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Original poster

Are the initials BJ too cruel?

45 replies

Ihatenicknames · 08/07/2011 14:00

My surname begins with a J. I love a first name that begins with a B. Is it too cruel to give my child the initials BJ?

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Fifis25StottieCakes · 12/07/2011 18:23

I was going to call dd3 BO. I then realised if i put that with the 1st initial of her Surname it would spell BOG. So no i didnt use it.

pointydog · 12/07/2011 18:02

yes

oohlaalaa · 12/07/2011 17:46

You don't always know what a name will be associated - my mum has a cousin called Gay.

DuelingFanjo · 12/07/2011 11:25

I have told this story before, my ex had a middle name begining wit A and the surname Hole.

NearlyHeadlessnickelbabe · 12/07/2011 11:20

whizzy - one of the many reasons why women shouldn't change their names on marriage Wink

kiwijesta · 12/07/2011 07:54

I know it doesn't matter anymore but I'll still add my 2p worth. My cousin, my aunty and a random guy from school are all BJ and get called that as their names, no one ever laughs or makes comments (that I know of).

whizzyrocket · 12/07/2011 01:02

Yes, it's cruel.

My first two initials are AR and I married a chap with an S surname (profanity is still profanity if badly spelt) but at least I didn't have to go through school with those initials!

NattersAndMutters · 11/07/2011 15:01

RJ, oh rubber johnny - don't remember that getting abbreviated.

What's wrong with VJ? It just makes me think the Indian name Vijay.

Original poster
Ihatenicknames · 11/07/2011 14:52

Thanks for all your thoughts. I had my 20-week scan today and it is a boy. The name that starts with a B is a girl's name so it seems my dilemma has been solved for me!

OP posts:
Collision · 10/07/2011 10:18

My friend has a dd with the initials BJ and she texts me about BJ which always makes me Shock! I have told her and she laughed.

DuelingFanjo · 10/07/2011 10:17

my son's initials are BJ... it's not cruel. Cruel is locking kids under the stairs. Get a grip!

WheelsOnTheBike · 10/07/2011 10:16

Seconds after posting I decided to think if I knew any BJs. I do, couple in the family too, and I have NEVER though to snigger, so maybe you are safe. however, don't use the NN BJ, just use the name, and most people won't get it.

WheelsOnTheBike · 10/07/2011 10:14

generational is the clue here. My son is a DA, which apparently is a kind of haircut to my dad's generation, very shaven at the back to look like a duck's ass lol. No-one else gets it.

But I don't think I could use BJ.

PipFEH · 09/07/2011 21:58

I wouldn't risk it myself. There will be people out there with these initials who have never had any trouble of course, but there will also be plenty who have! I'd rather avoid it altogether than do it and hope for the best.

PurplePillow · 09/07/2011 21:53

My dd's (11) initials are BJD and she has never had a problem at all Grin

Some of our family even call her BJ and it has never raised an eyebrow with her peers GrinGrinGrin

Greenshadow · 09/07/2011 21:49

Wouldn't even occur to me that there would be a problem.

If you like the names, go for it.

SpangledPandemonium · 09/07/2011 21:45

My initials.

Have never had a problem. Can't remember even a comment

meditrina · 09/07/2011 17:51

I rest my case.

Slang tends to have a very short shelf life, and not everyone will use euphemisms anyhow (or at least never have heard of this one). As Scathac said, the terms come and go and who knows what will be next.

(BTW - it's was a standard euphemism for a condom in the 1970s).

NearlyHeadlessnickelbabe · 09/07/2011 17:50

my little sister is a BJ - but it's her first and middle initial.
by the time we were old enough to know what it meant, it wasn't funny anyway.

and we used to call her BJ sometimes too.

i come from nottingham, and BJ is the short name for a village called Burton Joyce, so that's what most of us associated with it.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 09/07/2011 17:45

RJ?

BosomForAPillow · 09/07/2011 17:32

What does RJ mean?

meditrina · 09/07/2011 17:23

It's a generational thing - these initials would not mean anything to someone my age. And dare say in a few years time slang will have moved on and this euphemism will be completely forgotten.

For example, would any of you think twice about the initials RJ? They would have been unthinkable for my cohort.

superjobeespecs · 09/07/2011 17:01

my OHs first and middle names make bj and almost everyone calls him bj we're a bunch of immature gits but we dont snigger at that [hsmile] its just his name so we're used to it, most other ppl dont know his middle so its no problem but if it was his surname im not so sure he's have got off so easily.

thats no use at all really is it? sorry [hblush]

Scathac · 09/07/2011 16:55

I taught a boy once called Billy James XXX - his parents always called him BJ and no-one ever commented. These slang terms go in and out of "fashion" and you just don't know what's coming along next, so you have to just go for it.

BTW I have a friend whose surname is "Dick". She says it was never a problem when she was growing up, but now everyone sniggers when she says it (she is a teacher too)

I also had a colleague called Bastard (really true - she pronounced it B'stard with the emphasis on the second syllable). She just fronted it up and after the first couple of days with a new class, the kids simply accepted it.

BernadetteRostenkowski · 09/07/2011 13:47

My initials were BJ before I got married, it was never, ever a problem. Not at school, university or in work.

Plus, adding a middle name won't help anyway. Most people never know what your middle name is anyway, at school my middle name was never read out, written down or used in any way. My name was always Bernadette J......, not Bernadette Mary J.....