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Baby names

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

Original poster

Jolyon

110 replies

SJFarter · 04/02/2022 15:46

Any thoughts on this name for a boy?

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AssignedBlobbyAtBirth · 04/02/2022 16:01

Noooo
Not unless he is going to kill foxes whilst wearing a flimsy negligee

waterlego · 04/02/2022 16:00

@TheMarzipanDildo, I don’t know that many people use it, but I have met one Jocasta who was just about the poshest person I’ve ever met.

Original poster
SJFarter · 04/02/2022 16:00

And that's gah-stly and not ga-stly I assume?

Our Mancunian vowels aren't meant for names like Jolyon I fear 😀

OP posts:
Mins001 · 04/02/2022 15:59

I used to have a name (before I changed it) that wasn't even that weird or difficult to pronounce. Nothing like Jolyon. About 70% of all people I met would need confirmation on how to say it and spell it. Others would glaze over as if to say 'Oh God, I just can't be arsed with that'. Some even asked if they could call me something else of their own choosing!

It really is shit to give a kid this kind of name just because you like it, because you think it's posh or kooky or whatever. If your child ends up shy, you've given them a name that makes them feel in the spotlight and uncomfortable every time they meet someone new. If they're not shy they will at least be irritated by spending most of their life correcting people who spell it or say it incorrectly.

changewwible · 04/02/2022 15:59

No, checked trousers and a "snazzy" tie.

IntoTheNight · 04/02/2022 15:58

@MrsTerryPratchett Grin

TheMarzipanDildo · 04/02/2022 15:57

@waterlego

I find it absurdly posh. I would put it in the same category as names like Jocasta, Thomasina, Cosmo, Jonty etc.

I don’t like it. But you should go with what you like.

Do people actually call their children Jocasta? Like Oedipus’s mum Jocasta?
waterlego · 04/02/2022 15:57

@semideponent

I immediately picture Jolyon as wearing red trousers.
YES!

And yes also to the unfortunate association with the fox-killing, kimono-wearing bloke who makes a nuisance of himself on Twitter.

Saddmindeed · 04/02/2022 15:57

Trust me the poor kid will get Jog on.

MrsTerryPratchett · 04/02/2022 15:57

@semideponent

I immediately picture Jolyon as wearing red trousers.
Ha ha

x-posted.

CoddledAsAMommet · 04/02/2022 15:56

Fabulous, but my first thought is Forsyte.
It's up there with Digby and Tarquin for poshness though so not usable by most, unfortunately. And it's definitely JOE-leon, not Jolly-on.

MrsTerryPratchett · 04/02/2022 15:56

@IntoTheNight

It is not pronounced Jolly-on though - that's a ghastly mispronunciation
Basically if you don't use the word 'ghastly' in everyday speech, you aren't posh enough for this name. Grin

Or wear red trousers, or hunt foxes, or so on.

waterlego · 04/02/2022 15:56

I find it absurdly posh. I would put it in the same category as names like Jocasta, Thomasina, Cosmo, Jonty etc.

I don’t like it. But you should go with what you like.

TheMarzipanDildo · 04/02/2022 15:56

@DinaofCloud9

I think it's awful. It reminds me of the odd man who bragged about killing a fox.
I don’t actually mind the name, but yes the only person I can think of who has it is Fox Killer!

Admittedly, I wouldn’t have heard of him if I wasn’t on MN.

Original poster
SJFarter · 04/02/2022 15:55

@IntoTheNight

It is not pronounced Jolly-on though - that's a ghastly mispronunciation
I think it will typically be pronounced Jolly On when northerners read it and then say it, if they are unfamiliar with it.
OP posts:
semideponent · 04/02/2022 15:55

I immediately picture Jolyon as wearing red trousers.

toastofthetown · 04/02/2022 15:54

I quite like it, but only know the Joe-Lee-on pronunciation. I’d avoid as I wouldn’t want Joe as diminutive. DH also vetoed because he thinks of a below average F1 driver.

Pembertonrd · 04/02/2022 15:54

Love it.
Would have used it but dh vetoed it.

TottersBlankly · 04/02/2022 15:54

Absolutely love it!

Another Forsyte Saga fan.

(It’s absolutely unusable.)

IntoTheNight · 04/02/2022 15:54

It is not pronounced Jolly-on though - that's a ghastly mispronunciation

DinaofCloud9 · 04/02/2022 15:53

I think it's awful. It reminds me of the odd man who bragged about killing a fox.

Original poster
SJFarter · 04/02/2022 15:53

@MrsTerryPratchett

Are you incredibly posh? In which case yes.

Names tend to be posh, then middle class and so on. Freakonomics did a thing about it.

Nope, we live in semi detached suburbia in the north. I think it's too posh for the likes of us but it's not my kid. I just wondered if my feeling was right, wrong, up for debate.
OP posts:
IntoTheNight · 04/02/2022 15:52

Love it! It was on my list for ds. I'd have shortened to Joey when tiny, then Joe/Joel

MrsTerryPratchett · 04/02/2022 15:52

Are you incredibly posh? In which case yes.

Names tend to be posh, then middle class and so on. Freakonomics did a thing about it.

changewwible · 04/02/2022 15:51

Like Lescott?