Thoughts on having a really rare name?

Depends what you mean by rare?
A girl I knew was called Pariece, she was forever getting called Paris or Patrice.
And another caller Lalette would get called Arlette.
Also a boy in my ds nursery is called Dermuid, but not pronounced like Dermot, more like Dermod

I have an unusual name. I go through stages of liking it and hating it. I’ve contemplated changing it but haven’t done as I don’t want to upset my parents.
People always have a comment and I did get a lot of stick at secondary school.

Because of the love/hate relationship I have I gave my dc traditional names.

I’m called Vada. (Was named after the character in ‘my girl’ but obviously get ‘darth’ a lot)

I usually tell Starbucks I’m DD’s name. Sometimes, life’s too short to spend ten minutes spelling my real one out and answering lots of questions about where it comes from.

No one, except for his dad and son has this name. He loves it as he says everyone remembers him. And when he goes to Starbucks he tells them his name is Bob.

Exactly!

You need to tell us the names. There’s a fine line between ‘wtf’ and ‘that’s unusual, how lovely..’

I have both an unusual first name and an unusual last name. I don't mind the last name so much but hate having to keep repeating and spelling out my first name, only for people to still get it wrong. I also have no anonimity at all. Search my name on the internet and all you get is ... me! I'd really rather have had a more common first name.

My issue with unusual names is that it’s does mean that the child will lose a degree of anonymity.

If you want to promote your company or yourself online, it helps a lot to have a rare name. How on earth could a John Smith or Harry Jones ever stand out?!

In other words, the anonymity can be a disadvantage.

I have a rare, vair posh name. It isn't a pretty name. I have always disliked it but it isn't on the weired spectrum, for example, Araminta.

I love going to Starbucks. I get frisson of excitement when I say my name is Anne. Sometimes they spell it An

My DH has a unique name. No one, except for his dad and son has this name. He loves it as he says everyone remembers him. And when he goes to Starbucks he tells them his name is Bob.

Zebrakid, you sound exactly like my dd - hating the focus being on her. I do hope she embraces her full name when she is older s you did. She tells me now that if schoolfriends who know her only by the short version hear the full version they all say "Oh that is lovely" so maybe.

Anything but Abcd

Sorry year (not tea )

My older daughter has a very rare name. never met another one and doesn't appear on any lists. It is a real name though, looks and sounds normal and is very lovely (imo). I gave it to her because I loved it and loved its meaning and history.

She was driven demented by people not being able to pronounce it properly - it isn't weird spelling or pronounciation just that people don't know the name so a lot of them pronounce the vowel sounds wrongly. She hated the attention it brought to her having to correct people so when she went to high school she went by a shortened version instead - which is itself a more usual name. I suspect her sister would have loved the attention so it depends on the child.

DH has a very unusual name too and he was absolutely adament that his son would have a normal name - dh's name did not help him in the schoolyard. I think unusual names are more usual now though. He grew up in a time/place where boys were John/Jim/Tom.

My name is rare, but it’s not particularly nice either. There seems to be an automatic assumption that unusual names are nice on here but not really sure where it comes from

Our ds's name was used only 13 times the tea he was born, so it's rare, but at the same time it is well known and super easy to say and spell.

Our second DD is due in Feb and we've picked a name that isn't popular at all anymore! It was back in the late 1400's/ early 1500's but not so much now.

I have a pretty rare name, with a spelling that causes quite a lot of faces. Growing up, I hated it precisely because of the lack of anonymity thing. Now I love it because of that.

Once people meet me and my weirdly spelled weird name, they don’t forget me.

I don't get the Starbucks issue... Just because a name is not common or popular doesn't mean that it's long or complicated?!

There are thousands of normal easy to spell names outside the top 500.

I think there's rare and there's try hard. It's a fine line.

Ultimately you have to go for something that you like and you think they will like (or won't hate) when they are an adult, regardless of whether it's rare or popular.

If it's a name, then there is no problem imo. You can give them a more common middle name in case they want to switch to something mor anonymous.

If it's a "thing" then it's difficult to say without knowing the name but remember you are naming an adult human, not just a baby.

My daughter has a very unusual name but it's a proper name, ie people know what I'm saying and how to spell it. I know of one other in real life, 1 actress and 1character in a film with her name. We LOVE the fact shes really the only one! Whether she does or not remains to be seen. She can adapt it into a more mainstream nickname quite easily if she doesn't . We got some really rude reactions when she was born tho! (From strangers, not family)

We sometimes seem to forget WHY we name a person (or thing)! The main purpose is identify that person! And that's much easier if the person doesn't share the same name as lots others.

Also - whenever I go to Starbucks I tell them my name is Sarah!

OK as long as it isn't too long and unpronounceable.

I prefer older, more established and ordinary names but have no objection to something unusual if it sounds good.

Wish you would tell us what names you're thinking of.