Why the fashion for stupid names.

I came across a 10yr old called Hedge the other day poor boy was so shy and withdrawn while his mother screeched his name at him trying to get him to choose something from the menu

I'm sure Jorja Fox would love to know you're laughing at her name. She is 49yo. It is hardly a new thing to have a wacky name/spelling. Yes, she is Canadian, but perhaps someone saw her in CSI and thought 'what a pretty name and i like the spelling'.

Jorja Fox

I have an aquaintance who just named their son Neptune. Wacky and definitely not for me, but i quite like it!

I have a typically-70s firstname, an embarassingly naff 70s middlename and a hard to spell/pronounce surname. If it had bothered me that much I would have changed the lot, but 42 years on i'm ok with it.

@diodati Recent thread on the name StJohn/Sinjin. Perfect example of a stupid name.

@SnickersWasAHorse But St John isn't a stupid modern made up name. It's a very old name.

It is, but I think diodati's point was about someone who was thinking of using it but spelling it "Sinjin".

Celebrities often give outlandish names to their kids to show they are different and better than us mere mortals. Yes, I'm looking at people like you, Bob Geldof, Jamie Oliver, Jermaine Jackson. Then the mere mortals copy "because we like to think we're important too".

But St John isn't a stupid modern made up name. It's a very old name.

Recent thread on the name StJohn/Sinjin. Perfect example of a stupid name.

The interesting thing about names though is some old names would seem odd on a modern child. It's because we grew up with Richard, Ian and Kevin

Ballard
Wyndham
Tudor
For example. All names of people from the 1920s.

I always think that if parents are so damn keen on youneeq names...change their own name and live with it! Don't saddle poor child with a moniker like Flughafen or something, because it's zany.

In fact, if a name falls under the category of zany or wacky, then that is a good indicator that it is a bad choice.

(Then you get all those parents who are so desperate to think they are independent and one of a kind and think Alfie is so achingly cool and hip....like the 27 other Alfies that will be in their class)

Define a stupid name OP? It's the stupid spellings of perfectly nice names that irritates me. At our children's centre the other day I met a 'Jorja' (Georgia). Why? She also has a 5 year old Neveah. I can't bear that name.

Nothing wrong with an uncommon name at all, but make it so that your kid won't hate you when they are old enough to understand!

It is hard naming kids though. I loved Niamh when I was pregnant with DD but OH vetoed it because he's got a real dislike of names that aren't roughly spelled how they sound. He cannot wrap his head around Siobhan, no matter how many times I explain it's Irish!

I would get the European spelling if they weren't from a village outside Scarborough lol

I'm not sure fruityb but maybe Kristofer is a European spelling? But yes, I broadly agree with your point.

It's not so much the names it's the ridiculous spellings of them! I have known of a Char-Lee, a D-Jay, an Amillyia, a Kristofer.... you're just asking for their name to be spelt wrong forever.

My son had an uncommon name but it's not a ridiculous one. Everyone who hears it loves it but it's not like we called him Moonbeam.

Jorja ffs. Georgia is lovely as it is. Just leave it alone.

You're going to have to define your idea of "stupid" names.

My Son wouldn't believe me that Steve was a name - he'd never come across it!

Surely this just proves that all names start somewhere. It would be odd to have a child called Steve now, maybe not for you but for all their peers.

I grew up in a multicultural area and can honestly say I've never seen anyone bullied or thought of as strange for having an unusual name. Anything went. Only on here have I come across this attitude. Says a lot.

It's the apparently deliberate misspelling that gets me. Swapping i/e for y and the like. You're just going to give your child a lifetime of correcting people.

How on earth can you get worked up about someone else's name?

Not seeing evidence that anyone's 'worked up'.

How on earth can you get worked up about someone else's name? Surely if society were less judgy about other people's names then they will never have any issues with it. You are the problem, not the name. And fwiw my dd has a very normal and common name but I have no issue with whatever anyone wants to name their children.

While there's obviously a line to be drawn at downright ridiculous/unpronounceable/offensive names, I actually think this argument that "the poor child will be teased/not taken seriously/never get a job, etc." is exaggerated and wrong. So many kids have unusual names of all kinds these days that they really won't stand out as much as a Zebedee would have in a sea of Dans and Chrises and Emmas and Sarahs 30 years back. Likewise "cutesy" names like Alfie, Freddie, Daisy, Evie, etc. They may seem to some to be childish and unsuitable for an adult now, but in 20 years time the country will be full of grown-up Alfies whose name will just seem entirely fine and normal.

Live and let live I say.

Two that have made me lately are adding extra letters onto names e.g. Aimeee and spelling names that are pronounced differently e.g. Danyella but pronounced Danielle

Because not everyone has the same ideas of what is "stupid"

Unusual as in 'actual names but aren't commonly used' is fine by me.

Unusual as in trying to be youneeq then I can't help but judge the parent as they view their child as an extension of themselves like some kind of accessory. Therefore by giving their child a unique name what they're actually saying is I'm such an amazing parent and my child is so unique and special. Look how original and awesome I am because I've called my child Train River when you've called your child Thomas

Although if so many people are calling their children 'ridiculous' names it won't be so unusual and they shouldn't be teased about it.

We're in an extremely multicultural area so names vary a lot. I can't get worked up over someone else's name. I never saw anyone bullied over their name.

I was reading that somebody had named their daughter Darling! Might be cute for a toddler but not sure about a fully grown woman.