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Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Baby names

Baby names - can't decide!

106 replies

bloss · 02/02/2002 04:44

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Snugs · 02/02/2002 09:39

On the pronunciation front I can only say I hope you have a lot of patience! DH and I chose what we thought was a simple name: Antony - but it drives me crazy when people insist on calling him AnTHony even with no H in his name. At 4 1/2 he has immense patience tho' and simple turns round and spells it to people with a 'are you stupid' look on his face!

Joe1 · 02/02/2002 10:14

Bloss it is so hard with names, and the boys name is the one that we took ages over. I dont think it matters what name you choose someone will sorten it or say it wrong.

Pupuce · 02/02/2002 13:44

Having a complicated surname, we have opted for a very simple first name, which to our surprise isn't even in the top 50! We named our son John - I don't think you can pronounce it 15 different ways, but we do get asked : with or without an "h'?
If pronounciation is something that's important to you, I would be careful naming him with a name that can be pronounced different ways.
I am so used to people butchering my last name, that I don't care.
Good luck !

Rozzy · 02/02/2002 15:59

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Rhiannon · 02/02/2002 17:30

Tobias, sounds OK to me. Get used to him being called Toby though. R.

Janus · 02/02/2002 19:55

Bloss, I agree with Rhiannon - used to share a flat with a Tobias (and he did get some ribbing from the other guys in the flat for his name but all the girls seemed to like it!!). He was a lovely guy but we ALL called him Toby. I still like the name myself.

jodee · 02/02/2002 20:15

Hi Bloss, what is it about boy's names? I could come up with dozens of girls names I liked but we struggled for ages for a boys name. In the end we went for Luke, one syllable, to go with our fairly long surname. Can't mess with that, we thought. Now everyone calls him Lukey! Argh!

A woman at work called her son Juan - we thought that was weird, they're not Spanish. When she said it, it is pronounced JOO-an - they come from the Isle of Man and it's pretty common there, but not in London!

I think you have just got to go with your feelings, if you like it, why not?

Bron · 03/02/2002 15:03

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jodee · 03/02/2002 15:38

Bron, "seearn" didn't half make me laugh - Sian has been our fave choice of girls name since dh and I have been together (11 years), long enough for my Mum to get her head around how to pronounce it, but she always come out with "Siyan", "Shawn" or "Shane"!

SueDonim · 03/02/2002 16:08

It's the reverse problem here, Bron. I know a 'Neive' whose mum had heard the name 'Niamh' but didn't know the spelling. I have to resist the urge to quote 'I before E except after C'.

dm2 · 03/02/2002 17:05

Tobias is a lovely name and as has already been said - no matter what you call a child, people always try to change it. He'll know what his name is and so will you, anyone else will just have to get used to it.
I know a sian pronounced see-ann too!
Best I've heard is a Charlotte spelt Shallot.

dm2 · 03/02/2002 17:06

Tobias is a lovely name and as has already been said - no matter what you call a child, people always try to change it. He'll know what his name is and so will you, anyone else will just have to get used to it.
I know a sian pronounced see-ann too!
Best I've heard is a Charlotte spelt Shallot.

dm2 · 03/02/2002 17:59

whoops - don't know how that happened, sorry.

SueDonim · 03/02/2002 18:10

LOL, Dm2, presumable as in 'The Lady of..........'!

dm2 · 03/02/2002 18:22

'Shallot' was an honest mistake by a phonetic spelling Daddy at the registry office - my friend was waiting to register her baby and overheard Shallot's frantic Mummy asking to change the spelling!

Tinker · 03/02/2002 18:23

Saw a Porsher once in the papers!

dm2 · 03/02/2002 18:55

LOL, that remindes me, a colleague of mine had cousins called Bentley (a boy), Saab (a girl) and Mercedes (another girl).

SueDonim · 03/02/2002 19:48

But Mercedes was a name before the cars came along. The chap who made them couldn't think of a name so decided to use his daughter's. Bet she loved him for that!!

dm2 · 03/02/2002 20:09

It's saab I feel for!

My dh wanted to call ds 'Portia' if he was a girl - I refused on the grounds that it would be spelt 'Porshe' by everyone who heard it!

Alibubbles · 03/02/2002 20:49

I looked after a little girl called Portia (now 10) and my manicurist's daugfhter is called Mercedes, also 10, I love the name!

jasper · 03/02/2002 23:47

I know someone who had a baby girl and when I asked her name the mother said "It's Nicole with a hyphen".
I also know a Stephanie spelled Stephaine purely because neither parent can spell.

I see Tobias means "God is good" according to my little book. Lovely name.
I have a weird surname which is open to all kinds of phonetic and salacious abuse and I can't give my name without spelling it out at least twice. I can honestly say it does not bother me in the least, and I will answer to any approximation of it.

mollipops · 04/02/2002 02:29

I think Tobias is a great name...but as has been said he will almost definitely be called Toby (or Tobe!) by his mates, so make sure you can handle hearing him called by those names too! As for the mispronunciation, maybe you could spell it Tobeas, so it looks more like it sounds. Just an idea! (The Italian form is actually Tobia, which looks more like it would be pronounced to ryhme with Sophia...)

I always liked the name Mikeal spelt that way, but turned out my married name had 2 m's in it and they didn't really sound right together! Then when I was expecting my first we liked Tessa and Tahlia...but then I heard Tahlia shortened to "Tahles" (ryhmes with Charles!) and it made me cringe. Tessa could only become Tess or Tessie at worst, so we went with that! Ds was always Daniel after we saw a Mel Gibson movie with a character by that name! Dan, Danny, Daniel...I can cope with any of those!

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mollipops · 04/02/2002 02:31

Forgot to add - strangest boys name I have heard is Mungo...strangest girls name is Essence...also have a friend whose daughter is named Rick-elle.

jsmummy · 04/02/2002 07:16

know of a girl called Chablis after her parents favourite wine... (and have had this mis-pronounced by waitresses when asking for the wine as chab-liss!)

hwr · 04/02/2002 09:56

If you really want some bizarre names there's a website I came across babynames.com when pregnant and bump was nameless. Lots of truly weird (and cruel) suggestions from across the pond.
Our dd is called Pia and despite the popularity of mia, Nia etc it still causes problems. We took her into hospital and they were waiting for Pierre, also lots of jokes about her being conceived under Penarth Pier etc..

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