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Baby names

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

Original poster

Massive name wobble!

64 replies

namewobble · 06/05/2019 16:20

DS is around 1 and I'm just not sure about the name. I've never really been sure about it, and he has another very plain name (think Thomas/Matthew etc) which we could use.

Has anyone done this? He's starting to recognise his name and I don't know what to do!

The name is Roman. We liked it because it was unusual, but solid, with nice rounded sounds and it goes with our surname. But I just feel like it's a bit silly. What do Mumsnet think?

Context: we live in a university town, do media-y jobs. Friends kids names range from Poppy/Toby/Leo through to Wren and Athene. If I'm being brutally honest, I'm a bit worried about the class connotations of Roman, though I'd never admit it in public, and I do try not to think like that.

Opinions please!

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LipstickHandbagCoffee · 09/05/2019 21:53

Roman is a great name,I love it

Linny88 · 09/05/2019 21:51

I really dislike this name but mainly because I used to work with a child with the name who was particularly difficult....I’ve always thought it was a very Eastern European name rather than belonging to a particular class

MercyBodle · 07/05/2019 09:24

I'm not particularly keen on Roman, but don't strongly dislike it either. For me it just makes me think of Days of our Lives and American soapies (yes gives away my age as over 40) and I only watched the show a bit during my pregnancy. I don't think younger people make that connection though. I don't see it as a bad name though, just not one I would choose.

Try calling him the alternative name at home for a bit to see how much you prefer it. It's really up to you and not too late to change if it's important to you. If you change to a middle name you don't even need to make any official changes.

tdam · 07/05/2019 07:43

Love Roman and I'm not aware of any class connotations. If anything I imagine a boy that comes from a literary sort of family, or a somewhat arty one. It was on my list if this baby was a boy.

daisypond · 07/05/2019 07:19

I think the opposite to Petra.

TatianaLarina · 06/05/2019 22:06

Tudor is a classic Welsh name.

PetraRabbit · 06/05/2019 21:56

Roman is a really nice name. The only connotation I'd have in mind is that it's quite Eastern European, which is a good thing. I'd imagine a Roman to be much more private school than council estate if that is what you worry about. Keep the name.

pineapplepatty · 06/05/2019 21:07

Could be worse, could be Tudor.

I've taught a couple of them

DobbysLeftSock · 06/05/2019 20:40

I like it. Ex-teacher, can be a bit snobby about names. Never taught a Roman, so that gets it a tick. Nice sounds, strong / noble / intelligent connotations in my mind. Double tick. Easy to spell - big tick!!

Original poster
namewobble · 06/05/2019 20:34

You've done well there Turquoise, I had to make a very conscious effort to stop just addressing him as 'baby/the baby' and use his name!

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IncrediblySadToo · 06/05/2019 20:33

Honestly, it’s not too late to change it if you want to. Babies of a year will ‘answer’ to anything if you say it often enough. They’ll very soon ‘answer’ to a different name, they won’t have any recollection of the original name. Bonkers to say it’s too late to change it.

GlitterPixie · 06/05/2019 20:33

I really like it

RickOShay · 06/05/2019 20:32

I really like Roman.
Very cool kid at school was called Roman.
Fwiw I permanently wobble over dc1 and dc3 names Grin, dc2’s name is the only one I still like, I don’t love it though. I blame dh mostly.

TurquoiseAndPurple · 06/05/2019 20:30

And I think it's too late to change. My daughter is 11 months old and I feel like I'd confuse her so much to call her by a different name now! She's been answering to her name for months already!

Original poster
namewobble · 06/05/2019 20:29

Snowy I might have to eat my words here, but I'm not worried about him being picked on. He's such a sociable, confident little bruiser. We'll see, of course!

Eliza I walked past a pavement with 'ROMAN, MASON, FAWN' written on it and it set me in a bit of a spin. Embarrassing, but true.

Beagle that's nice! I hope he'll be polite.

We're all trying to pick names for who we hope they'll be, right? Or names we hope will give them space to be who they are? I was surprised how hard I found it, but then it did take us six months (and two goes) to name our cat, so....

OP posts:
TurquoiseAndPurple · 06/05/2019 20:24

Sorry I meant Thomas. My phone had a freak out.

TurquoiseAndPurple · 06/05/2019 20:23

I love Roman! Can't bare plain names like Thoma

Eliza9919 · 06/05/2019 20:17

What are the class connotations?

I wouldn't call my kid Roman fwiw.

Wheresmyvagina · 06/05/2019 20:13

I think it's too late to change it really. I don't love it but it's not awful.

SnowyAlpsandPeaks · 06/05/2019 20:12

I think the only issue you’ll have as a pp said is when they are covering roman history as kids can be unkind. I think it needs a very strong child to carry the name off. However I do like it.

BeagleMomma · 06/05/2019 20:11

I'm a teacher so can often have an eye roll at names; but I have a very lovely Roman in my current class, so I like it :)

Original poster
namewobble · 06/05/2019 20:06

I'm intrigued SimonJT and trying to guess it!

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Greedycushionhoarder2 · 06/05/2019 20:05

I'm over 40 and I love it, used to know a very nice well mannered little bit called Roman.

SimonJT · 06/05/2019 20:03

I like the name Roman, my son is also named after a group of people/time in history.

IncrediblySadToo · 06/05/2019 19:58

IF you want to change his name, then no, it’s not an issue. He would soon recognise his new name. Honestly, it’s not a big deal.

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