Somethings to consider when naming your DC

How is this a let's put down unusual names thread? It's a thread for people WITH unusual names. I love my name, and think it's fantastic I'm the only 'me' in existence, but none the less it is also a PITA at times.

There are many many names that fit in between the most commonly used and the more obscure. It's not an either or situation.

My DC both have single syllable first names that are unusual but very hard to misspell. Surprising how many people still manage it.

I have experienced most of those. Especially irritating is being told that I have spelt my name incorrectly.

I love my name and it is spelt incorrectly; my dad, who has never spelt anything incorrectly in his life, got it wrong on my birth cert

I have an uncommon (only met one other) first name but it's very easy to spell - no one has ever spelt it wrong.

I had a very unusual maiden surname that I would always spell out before being asked - I've now got a very common surname which can be spelt on it's own or with an e on the end - I find it more annoying to have to say without an e. My name is spelt wrong far more nowadays.

I gave my kids first names that are uncommon as I really liked having an uncommon name and being the only one. Dh was desperate for them to have uncommon names too as he is a simon from the 70's and was one of many.

The number of threads we see where people are trying to avoid "very popular names, say top 100 or preferably top 200" ... that still leaves literally hundreds of names between popular and uncommon.

I can never remember how many Ls or Ts the various Elliots in my life have. I daresay I frequently get them wrong. I have a "spelt two possible ways" name and don't take offence if people use the wrong one.

I'm sure some people do love their unusual names but for me, it's a total PITA

'Equal opportunites name bashing on Mumsnet from Oliver to Ptolemy'

Equal opportunites name bashing on Mumsnet from Oliver to Ptolemy.

People on these threads constantly "put down" popular names Journey referring to them as "dull", "meh", " overused" etc....

So it's just another "lets put down unusual names" thread. Funny how people with unusual names don't do the same for common names. Perhaps they don't have a chip on their shoulder.

My dcs all have unusual names. They love them and wouldn't want a common name.

You could easily make a list of "16 things only people with common names will understand" but when you're happy with what your dcs are called the need to put down other people's names seems rather pathetic.

I have a very common first name, anyone at primary school in the 1970s will have had one of me at least in their class. I also had a relatively common surname.

I changed my name on marriage, not only does my dh have a double barrelled foreign first name, his surname is very uncommon, even in his father's home country. In fact everybody in the world with this surname is related. In the uk, it's mil, fil, the 5 of us, and bil's family of 4.

Therefore my name is completely unique, I'm the only one in the whole world (and as far as we know, the only one there has ever been - same for our dc!)

It's also mildly rude in English, just to finish it off nicely!

Both my names are weird (well foreign actually), and I have it where they make an attempt at my first name and ignore the second name altogether. However, I do like having a unique first name (for UK anyway) and am over-protective of it, getting annoyed when I hear of any others . I'll be glad to be rid of the surname eventually though, it's just too much!

I'll probably have quite unusual names for my kids, but ones that are still fairly easy to pronounce/spell, and with more regular middle names just in case.

I have a really common first name (four in my primary school class), a fairly well known last name, and DH has a really common first name (though it's Welsh and we live in England) and a last name that must be in the top 10.

We still get people misspelling all four names. I can't think that anyone has misspelled all of them on the same document, but we've had up to 3 on the same envelope. Including from family (I think one family member who shares my last name spelled all the other 3 wrong).

We also get people who can't pronounce his first name (quite often, even in the UK, though it is one of those Welsh names suffering from vowel deficiency) and also who think that his spelling of his last name makes it pronounced differently to the alternative spelling (it doesn't, they are both pronounced the same).

My first name has a longer version too so that confuses people, who can't spell the longer version, or even pronounce it. Think someone called Eliza short for Elizabeth and them pronouncing Elizabeth "E Lyza Beth" or more like "ElizaBeeeth". So mis-pronouncing my full first name to make an impossible pronunciation that nobody has ever heard of, rather than a very common if slightly longer girl's name.

I had an official email come back recently with something like Lisbeth - wrong first letter, completely wrong spelling - from someone who had an official document with the right spelling right in front of them. In the same email (in reply to one from DH's email address with his name correctly spelled in the header) his first name was also misspelled.

So it really doesn't seem to matter how common your name is.

That certainly must be very annoying for you Jennifer.

My name is Jenny, it's a very common and normal name so you'd think I shouldn't have problems. But I get called Jennifer all the time. Now I don't mind it being shortened to Jen, but why actually lengthen it to something that isn't even my name??? ARGH

ps. I know jenny can be short for Jennifer but its a name in its own right too

yep, all of those apply!

I do not have a weird name, but it is the Hungarian spelling of a well-known English name so I have to spell it out every fecking time.
and check it on documents, blood samples etc.

obviously it's a fluke and can't blame my parents for not predicting that I'd marry and Englishman!

Oh yes. The automatic phonetic, international alphabet spelling out.

The are many many forms with a squiggle and a crossing out where I've not been allowed to fill it in myself. Say for instance my name was Kloe (it's not) so the evil form filler will write CH before you can begin to say K... So they correct the c to a K, so now it looks funny, then you explain there's no H... So now you have

Stupid looking K, squiggle, L, O, E. Sigh.

Have married a man with a normal name.

Oh, we should clearly just all agree to call our offspring George, Harry, Louis, Sam, or Ella, Grace, Lily and Mia.

I tend to wonder whether the people who come out with this kind of guff live in some kind of sealed monocultural dome - don't you ever get out and meet people from other places and cultures, who speak other languages, and have a completely different appreciation of what is 'normal' in naming terms? Who may not be primarily thinking of your comfort zone and ability to spell when naming their child?

Or that your Sam or Grace may go and live somewhere where those are really strange, unspellable names that provoke raised eyebrows and endless spelling requests?

I just don't see why people can't spell Charmayne-lulabelle or mayson-dextyer. I really get offended when I have to write it down.

I had a very common first name and a pretty unusual surname so can see it from both sides.

All very true. There's another one- When a stranger gets your name right first time you automatically really like them.

Dd has an incredibly popular, normal name. There are a few spellings of it, although hers is the most common. It's taken 4 years and many people still spell it wrong. Despite me sending them cards/texts with her name in them they still spell it wrong!

I've a very unusual name and most of those points resonated with me. My children have what turned out to be incredibly mainstream names (wasn't particularly the intention, but I didn't want them to be quite as unusual as me) irritatingly both children have their names frequently misspelled, although I think that's just because we moved from the UK (I would never have imagined that anyone would write Alphie, or think it was a girl's name!)

I do love my name, but hate the 'Starbucks moment'. The other day I was at our local airport at 11 at night I was the only customer and they still insisted on knowing my name! Not that they ever then use it...

I have a BORING name. I was once one of four in a class. I have a dull surname too. At least you can't Google me!

My son's name isn't unique, but it is very uncommon.