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Baby names

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Original poster

Will Ophelia be perceived as pretentious?

67 replies

RTchoke · 04/11/2012 08:48

I love the name Ophelia but am worried that people will think it's pretentious. DDs 1&2 have much more common names, both only 4 letters, but I want to go more unusual for DC3.

I also love Dora (Dorothea) and Juno.

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OpheliaPayneAgain · 04/11/2012 09:21
Hmm
MrsWolowitz · 04/11/2012 09:20

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Nancy66 · 04/11/2012 09:19

I know an Ophelia - and she had to endure endless

' Can i have Ophelia tits' style comments

Original poster
RTchoke · 04/11/2012 09:15

It's true that the Hamlet tale is very sad. For me personally it has happy connotations as my late mother played Ophelia as her first big role as an actress. I appreciate nobody else would know that.

I find naming children very hard! I expect my nerves will set in and we will end up with something much more normal.

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MrsWolowitz · 04/11/2012 09:07

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PosieParker · 04/11/2012 09:07

I don't think it's pretentious, it is a name afterall. But the scope for teasing is immense.

Hassled · 04/11/2012 09:05

Ophelia does sound pretentious. Also - she went completely mad and drowned herself. Not really the sort of association you want.

Dora and Juno are nice.

HappyTurquoise · 04/11/2012 09:05

Ophelia is pretty until you think about the Hamlet character going mad and killing herself. As there is a bit of a history of mental illness and depression in my family mix (a couple of suicides and bipolar) I wouldn't use that name and would think parents using it were...odd.

notnowImreading · 04/11/2012 09:05

It's lovely as long as there's no way your surname could make it funny with I-feel-ya... jokes, e.g. Bum or suchlike.

WinkyWinkola · 04/11/2012 09:04

Pretentious in what way exactly?

Pochemuchka · 04/11/2012 09:00

I think it's a beautiful name but if your other DDs have more 'common' names (nothing wrong with that, so does my DD) then I would probably choose something a little more like their names as otherwise it mightn't 'fit' IYSWIM

Also, when they get older the others might wonder why DD3 got the more unusual name.

Do either of the other two on your list fit better with your other DDs' names? Both of those seem more down to earth.

Original poster
RTchoke · 04/11/2012 08:58

I'm not at all worried about "Dora the Explorer". DDs best friend is Lola and despite the popularity of Charlie and Lola I've never heard any comments. Dora is a classic name unlike Lola and in our area Charlie and Lola us better known than Dora the Explorer.

OP posts:
PinkFondantFancy · 04/11/2012 08:58

I think it's lovely. If you like it, why do you care whether anyone else likes it?

MrsWolowitz · 04/11/2012 08:57

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colditz · 04/11/2012 08:57

And possibly less pretentious than Titania.

colditz · 04/11/2012 08:57

It is but it's so pretty.

MrsWolowitz · 04/11/2012 08:56

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