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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

DM says she won't have anything to do with new baby if we call him

79 replies

Jackieharris · 16/04/2015 09:42

Sean Patrick (ok the Patrick bit was a wind up as she hates Irish names)

But I don't think of Sean as that Irish anyway.

I started another thread a while ago about the awful baby names she has suggested and they just keep coming:

Richard (Dick?! Are you kidding me!)
Paul
Douglas
Donald
Egbert
Edward (ned = chav in Scotland)
Graham

She says these are timeless names but they aren't. They are horribly dated baby boomer names.

we are aware our DCs will probably see them as trendy

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Original poster

Jackieharris · 18/04/2015 12:07

Co incidentally we'd also picked a Irish girls name if it had been a girl. She really liked it. I think it is just a boy thing.

She only likes douglas if no nicknames is strictly enforced. I tried to explain that doesn't work once they get to school but she insists otherwise!

OP posts:

Lunastarfish · 18/04/2015 11:56

*decent not decency!!

Lunastarfish · 18/04/2015 11:55

I have a soft spot for Douglas. I just think a baby Doug would be so cute!

Anyway, I am pregnant with a girl. I saw my MIL spend months trying to convince her daughter not to use a particular name (funnily enough also an Irish name - they have no Irish decency) but SIL named her daughter that regardless. Because of this DP and I just keep telling everyone that the babies name is a secret and refuse to discuss names (other than to make really crazy suggestions, for fun).

The name we have chosen is uncommon but not crazy (it is frequently sugested on MN forums) that said I know eyebrows will be raised when it is mentioned and it was bloody hard work finding a name we both like so I don't want any one making suggestions and trying to talk us out of it.

Sean is a fine name.

drspouse · 18/04/2015 09:43

Egbert's pretty English too.

Original poster

Jackieharris · 17/04/2015 22:50

We didn't tell her. The DCs let it slip.

I think hope she was joking with the Egbert suggestion.

OP posts:

AbbeyRoadCrossing · 17/04/2015 22:07

This is why I don't tell anybody the names I'm considering, then when they're born people are less likely to tell you they hate the name.
Saying that it's obvious my parents hate DS's name, too Welsh apparently. Even though my mum is Welsh

LittleIda · 17/04/2015 21:56

She thinks of Egbert as a timeless name?

Original poster

Jackieharris · 17/04/2015 18:44

Sycamore- it's more the latter that she is aware of sectarianism in the wider community. It isn't an issue in the pocket we live in but I've lived in other pockets where it is. Eg kids who go to the different schools but live on the same street not so much as having eye contact with each other. There are also still local issues of employers checking what school someone went to before giving them a job (ie is it a st school). I suppose she thinks if he has a name that would suggest to some bigots that he was on one side of the line then she thinks that could cause problems for him. But I just don't think Sean is that kind of name. I see it as fairly neutral.

As for edward-there's a reason it isn't as popular in Scotland as England- King Edward wasn't too nice to the Scots!

OP posts:

drspouse · 17/04/2015 14:39

I know a baby Douglas and a toddler Edward and also a preschool Graham though he lives in an English speaking country other than the UK.
The Edward goes by his full name as far as I know, maybe Teddy as a baby name.

mateysmum · 17/04/2015 14:33

Sean is a fine name.

My nephew is Richard and is well under 30. Nobody has ever called him Dick.

Edward is also a fine traditional name, but I guess there are local issues.

sycamore54321 · 17/04/2015 14:26

Am I coreect in understanding that it nothing to donwith her not liking the name, in the same way we all have individual tastes, but rather that she is a sectarian bigot? Or, a slightly more charitable interpretation, that she believes your chikd wilk grow up in a society of sectarian bigots? If so, I think this is a huge issue thatbyou need to address with her in case she is perpetuating these awful sectarian views through her contact with all of your family.

Stick to your own idea, which is what I would say in any case, but even more so in the face of such small-mindedness.

nooka · 17/04/2015 06:12

I don't particularly like Sean, and your mum's suggestions sound perfectly OK to me (in fact not wildly dissimilar), but that's not really the point, it's your child and you can call him whatever you choose.

As you now she's not going to follow through on her threat I think I'd just try and ignore her. Hopefully it's not too long before your small Sean arrives?

FixItUpChappie · 17/04/2015 04:29

Why are you even entertaining her suggestions? it's your child - name him what you want and she can get stuffed.

Patrick is a marvellous name by the by.

Original poster

Jackieharris · 17/04/2015 04:28

What's ironic is that when I was young she said her mil didn't like the name she'd picked out for me so was pushed into giving me my name!

OP posts:

BlissfullyIgnorant · 17/04/2015 00:17

Count your blessings, OP...my MIL strongly recommended "StJohn Alasdair"

cece · 16/04/2015 23:49

FWIW I like your MIL names - well some of them. In fact one of them is my DS1's name!
I actually don't think they are old fashioned. I do however, think Sean is quite dated - 1980s.

cece · 16/04/2015 23:46

FWIW I like your MIL names - well some of them. In fact one of them is my DS1's name!
I actually don't think they are old fashioned. I do however, think Sean is quite dated - 1980s.

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 16/04/2015 23:18

Jackie

why don't you tell her to stop offering you ideas?
tell her you are going to be futuristic and call baby Nano Technology? Nano Tech for short.

when I was pg with #5 I got so fed up with everyone bugging me about names I started telling people who asked that baby will be called Yoda Shark (boy) or Yoda Yogurt (girl). Sometimes I manged to keep a straight face and explained that these were our children's ideas (true) and we can't think of anything better so why not (fib).

downside was that having repeated those options mny times I grew quite fond of the name Yoda
(we named him Isaac btw )

Allthatnonsense · 16/04/2015 22:04

Your DM sounds like a formidable lady.

HermiaDream · 16/04/2015 22:03

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Original poster

Jackieharris · 16/04/2015 20:23

Now she's come out with 'Jonathan'.

I think that's her idea of 'modern'.

No, mother, no.

OP posts:

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 16/04/2015 16:58

Aye

Paddy is quite Irish to me though.

squoosh · 16/04/2015 16:56

Patrick is as Irish as George is English.

Not very.

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 16/04/2015 16:53

Patrick is not an Irish name?
Off to consult Prof Google

ApocalypseThen · 16/04/2015 15:16

Oddly, Sean is an Irish name, but Patrick isn't. If you want to really get her goat, Sean Padraig is a heart attack maker.

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