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Original poster

Fanny for a girl?

294 replies

LemonZebras · 21/02/2026 16:59

Hi everyone,

I’m expecting a baby girl. My husband is French and is insistent that he wants to name our daughter after his aunt who raised him - Fanny! It’s a common French name, but the baby will be born and raised in the UK.

Am I unreasonable to say no and to worry that she would be bullied or made fun of? My husband thinks I’m overreacting and that the slang word is barely used nowadays and that not many people know of it.

I will be showing him this thread with the different responses.

Thank you

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sashh · 21/02/2026 17:22

Ask him about calling her minou (please check the spelling) it's French for kitten or pussy, and pussy in both senses of the word.

It would be cruel to call a child Fanny in the UK.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 21/02/2026 17:22

Probably also worth saying that Fanny is not a common French name any more. It's very 80s and therefore considered pretty dated, Anglophone innuendo aside.

NamingNoNames · 21/02/2026 17:21

There is so much more diversity now and children don't take the mick out of other children's names, and I know this because I have a nearly 4 year old and my SIL has a SIL who is a TA.
HTH

Pinkissmart · 21/02/2026 17:21

Maybe spend the day calling him schlong . See if he likes it

loislovesstewie · 21/02/2026 17:21

Only if you want your child to be set up for years of teasing, sniggering, comments of a vulgar nature so that her childhood is ruined and she changes her name as soon as she is able. Does he actually know what the word means in the UK?

Buddinghell · 21/02/2026 17:20

I will be showing him this thread with the different responses.

“Different” responses :) You’ll win this one Op.

MadisonMarieParksValetta · 21/02/2026 17:20

He might be French but this child will live in the UK and naming them Fanny would basically be child abuse.

Bobbie12345678 · 21/02/2026 17:19

Good god no.
Ask your husband to picture a vagina, it’s vulva flapping. Now tell him that is what is going to spring into most English people’s heads when they hear her name each time.

Mullaghanish · 21/02/2026 17:19

I just asked my teenage 13-year-old boy and he giggled and said don’t do it to the child… he knows well what it means

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 21/02/2026 17:18

I nannied in France for a little girl called Fanny. Her name though was really Stephanie.

Do not do this to your child. Use Fanny as a middle name or find out what other names Aunt Fanny had (of course, they might be worse...)

TheBeaTgoeson1 · 21/02/2026 17:18

This would border on child abuse as you set them up for a childhood of anguish.

Pancakesbythedozen · 21/02/2026 17:18

Only if he agrees any boy you may have can be Dick after your uncle Richard....

E45bathsquirrels · 21/02/2026 17:17

Sounds fine to me

Fanny, Foo-Foo for short

Itsnotallaboutyoulikeyouthink · 21/02/2026 17:17

There was a cafe called Fanny- Anne’s . If you must at least double barrel it so she can be called Anne or the like.

CaptainMyCaptain · 21/02/2026 17:17

GreenEyesIsBack · 21/02/2026 17:15

NOT Myfanwy, which just sounds like, my fanny.
I know it's a lovely Welsh name, but just no.

Show quote history

It doesn't sound like that if you say it right.

SueKeeper · 21/02/2026 17:16

One of my kids friends has a Granny Fanny, believe me they all still know why this is hilarious.

chubbaa · 21/02/2026 17:16

Oh please don’t. Her life wont be worth living when
she starts school. Even adults will struggle
to hold in laughter

GreenEyesIsBack · 21/02/2026 17:16

FourSevenTwo · 21/02/2026 17:14

It's weird that Willies and Dicks fine, but Fanny is seen as such a big issue here.

Willies and Dicks will get sniggers too.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 21/02/2026 17:16

FourSevenTwo · 21/02/2026 17:14

It's weird that Willies and Dicks fine, but Fanny is seen as such a big issue here.

When did you last meet a Willie or a Dick under the age of sixty?

GreenEyesIsBack · 21/02/2026 17:15

CaptainMyCaptain · 21/02/2026 17:10

Frances
Francesca
Myfanwy

NOT Fanny

NOT Myfanwy, which just sounds like, my fanny.
I know it's a lovely Welsh name, but just no.

mumofoneAloneandwell · 21/02/2026 17:14

Are you ‘rage baiting’ us, op?

hard no!

FourSevenTwo · 21/02/2026 17:14

It's weird that Willies and Dicks fine, but Fanny is seen as such a big issue here.

Edenmum2 · 21/02/2026 17:14

Does he know what the English (slang) translation means? He can’t possibly want to call his child this if so, it’s completely insane.

CeeJay26 · 21/02/2026 17:13

Dear god no!

Ansjovis · 21/02/2026 17:13

If I saw a child named Fanny in the UK I'd assume that the parents were very young, very immature and didn't want to become parents. There's 'not my style' and there's openly inviting ridicule and this is definitely the latter in the UK.

Stand your ground on this one. Does the aunt have a middle name that can be used?

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