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Baby names

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

Original poster

Beware of 'unusual' names...

89 replies

EricNorthmansMistress · 20/11/2010 12:31

your children may not thank you for it...

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RobynLou · 20/11/2010 13:11

I hated my name when I was 8, I was adamant I would change it, never did and I like it now...

BaroqueAroundTheClock · 20/11/2010 13:07

Mrsgordon - 192 throws up more results for Merry than Merrily including a Merry D Ash and a Merry Scott , oh yes found the Merry Cocks tooGrin

mrsgordonfreeman · 20/11/2010 13:03

Hah, Merrily is changing her name to my first name!

So she'll spend the rest of her life correcting people who insist on calling her Vikki.

ffs.

mrsgordonfreeman · 20/11/2010 13:02

I once encountered a woman called Merry.

Merry.

She married a Mr Cox.

So her name when I met her was Merry Cox.

BaroqueAroundTheClock · 20/11/2010 12:58

As we didn't live in Wales I could never find mugs with my name on either,

Agree that if it's not a name they'll find someone else.

I was in a class once at schol that was full of the "classic" names - and one boy with the name "Cosimo"......he was extremely popular - not because of his name, just because he was. No-one ever teased/bullied him because of his name.

Yet one of the Claire's (we had 3 in our class) was bullied (and her name often used as part of the teasing).

My DS's names are unusual (here in the UK)

DS1 is 10 now - and has yet never been teased for his name

Eglu · 20/11/2010 12:53

I agree Meglet. When I was younger I wanted to be an Emma or Claire like the millions of others in my class, but as I got older I was so glad to have a name that not everyone else has. My name is not unusual, just no very well used.

DS1 has a pretty popular name, DS2 has a name that is unusual. Not sure what DC3 will end up with yet.

Meglet · 20/11/2010 12:48

I don't thank my parents for giving me a common name. There were 4 of us in my class Sad.

My dc's have slightly unusual names. I believe they will cope.

bobblemeat · 20/11/2010 12:46

Children don't know that Merrily (for example) is more unusual than Olivia (for example) if they only know one of each. Its not that common to have more than one child with the same name in one class and it would be very unusual to be the only girl who had a name unique to that class. DD is in a class of 30 and there are 29 different names, she isn't surrounded by any paticular one.

fizzpops · 20/11/2010 12:41

You can love or hate an unusual name or a 'classic' name. What people seem to be frightened of is other people's opinions of the name.

You can't choose a name that everyone will like - the best you can do is choose a name you love and hope the child will love it too.

I was teased about my name even though I am one of the Jessica/ Rebecca/ Jane ilk. Children tease other children and I expect Merrily would still have been teased about her name if not something else if she had been called Victoria. The problem is thinking you can avoid it by giving a certain sort of name - doesn't work in my opinion and experience.

CarGirl · 20/11/2010 12:40

My maiden name is very similar to Halliwell and it's a very tricky surname noone can every spell the wretched thing, sounds rubbish with lots of first names.

Why on earth call your child

Merrily Halliwell - almost impossible to pronounce!

Imarriedafrog · 20/11/2010 12:37

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Imarriedafrog · 20/11/2010 12:36

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thisisyesterday · 20/11/2010 12:35

meh, am sure there are just as many kids out there who "hate" their boring, common names too.

just doesn't make as interesting a headline does it.

Original poster
EricNorthmansMistress · 20/11/2010 12:32

"not only had we produced a beautiful child, but also we now felt extra clever because we had branded her in such a way that immediately set her apart from all the other beautiful babies born that day."

Postnatal logic....beware!

OP posts: