If you named your baby an unusual name

I already had the name in mind from a random obscure antique book I’d found in a charity shop lol. Looked it up on genealogy websites and a baby naming website.

🤣🤣🤣

Both my dd’s have unusual names. The oldest ones is more common now than the youngest’s. When my oldest was born nobody had really heard of her name. She does like her name but there are various spellings so she sometimes gets cards with the wrong spelling but she’s fine with it now. We’re in Scotland and according to Scotlands people which is the general registers website there were 30 girls with her name born the year she was born, 3 of them in our city.

My youngest dd has a slightly more unusual name. It’s easy to pronounce as it’s pronounced the way it’s spelt and it’s not hard to spell either. People do ask or she’ll spell it out for them before they ask and it can be shortened to a few different names which she doesn’t mind.sometimes she’ll introduce herself as the shortened version. She does sometimes ask why we gave her that name and not something more normal, but it’s not that unusual a name it’s just not very common. There were only 2 girls with her name born the year she was born. There are only 14 altogether registered in the whole of Scotland the first one was registered back in 1893. Oddly her name is one that sometimes gets suggested on baby name threads, so I’m guessing it’s getting more popular now.

I named by dd an unusual name 26 years ago. Everyone commented on how unusual it was and how different. It wasn't in the too 100

It's in the top ten now. She's always liked it.

@Purplemagnolias how do I find out that info? Can you point me to a good website? I've tried googling but it seems to come up with US websites mainly.

My dd is 24 and loves her unusual name, but it's an old rarely used irish name, rather than anything wacky. I did regret it a few tines when she was younger, constantly having to spell it and explain its origin because people weren't familiar with it would dispute it was a real name. Nowadays anything goes with names so it no longer stands out.

How do you find out information such as that? I would love to see a list of which baby names were popular in the 1700s but wouldn’t have a clue where to start looking, the only site I know for looking at baby name registrations is names.darkgreener.com/ which is only from 1996 and only includes names with 3+ registrations!

I have a name that is unusual in the UK but is part of my cultural heritage. I have always liked it. We have given our child a similarly unusual name with cultural links and will see how they feel about it when they are older.

In my family there was a name used historically that I wish my parents had used for me! I don't know any other family who used it so won't say what it was. They didn't, my name is neither very popular but still fairly common. I don't actually use it, but go by another name. They gave me a name that was popular in my family and it just doesn't seem to be me. So, we are never happy are we?

DD (9) has an unusual name (not made up!) and she likes it. She enjoys being unique and so she says this name is perfect for her. When we told everyone her name to begin with some people (older generation) were a bit taken aback but now they say it's a lovely name and really suits her. DD gets annoyed sometimes that she can't find things with her name on but nowadays you can pay to have anything personalised so it's not really a big deal!

Wish there’d been a rule that anyone posting on this thread should name-change first so they could disclose the ‘unusual name’ they’re talking about. I’m so intrigued as to what all these unusual names actually are and there’s definitely a world of difference between an ‘unusual’ name like Brooke which is well known even if not in top 100, a name from another culture which is unusual in the UK but not in the culture of origin and then names which are made up or almost unheard of such as a celebrity would use (Apple, North, Morrocan etc)

Im Irish and was going for names like Oisin and Saoirse when deciding but at the time was going to move abroad and thought the kids would be spelling their names out all their lives so went with names I loved but that are not popular but certainly not out there like pilot inspektor or the like. They both are the only ones named their names in their schools. One had a hissy one year cos his name could not be gotten on any but over the years they have established that they do not need tat with their names on and are happy enough.

Brooke was also on my list to whomever has the Brooke. Lovely lovely name :)

@Sarahcoggles, we chose it because it's related to DS's heritage, and that means a lot to all of us.

We didn't want to call him the popular name of the moment just so kids wouldn't mention it at school now and then - I mean, if they're going to mention that, then they'll just mention anything that's slightly different anyway. The positives outweigh any negatives for all of us, including DS.

