Gautham

I suspect the OP is a bit defensive as the name has already been selected and she associates it already with her cousin's boy. That's fair enough but it's worth considering that this feeling will be multiplied when the baby is born if people make Gotham City jokes or ask 'Are you a Batman fan then?'.

Good point Uri on a discussion board you get a discussion (amazingly enough) and discussions can go in directions not originally dictated by the person who starts the discussion!

OP If you wanted you could've also taken "5 seconds to google something"

Google "boys names that go with Gautham"

"Don't recognise the name? Take the 5 seconds it takes to Google something."

Look, people IRL are not going to Google a name before reacting to it are they? If you want to know what sort of IMMEDIATE reaction a name is going to get, then that's why you come to to sodding name forum.

As another poster said, one gets the impression you started this thread in order to make a point about something or other.

Username12345 Why so cranky? The point of name threads is to get an idea of the kind of thing that people think of a name - the kind of things that people IRL will also think but might be to polite to say.

No one here has said anything mean - if I was your cousin I would probably want to take the Batman thing into consideration. She can dismiss it if it doesn't bother her, but at least she'll know.

People are being helpful by giving you their honest first impression - not cruel or racist. IRL people won't be sitting there googling the name, but plenty of people will make a Batman association. It's worth knowing in advance surely?

Well, the batman references totally passed me by. I think it's a fairly well know Asian name.

Some of the comments are a bit

How about Gautham Alexander?

Username why do I get the feeling that you just started this thread in he way that you did, simply to prove some sort of point?

On the "Snowdrop" thread the OP had to give up on her preferred name choice because it was pointed out that, combined with her surname, it made a rather silly/amusing phrase. Canvassing for unfortunate associations is one of the main benefits of using an anonymous forum such as this.
It's not racist to not be aware of the origins of every name that could possibly be presented here. Nor is it racist to point out a very obvious association that will undoubtably be made to a name. It is more racist to suggest that a greater level of delicacy should be afforded names that are foreign.
If I was the OP I'd be grateful to have these insights in advance rather than be surprised my Batman comments down the track.

Krishna.

(Although, as it is, I actually don't think Gautham is too bad. I've heard worse.)

"It's an Indian name; some of the responses seems a bit er, ignorant."

Nonsense. If you are in an English-speaking context and your child will be living in an English-speaking context, you generally give your child a name which will not sound "funny" in said context. And if a name sounds funny, well, it will continue to sound funny even if people "know" that it comes from other country (and they may, in fact, not realize that it comes from another country).

I wouldn't call my child "Ben" or "Deborah" or "Imogen" or "John" in Japan (to give just a few examples) because they would sound funny. Doesn't mean the Japanese are "ignorant"; it's just that those names suggest unflattering things in Japanese.

Imagine if the word, I dunno, Emily, had some sort of funny connotation in, say, Turkish.

If I then went on to the Turkish version of mumsnet, and posted 'what do you think of the name Emily' with no other information, then I couldn't really get all po faced when everyone posted the very obvious joke? And especially not if I then stated that I knew everyone would make fun of it but still posted it with no helpful information anyway.

Well I am super ignorant then, because I assumed it was French!

my first thought was also Batman

'Gotum' is how my Gautham pronounces it

I agree with you Squoosh. BTW, I thought it was pronounced Gotham, never heard it in RL and genuinely thought OP was a Batman fan.

Regardless of its ethnic origin I think it's fairly reasonable to point out that Gautham will bring to mind Gotham City in the same way it was pointed out recently that Jezebel brings to mind the disreputable Biblical character. I would hesitate to give my child a name with very strong historical/cultural associations or linked to person who is perceived negatively, e.g. Adolf, and I don't think it is odd for people to point this put in these kinds of threads.

Well at least you've given up the silly 'Paddy' analogy. Small mercies I suppose.

Username if you had started with 'My cousin is Asian and is thinking of Gautham for her new DS but wants an English middle name to go with it - any suggestions?' this thread would have gone totally differently.

Equally a brief look at the baby name forum would have showed you the general tone of threads, and possibly the recent Balonz thread, and made you realise that not everyone is going to post love and kisses.

And many people on here have diverse social backgrounds and social lives but if you aren't into cricket, or meeting Asians of Tamil origin, you would never have heard the name Gautham. Or know it wasn't a made up name. And heaven knows, this forum has seen some weird made up names.

You were 'having a laugh' at the expense of the OP, which I which say is nasty, and I would also say that you, and others, acted in a very derogatory manner.

Many people 'have a laugh' on these boards. It's allowed you know. You think I and others acted in a 'very derogatory manner'. And I think you're being silly.

And there we have it, we each have an opinion on the other that the other most likely disagrees with.

I think you're looking at that from the wrong angle Username. Surely you should have looked around the baby names section, read the mood and then asked yourself 'will I be hacked off if strangers on an internet forum give anything aside from a straight answer to the question I pose?'

This is how these threads often go. You think I'm ill-mannered, I think you're taking it way too seriously.

Jai. That's a lovely name. Maybe Jai Gautham?