If you decided on an unusual name did you every regret it?

PS I know two baby/toddler Enids!

I'd reiterate other people who've said the names you think are unusual might not turn out to be. We were really surprised when we had dc1 3 years ago what the latest names trends were. I was thought my husband's choices, Freddy and Alfie, were completely out there but they're actually amongst the most popular. Names that I thought were bog standard, David, Stephen, Ben now seem to be quite out of fashion and toddler groups round here are heaving with the likes of Herbert, Algie, Elsie, Hugo and Evelyn. I think anything goes nowadays-except Gavin or Sheila, I think they would be considered truly unusual for a newborn!

discrete "whilst vaguely being of an ethnicity coherent with us" LOVE your turn of phrase!

I consider my name unusual - I've never net another, registration stats show between 0 and 8 people registered with my name annually. But it's easy to spell, easy to say, and there are no issues working out the pronunciation from seeing it written down.

The name I chose for DS is similar - occasionally appearing in registration statistics, but never more than half a dozen a year, easy to spell and say. I love it, no regrets. We originally were going to go with something more mainstream but after announcing the original choice to family we realised it was wrong.

i think that you're right to wonder whether giving your child an unusual name is the right thing to do or not, I have a perfectly ordinary name but it's spelt differently and I get so incredibly bored of people asking me where the spelling comes from? how it's pronounced? what an unusual name etc.
My advice would be would the name be to look at the name very critically from an outside perspective, do you think it will reflect badly when Dc goes for a job interview? will the name sound ok if DC wanted to be a lawyer? Doctor? Teacher?
How will it sound on their weddingday?etc

DS has an unusual name, I have never regretted it, not for a second. It was a name we thought hard about and chose as we love it. We still love it!

Love Ezra btw.

I read with interest, although way past baby naming stage. Thought long and hard about baby names. Any suggestion over ruled by DH because of his prejudice from university. I loved all these names, except perhaps the Quintus variations. See below HIS prejudice:

Lily, Ivy, Rosie, Lottie all too 19th century??!!!!
Lucy dismissed as "loose elastic", Sophie, " soapy ###^^"
Chloe, too perfume.
Tess, too Hardy.
Polly put the kettle on.
Jack the Ripper
Arthur and Camelot.
Merlin, Marley, Morpheus, too sci fi
Moses, Isaac too Old Testament
Quentin, Quintus, Quinn, all dismissed, slang, not going there.
Any name that could be shortened to a unisex dismissed, no Alex, no Charlie, no reason given.
I wanted easy to write letters, so teacher didn't dismiss child as struggling to grasp alphabet in reception. Two or three letter names both of them. Ours are called Id and Ego, no just joking!
Friends had Zin, no one questions, entirely brilliant, totally suits, phonetically spelt. Other friends had Xander, now quite common apparently, slightly unusual at the time.
I reckon there could be a backlash. Susan, John, Anne, Peter, Timmy, omg, it is Famous Five. Anyone for Enid? . You mark my words ; ). Xxx

I read with interest, although way past baby naming stage. Thought long and hard about baby names. Any suggestion over ruled by DH because of his prejudice from university. I loved all these names, except perhaps the Quintus variations. See below HIS prejudice:

Lily, Ivy, Rosie, Lottie all too 19th century??!!!!
Lucy dismissed as "loose elastic", Sophie, " soapy ###^^"
Chloe, too perfume.
Tess, too Hardy.
Quentin, Quintus, Quinn, all dismissed, slang, not going there.
Any name that could be shortened to a unisex dismissed, no Alex, no Charlie, no reason given.
I wanted easy to write letters, so teacher didn't dismiss child as struggling to grasp alphabet in reception. Three letter names both of them.
Friends had Zin, no one questions, entirely brilliant, totally suits, phonetically spelt. Other friends had Xander, now quite common apparently, slightly unusual at the time.
I reckon there could be a backlash. Susan, John, Anne, Peter, Betty, Paul. You mark my words ; ). Xxx

aaargh, my head is about to explode with needing to know all of these wonderful names....

I want the name Caoimhe for DC3 (if it's a girl). Problem is that having had an unusual name I wouldn't want to burden one of my children with an odd name.

I don't mind it as much now, but I longed to be a Samantha when I was little, a Samantha with a headband that hand my name on it. My mum very kindly got me a fridge magnet that had a cute rhyme about having a special and rare name. It didn't help.

I've still to meet another person with my name.

I get 'cred'. I'm memorable, me. So I get a lot of work (freelancer relying on word of mouth). I was born with a very dull name (Kate) but my Dad hated it and gave me a funkier name when I was 2 or 3. And I love it. It's not unique, it's an old Welsh name.

discrete. That is quite an important point that people need to take into consideration.

I have two cousins who moved to Sweden when they were young. There names are Johnathan and Timothy. Timothy, not too bad but Jonathan became Yownatan, he later moved to Spain, another country where his name is impossoble. However he has a perfectly acceptable normal name in England.

one of the 'ard' girls in my school had an unusual name. no-one bullied her in school.

bullying will look for something to focus on - if not your name then something else, if you are the target. if you are the perpetrator it doesn't matter how daft your name is - it won't focus on you.

i think now more people are moving away from the standard run of names anyway, who is to say what will be unusual in a few years time. i like to think people are more tolerant of difference in appearance and names than used to be the case though i am probably wrong

Well, I was given a very bog standard name...for the country I was born in.

Unfortunately it was not bog standard and all but unpronounceable in the countries I spent much of my life in.

I have given my dc names that are easy to pronounce in many languages, while still being vaguely of an ethnicity coherent with us. They are unusual in many countries, but at least they don't get mangled quite as badly as mine did!

Many bog standard English names are impossible in other languages.

"If anything I think the unusually named kids get 'cred' in later years from their peers."

Not in my experience.

I just think it's extraordinary that people say things lik "my children have very unusual names, and I've never had any trouble" or "I've developed a thick skin" or "ii love the name so it's all right"

It's not you that has to spend 80 years explaining your name to everyone you meet! If only people would remember that their child is going to grow up and have their own life....

..not an unusual name!

My dcs love their unusual names.

I find it funny when people think that less common used names which everybody knows about are unusual. To me a name that is known (whether it is in frequent use or not) is not an usual name.

Different spellings of names to make them different doesn't make them unusual.

Go for the name you love whether it is common or unusual and you'll never regret it.

As someone with a very boring, inelegant name, I would have loved to have had an unusual name. I think it's true that kids will be bullied for anything so calling them something outlandish will not compound this. If anything I think the unusually named kids get 'cred' in later years from their peers.

I also wish all those in the thread would reveal their unusual names!

Think it depends on the name doesn't it?
DD1 has a very unusual name and I love it. I saw DD2's name years ago and have loved it since; it has now become really popular apparently, although we don't know any others. She's only a few months but I do love it.
I have a very unusual name and don't like it so much, but not because its unusual, just because I am not do keen...

I have one DC with an unusual name and two with popular names. I regret the popular names much more and am annoyed at DH for talking me into them

DC2 has an unusual name and I still adore it 5 years on.

DC3 has a top ten name. I find myself really wishing she didn't have that name.

ooops, i also love it and do not regret it.

I've never met anyone with the same name as my DS, it is also similar to Callum, but not. Wondering if it the same as InSPsFanjoNoOneHearsYouScream 's DS

My dd's have unusual names, haven't experienced any problems so far.

On the flip side I have a very common name which attracts a great deal of wearying attention and teasing in itself.

Maybe we just have to accept that there are no perfect names and all of them have potential for grief somewhere down the line.

Fuck it.

Just choose one you like.