Genuinely problematic names

Sorry 😂 Randy means horny.

Why is Randy unacceptable in the UK?

@AlphabetAerobics was that aimed at me? I was agreeing with you.

I thought Ava was problematic (Eva Braun) as well as Jude ( the obscure, and other unfortunate connotations); and that neither would catch on. How wrong I was.

I think naming storms and hurricanes after humans makes some names potentially problematic. It's a stupid idea imo and inevitably connects innocent people with tragedy.

See Katrina as one example.

@Dontcallmejacqui I didn’t know about Amelia, but I do know someone called Athelia and was told it meant born with no nipples!

Of course he wasn’t bullied. And before you start sneering at “little englanders” - this was at my office. In Germany itself.

Of course it’s shocking/jarring/whatever you want to call it.

The man himself was of course very nice and extremely knowledgeable about his specialism - but still I just couldn’t quite bring myself to embrace his name.

Hayley. What is even the correct spelling?

Abigail, meaning lady's maid. They say it's archaic but it's used in Jane Eyre

Oh yeah that contemporary novel Jane Eyre. And of course since there are so many lady's maids around still, that would be really embarrassing rather than a little piece of historical trivia.

You might not personally like the reference but it is absurd to say that it's problematic. People are just as likely to know the actual Hebrew meaning 'father's joy', which is quite nice. What's even wrong with being a lady's maid anyway?

Nah, I think most people would have to suppress a completely involuntary shock reaction at that name. If they then went on to bully him about it, that’s different. But I don’t think anyone would be above a natural surprise reaction on being introduced that they’ll then try to politely mask. And unfortunately he’ll get that everywhere and sense that happening. No it’s not his fault.

What an awful way to treat someone for something he hasn't even done.

In addition to names to avoid, there’s also names to be mindful of. Like Pippa - it’s a lovely name but I’m aware it is slang for penis in some European languages (or at least Italian). Not a name that travels well. Now, if you’re a British family with no overseas relatives - fine. If you’re a family who live more internationally, you might at least want to be aware of that before making your choice.

This is a bit of an odd thread! It's all very subjective. Why are you linking other threads?
I dont think you're going to get the kind of thread you're hoping for op.

The way she was saying it sounded like Sharn. The way Sian is pronounced here doesn't sound like Sharn.

She and her parents and siblings had to learn to pronounce her name differently, because it just doesn't work here the way they pronounced it.

It wasn't a bullying issue, even well-meaning adults couldn't figure out why her name was "farmyard manure." It had to spelled out for people to realise her name was Sian.

It depends on accent, as well. A perfectly acceptable name might not work in a different part of the country.

A girl named Sian started school up here (Scotland) . Locally Sian would be pronounced Shaan. She pronounced her name Sharn. Sharn is farmyard manure. Kids were going home and telling their parents that there was new girl called Sharn. Parents were contacting the teacher to ask what the new girl's name really was.

She had to be coached to pronounce her name as it is normally pronounced up here, because pronouncing it Sharn was just awful. It wasn't even as though she was being bullied - people were just asking her to repeat her name, or spell it out, because they were incredulous when they heard it the way she said it.

But Sian is a perfectly good name.

I’ll add that there’s never any need for nastiness and there are ways of saying things. But an adult is equipped to deal with a momentary pang of hurt feelings over criticism of their prospective name choice and get over it. A child is not equipped to deal with a lifetime of raised eyebrows, stifled or overt giggles, teasing and potential actual bullying.

I think discussion of names prior to naming a baby is primarily about the child who has to wear it, and secondarily about avoiding the name regret described above. You can’t have name regret until you’ve committed. I personally think it’s cruel not to point these things out to people before they have committed - again, primarily for the child. Soon-to-be parents can then do with that info what they want, deciding which associations are relevant and irrelevant to them.

I worked with an Adolf. He was German and born a few years after WWII ended.

When he introduced himself there was an enormous clatter as assembled jaws hit the ground - and then total silence.

What on Earth were his parents thinking?

I think another category is names that sound like a common word / pronoun in a language that your child will use.

I've worked with someone called "Yu" and we ended up often referring to him by his name + surname to avoid confusion.

Similarly, I have a relative called "Anna," which is fine in English but causes difficulties for my Arabic speaking in-laws as "Ana" means "I".

Obviously you can't comb through every language in the world for potential issues and both of these examples are ones that couldn't have been foreseen. But I think if you know that your children are likely to speak a certain language that it's a good idea to check for potential issues with your choice of name!

Having spent the past 10 minutes muttering “Peony’s, Peony’s” and not got anywhere near “penis”, I’m adding Peony to my list of potential names