Aibu? Baby names not suitable for adulthood?

My kids both have ‘cutesy’ names which are in the top 10 name choice for their birth year, but they’re both named after our grandparents 🤷🏻‍♀️

My DD is so feisty, I can’t imagine her ever being held back by something as daft as her name. Most of the kids at their nursery have cutesy names so they’re hardly unusual!

They would simply get called Ralph, ted, Hugh etc

@toastofthetown well yes of course but it’s a discussion board if we are discussing what names people do or don’t like I can share my opinion too?

Maggie Thatcher
Susie Dent
Bill Gates
Walt Disney
Bob Geldof
Tim Berners-Lee
Tom Cruise
Brad Pitt
Kate Middleton
Julie Andrews or Walters
Steve Jobs
Jesse Owens

Just off the top of my head?

Nobody thought Freddy Krueger was cute.

Or Annie Wilkes.

Or is it just boys names that suffer from the cute in later life?

All those names are infinitely better (imo) than Kai, Kayden, Roman and a lot of the more modern boys names which just sound awful to me. It’s a matter of taste.

Teddy Sheringham’s name isn’t ‘Teddy’ though, it’s Edward.

Rupert is the nickname for public school educated army officers, used by soldiers. In that context, it's not a compliment!

Give your new baby a name suitable for an adult in any social situation and let the childish nicknames come and go would be my advice. We chose a family name that had diminutives we liked.

I go by a nickname which is 'cutesy' and often gets described on here as such.

I work in a role where I have to work with, influence and challenge the most senior people in any business so it hasn't held me back!

How is Rupert a baby name?

I do have the same thoughts as you though, in terms of babies being called babyish names! I am currently pregnant and we purposefully chose a name that wouldn't sound odd when he's a grown man

Rupert is lovely and a full adult name.

They're not to my taste at all but if theyre shoet for a longer name fair enough.

My daughter has a name ending in 'ie' which most people will assume is a cutesy version of a normal name (whilst it can be, it's a name in its own right dating back to the 1880s) and I've sometimes wondered how it will affect her as she gets older.

Then I've thought, people grow into their names and it won't matter one jot in a few years because loads of adults will be called Teddy and Ralphie. It won't be weird then.

Of course you won’t start a riot; your view is shared by most people on Mumsnet. There was a thread on this just a couple of weeks ago. The problem I have with this thought is that the -ie/-y nickname as a full name trend is an incredibly popular one, has been for some time and shows no signs of decreasing in popularity. In the top 100 in England and Wales in 2020 are Harry, Archie, Charlie, Freddie, Alfie, Tommy, Teddy, Albie, Reggie, Ronnie, Frankie, Bobby, Sonny, Ollie, Rosie, Evie, Elsie, Millie, Maisie, Hallie, Molly, Lottie and Ellie. And many many more further down the rankings. This means that the 'but what about when they are an adult?' question doesn't really make any sense as there will be literally thousands of adults with these names. Of course names will work for adults because of the volume of adults with those names.

That doesn't mean you have to like them. Personally they aren't the style of name I would choose, but I don't assume that my taste is the correct one.

Yeah YABU 😂
Of course you have your opinion that's cool but I don't think the examples you've given are great as they all are fine names for adulthood.
Ted, Ralph, Rupert, Hugh.

The name 'Bear' as an adult might fall into your category however I think most names just grow with the people, doesn't really bother me at all.
If everyone went for safe names the world would be full of the same names- boring.

I’m with you on diminutives but what’s wrong with Rupert? Genuine question as it’s top of my list! I thought objections to it would be more that it was a bit tweedy than childish.

I don't think the diminutives will be as strange sounding on adults as the "Gracie-Mae" type names.
Though I imagine Gracie-Mae herself will probably be Grace or Mae as soon as she gets chance!

Sheringham was pretty much the only Teddy at the time
Mercury used as assumed name

Robbie and Teddy are Robert and Edward on their birth certificates.

I'm inclined to agree with OP, but there are lots of Freddies who are now adults.

Those names are also (mostly) quite popular, so it won't sound odd when those children are old because there are lots of them. There must have been lots of baby Garys and Neils and Keiths once, but we think they're adult names because they're out of fashion for small children now, so we only know adult ones.

(Generalising, of course - there are probably some little Garys toddling around somewhere!)