If you named your baby an unusual name

I absolutely love Adeline, and hate Agatha

I have an unusual first name and second name, as far as I know I am the only one in the UK. I'm very circumspect about what I put on social media as I'm so easily Googleable.

When I was at primary school I remember wanting to be called Sarah or Emma like everyone else, but now I'm an adult I enjoy having a more unusual name.

My DC both have less frequently used names, but pretty classic, no Lucky-boy for us... I worried when DD was a baby that I'd made the wrong choice (there's a touch of the old lady name about hers) but now at 13yrs she's completely made it her own

my dds are sage and westlie. sage isn't too unusual as it's been gaining popularity recently, but ive never seen another westlie. she's 4, and she thinks having an unusual name is like a blessing from the angels, but idk how she's going to like it in the future.

love the name. your daughter sounds v cool. :)

ps should have said it is a name that works perfectly well and a child and an adult!

I have a first born son with a very unusual name. He is one of one or two in the UK with a variety of spellings. It is unusual in the sense that the word is a name. It is not hard to spell or hard to pronouce and I love it. Most people on hearing his name also love it (or are also being very polite!). It has not had any effect on him at all.

@ScreamInBlue I think you misunderstood my post. I never said unusual names would hold people back. (Glad you got the opportunity to tell us about your kids at RG university though!)

The point I'm trying to make is that parents often choose unusual names because they think it makes their amazing child stand out, and because they like the idea of them having a special name. But not all ADULTS want a special name. And these cute little "ah she's so sweet and her name really suits her" babies will become adults. And they may not want to be called Buttercup or T-Rex. If they want to be different or "out there", they can do that with their personality. Putting them in that position by virtue of their name is wrong in my opinion.

I got a normal name with a unique spelling. I shortened it then changed it by deedpoll to the short version.

HuntingoftheSnark something similar happened to me (not an AA meeting but someone I would never have given my contact information to - my first name was in publicity material for an organisation I freelanced through and she started calling them asking for me, claiming to be my friend, and making a nuisance of herself).

@Sarahcoggles
I agree, and also with a pp, it all depends on the reason for the unusual name, if it is for cultural reasons then no one would think it ridiculous or an ancient name, why not?
But an animals name, just why?
Imagine 'Wolf' being thin and little for his age and possibly shy and having to introduce himself in a room full of people.

Does anyone have a link to the "Lucky-Girl" thread?

I have an unusual name. I generally like being different but once, many years ago, I realised that this could be a disadvantage when someone in an AA meeting googled me and (on the basis of my Christian name and town) was able to find out my surname and address and write to me (I'd had a company registered under my address).

Obviously not something anyone considers when selecting names.

Adult DD has a common first name (although we didn't realise that at the time) but she has an unusual middle name and she hates it - never uses it.

DS (15) has an unusual first and middle name - the middle name is the same source as DDs (both named after people in DH's favourite band). His first name is a strong one, known in some areas but not others - it is a Welsh name - we love it, he loves it, it suits him.

@Phineyj am I your friend? Could have written this myself. English mum, Egyptian dad. I have a name which people struggle with, and also assume I'm Muslim. My parents have often told me to shorten it and go by a nickname if it troubles me, however I hate all shortened variations. And from my early 20s I started liking it. Now I have the confidence to carry it I'm glad I don't have a more 'typical' name.

DS has an unusual name insofar as it is not and never has been common anywhere. People have often never heard it before.

But it’s a pretty simple name that doesn’t sound ‘out there’, even if it’s not common (it’s easy to spell too). People often comment very positively. It’s a skewed sample obviously because no one is going to tell me they hate it. 🤣 Nonetheless, the woman who works in a cafe we go to regularly told me she loves it and wishes she had known about it when she was naming her children. And I get similarly positive comments.

My DM has an unusual name. She is shy, and her name was the cause of much embarrassment and discomfort as she grew up, although she was never teased for it. She just disliked the attention it drew. In fact, the attention has always been positive, with people commenting on how lovely a name it is, but my mother would prefer simply not to be noticed.

My DD also has an unusual name. But she is a confident and outgoing child, who enjoys talking to people, and is pleased that her name has led to many conversations. She loves her name.

So I’d say the name is almost irrelevant. It is the nature of the child which dictates the feelings towards any name. Unfortunately, we are unable to predict that nature, and so it remains a risk to choose something unusual. An unusual name with a shy personality is more of a burden than an ordinary name with an outgoing nature. You have to just choose something you truly love, whether it’s unusual or not, I suppose.

My husband has an unusual name. His parents are not native English speakers but English is their common language as they are from different countries. My husband never had an issue and loves his name.

My name is super common and I hated never being the only one in my class growing up.

I am having a boy in January and we struggled with names because we are mixing three cultures so we decided on an unusual name because it’s culturally neutral (not for selfish attention seeking purposes as I saw one poster suggest).

Those who say it’s cruel to pick an unusual name, I wonder if it’s because they themselves are judgemental of things that are different. As a child I never teased anyone for their name. As an adult, I see many people with unusual names thrive in professional settings. I really feel it’s a non issue.

My own name is relatively unusual and growing up I did occasionally get nasty comments ("there's always one" when I introduced myself at a party in my mid teens, and people making up slightly embarrassing nicknames when I started sixth form, though I don't remember anything before my teens nor actually at school).

I remember being pleased when people called me by a more common name which I happened to like, having been introduced incorrectly by a supervisor who'd misheard my name at a summer job when I was 17 🤣)

I moved to a non English speaking country as an adult and nobody can pronounce my name and that doesn't bother me - as long as they're not taking the p I'm happy to answer to a range of names tbh - I don't have any particular attachment to my name and am not precious about it and only correct it written down if it's going to be on a printed list or certificate or similar.

For our own children we tried to choose "classic" but not top 20 type names - it's hard to get the balance right but you can usually avoid extremes...

🤣 exactly this!

On a side note my child has the option 2 name you described - a name from a different culture. I'm not going to deny his heritage because people are too lazy to learn a new name.

Our children don't belong to us. We create them and look after them until they are old enough to be independent, but ultimately they are individuals

So give them a name that identifies them as an individual!

Don't call them a name with 3 others in their class !

"Ultimately they are individuals" oh the irony when you're naming them the same name as 7 other kids in their class 😆

OP, my DD has an unusual name, it hasn't held her back, she's in the 3rd year of a top (MN favourite RG) uni and doing really well, it hasn't hindered her in any way. My DS also with an unusual name has just had a maths interview for Cambridge uni. It's nonsense to think a name can influence your DC's future.

As a PP said we are a very multicultural country now and unusual names are, well, not that unusual anymore.

My daughter has an obscure but very pretty (and pronounceable by English speakers) Welsh name.

She loves it and always has.

My grandmother chose my name when I was born and it was definitely unusual at the time, there was only ever me and one other girl in my schools who shared it, during my entire schooldays.
Then it had a burst of popularity, not massive, but it became a lot more well known, after which it fell from grace with a loud thud.
It's a name which is highly unpopular on here. I've never been keen on it.

It's published annually by the ONS. It's a list of all baby names given in a year (with 3 or more babies given the name). Unfortunately I don't have a link...