Our name choices don’t seem very liked

Fwiw I agree with @Everlore.

There have been some downright sneery and rude posts on here. Some of you have really pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable to say. Easy to do online with no comeback.

Also, what's wrong with being a showgirl? As a devoted Swiftie, I am very much in my showgirl era right now and loving it!

@Everlore when people are saying “showgirl” vibes they don’t mean Vegas residency/Broadway show kind of thing, they mean like the original Moulin Rouge style cabaret shows where being a showgirl or “opera dancer” was thought of as shorthand for being a courtesan/prostitute. (Think Satine in Moulin Rouge!)

In the film/musical “Gigi” the titular character is a child being brought up specifically to be a courtesan / high class escort, and it features the famous song “Thank Heaven for Little Girls….” (this has not dated well to say the least!) Likewise, Lolita in the eponymous novel is a diminutive for Lola/Dolores, the twelve year old girl who becomes the protagonist’s mistress. (Not to mention the Manilow and Kinks songs which are still pretty well known!) I’m in my forties and I know them… And “Gigi” was last on Broadway only in 2015.

Now I don’t think that just one of the names on its own is very “showgirl” vibes at all. And I actually like “Gigi” (I’m sure I read somewhere once that it’s what her friends call Gillian Anderson). Lola on its own you can get away with also (though I must admit I’d still be thinking about the book “Lolita”). But it’s only really together that they reinforce each other. I don’t think Gigi and Lila has the same effect at all; they work well.

I’m on the fence about the nickname/long name thing. I mean I don’t honestly see why Gigi couldn’t be a diminutive for Gabrielle and Lila for Apolline, both of which I love. Apolline is so pretty!

I hired a Crystal recently and have worked with a Candy and not once did I give their names a thought!
Crystal is an investment analyst and Candy was head of a team of project managers...
Not lightweight roles.

Oh wow, poor OP, some of these comments have been utterly awful.
I’m 30, I know sisters who must be 25 and 23 called Gigi and Tiggi, no full names. One works at a private bank the other works in publishing, I don’t think either of them have struggled with careers due to their names, they are from a lovely very wealthy family.

Ignore some of these really ignorant posters on here OP, Gigi and either Lola or Lila are gorgeous names!

Of course that is your choice. Quite unusual to be so adamant about it (no long names) but nevertheless it is your choice at the end of the day.

Hopefully a more lighthearted post will distract from all the tension. I don’t speak French or Italian and while I have met a lot of people, with a lot of unique names, I’ve never met an Appolline.

I was reading this thread, for two days now, believing you were trying to name your child Gigi Appo-Lini (think Italian- like linguine or fettuccine) and wondering why nobody was questioning it. I just googled the name and the French pronunciation is pretty and doesn’t actually rhyme.

I thought everyone was focusing on the complete wrong problem!

Agreed. Obviously I touched a nerve. Although they seem to have abandoned calling me racist and classist (which would be highly ironic).

Quite funny that upthread the same poster said they disliked twins with the same first letter to their name. Obviously ok for some and not others to have preferences!

I think Gigi is a lovely name. I have a young niece called Lyla. Congratulations on your twins x

@Everlore , are you feeling OK? People do judge names, and your reaction seems a bit extreme.

What qualifies you to pronounce on what makes a stupid name? Would you like to publish a list of names you approve of that everyone can choose from since you are clearly the arbiter of good taste and judgment.
I stand by my original post, you may be unaware of the motivations behind your name prejudice but you should still do something to tackle those prejudices, regardless of how much faith you have in your impeccable taste in names and analyse your need to sneer at parents whose idea of a good name differs from you.

It was me that said I know several Gigis - they are all abbreviations though. Genivieve and Giselle.

I don't personally like them very much but they're not awful. Probably would assume they were short for something. I think they're worse together than separately and OP is changing one of them now.

My (much younger) cousin is called Lola, we all disliked it when it was mooted but didn't say anything obviously. She is now 19 and hates it, it doesn't suit her at all. She's quite serious (albeit lovely!) and a bit alternative/goth. She has disliked it since senior school, has tried to go by a shortened version of her middle name (which is completely different eg Catherine) but it's quite hard when she still lives in same town so many people know her from primary & senior school and it gets a bit confusing.

I didn’t mean give them both a name beginning with G but the girl they want to know as Gigi - say Gabrielle Gina, it would work to make that Gigi. (If they don’t like any of the long names that would work for Gigi, like Georgina.)

Out of curiosity, as a self proclaimed judger. Would Gigi and Lila/Lola be names you judged, since that’s the topic at hand here?

Fwiw I didn't ask for your message to be deleted @Everlore, perhaps on reflection you realised it was a bit silly and you hadn't used your best reading comprehension and deleted it yourself. Either way I hope you warmed up before that massive stretch. I will defend my right to judge parents who give their kids stupid names, whether Khaleesi or Spongebob, (while trying my very best not to allow that to cloud my view of the unfortunately named individual) and I assure you I'm an equal opportunities judger - all races and classes are more than capable of giving out silly names.

I don’t like them at all - but if I knew you, I wouldn’t say anything.and if you did find out, I wouldn’t expect you to care about my opinion

Wow calm down. I don't know how you got the massive leap from "I will judge your parents if they name you after a homicidal nutter from a tv series" to "I'm racist and hate the working class" 😂

Remember the first reaction to saying dd2 name to another mother at the hospital was a stunned silence. Eek. Her twins were called Ben and Tom so we were coming from very different places!

You're absolutely right! I stand corrected. Still brought to mind Eurotrash and finally being allowed to watch it by my parents back in the day. I'm not sure it would work these days though. I seem to recall it usually featured the likes of naked Germans rising bicycles with socks on their noodles

Weren't she Lolo? I do think of th kinks song though and I'm in my early forties.

Yes, this for me too.
I met several Lolas in my stripping days.

Having said that, if you love the names, that is what is important. Others don't have to like them and they'll get used to them.

Each to their own, but I personally find the idea of giving twins names starting with the same letter embarrassingly twee. You might as well go the whole hog and dress them in matching clothes and give them identical haircuts until they're old enough to move out and get the hell away from you so they can start to be their own people rather than one of a matching pair!

Great rock classic by the Kinks. Called "Lola."

I also believe there is a mum on TikTok who did a stay at home baby series who’s daughter is called Gigi and they very much give middle class vibes!