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Baby names

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

Original poster

Violet - wow what an unusual name

108 replies

Radicalfaces · 01/08/2022 04:06

I feel like I’m living in an alternate universe!!

We wanted a name for our DD that was a classic normal English name, easy to spell and pronounce. We went with Violet.

From the minute she arrived everyone from family, friends and the nurses/ midwives have been so surprised by our name choice and said how unusual it is, they’ve never heard of any Violet’s etc.

we are confused and feel like the reaction is akin to if we’d named her Larksong or something!

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Original poster
Radicalfaces · 01/08/2022 15:56

hi All, thanks for the responses! We love the name so we don’t mind if others don’t like it and that’s how they are responding. It was just a surprise to us as we thought we were picking a fairly normal not overly popular but well enough known name and peoples reactions have been like we’ve picked a super unusual name! We started to doubt ourselves as we didn’t really want anything too crazy - we are too boring 😂

What most are saying here is what we had thought of the name - older, but making a come back, top 50 name so not really out there, lots of young girls being called it now, similar to Arthur etc so I’m glad it seems like it is like this!

i’m in northern Ireland so maybe it’s a bit behind the U.K. with naming trends!

to the poster who said about keeping up appearances. That literally came into my head in the hospital and we could only remember ‘my sister Violet with room for a pony’ so thanks for the reminder of the full thing - at least it’s the posh sisters name I guess 😂😂😂

OP posts:
Luluuuuuuuuuu85 · 01/08/2022 14:22

More babies with her name were born that year I should say!

Luluuuuuuuuuu85 · 01/08/2022 14:21

I have a baby Violet and I've been getting the same response from older people! I don't know any personally but I am aware it's a top 50 name so I'm sure we'll run into a few in time! When I had my older DD i didn't move in baby/toddler circles and had no idea what was popular and couldn't have told you the ranking of her name! Turns out more babies were born in her birth year than Violet's last year and I haven't met that many!

Italiandreams · 01/08/2022 14:01

I genuinely know 5, ranging in age from 11 to a baby. So I believe someone could know 12 if they have children themselves and work in an environment with children. There are 3 in my daughters school which is less than 200 children.

woodhill · 01/08/2022 12:21

I think it's a lovely name

SleepingAgent · 01/08/2022 12:18

AliceMcK · 01/08/2022 09:21

Not unusual or uncommon, I know of at least 12 young violets in my DDs primary and preschools. Also have a niece called Violet.

Wow you must be right in middle of a Violet cluster - pp said less than 1000 in whole U.K. were named that in one year and you know 12 young ones 😲 not exaggerating a little are we ?

Emmelina · 01/08/2022 11:31

It’s a lovely name, but far from unusual. I’ve taught several little Violets over the years! There has been an increase in popularity since The Incredibles came out as it’s the name of the daughter.

rightonthyme · 01/08/2022 11:25

I know a Violet - she's infant school age and absolutely lovely. When she was born I thought it was unusual but it suits her. One of my school friends has it as a middle name and was always embarassed by it as she thought it was old - nowadays she uses it as her first name as she thinks her first name is boring! I love the name, beautiful.

IceStationZebra · 01/08/2022 11:09

It’s a gorgeous name and was my great grandmother’s name. However I don’t think I have ever met one (never met my GGM) so would say it’s definitely unusual, for some reason it’s not in the 1920s/30s revival of Elsie/Maude/Audrey/etc that you see a lot at the moment.

Devpatelslaughingeyes · 01/08/2022 11:04

Or even pretty 😂

Devpatelslaughingeyes · 01/08/2022 11:04

I had an auntie and a cousin called Violet which was unfortunately shortened to Vi. It’s old fashioned but very lovely. Very oretty name.

GreenEyedFox · 01/08/2022 11:00

My DD has Violet has one if her middle names - named after her granddad’s mum and sister . It’s pretty.

Baconking · 01/08/2022 10:42

There are 2 in one class at my son's school. They are 15

Viostep · 01/08/2022 10:40

I have a little Violet so I love the name. I haven't met any other babies with the same name but I think it's increasing in popularity overall.

BungleandGeorge · 01/08/2022 10:36

I’m very surprised a midwife would find it unusual, perhaps they were recently qualified! Generally they’ve heard everything before!

VirginiaQ · 01/08/2022 10:35

Has no one ever read Charlie and the Chocolate factory or seen the film??

Violet Beauregarde is what always springs to mind when I hear the name Violet.

MandyRice · 01/08/2022 10:31

lovely name and far more popular than Jane (which is currently 1618th in the UK 😂).

I think that, unless someone takes an active interest in baby names, their views are generally a few decades out of date. I can remember MIL fretting when SIL named her baby Arthur because it was so unusual 😭(currently top 3!)

BigFatLiar · 01/08/2022 10:21

Lovely name.

laralou28 · 01/08/2022 10:17

Radicalfaces · 01/08/2022 04:06

I feel like I’m living in an alternate universe!!

We wanted a name for our DD that was a classic normal English name, easy to spell and pronounce. We went with Violet.

From the minute she arrived everyone from family, friends and the nurses/ midwives have been so surprised by our name choice and said how unusual it is, they’ve never heard of any Violet’s etc.

we are confused and feel like the reaction is akin to if we’d named her Larksong or something!

Can I just say I think violet is a beautiful name choice. My grandma was called violet and if I was having a girl I would also name her violet. (Currently 20 weeks pregnant with a boy) ignore peoples stupid comments. Someone always has something to say 😤

FayCarew · 01/08/2022 10:14

@hummerbird , peak Sue 10 years ago? You sure?

hummerbird · 01/08/2022 10:10

I assume peak Sue was 10 years ago, Nearly all the 30 somethings were called Sue.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 01/08/2022 09:55

Violet is a lovely name. I don't know any personally, but that's because I don't know many small children.

GonnaGetGoingReturns · 01/08/2022 09:54

A friend of mine who's Polish is called Viola. Which is sort of similar.

Alwayswonderedwhy · 01/08/2022 09:54

It's a lovely name. Where do you live? It's not a overly used name but wouldn't call it unusual.

fyn · 01/08/2022 09:53

How strange, we know lots of little Violets! I’m almost certain it’s in the top half of the most popular baby names in the UK. Last time I looked Nora was in the top 100 though that I wouldn’t have expected!

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