We don't all need to conform 🤷‍♀️.

The last time DD’s name was registered at a birth was in 1835 so pretty underused!

Wow, that is indeed very rare/unusual!

The last time DD’s name was registered at a birth was in 1835 so pretty underused!

The last gasp popularity boom was 1771-1790 with a handful of babies with her name, then it pops up once every few years, and since the last use in 1835 nothing until the year of her birth.

It would still be helpful to know how often a name was used in the year of birth and the subsequent trend?

That's irrelevant though. Could have been used 1000 times in the next couple of years.

It would be helpful if people added how unusual a name is by stating how many times it was actually used in the child's year of birth.

My dc has a fairly unusual name in that it was given 27 times in the year they were born.

DD has an unusual name. Sounds like a ‘made up’ name but was in use 300 years ago, I resurrected it for and it absolutely suits her down to the ground. No births registered under that name for well over a century so is definitely unique, not just ‘normal name with extra ys’ unique.

She has a normal but pretty middle name she can go by if she wants that ‘links’ with the resurrected name, did that on purpose in case she hated having an unusual name. I sometimes ask her how she feels about her name. She feels annoyed when people spell it wrong even though it’s written exactly the way it sounds. She likes her name, she likes that she knows people mean her specifically when they say it. She sometimes goes by the combination of first and middle name when introducing herself as she likes how they sound together, and her surname!

I do think if she wasn’t a popular child she would feel differently and would hide behind her normal middle name. But she’s lucky enough to be very socially adept and it suits her.

I have an unusual name. I hated it growing up as I couldn't get things from souvenir shops with my name on! I loved it as I got older but still hate all the mispronounciations and misspellings even though it's said exactly as it's spelt. Although, I picked a name for my DD that isn't very unusual - easy to read, easy to say - will never be misspelled or pronounced wrong!

My son (19) has an unusual first name but a very traditional middle name. No one has ever said something horrible about it, he says he loves it. It was the only name myself and my husband agreed on (apart from Gabriel, which is lovely but just wasn't "him"). I do think people hearing it don't expect a fair haired, blue eyed boy - and not because of his very common Indian surname, most people don't have a clue that it IS Indian as it's also a very popular brand name.

My daughter on the other hand has an absurdly popular name - I had no idea it was at the time. There are three of them in her class at secondary school. She does have a very unusual middle name which she uses as her stage name surname (she's in a band). She likes both names.

My husband really hates his name though - he's half Indian and his name is very unusual. What's worse is his sister has virtually the same name. Nobody can ever pronounce it or spell it and he really wishes he'd changed it years ago.

Why not chose a name that doesn't cause any hassle at all, rather than a small amount?

Both my children have names that are rarely used. I mean they are real names but not popular in this country. DS is 19 and while he does roll his eyes occasionally and say why on earth, it’s very good humoured and is the name he has chosen to keep using. He has an ordinary middle name he trialed at one point for a new group of friends but went back to his own name within weeks. He is quietly very unconventional and on a very unusual career path which I didn’t see coming at all. DD is still v young but so far does not follow the crowd either. They are used to being the only one with their name so maybe it does set you on a path?

With my name there is an actual name which is very similar to it. I often get people saying do I pronounce it this or that way (there are 2 ways but 1 I use).

I do think if my name was Jane or something it’d be much asked.

I’ve got an unusual name which is more a word and is Eastern European. I’m not from either of the countries it comes from and I don’t have heritage from there either which I have to explain. I’ll get a few people saying oh it’s from X country and it means X.

Funnily enough when both me and DB were at school (both have unusual names) the other kids didn’t comment on it much, mostly teachers at roll call.

It has meant that you’re memorable and DB has sometimes used a common British first name for work.

Both our middle names are quite unusual too. If it were me, naming a child an unusual name I’d give them at least one proper name on the birth certificate so they have the option of using it. I know DM would be upset if I ever changed my name but I do think sometimes she was doing it to be different and not thinking about the children.