Anyone else think in the pursuit for a ‘unique’ name children are getting called more and more ridiculous things?

I came across an (older ) woman the other day called Julie. Well her parents obviously wanted to be youneek so she spells it Jewlee. Really?? I wonder how many times (a day) she had to spell that? She was in her 60s.

Other countires do have some name restrictions:

Naming laws

It' seems to be an older tradition coming back around - looking for unusual names.

Germany has a list of names - not surprisingly Adolf doesn't not appear. But it also used to exclude Islamic & turkish names which was a problem for the large numbers of 'Gastarbeiter' or 'guest workers' from Turkey. I think the list may have been amended to include more suitable names.

I don't know of any other countries who have an approved list

@MarshmallowSwede give us some examples of names you would choose?

My husband and I are Swedish and to me English names sound ridiculous. And the fact that there are so many Jacks and Tom’s and Olivia and Emily… these names sound stupid to me personally.

It’s all about where you come from. Scandinavian names are hard on the ear for alot of people, yet my child will have a Swedish name.

I think it all Depends on where you come from. From my experience and my time in the UK, the need for “cool” names is something British and American people do. Your names sound ridiculous.

There are countries that have a list of approved names??? And people actually think that's a good idea??? I'm amazed. Society sucks, who's business is it what you call the child that YOU made??

We tried for what my parents managed with my name uncommon but not unknown.

DS is often considered very unusal - though it's traditional - DDs names got very poplular few years after we picked them. Mostly though they know odd person with same name but not in same class as them.

I agree that the search for uniqueness can lead to some interesting, strange or just plain weird choices. However it's not a new thing

Florence Nightingale was named after the city and is reportedly the first person to be called this. Now Florence is a pretty standard, mainstream name.

Falcon - Scott of the Antarctic was Robert Falcon Scott, and Falcon wasn't his mother's maiden name

Vanessa - totally made up name by author Jonathan Swift

I work in a school in a very multicultural area. I don't find there is such a thing as an unusual name these days as we have names from all around the world.

What might be a common Turkish or Iranian name is unusual to my ears, but it's the child's name and we do our absolute best to pronounce and celebrate it.

There's a fine line between name snobbery and racism and it's uncomfortable to hear adults mocking Children's names.

[quote Snowcov]@HumunaHey if someone calls their kids "kababala" or something ridiculous like that, do you think I'm going to remember a made up word like that when I bump into them every few weeks. Seems a bit mad to me[/quote]
But that’s difficult to remember because of the repetitive syllables, not because it’s ‘made up’ — for all you know, anyway, what you think is invented is the equivalent of Jack and Sophie in another culture.

Falcon or Eliza-belle isn’t any more difficult to remember than Phileas or Habakkuk.

I dunno. I mean, I know I can be hugely judgy about names, but every time there's one of these threads, people post the "ridiculous" names they know and they turn out to be perfectly normal names from another language or culture, like Tomasz or Princess.

Well, yes, if you were to see someone with an unusual name every few weeks it's not exactly mad to expect you'd be able to remember their name!

Why do you assume that all kids with unusual names hate being "saddled" with them?

Just as there are parents who want their child to have their own identity and not be called the same as 5 others in their class, there are actually young people who prefer having an unusual, memorable name!

My name is not top 100 and I've only met one other person with it. Even so, I feel it's a bit boring and would have loved to have a more interesting name!

And, you do realise that when they are adults their name not raise eyebrows because unusual names will be more common, no?

@HumunaHey if someone calls their kids "kababala" or something ridiculous like that, do you think I'm going to remember a made up word like that when I bump into them every few weeks. Seems a bit mad to me

I love unusual names. The spelling of some throws me though and it must be annoying as a child to have a name few people around you can spell or pronounce.

I normally see a name and dont give it too much thought. However the one I found odd was the American girl whose name was spelled Abcde.

Balonz anyone?

As someone who had four classmates with the same name all through primary, I’m more puzzled as to why people go on and on calling their children Charlie, Jack, Oliver, Sophia and Olivia.

I heard of a child recently who had the name "You-nique". I guess her parents REALLY wanted a "unique" name.

Agree OP. It also makes it really hard to remember kids names when they are essentially made up. I know some wee kids and their mums and struggle to remember the names because they are so unusual and not "real" names.

If people judge on names, why are we blaming the parents doing the naming rather than the people doing the judging?