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Baby names

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

Original poster

Bracing myself... Hero?

143 replies

Auxence · 13/05/2021 16:07

For a girl. Tell me your honest thoughts please, I am bracing myself!

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HeroIsAGreatName · 17/05/2021 20:22

I have a Hero. She's now a teenager and only ONCE in her entire life did anyway make any negative comment to me, and that was a supermarket cashier. Nobody we knew have ever queried it (to our face anyway!)

I've just asked her now and she loves her name and says she hasn't really heard any negatively. Certainly never had the piss ripped out of her 🙄 She'd not change her name and is pleased to have something a bit unusual.

Crabwoman · 17/05/2021 20:11

I love it. But most people won't get it.
Also agree with a PP, that it's a big name to wear.

eyebagsandgladrags · 17/05/2021 20:10

Ps the Hero I know is a woman, so I definitely think of it as a girls' name!

eyebagsandgladrags · 17/05/2021 20:09

I know a Hero (30s) and I love it. It is a big name to carry - and the Hero I know certainly pulls it off - but I don't think that should put you off. FWIW, even if the initial reaction is a bit Hmm, people will very quickly get used to it. It'll just be her name. If we can call people Daisy, Honor or River (to name a varied selection!), you can absolutely name your daughter Hero.

PurpleFlower1983 · 16/05/2021 19:07

I know a Hero, he’s a male though and Japanese.

Whatflavourjellybabyisnice · 15/05/2021 21:54

I like the origins as in Shakespearian/ancient, but I couldn't name a child it.

MishMashMummy · 15/05/2021 21:53

I adore it - but I am a big Georgette Heyer fan!

BatleyTownswomensGuild · 15/05/2021 21:45

I like it. But it's a lot to live up to....

LauEli · 15/05/2021 20:24

The only Hero I'm aware of is a male in the 'after' film series. Nice name, dunno if I'd use it for a female

clpsmum · 14/05/2021 16:52

Love it

AliasGrape · 14/05/2021 16:49

I absolutely love it, one of my favourites. DH wasn’t on board and I had a different first choice which we ended up using, but this is my ‘if I’d been brave enough’ name.

MimiDaisy11 · 14/05/2021 16:42

I wasn't aware of the Shakespear reference as I haven't seen or read that particular play. So I'm one of those who just thought of the English word and so it does come across as a strange name for a girl.

EssentialHummus · 14/05/2021 15:22

We vaguely considered it for DC2 if a girl because we'd settled on Leander for a boy, and it made a kind of sense. Ultimately for us it was a "no" thanks to issues transliterating into Cyrillic (if you think you have issues naming a baby OP.... Grin) but also because I couldn't imagine myself shouting it across a playground. But I don't think it's that out there.

Artemis, maybe? Or there's a little Boudicca near me, if you really want to rile people? Grin

Lipsandlashes · 14/05/2021 14:51

I love it but I am a literature and Shakespeare nut. I wish I’d been brave enough to use it but DH would have vetoed anyway.

MindtheBelleek · 14/05/2021 14:47

@JaninaDuszejko

It's a lovely name and being able to separate the wheat from the chaff by people's response to her name is useful. And as the parent of 3DC with unusual names children are a lot less funny about names than adults these days. Kids just accept names, it's just men grown ups who try and make bad jokes.
Yes, exactly. DS has an unusual name, and while it's never been an issue, the very occasional odd response to it is an excellent early warning system for wankers.

it makes me think of the Keanu Reeves version of Much Ado; a film that sticks in my memory because a horse I used to have lessons on was in it, ridden by Robert Sean Leonard. He was a lovely horse, called Dusty. He could rear on command and roll over and play dead and all sorts of things.

This cracked me up. Dusty's owners could probably have charged extra for lessons if they'd claimed he was ridden by Keanu Reeves (though I quite fancied Robert Sean Leonard, actually it's only now that I rewatch Dead Poets Society and just think 'Neil, calm the fuck down with the am dram for a couple of years, go to university and do all the student theatre you like there's really no need for the Puck and the Crown of Thorns histrionics...)

Though I'd have been nervous of learning on a horse who reared/played dead on demand. Grin

MercyBodle · 14/05/2021 14:39

I really like it.

Iris2020 · 14/05/2021 11:17

I wasn't schooled in the UK so my Shakespeare knowledge is not that great - I didn't know where the name came from and did presume it was from the English word.
I must admit I also presumed it was intended for a little boy. I guess it's not necessarily a bad thing - there's nothing wrong with androgynous names and it's not like calling a girl a name that is exclusively male (like John).
Regardless of what people are called you always overcome your feelings about the name when you know them. But it might not be easy to bear in the playground. I quite like the idea as a second name though.

Original poster
Auxence · 14/05/2021 06:55

@TatianaBis

I think it’s fair to say that most people will think of the word first. I’m glad so many on this thread know the mythological and Shakespeare connections but I don’t think it’s realistic to think this is true of the majority of the population. There’s nothing wrong with not being really up on Shakespeare and Greek myth, we all have different interests and education levels through no fault of our own!

I’m pleased that so many of you love it though Grin This is the only name on our list that I’d have to really think before using, but it is my favourite. Lucky we’ve still got a bit of time!

OP posts:
Mincepiesallyearround · 14/05/2021 06:40

I love it but I associate it with Kurdistan not Shakespeare

TatianaBis · 14/05/2021 06:28

I do agree that many people will probably just think it’s a really modern word name, which does put me off a bit.

Who’s most people? Not most of the posters on the thread.

Does it matter what uneducated people think?

TatianaBis · 14/05/2021 06:27

Love.

ThatIsMyPotato · 14/05/2021 06:17

No

lydia2021 · 14/05/2021 02:30

It's ok but I met a girl called Nandi recently. Very sweet kid.

HidingFromTheChildren · 14/05/2021 02:02

Just no...it's a dog's name at best. Also hero is the masculine version of the word.

MilkyWayMay · 14/05/2021 01:55

Makes me think of Hiro the train from Thomas and Friends.