What happened to normal conventional names?

Charmander

We had a loud-mouthy girl whose same was meant to be Dionne. But it had been spelt as Dieone. When she was being particularly annoying, and she could indeed be annoying, her teachers would refer to her as Die One. Childish, but satisfying.

Just because one person gives their child an unusual name, doesn't mean everyone is! In case you haven't noticed there's plenty of kids called George, Stanley, Arthur, Elsie, Matilda, Edith etc!

@StationJack no it's fine, you were probably right.

I'm probably pretty old relative to the average age here, but I used to post in a category of Yahoo Answers for Baby Names and perhaps because there weren't a vast number of regulars, it always seemed a really friendly category .. So I expect I was taken aback by the response here. I mean if it was a category like Politics or Current Affairs, those places were inhabited by some real spikey types but for Baby Names, I never thought the posters could get that bothered by anyone else's views.

So I'm any case, I could have expressed it more clearly probably..It's not those names in particular, they were just non- traditional names that came into my head. hey- ho. You live and learn 😃

Because most parents now just want a ‘unique’ name that shocks and gets them insincere compliments. That’s quite literally their only criteria. They don’t even focus on whether or not the name actually sounds nice and serious. It sounds harsh, but it’s reality.

@SpaceAngel1999 , I know a Bunny but he's got a BC name. A genuine nickname but I have no idea what his real name is. His DC have regular names.

There’s a lady who I know who called her daughter Bunny Love! Poor child

@EmailsaysOOO , I was a bit mean saying pass-agg but I have quite a thick skin and generally don't take things to heart. There are all sorts of posters and tastes on here.

Jenna makes me think of Jenna Coleman. She's 40! I thought she was much younger but the years fly by.
Names sometimes have a local spike or a beautiful celebrity or sportsman might give a name a bit of a moment.

Maybe they don’t realise it’s a call girl name, poor child.

@StationJack thanks yes, I was probably taking it out of proportion. Thanks for your message, I appreciate you saying that. ,🙂

You're welcome to post @EmailsaysOOO , you only made one post that a few others flagged. Those names may be popular where you are - they get mentione d on here every now and then.

Don't take the comments personally, however hard it might be not to, and if anyone criticises your children's names, you probably wouldn't like their DC's names either.

I value your input.

@StationJack I was responding to the tone I perceived from a PP quoting my original post. Sorry if you feel it was inappropriate. Difficult to assess these things unless you can actually hear the person writing it. I will accept my knowledge on baby names isn't up to date and therefore not comment any further.

@EmailsaysOOO , your post reeks of passive-aggression.
The current names are available on the ONS site but you can view name popularity at https://names.darkgreener.com/.
Baby name explorer - Kyle
Baby name explorer - Jenna

If you post something that stands out as not being right, you'll get called out. You happened to pick names that were popular in the 1980s and 90s and hardly used now.

Thanks larthar. I stand corrected. I wasn't so much talking about those specific names, more the practice of giving any non-traditional English names, and often giiving American- sounding names. Anyway, no matter, I realise I was taking a chance making any comment at all.

I knew a 'Beauty' and she really, really was. That was a lot of pressure from the parents though. Yes, yes, they may have meant on the inside, but still.
She was almost ridiculously attractive, thankfully.

My kids have conventional names and so do 95% of the kids in their school.

And if you look at lists of the top 100 names each year the vast majority of kids have normal conventional names too.

You could name them something unusual that becomes associated with an horrific news story.

If the murderer was a Jack then there are so many Jacks that nobody would associate the name with the murdet.

If you look at threads on names to avoid, you'll get Myra listed but not Ian.

How could this be made to happen, though? If the parents are not psychic, how are they supposed to know which names their child would and would not like to be called before birth? I know adults with common names that hate their names, and I also know adults with uncommon names that hate their names. It’s not really something that you can predict. Most people won’t go through the hassle and social taboo of changing their name either.

(I’m not being sarcastic because tone is hard to convey through writing. This is a genuine question.)

A lot of unusual names are unusual/uncommon for a reason, though. So many are incredibly tacky and/or ridiculous. A lot have absolutely zero real history or meaning. If a name doesn’t have much appeal to a wide variety of people, it’ll be less common (generally speaking).

I think there’s a middle ground between naming your child Oliver or some other overused name (which I also hate) and naming your child Huntleigh or Taylinn (actual ‘unusual’ names that I’ve seen).

You’re judging the names by the standard of the 20th century, which we’re no longer in. Unusual names are super common now because we have greater visibility than ever before of other people and of different name options. A natural consequence of that is that people feel less constrained by the judgement of their local community, and instead pick names that reflect their own tastes and preferences. Names that were common in the 1700s would also seem unusual, it’s just a different time.

Know a couple of brothers gorgeous little boys Jim & John

I grew up wanting to be Jill (and Jinny). But reading those books from an adult perspective- they could be quite mean.

My all-time favourite honour name is Deliverance. But - well- no. DH said if I did that it would be called 'justifiable parenticide'.

Yes, they were foul to her!

Oh poor old Mercy! The others were quite unkind about her- and she managed to get them a field for their riding club too!

I like them too. Or some of them. A doleful character called Mercy Dulbottle in Ruby Ferguson’s Jill books notwithstanding.