Perdita - honest opinions

[BexJ78]

For ages and ages, DH and i have said that if we ever had a girl we would call her Perdita or Purdie for short. However, i am now half way through my pregnancy and DH now says that he is worried that a) she will get called 'pervy' at school;
b) that it is too wannabee-ish.

We both have very traditional names and are from families of traditional names, but i really like it as i think it is unusual without looking contrived.... what do you think? I have canvased other MNers on my antenatal thread, who suggested we could shorten to Dita, which is nice, but the only dita i've ever heard of is dita van teese.
in a quandry so need some help! thanks all.xxx

[diedandgonetodevon]

I really like it.

[BexJ78]

oh god didn't even know about that one!!! this names shennanigan is a mare!

[GirlsAreLoud]

I was just going to say exactly the same as BB, on both counts.

[MadMazza]

Would people know how to pronounce Perdita (I don't!).

[HerHonesty]

i think its a bit twee but i dont find it offensive, iykwim. you would have to be able to carry it off.

[nigglewiggle]

I like it but I would assume that Perdita was very posh.

I would pronounce it Purr-deeta.

I would shorten it to Perdie.

[Umlellala]

Doesn't it mean 'lost'?

Not offensive though at all (says the mother of two weirdly unusually named dc)

[WesternBelle]

It's a sweet name, but straightaway the connection in my mind as soon as I see it, is the dog from 101 Dalmations.

[deaconblue]

is very posh. means "little lost one2 doesn't it? I only know Perdita in A Winter's Tale - she gets a happy ending

[BexJ78]

yes, it is from winter's tale, but also character from emmerdale (class ) and as i have just found out, 101 dalmations!

[GirlsAreLoud]

Pongo and Perdita weren't the parent dalmations called?

[LovelyTinOfSpam]

Also name of v posh sloane type in bridget jones IIRC.

[epithet]

I taught a Perdita - she was never called 'pervy' or, as far as I can remember, teased about her name.

[RipMacWinkle]

Agree with others - sounds v posh to me.

Reminds me of the character of that name in the Jilly Cooper novel, Polo. That tells you how posh I am

That said, I quite like it.

[epithet]

(A state school, btw, in a non-leafy area.)

[moffat]

sorry I don't like the name or its meaning.

[MuffinToptheMule]

It means 'loss'. It's a bit strange to call your child a name meaning loss.

[hambo]

Very Jilly Cooper

[artichokes]

I like it although I associate it with Jilly Cooper's novels (not that I have read them of course . I think Rupert Campbell-Black's daughter is Perdita. She is uber posh.

I know very sweet little Purdey. Although I think a Purdey is also a type of hand gun.

[BexJ78]

from what i have read and researched, i don't think it is 'loss', i think it means 'lost' (like the french perdu...) which i know is perhaps a bit odd, but at the end of the day, according to some books my name means 'noose' and to be fair it hasn't really been an issue for me!! i think i might just call her 'our gert' and be done with it

[Cadelaide]

Like it.

Think your DH is wrong about the pervy thing.

[Tommy]

I thought of the Jilly Cooper books too

doesn't mean I don't think it's sweet

[blinder]

sorry - not keen.

[purlease]

101 dalmations was first thing that came to my mind too