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Baby names

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

Help! Can I get away with this name or should I forget it and move on?

84 replies

Welikethemoon · 11/08/2019 10:40

Birth of our second baby is imminent, we don't know the sex. We have decided on a girls name but have been struggling with a boys name. The other day we suddenly decided upon "Stanley Oliver". We both loved it, it works well with our surname, the initials aren't a rude word or otherwise enbarising acronym. We can yell it easily when he's naughty and shorten it to Stan when he's older. For 5 minutes we had it cracked. Then I remembered they are Laurel and Hardy! So we immediately vetoed it. Now we can't think of anything else. We loved that name. But neither of us are particularly fans of L&H and I don't think I can do it. He would be constantly asked about it wouldn't he? Could you name your child that?

OP posts:
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henpartystress · 11/08/2019 11:39

I've never watched it so have never heard of the name. It's a good name go for it

ChihuahuaMummy1 · 11/08/2019 11:38

The laurel and hardy connection wouldn't be noticed by anyone under 40 imo and even then it's not obvious. A friend called her daughter lauren Olivia and was worried people would think Laurence Olivier.Noone did.

whirlwinds · 11/08/2019 11:36

Love the names, did not make the connection. Prefer the suggestion Oliver Stanley though as @DontCallMeShitley suggested, Olly/Ollie as a nickname is nicer than Stan.

SirJamesTalbot · 11/08/2019 11:33

Jane Seymour has had a decent career desour being the namesake of one of Henry VIII's wives....

SirJamesTalbot · 11/08/2019 11:32

As long as your surname doesn't begin with an S Grin.

FWIW, I worked with a Chris Evans (not
the DJ). No one batted an eyelid or sniggered. People don't always twig connections.

EnriqueTheRingBearingLizard · 11/08/2019 11:26

I made the connection ,although it wouldn’t bother me, they’re just not two names I’d put together. I think Stanley Oscar flows better.

Peridot1 · 11/08/2019 11:26

I made the connection straight away.

Also Stanley always reminds me of Stan Ogden in Coronation Street. But I am old!

I like Oliver Stanley - don’t make the connection to Laurel and Hardy so much in that order.

HappyNOTdriving · 11/08/2019 11:26

It didn't even occur to me until you pointed it out then someone mentioned the recent film.

I think although everyone has seen them or at least heard of them they are just far enough back in time that not everyone knows or remembers them clearly enough to remember everything about them.

I personally wouldn't use that name especially Stanley but it's not my baby so it's nothing to do with me!

There are lots of children and adults running about with names I dislike but if I meet one of them or are friends with one then it just isn't important!

BobTheFishermansWife · 11/08/2019 11:23

My cousins son is called Stanley and Laurel and Hardy has never crossed my mind in the 6 years of his life.

Jojoanna · 11/08/2019 11:22

Love it

Vasya · 11/08/2019 11:22

I wouldn't have made the connection save for that film that came out last year. I expect in another couple of years most people won't male the connection again! Laurel and Hardy are so vintage now that it will become a less known connection all the time.

Mishappening · 11/08/2019 11:21

If you like it, do it!

Let's just hope you have a girl. Grin

Craiglang · 11/08/2019 11:19

I didn't make the connection at all.

(But my eldest DC has a not-unusual but not-top-50 name and my husband initially vetoed it because it's the same name of an older actor. I promised him no one would make the connection or ask us about it. Moments after he was born the midwife asked us his name and when I told her she said "oh, like [the actor]! How lovely." Blush Fortunately DH liked the name enough to not push for a shame at that point.)

feelingdizzy · 11/08/2019 11:15

I quite like the name, but something to consider ,I have teenagers and Stan (from the eminem song) is what they call a stalker or a weirdo,something to consider.

CassianAndor · 11/08/2019 11:13

I didn't make the connection till you said it. Most people will never know his middle name.

I think it's fine.

wowfudge · 11/08/2019 11:13

Stanley is not a name I like - reminds me of Stan Ogden and Norman Stanley Fletcher!

Justkeeprollingalong · 11/08/2019 11:12

It's a great name. Don't worry about L&H.

AudacityOfHope · 11/08/2019 11:12

Stanley is just bloody awful, bin it and find something much nicer!

peachgreen · 11/08/2019 11:12

Lovely name. Stanley is gorgeous. I wouldn't make the connection.

girlandboy · 11/08/2019 11:11

I'm in my 50's and grew up watching Laurel and Hardy and I didn't make the connection at all.
Use it, no-one is going to make a connection, and even if they do who cares!

DontCallMeShitley · 11/08/2019 11:10

Not keen on either names, but especially dislike Stanley which will become Stan. If you want to use them both maybe use Oliver Stanley which is a bit better.

ShirleyPhallus · 11/08/2019 11:10

Stanley Oliver sounds like a 1920s chimney sweep, a rascally chap with a cockney accent

JiltedJohnsJulie · 11/08/2019 11:08

I know a couple of Stanleys. Both lovely boys.

You can definitely use it.

ladycarlotta · 11/08/2019 11:04

I've watched plenty of Laurel & Hardy in my time, and saw the Stan & Ollie movie quite recently, but I didn't twig! They're known by their surnames anyway so it's not like calling him Laurel Hardy or Morcambe Wise.

Go for it, OP, it's a nice name and if people do pick up on the coincidence it's only worth a brief chuckle.

Mac47 · 11/08/2019 10:58

I watched a lot of Laurel and Hardy as a child and did not make the connection at all.