Harrison wouldn't be my choice, but is well known here.

Asher does sound very 'American', and will probably sound better in your accent than in most of the local London accents.

[crazygracieuk]

Harry/Harrison is very popular in the Uk. I have one and in his class of 20, (10 boys) there is another and I was at a wedding last summer when a mum called Harrison and Lind 5 boys turned round.

[maillotjaune]

Well the only Hadley I've heard of is Hadley Freeman who writes for the Guardian so I would assume Hadley was a girl.

[lily3]

PurplyWurply Winnie the Witch?? I am going to have to Google that, never heard of it! We obviously don't have that in America, or if we do it is not popular at all. I was thinking more "Winnie the Pooh", but it's not popular like it was when I was a child, and Pooh was a boy bear, not a girl - and also adorable so how bad could that be!?

maillotjaune Interesting, because we thought Hadley was a boy's name, which is why we like it for a girl. DH and I like boys names for girls (ie: Rowan!) - is that uncommon in the UK?

[lily3]

Alright, how popular is "Winnie the Witch"? We really can't call our future daughter Winnie if she's going to get made fun of and called Winnie the Witch all the time...this might be the perfect example of an "American" type name that goes horribly wrong in the UK!

[Tickledyellow]

Come to think of it Winnie the witch is very popular. My daughter's favourite books in fact! She is a nice, quirky witch though!

[perceptionreality]

I think you should choose the names you like and are true to your culture and not worry about what others think

fwiw I love both Beatrice and Winifred - they were on my girls name lists.

[lily3]

Ahh ok, not a mean/evil witch. I honestly have never heard of that series so I am clueless.

[PurplyWurply]

I think most schoolchildren will have heard of "Winnie the Witch".

I came across it recently when my DC loved it at story time at pre-school before Halloween, but we haven't bought the book yet.

Have a look at Amazon, there seems to be series of books plus some DVDs and CDs.

[blindworm]

I think you would actually be alright with Winnie. By the time kids get old enough to tease about names, they probably will have forgotten about Winnie the Witch. And Winnie the Pooh went by just Pooh most of the time, didn't he?

[lily3]

Yes, he mostly goes by Pooh. And I think it must be the same scenario because Pooh is really only a hit with toddlers and thankfully they can't tease that young.

[BikeRunSki]

Winnie The Witch is very popular and rising I'd say (I have a 4 yo and 1 yo). There is a whole series of about 10 books and more still being published. Here she is.

[StrawWars]

Hadley makes me think of Tony Hadley ("Gold" got played a lot during the Olympics). Or Radley handbags.


Asher makes me think of Jane Asher (Cakes...) Or Asha, as in the girl's name.

(shows age)

[manicinsomniac]

I really like Hadley and Harrison (but then I am a fan of American type names). Also like Asher.

I'm not keen on Beatrice or Winifred but I would think of them as traditionally British names? Beatrice is certainly popular here and I don't think it breaks top 300 in the US does it?

[Startail]

I know English Beatrice, Finn and Harrisons, so no problem there.
Asher I think would grow on me. Weston becomes Western to me, but Wes is fine.

Hope you like London, I'm a country mouse.

[amazingmumof6]

purply Asher is Hebrew, it means fotunate/blessed/happy (one of Jacob's 12 sons in Old testament)


lily3 I googled it for you (was curious!) - top 30 boy & girl baby names in 2011 in UK

boys:

1. Oliver
   
2. Jack
   
3. Harry
   
4. Charlie
   
5. James
   
6. Joshua
   
7. Alfie
   
8. Thomas
   
9. Jacob
   
10. Ethan
    
11. Noah
    
12. Daniel
    
13. George
    
14. William
    
15. Samuel
    
16. Alexander
    
17. Oscar
    
18. Lucas
    
19. Dylan
    
20. Max
    
21. Benjamin
    
22. Henry
    
23. Leo
    
24. Ryan
    
25. Matthew
    
26. Finley
    
27. Isaac
    
28. Aiden
    
29. Jayden
    
30. Jake
    
    
    
31. Lily
    
32. Emily
    
33. Isabella
    
34. Sophia
    
35. Isabelle
    
36. Sophie
    
37. Olivia
    
38. Ava
    
39. Chloe
    
40. Isla
    
41. Amelia
    
42. Jessica
    
43. Grace
    
44. Evie
    
45. Charlotte
    
46. Ella
    
47. Mia
    
48. Lucy
    
49. Freya
    
50. Ruby
    
51. Holly
    
52. Ellie
    
53. Hannah
    
54. Emma
    
55. Abigail
    
56. Megan
    
57. Jasmine
    
58. Daisy
    
59. Matilda
    
60. Erin
    
    Read more: www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/naming/baby-names-2011/babycentre-top-girls-names-2011/#ixzz2Bra1oTp8

[PurplyWurply]

Thanks amazingmumof6 I didn't make that connection, but have heard the name in America.

[amazingmumof6]

you welcome!

[lily3]

amazingmumof6 Wow thanks for that list! Very helpful - and interesting!