Hate DD’s planned baby name. Is it ever ok to say that?

There's no point saying anything. They've picked this name. They know it is unusual.

I'm not a big fan but it's a name. It'll be fine. There are tons of out there names at my kids' school and it is a non-issue. Kids are pretty flexible, in my experience.

As in 'old Mcdonald had a farm, ee I, ee I O'?

Apparently, it's often associated with input/output (I/O) in computing.

When I was expecting my DD, someone I know locally was pregnant at the same time. Her DM asked me what names we were thinking of. I told her one of the girl's names we had in mind and she told me she didn't like it at all. We ended up giving DD that name and next time I saw her she said she thought it was lovely! I was so tempted to remind her of her original comment.

I like Io.

Plenty of classical names have dodgy histories. Look up Phaedra!
Also Dido would be known as Dildo at secondary school.

Its not that that bothers me. Its the fact that her rape is cheerfully glossed over.

Same as the mother of Heracles. The fact that she was raped is ignored because as a result she gave birth to a "hero". She was raped by Zeus who had disguised himself as her husband, so thought that she was giving herself willingly to a husband that she loved and desired. This is seen positively in the myth, like Zeus was so clever to do it.

Strongly recommend reading Longhand by Andy Hamilton as an alternative view, from Heracles point of view, of this myth.

Suggest it would be better for them to call the first one EIE before they have baby IO?

I like Io as a name.

I love it. The attitude regarding (the version of) the myth in which she is raped is not reason not to choose it. Attitudes like that are misogynistic and ignorant that many popular names were originally victims of violence in ancient myths or bible stories. I named one of my daughters Antigone, and I still remember a family member being very rude about it asking if I was aware Antigone killed herself. But the values of Antigone were something I admired, that she valued family and moral over arbitrary rules, would rather die than live a life of oppression. I thought it was patronising of the family member to mention this, like I didn't already know. I also know that the same comment would not have been made had I chosen Juliette.

Obviously a Marmite name on here.

I like it

They don't want Lo, they want Io.

I know I can’t change it 😂

Seriously, there will be way quirkier names in her school. I've not heard of anyone getting bullied for their names at school and I've got a 15 yo and a 5 yo currently in school. The kids really don't care.

I like it. I know an Iona who gets called Io.

I’m guess the issue is that while many people won’t know the story, some will. (Io was raped and turned into a cow).

Like calling your daughter Lolita, for some people it will always be the thing they think of when they are introduced.

That’s worse.
My mil called dd the little girl and I knew it was because she didn’t like our chosen name.

Because she has a moon, a sea and a strait named after her, because she wasn’t just a rape victim even though many posters seem to think that is what she should be defined by.

the attitude towards the name frankly pisses off that she is somehow just become a victim of rape as her definition. That no one should be named after her because of that even though she wasn’t just that.

There is an Ionian Sea for a reason

FWIW, I know an Ione who is sometimes known as Io and I don't think she's had much trouble with anyone thinking it's Lo or 10. Unless the baby's going to be hanging out with ee cummings and bell hooks, most people will probably figure out from context that it's a personal name / proper noun and therefore most likely starts with a capital I rather than a lower-case L or a number 1. She might get Eeyore or EIEIO, especially if they're using the Greek pronunciation, but bullies will find something to tease about no matter what.

BUT - a two-letter legal name (that is, not a shortening or diminutive of a longer name) can cause a technical issue in some cases. Most legacy mainframe systems, as used by registry offices, banks, schools, etc., can now handle it. But it still seems to be the default for a lot of online forms to present an error if a first or last name is fewer than three bytes. It can be quite annoying if you're trying to charge something on a credit card registered to "Io Marie Smith" and the form refuses to allow First Name = Io, and then rejects the entry because the fist names don't match. This is becoming less common as people get more used to traditional two-letter names (e.g., in Asian languages, Hebrew, and even Irish) and more people are using trad diminutives as first names (Bo, Jo, Di, Ty, etc.) but definitely still happens. Just something to think about.

Tbf, I don’t think badly of Cassandra because she was raped but because nobody believed her about her prophecies! Shouting into the void

That was exactly how assumed it was pronounced when I saw it. I quite like it andIreally don’t see it as a name they’ll get teased for. If kids are going to tease, they’ll find anything.

My sister gave her DD a name her MIL hated (due to having known someone with the same name that she hated) - the spelling was different but pronunciation exactly the same, BIL and my sister were adamant they were calling her that. MIL said she would not spend time with the DD and all that emotional blackmail stuff, but once she was born she was a complete doting grandmother and I’m not sure the name thing has ever been raised since.

My brother chose to give his DS an unusual name as he thought it would be ‘character building’! He thought that to carry the name off he would need a strong character. It wasn’t actually that far-out a name and I don’t believe he was ever ribbed for it - he is a very confident and well-adjusted young man.

Personally I’d keep your thoughts to yourself, unless asked, and then go with something tactful that expresses your opinion without being offensive - I’m sure you’ll grow to love the name.

Also does your daughter know the mythology, is drum it into her her baby can’t be called Lo for that reason alone

I really like it.

There are so many beautiful classical names......why that one?!

Not sure you can do anything about it though unless you have the sort of relationship where you can say "DD, you are a classicist....do you really want to name your baby after a rape victim?! And also, its not a name that would really work in the UK" I could do that with my daughters with disagreements maybe but no hard feelings all round. I wanted to call youngest DC a name that isnt unusual at all but is a bit left field for where we live. Eldest DC (21 at the time, yes big age gaps!) said "Its ok if you dont mind her getting taken the piss out of every day" which pretty much covered it! Chose something else!

Personally I’d just say it’s your choice darling it’s your baby but, i think it’s awful.

Depends entirely on the relationship you have with her - my mum would not have been shy about telling me if she didn’t like names we were considering, and I wouldn’t have been upset with her doing so.

I like it.