Americans huh? What are they like?

A workmate called her son Bran?? It always makes me think of 'brown' said in a Northern accent. Poor boy will almost certainly have to endure being called a flake. Lady in question was a bit of a crusty so guess she was looking for something 'wholesome' and earthy..

Ha ha. Working the chat lines harpsichordcarrier??!!

LMAO.

I used to work with a guy called Randy, and whenever I phoned him his assistant would say:

"hold on, I'm just trying to get Randy for you!"

I'm telling you, Aussies appear to be similarly afflicted with Naff Name Disease as well.

I actully like the name Quinn for a girl, but it does sound like quim, as in fanjo!

Brock sounds like a porn star's name to me.

Americans are also very fond of the 'surname as first name' thing - Carter, Cooper, Taylor, Mason etc.. Didn't Miranda call her kid Brady in Sex and The city?

In Friends when Rachel called her daughter Emma i remember thinking that was a fairly dull and uninspiring name considering the character was quite funky and worked in fashion. But in the US Emma is a very unusual name and not heard often - so probably is considered avant garde.

I also think it's amusing that names we would consider pretty naff here are very popular middle class choices out there. Eg: Eric, Colin, Kevin, Michelle.

As they're so keen on using surnames as forenames for boys, can you imagine the following:

Darling

Cox

Hiscox (my fave)

nah expat - over here seems to be the tradition of taking a common name thinking of the most demented way to spell it and that makes them unusual.

My Godmother had her head in her hands weeping when her daughter called her daughter Ryannne.. My Godmother was just five miles beyond incomprehension over that name. They are Irish, the parents of that baby, but they did live and work for a while in the US!!

Ryanne's mother's name is Jennifer though,and I have a theory that all Jennifers give their children slightly odd or extremely unusual name.

My ds had an American friend called Peter, who is about 15 now. He is the only youngish Peter we know.

I know 2 English mums that have named their daughters Topaz and Saphire, names that I had only previously associated with American Drag Queens. Americans aren't the only ones guilty of naming their kids stupid names...

However my American cousins have named their daughter Nevaeh (as in heaven spelled backwards- too precious) and their boys Harley and Ryker. Their surname is Horn. Harley Horn and Ryker Horn. Yep.

I like these surname names.
Not so sure about Maccall for a girl but the rest I quite like.

My ds1 has a surname name.

Someone mentioned Robin as a girls name. We have friends in Holland who called their dd Robin.

Sur name thing getting a bit tired. THe smart money is on Peter. That would really stand out in a US creche wouldn't it?

Funnily enough, after Apple Martin was born I kept reading or hearing about other ones. And I'm reading a very good book by Fanny Flagg and a character has a baby Apple!

To think I worried about Gus García and everybody said NO you can't do that awful awful awful. And then Gwynnie did Moses Martin. That def sounds worse imo!

There is an Apple working at DS's school here in Budapest. She is in her 20s. So Gwynnie wasn't as dumb as I thought!

they call boys surnames nad girls boys forenames.

My DH is American and he has cousins called Taylor, Tanner (!), Cayden, Andi (girl) and Jamie (girl).

There is a real trend for calling boys by surnames. Had to talk him out of calling our son Gunner (dm's maiden name) and Colton (his grandmother's name.

Brach's Pick a Mix. Brach's chocolate covered cherries.

I actually went on a university course at Georgetown with one of those very old money, Southern types with a name a mile long.

His name was read out by the lecturer on the first day and he said, 'Here, but please, call me Fud.'

Hoyt has been around a while

Americans have always had funny made-up names, and I honestly think the kids won't get "quinn...quim" or "Brick...dick" or "Brock...cock" because nearly all their names are weird and potential teases.

However I do worry about those American kids in a kind and tolerant English playground ; let's hope they go to an international school.

From Wisconsin, 5+ years in UK now. I actually had a Brach in my class growing up, and expat we always joked about the candy!

To the OP, I would have said all those were boys names as well. And poncey ones to boot.

DP (Londoner) says if people can name their kids stuff like Brooklyn, Dakota, Camden etc then our kids are going to be called Chingford (girl) and Walthamstow (boy).

Ha ha LImeJellyforBrains. That was me , my 9 yr old dd is called Jakkii now though.

When I was 17 and there were floods in Sudan, I walked into McDonalds and asked for a chocolate Sudan.

Back in 1999 during my first pg I used to look at Babycentre (it was all I could find at the time) which was basically a US site. At the time the East Timor uprising was big in the news (in our papers at least) as its people were being slaughtered by the Indonesian govt. A US mom-to-be asked whether we all thought Jakarta wasn't a lovely name for a girl, it had 'just popped into her head' apparently.