What would you do if...

I think more or less any name goes now.

No matter what name you put out there. You will be able to please some of the people some of the time, but. Not all of the people all of the time.
I mean dont get me wrong
I know i said. Any nsme goes now, but.
If you're pondering on Stacey for a boy. There could be problems

People will always have an opinion: when it's a name you are just considering they will tell if and why they don't like it, once the baby has been given the name they will say it is lovely and have any other opinions behind your back. Go with what you like. There'll always be split opinions xx

"BertrandRussell I get where you're coming from but there are no guarantees either way are there, I'm sure plenty of kids called Joe or Laura don't like their name either!"

Of course no. But being called Joe or Laura is not actually going to make life more difficult. Some other names just might. So why risk it?

My daughter has a very normal name, not even old ladyish and you hear it fairly often (just checked and the year she was born it was in the second half of the top 200) but on the day we took her home from the hospital and were getting our car parking ticket, a lady overheard us saying her name and said "oh wow, she's the only X under 90!" We just smiled and carried on. Who cares what anyone else thinks?! It's not like we made the name up.

Lady Di, not Fi!

Amazed at Henry being "cruel". Nobody told Prince Charles and Lady Fi, then?

Oh use it! Also what is it?

YY to Henry being considered a bit odd a couple of decades ago. I remember telling a friend at school how much I loved the name Henry as I just liked the sound, and she laughed her ass off!

People might very well get used to a name like Horatio, but poor Horatio has to meet new people all the time, so people getting used to names isn't really a thing that helps the person with the name

I hate the "if you love it use it" line. If you love it change your own name to it unless you can be sure that your child will love it too.

If you both love it then tell us what it is use it!

I know a Horatio, he is neighbours grandson. He is 2.

Advice*

It depends so much on the name. I know you want advise on the situation but there isn't generic situational advice. I'd love you say, "if you guys love it, go for it!" but as a previous commenter has pointed out, it's your DC that has to live with it and if it is going to make their life even a tiny bit more awkward, don't do it. It's not fair.

My name was unusual and a little old-old-fashioned (it's since had a resurgence, thankfully) and I always used to have to spell it or correct people who thought it was something else. People would say things like, "oh, how unusual, I don't know any other Xs!" and my parents probably thought that made me feel special, but I just felt 'different' in a bad way. It sounds trivial but it didn't feel that way at school (doesn't help that we moved abroad for school for a bit and it's a boy's name there!)

I know a new baby called Colin which at first I found a bit strange and old manish but now (1 month in) it's just his name.

It really does depend on the name.

In my opinion Walter, for example, I think is awful. nn Walt (wart) and Wally are just terrible.

Horatio, on the other hand, might get a snigger but I think people would get used to it. I think it has a nice sound to it.

So to me, it really does depend on the name involved.

Ah is it Gregory - I think that's a great name and I've suggested it regularly on here. My eldest was almost Gregor (Scottish) and I wish we'd gone for it when it was down to the last two.

I don't see any issue at all.

I would use it. Our babies name isn't unusual or old fashioned etc just not heard much but we love it. If you both like it enough to have it as first choice, it shouldn't matter what other people think. There's been only one person who's raised eyebrows at our baby name but they're a bit fussy and expected us to name baby what they wanted to call him.

Unless it's a name that fell out of fashion for a particular reason such as Adolf then it's just really about fashion isn't it? I'm now wracking my brain trying to think of 1950's boys names.

Wayne
Gordon
Kevin
Donald
Brian
Paul
Graeme

Right.

Imagine yourself with the name at your first day at secondary school. Imagine that you haven't had your growth spurt yet, so you're small for your age, but, nature being what it is, you have got the spots already. You're terrified. A group of older boys asks your name. Happy to give it?
Great.

Now imagine that you're a young man managing a team of much older, rather rambunctious people. Is the name likely to cause a reaction? No?
Great.

Is it hard to spell or pronounce to the extent that the vast majority of people will have to ask or get it wrong- because that gets really wearing after a few thousand times?No?
Great.

In other words, is it likely that the name you give him is likely to make his life even slightly more difficult- particularly if he is less robust than you hope he will be? Because life can be really hard- you don't want to do something you can easily avoid doing that will make his life even a tiny bit harder.

I've never known Gabriel to be a 'cruel' name. I have a Gabriel, and the only person who ever objected to it was my ex's mother, who said he'd be called 'Gay'. She's a tool though.

If you like the name, and it grows with your child (that's a factor that's very important to me, too), then use it. It's the awful made up names that most people on here object to.

Not necessarily an issue. Gregory,
Conrad & Jerome all rank under 500 in the latest ONS stats. All perfectly sensible names.

Barbara, Joan or Patricia?

Will probably be very trendy by 2035. Go for it.