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Baby names

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

The name Teddy ?

173 replies

August21yellowbaby · 14/11/2023 09:41

I have a little boy named Albie and die another baby boy in April! 💙

I love the name Teddy, but I'm not sure if on the birth certificate I should use a "proper" name incase he doesn't like using Teddy at school or work...?

I mean, I know quite a few teddy's nowadays so hoping it's not seen as "unusual" anymore

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Fosre · 16/11/2023 10:08

Teddy bedding is all I think

KnowYouAreLoved · 16/11/2023 10:05

Right ok sorry, didn't mean that to be rude, but was pointing out that it is also a nickname as a given name. I just don't understand the thought process of the difference between that and Teddy.

I don't particularly like nicknames as given names so I didn't choose them for my child. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I know plenty of Alfie and Bobby and Tilly etc so they are obviously popular.

sunglassesonthetable · 16/11/2023 09:04

@August21yellowbaby

Some posters have all the sensitivity and manners of a bull in a china shop OP. Please ignore. They are just random opinions after all.

Mumsnet names is also famously traditional.

Times change and you only have to go into a school playground to know that.

Names will be very different in 20 years when all these toddlers and babies are grown up.

T'was ever thus.

Enjoy your lovely boy and the new little one when he arrives.

YourNameGoesHere · 16/11/2023 08:29

August21yellowbaby · 16/11/2023 08:23

I absolutely did not ask for opinions on the name of my first born. Rude

You didn't ask but given you used a nickname for your first it seems blooming weird to suddenly worry it might sound babyish or not work when he's grown up when doing exactly the same for your second child. You must see it's an odd thing to worry about second time around when you didn't worry about giving your first a 'proper' name. Hmm

August21yellowbaby · 16/11/2023 08:23

KnowYouAreLoved · 15/11/2023 09:51

Did you not worry about this for Albie? Exact same issue, surely?

This was what I wondered. Surely if you're worried that Teddy is nicknamey (it is) you had the same thought process for Albie?

Albert and Theodore with nicknames are fine. Albie and Teddy as their given names I'm very much not keen on.

I absolutely did not ask for opinions on the name of my first born. Rude

OP posts:
peaceinourtime · 15/11/2023 14:35

Teddy is really just a cute name that young children and (some) old men like to be called.

KnowYouAreLoved · 15/11/2023 14:23

*Lots of popular names nowadays are infantilising. For girls, too. Gracie-Mae will be a grown up one day and it won't sit right. Grace is just, well, more normal.

I know an Abbie who is just that, Abbie, not Abigail (though that's probably one of the better examples). Our hairdresser called her daughter Izzi. Just that, it's not short for Isabel(le)*

Babyish names are definitely fashionable just now. I met a Molly-Mae-Rae the other day and just couldn't imagine her as an adult with that name. I'd be £100 she calls herself Molly by the age of 15.

HerMammy · 15/11/2023 14:12

I know more dogs called Teddy that children, I'd think of something else.

StillWantingADog · 15/11/2023 13:27

I’d def go with Edward or perhaps Theo(dore).
DS’s best friend is a Ted (Edward) and I expect it to stick long term but I think it’s good to have a more grown up option if he wants it

LightDrizzle · 15/11/2023 13:24

Limth · 14/11/2023 10:14

I know a few Teddys. All are dogs.

It’s one of the few names that seemed to start as a dog name and percolate down to humans. I know two dog Teddys that are about 9 years old. The bulge of baby Teddys seems to have started about 4 years ago.

gentlemum · 15/11/2023 13:23

Teddy is super cute for a baby. Cute ish for a young child. Cringey for a teenager. And awful for an adult.

LightDrizzle · 15/11/2023 13:20

Edward! Give your son choices as he grows up.

SallyWD · 15/11/2023 13:19

ValerieVomit · 15/11/2023 13:14

Lots of popular names nowadays are infantilising. For girls, too. Gracie-Mae will be a grown up one day and it won't sit right. Grace is just, well, more normal.

I know an Abbie who is just that, Abbie, not Abigail (though that's probably one of the better examples). Our hairdresser called her daughter Izzi. Just that, it's not short for Isabel(le).

Edited

I know. I don't like it for some reason. To me, these are nicknames. I think everyone should have a proper name.

tokesqueen · 15/11/2023 13:19

Teddy, lol. I thought similar issues with Albie tbh.
Edward is lovely.

ValerieVomit · 15/11/2023 13:14

Lots of popular names nowadays are infantilising. For girls, too. Gracie-Mae will be a grown up one day and it won't sit right. Grace is just, well, more normal.

I know an Abbie who is just that, Abbie, not Abigail (though that's probably one of the better examples). Our hairdresser called her daughter Izzi. Just that, it's not short for Isabel(le).

sunglassesonthetable · 15/11/2023 11:08

Quite. I know a Kevin, Marvin and a Terry dog.

( Though also a lot of Teddy dogs. )

dingstein · 15/11/2023 10:53

So many people seem to be choosing names for dolls or pets rather than for human beings. They won't be winsome toddlers for very long

There appears to have been a reversal. I know dogs called Patrick, Joan, Paul, Frank, Ron

sunglassesonthetable · 15/11/2023 10:50

Theodore Roosevelt was very famously known to hate the nickname Teddy so
I wouldn't use him as an example!

Was he taken seriously though? That was my point.

Teddy in its modern popularity ( though it's been round for years and years guys ) obviously jars many posters but the reality is times have changed and there are going to be loads and loads of them some of whom will get old, wise and distinguished. Maybe even become a barrister ( yes! 😂 ) And in 20 years time these comments will have died a natural death.

dingstein · 15/11/2023 10:26

Edward, diminutive Ted.

Is Albie an Albert?

HoHoHoliday · 15/11/2023 10:16

"I wonder if Teddy Roosevelt got taken seriously."

Theodore Roosevelt was very famously known to hate the nickname Teddy so
I wouldn't use him as an example!
He referred to himself as Theodore.
"Teddy" was used by the press and public in the same way that people called Boris Johnson "BoJo".

"Teddy bears" were named after him, after he joined a group bear hunting trip but then refused to kill a bear.

LaurieStrode · 15/11/2023 10:10

Aquamarine1029 · 14/11/2023 09:44

Your child will spend the vast majority of their life as an adult. I would give them a name that will serve them well in their adult years, and I personally think Teddy, as their given name, isn't it.

Thank you.

So many people seem to be choosing names for dolls or pets rather than for human beings. They won't be winsome toddlers for very long.

KnowYouAreLoved · 15/11/2023 09:51

Did you not worry about this for Albie? Exact same issue, surely?

This was what I wondered. Surely if you're worried that Teddy is nicknamey (it is) you had the same thought process for Albie?

Albert and Theodore with nicknames are fine. Albie and Teddy as their given names I'm very much not keen on.

BlazingWorld · 15/11/2023 09:44

I wanted Teddy/Ted for DS2, but I would have gone with Edward for the birth certificate - DH didn't like it because he didn't like names that end in D (?!) but now 13 year old DS would definitely have suited it!

IDontLoveTheWayYouLie · 15/11/2023 09:36

'I wonder if Teddy Roosevelt got taken seriously.'

His actual name was Theodore though so at least he had a choice😅

sunglassesonthetable · 15/11/2023 09:16

Can you imagine a barrister called Teddy standing up in court and expecting to be taken seriously? Please don’t inflict your son with such a babyish name.

😂😂😂😂

I think you're bit sheltered. I agree it's useful to have the Edward alternative.

I wonder if Teddy Roosevelt got taken seriously.