How important is a name?

I think this obsession with 'labelling' names is ridiculous and only prevalent in the UK. I've lived in the US and Germany and people there are much more open minded.

Here, a name is either 1) a chav name, 2) a posh name, 3) a dogs name, 4) a gay name, etc. etc.

Also the idea of children being bullied because their name is unusual or posh or chav is ridiculous - unless it is poopoohead or Willy, children couldn't care less what their mates are called. It is US PARENTS who have this ridiculous urge to label names.

and some people leave it much later. We only seriously thought of names in the week before my son was born and hadn't agreed up to the point he was born.

I think the obsession with unusual names is ridiculous, mainly as the subtext is "if I give my child an interesting and unusual name they will be interesting and unusual." They won't.

I agree that certain names do have negative connotations, but these come and go and can be very difficult to predict- all it takes is an unfortunate character in a hit movie and a name can be doomed for a generation.

That aside, most names are fine, so I think people spend far too long worrying about it and should just pick something they like the sound of and stop going on about it. Alternatively they could move to China where the complete rigmorole (sp??) of naming a child puts the baby names forum to shame (usually involves extensive star gazing and sessions with feng shui practitioners)

I appreciate that, but even then you've got up to 4 months. Why does it take so long?

rockbird not eveyone starts thinking of names as soon as they get a bfp . some who have suffered late losses do not erven start considering names until well into the 3rd trimester - just not wanting to tempt fate

I think that names are very important and can have a very positive or very negative effect on the person. People should think carefully, they may choose an outlandish name and then find that the DC hasn't the personality to carry it off.

I think names are extremely important. I have definitely looked at a person and thought "you don't look like a XXXX". I don't think "what a horrid name" but I have thought "what were your parents thinking?!?"

Maybe it's because I don't like my own name much. It's not bad but it doesn't have any elegance or grace (IMO). Fortunately at least it's not associated with any particular era or "class" and it's not boring. It's "just not me" and I despair of my parents' lack of style. There are 1000's of more elegant and stylish names out there than mine.

I distinctly remember that those girls with pretty names were better liked at least initially primary school(!) even if they weren't so nice. Same as those with pretty hair though. Kids are very shallow. There was a boy with a bit of an odd name who got picked on even as early as middle infants. Shallow things like add to the popularity or unpopularity of children and this tends to stick throughout. The more a child is teased the more they believe they are tease-worthy and then they look out for teasing where none exists, potentially alienating perfectly nice and friendly others. Its not ALL to do with a name but my point is, it CONTRIBUTES, along with pretty hair, nice shoes and anything else shallow that children notice and decide they like another child on the basis of.

I do have stereotypes attached to names but they usually dispel on meeting a person. However names that don't "flow", are tongue-twisters (even vaguely), or where the syllables are an uncomfortable mix for the first and second names, I find very jarring.

There have been studies done (can't cite but have heard various "experts" talking about such things on TV and radio) that show that names can be extremely important to a person's future. Certain names would be passed over CV-wise for certain roles.

Actually I think it is important to give some careful consideration to the name someone is going to be saddled with for the rest of their life (unless they decide to upset you by changing it).
My mum has a friend called Pearl but her surname is Button! what were her parents thinking?
I went to school with a boy called Thomas Thomas! obviously couldn't be bothered to think ...

and that's without some of the downright silly names acquaintances have given their offspring ...

I have a name that was extremely popular in the early 70's and now has very negative associations. It recently featured heavily on a 'baby names that will never come back thread'.

I don't blame my parents as they couldn't have foreseen it, but in my 20's especially, I was permanently embarrassed to tell people my name. My Uni friends all called me by my initials to avoid calling out my name .

Now I'm over it but my name does definitely date me and as I work in a very young industry and don't look my age, I do find myself wishing I and a different name.

It's very diffult to foresee issues with names, but I think a name doesn't necessarily define you, but can have repercussions in your life.

I don't know, what I do know is that I am amazed how many people, who generally have nine months before the birth and 6 weeks after to think about this are still fannying about with names up to a year down the line. If you can't find one name in 10.5 months then you are overthinking it.