Why is there such negativity regarding the middle names Mae/May, Rose & Grace?

General Ps and Qs
We'd appreciate it if you could use the same courtesy when posting messages on Talk as you would use when speaking to someone face to face. Please do bear in mind how difficult this parenting business can be, and if there's one thing all of us could do with, it's some moral support.

Would you approach a stranger and tell them what a dull, pointless name they've given their child?

No, you'd probably be tactful and say something along the lines of 'It's not for me, but...' or maybe 'It's a shame it's so popular' etc...

That's exactly the point i'm trying to make. Express opinions by all means, there would be little point in the forum else. But don't go overboard with criticism unless you'd quite happily do that to someone's face.

That's because we don't want to be polite LuckyOwl. If you ask for opinions on MN you get them, warts and all.

There are other, "nicer" parenting forums if you prefer the "ur babe ur choice hun x" approach...

mine were born 12 and 10 years ago and got saddled with Jane and Rose respectively for middle names - just because they sounded nice with their first names... so :P

DDs middle names are Grace and May, named after paternal great-grandmothers (my side's alternatives were Phyllis and Myrtle).

Sorry if they're boring but I got lumbered with Louise which I quite like

Because every single baby girl I know born in the last 2 years locally has one of these names as a middle name or first name, usually Rose though.

There are so many gorgeous names for girls I cant understand why everyone has to pick the same name. My Ds's class will
be full of Rose and Something-Rose, I pity the teacher.

My dd's middle name is one of these names - named after my granny who died when I was pregnant. Who cares if it's boring or overused? It's beautiful and special to me...I expect most other parents who chose it as a middle name think it's beautiful for their daughter too.

Incidentally I have one of the hated seventies middle names but as a first name. I used to love meeting people who 'shared' my name!

Because there is a difference in offering your opinion and being directly insulting to those people who may have the names themselves and/or have named their children with these names.

Some people appear incapable of expressing their opinions in a polite way, and I've seen it time and time again on this forum (particularly on this subject).

Some people may not be offended, but others certainly will when a child's name they may have put much thought into becomes branded as 'dull', 'pointless' or 'lacking in identity'.

Everyone has opinions, of course. Everyone also has feelings and I think people should be more tactful when expressing opinions on a personal subject such as baby names.

Why is offering an opinion, on a discussion forum, 'opinionated LuckyOwl. It makes me laugh when people come on here and give out to people for offering an opinion and say 'its none of your business' what someone calls their baby/whether someone likes a particular name or whatever. I always want to ask 'Well, what are you doing on a discussion forum called baby names then'?

Grace is too religious? My middle name is Grace, and it never occurred to me that it was remotely religious. It just means I am graceful, like a ballerina!

Agree that it's been done to death now though.

My middle name is May! I quite like it..? I think it's just a bit old fashioned.

Always make me laugh how opinionated people can be on here, especially regarding baby names!

Well, that's usually because people are asking for opinions There wouldn't be any point if everyone just said "Oh yes, lovely!" to every suggestion for fear of being thought "rude".

I feel I must add our names do not include any in the title, although I am a Louise (middle name)

Always make me laugh how opinionated people can be on here, especially regarding baby names!

Who are we to say someone else must give their child a name with a purpose?

Great if you have a relative with a name you like that you can pass on to your child. But maybe you don't.

Maybe you don't like names that have some fancy foreign, ancient meaning. Maybe you just like the sound of the name, or it really suits your surname.
Why is that bad?

I personally think there are many more important factors which 'identify' a person, a name is just a starting point.

Either way everyone has their own reasons for choosing their own child's name! Even if we wouldn't choose them ourselves, we don't have to be so rude

I'm just chuffed me and the other half finally agreed on names, thought we were never going to get there!

Agree they are overused. My nan's name is Grace which makes it a very obvious middle name choice, but I would hesitate a bit because of its popularity.

at "name geeks". Yes, that is definitely true. I don't think anyone should take our name geekery personally!

I'm with schplappo. I have an unpronounceable unusual first name and a middle name that is technically a male one (surname). As a result of hating my name growing up and wishing desperately that I were called Jane (or Rose or Louise or Grace or anything like that), DD's middle name is Jane. Her first name isn't unpronounceable or too unusual.

I wanted her to have the choice I didn't get. She can have her first name or a simple middle name instead of being lumbered for life with a name she hates. Caveat: I don't hate my name anymore, I just dislike it.

I used to like May and Rose as middle names, before I realised that virtually every little girl has them - really, of all the white British children I know (and I am a supply teacher, so I know lots) the number of -May and -Rose names is just unbelievable. Today I taught Ellie-Mae, Kieri-Rose, Gracie-Mae, Lillie-May and Freya-Rose, and that's just the hyphenated ones

it's almost like we are acquiring a mannerism where we have to say "May" or "Rose" after every girl's name to show that it's a girl... like "Daniel San"

I have a very unusual middle name - I've never met anyone else unfortunate enough to be lumbered with it - and have spent my life trying to avoid telling people what it is. I say go for something that sounds nice and isn't weird. So what if lots of others have it too.

I know a baby Trudy which may well be short for Gertrude or maybe Ermintrude .
I dont think Grace or Rose are overused as mn though May/Mae does seem to be popular.When I was young everyone was *** Ann[e]

Sasparillo, nobody is saying anything about a person's character, whether horrible or lovely.

What we are doing is answering your op question as to why people find the names May/Grace/Rose overused.

I think they're nice names,particularly Grace.

As an aside I've noticed that most of these names are hard to pair with another name if they are in first name spot. Maybe that is another reason they are so often used as middles?

They're just over used now. As Louise was.

I've not read all the responses but to answer the OP, my opinion is that these middle names are simply used too often these days. There are so many names to choose from, it seems a shame to give our kids the same few names.....

I really am going... But 'placeholders'? Really?
You sound delightful.

Only that names like Mildred and Persephone seem to be swooned over on this forum, and for some of the reasons cited on here, i.e. because people want to be original or different. Didn't say anything wrong with them. We didn't want to choose them because we wanted to use family names. And it seems will be judged for doing so by people like the ones on this thread. You can't really pull me up on something and then say other names serve their purpose of identification 'better'. Yes, maybe according to you.
Am stepping away from this thread so lot can continue to bitch about how wonderful and diverse you all are.