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Does anyone else's family members hate their children's names?

21 replies

daniellalou22 · 03/11/2014 21:04

My baby is Layla Noëlle. My mother hates both of her names, I honestly don't care because I'm very happy with her names and so is her father and the rest of my family, however my mother (yes she's difficult to please) also dislikes my niece's name.
So just wondered if anybody else's family members disapproved of their chosen names.
Also what do you think of Layla Noëlle??

OP posts:
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magicpixie · 03/11/2014 21:07

its lovely

ignore the old bat
she will get used to it

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whyhasmyheadgonenumb · 03/11/2014 21:08

My grandmother hates DDs name, she told everyone else but me. She also refuses to call DS by the shortened version if his name by which he is known and insists on calling him his full name. They are both completely normal, traditional names.
I think your chosen name is lovely, thankfully she is your DD so it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

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Bowlersarm · 03/11/2014 21:08

It's lovely.

Don't ask us though, not everyone will tell you nice things!

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Zamboni · 03/11/2014 21:14

My DM pointedly said nothing about DS's name which is her way of saying she doesn't like it.

I picked DD's name because I wanted to pick something DM said she liked and while I do love it, I think now that I shouldn't have cared quite so much about what someone else thought.

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FixItUpChappie · 03/11/2014 21:14

The real point is it doesn't matter who else likes it - one of the little pleasures of parenthood is selecting your child's name. tell your mom to mind her manners

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SlinkyB · 03/11/2014 21:28

My (now late) Mum was like "you're calling him what?!" When I told her ds1's name over the phone. I was too pissed off with her lack of manners to care too much!

I like your name choice op. Def go with your gut. Everyone else soon gets used to it.

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Pancakeflipper · 03/11/2014 21:30

Don't think about it - we cannot all like the same names or there would be no variety. If you like it then that is what matters.

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Dukketeater · 03/11/2014 21:32

Wouldn't chose Layla myself, its not horrible though, just not a fan.
Love Noelle

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batgirl1984 · 03/11/2014 21:35

My family would be far too polite to say if they disliked my children's names. I once worked with a woman who told me she disliked her GDds name, I was a bit horrified she would be so disloyal as to voice that. It was soon after that I realised my family are a bit odd.

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Failedspinster · 04/11/2014 14:49

My taste runs to very traditional names, so I wouldn't choose to name my daughter what you have - but she's YOUR daughter, and if you love it then nobody else's opinion matters. My parents and in-laws both love our children's names, but my staunchly Catholic grandmother referred to my brother as Baby for the first year of his life because she hated his first name, which is Keith. She thought it was newfangled and disliked the fact that it wasn't a saint's name.

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StopBarking · 04/11/2014 14:50

I like the names. Fwiw

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squoosh · 04/11/2014 15:21

Your mother sounds overly vocal in her opinions.

I'm trying to imagine the year 2045 where a baby is placed in my arms and I hear the words 'Mum, here's your granddaughter. She's called...........Brenda'

I might have an inward 'holy hell, that's bad', but I'd keep my gob shut and get over myself.

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moxon · 04/11/2014 15:25

Ah - Brenda and Keith. They'll come back to haunt us yet.

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mymummademelistentoshitmusic · 04/11/2014 15:35

My sister hates her (due in 5 weeks) grandsons name. It's apparently going to be Brodie/Brody, which, to be fair, is bloody awful. Everyone agrees, and we're hoping (knowing the parents well) that its just a joke to keep us all on our toes.

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PassTheAnswers · 04/11/2014 15:35

If dm didn't like our choices she has enough sense to recognise that they are our choices. She might raise an eyebrow if it was completely out there but would say nada. Df would continue to call ds the female cats name whatever his name was!

With ds I raised an old family name (on both dh and my side) as an option and mil's response was 'you are not calling my grandson that'. Luckily dh liked it and we've used it as his middle name as it wasn't quite right for his first name. She still reacted to ds's name when born with 'oh'. Tough frankly!

She's particularly vocal on her friends newborn grandchildren names which is even less of her business.

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weegiemum · 04/11/2014 15:39

My dh's Grandma could hardly say ds's name when he was born! He's Aidan, and she was A Northern Irish Protestant.

She softened eventually. It's an ancient name which links Ireland and Scotland and we love it.

Sadly, she didn't live to see our dd2 born, as she has Grandmothers name (Rachel).

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Strokethefurrywall · 04/11/2014 15:57

Both names are beautiful and you can freely ignore your mother.

DFIL admitted when he came over to visit DS1 after he was born that he was a little Hmm at his new grandson's name but then he took a look at my breezy face (which basically said "I don't really care what anyone else thinks!") and quickly stopped talking. DS1's name is Carter and DFIL now has it tattoed on his shoulder.

He didn't say a word when we named our second born son Sullivan - and dutifully had that tattoed on his other shoulder, bless him Grin - I love my DFIL, he's ace!

One of the best things about becoming a parent is the excitement of choosing your child's name. Don't let anyone take that excitement away from you. I still love my boys' names and really don't care what people think. Do you love your daughter's name? That's all that matters.

FWIW Noelle was on my girl's list, it's gorgeous.

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Failedspinster · 04/11/2014 16:10

Actually, you've just reminded me that absolutely nobody liked the girls' names we chose for if DS1 had been a girl. He would have been Rosamund Charlotte and NOBODY in the family liked Rosamund at all! I chose it because I love Rosamond Lehmann's novels, but the family said they thought it was old-fashioned and a bit clunky for a little girl. In the event, he was a boy anyway and we chose a different girls' name when I fell pregnant again (Frances Christina, to commemorate my amazing nanna - but again, the baby was a boy anyway). I'm sure that if I had had a daughter called Rosamund, the whole family would have got used to it and probably grown to like it in time - as your family will do with Layla Noelle, OP :) so don't worry!

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juneau · 04/11/2014 16:12

My DM hated the girl's name we had for DS1. When he was born a boy she said 'Thank goodness he's a boy, I hated Carys!' She doesn't mince her words.

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AbbieHoffmansAfro · 04/11/2014 16:17

It's fine not to like it, but awful to keep going on about it. What is your mother hoping to achieve, since presumably you and your DH aren't going to change it?

It just comes across as disapproving for the sake of it. If you ask her not to mention it again, will she take any notice?

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Dogsmom · 05/11/2014 20:13

If dd had been a boy she would have been Isaac nn Zac, my Mom hated it and must've said 50 times "high as a kite" because she thought it was similar sounding, when I fell pregnant with dd2 one of her first comments was "I hope you dont still like that awful name Isaac".

I'm ashamed to admit I probably wouldn't have used it because of her views yet it does annoy me that at my age I still seek approval.

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