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Baby names

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Original poster

A thought about unusual or made up names

94 replies

PeggySioux · 30/03/2008 14:00

When we gave dd1 a highly unusual name, one of the (many) criticisms that were leveled at us by interfering and rude well meaning family members was "she can't ever have a serious job with that name" and "what if she wants to be a lawyer rather than a pole dancer?" and "the bank manager will laugh at her" (I promise I haven't made those up).

Well, arguably the most powerful woman in the world is called Condoleezza Rice. C'mon... Condoleezza? That's not even a name - it's made up from the Italian musical term con dolcezza meaning "with sweetness". And top it off with Rice?

Hmmm... yet I don't notice anyone refusing her a bank account. In fact, like her or loath her, you can't deny that she gets taken pretty seriously and has done okay for herself.

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MadamePlatypus · 31/03/2008 09:07

There are 379 Kaytees, and 141 Bethanies on facebook. 118 Alexandrs (male and seem to be all Russian, so fair enough) and 51 Alixandras who all seem to be American.

I am sure there was some character on TV who always pronounced Alex as Alix, but I can't remember too.

Flame · 31/03/2008 08:39

You can't start threads like this and not tell us what she is called.

I have nothing against unusual names (the Rivers etc of this world), I like them most of the time but DH is very much not liking of them.

I don't like weirdy spellings of proper names. We get enough hassle for having the "Australian" spelling for DD rather than the "Welsh" one. It is a real spelling ffs, not as if we threw in random letters for the hell of it, just not the spelling that aggressively Welsh family members wanted.

CantSleepWontSleep · 31/03/2008 07:38

Then you have my apologies NighbyNight - I obviously misread it as you having a go at someone who was already on this thread.

AbbeyA · 31/03/2008 06:52

I don't mind the made up ones quite as much as the wrong spelling.

controlfreakyagain · 30/03/2008 23:53

oh come on op..... what's she called.... how can we properly contribute if we have no idea of what your idea of "unusual" etc is?? spill. now. please.

LookattheLottie · 30/03/2008 23:46

"Sorry to be snobby but there are made up names that suggest that the parents are individualists/hippietypes/bit wacky and there are names that suggest that the parents are more likely to be found in front of the tv drinking lager."

  • PMSL!!!

I don't really care what people call their children, but what does get me is when people turn a perfectly lovely name into some alien laungage by changing the spelling! We are going to be a world of:

Kaytee
Jaxsson
Lideah
Rachaele
Lora
Alixandr
Danyell
Jewley
Bethenie

It's not nice, it doesn't look good, it's not different - it's just stupid! Leave them as they are, if you want to be different, then use an unusual name. It just makes me

purpleduck · 30/03/2008 23:29

Peggy

I wouldn't worry about bank managers, teachers, the congress -whatever

By the time your dcs are that age, a WHOLE lotta, Princesses, Kings, and Dangers will have paved the way!!

fingerwoman · 30/03/2008 23:23

oh no, just found it OMG

hatrick · 30/03/2008 23:23

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fingerwoman · 30/03/2008 23:22

nope, not seen it. and can't find it :S

MadamePlatypus · 30/03/2008 23:22

We thought we had given DS an unusual name until his first day at nursery.

LaComtesse · 30/03/2008 23:20

My surname is relatively unusual but it is often pronounced wrongly as well as being spelt wrongly (so my poor dd is doomed to spelling her entire name out all of her life). It's even got it's own 'group' on Facebook since this seems to be a world-wide gripe of poople to get to grips with saying it . Not that we're overly sensitive.

hatrick · 30/03/2008 23:19

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fingerwoman · 30/03/2008 23:17

ditto, my first and last names are common as muck and both get spelled incorrectly all the time.

LaComtesse · 30/03/2008 23:14

My dd went to school with a boy called Jenson and his elder sister was Chynna (yes it was that spelling!).

No one batted an eyelid. FWIW, my dd has a perfectly everyday name that is routinely misspelt .

hatrick · 30/03/2008 23:14

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fingerwoman · 30/03/2008 23:10

but what is unusual now won't necessarily be unusual in 15-20 yrs time when these kids are getting jobs.
so irrelevant

hatrick · 30/03/2008 23:06

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margosbeenplayingwithmynoonoo · 30/03/2008 23:04

"I should've called my son Don't Touch That. And his brother No We Can't Afford It. " LOL

As long as your child isn't named Yippee-Ki-Yay or something similar you should be fine.

harpsichordcarrier · 30/03/2008 23:01

hmm, yes, well.
actually I think they have a point (about the serious job and not the bank manager )
having an inconspicious name, or a name that brings no baggage, is an advantage imo.
having a veryunusual name, or a very "little-girls" name, or a name that makes people go will not (of course) stop the person concerned from becoming a brain surgeon, all other things being equal, but might be an obstacle.
maybe a tiny obstacle, but there it is.
imo

sophiebbb · 30/03/2008 22:55

you've got me worried now. I want to call my daughter (due in 3 weeks) Tallulah and think that she will have problems now if she wants to become a lawyer or a doctor etc!!!

hatrick · 30/03/2008 22:47

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Nighbynight · 30/03/2008 22:43

cantsleep - I have no idea whose son may be called Tafara. I just picked it at random because (a) it isnt much known in the UK and (b) a girl of the same name was staying with us last week.
thank you buckets - of course I wasnt criticising the name!
my dd also has an african name that is not known at all in europ, so we get this kind of thing a lot.

AbbeyA · 30/03/2008 21:49

Kitty isn't a made up name, it is an old fashioned name that has come back into use-traditionally short for several names.

barnstaple · 30/03/2008 21:45

When we were in our teens, my brother wanted a girl and a boy, named Scrofula and Embolism. He's got no kids (surprise?), but I was sorely tempted when dd was born

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