Thoughts on having a really rare name?

Very unusual first name, coupled with very unusual, (French), surname. Thankfully I jettisoned the surname upon marriage.
Hated it. I spent half my life spelling it out, correcting people's pronunciation and nodding grimly as they said, "ooh that's different/weird/unusual isn't it? Where's that from then?" As a shy person, it's torturous. My mum actually recently apologised to me for saddling me with such an unusual name, (my siblings all have super common names; she got mine from a tv show!), she said if she'd known what a nuisance it would be for me she'd never have done it.
I have thought about changing it, but seems too late now I'm in my 40's.

I'm all for unusual names so long as they aren't made up, I had a top 5 name and I felt like I might as well have been given a number. They did indeed read a number after my name in class since there were 7 of us in the year. I absolutely hate my name. Currently I'm in a position in work where most of my colleagues are younger than me. My name really dates me, I'm only 32, but there are no 18-25 year olds with my name. So those are the main downsides to a popular name. Mine was probably considered pretty timeless before it disappeared.

Ariadne doesn't sound unusual to me though. I think there are lots of similar names like that at the moment, Ariana like the pop singer that make it sound popular. I prefer Arietty.

Isn't Ariadne from the borrowers? I think it's really pretty and I'm not a fan of a lot of unusual names

*liked!

Ariadne is a lovely name, it was on my list. I've looked it since I was a child too.

I have an unusual name. I used to also have an unusual last name (I was so very happy to change my last name when I married). No one ever seemed to be able to pronounce my name(s) growing up. I hated that my sister and brother, who had “normal” names, could get things with their names on it. They even had a choice of “normal” nicknames!

I always had to answer to however or whatever people would pronounce my name/call me because there’s only so many times you can correct people. I have one very good friend that just cannot pronounce my name - and she tries. 15 years and she is still trying (I no longer correct her, but she knows). (She’s very good to me, helpful in so many ways, goes out of her way for me over many years, so truly a good friend)

I have had important documents have to be redone because the name is misspelled.

When I introduce myself, if I have to say my name more than twice, I just make a joke of it and say I answer to anything.

Don’t lumber your child with weird names or bizarre spelling.

I have a very commonly used name and have never minded. DH has an unusual but 'known' name that he has always hated and resents his DM for what he considers to be her vanity in choosing it.
Our DC have one in a year group type names although subsequently DD's name has become very popular. When they were little my DC used always be sad that there were never any junky souvenirs with their names on!Children like to belong.

My name is very common, there are loads of us and would love to have a less popular name! But, only if it was a good name! Names are so subjective, as long as you both like it go for it!

Love your names. Ariadne in particular is lovely and not so rare that no one has heard of it.

@VforVloodyHell I agree that your name is gorgeous! It's actually on our shortlist!

Ariadne Oliver is a character in lots of Hurcule Poirot books. I think it's easy to spell and very lovely.

My brother's name was very rare when we were kids, but is now quite fashionable. He always said that he hated having a rare name, partly because people didn't always know how to spell it or said things like "what's that short for?" and partly because he could never get personalised stuff, whereas I could, as my name was pretty mainstream. Curiously, he never asked to be called by his much more conventional middle name, although (or perhaps because) our parents made it clear that they wouldn't mind. Now that his name is more popular he seems to be happier with it, or maybe he's just more mature and doesn't need to disagree with our parents all the time any more.

I wouldn't rule out using a rare name (although both of my DC happen to have quite common names just because they were the ones we could agree on, though DC1's name is not as common now as it was in my generation). If I did, I would want to use a more timeless middle name and make it clear right from the start that my DC had the right to use either, or any short form they preferred.

I think Ariadne is unusual these days but not odd. I suspect you will find a lot of people calling her Adrienne.

I worked with an Olan - he seemed to handle it just fine.

Ariadne is not a 'really rare' name!

I think Ariadne is absolutely fine! If she wants she can nick-name it easily enough, and there are options. I've a "proper" name but never met another until 4/5 years ago, and that was only through work. However I'm quite confident and loved being the only one, even through school, amongst all of the Sarahs and Beckys.

DD1 (10) had an Ariadne (pr arry-ad-knee) in her nursery class.

I like it, it's not unheard of but rare. And pretty.

The names we used are about the same level of unusualness as Ariadne though.

I'm actually surprised why anyone would not want a rare name? Rare defined as not widely used but easy to spell and say, and beautiful .

OP we didn’t use Ariadne in the end, simply because it wasn’t both of our favourite from the shortlist. It made it to our top 5, both times.
We like Greek myth names though and had Antigone on the list too.

Depends on what you mean by 'rare'. There was no other registered births with my sons name in his birth year or the year before so it really is rare although it's not 'weird' as such and it's easy to spell.
I always wished I had a rarer name in school, I envied the other people with more unique names, when there was 4 with my name in the year.

My son has a name that is unheard of in this country but well known in his father’s home Northern European country. Coupled with his unusual surname, everyone comments that it’s sounds cool so he loves it! He does always have to spell it out though.

Fine not fone!