What happened to normal conventional names?

I don’t like Charm because I don’t like names that put expectations on a child to be a certain way - same reason I don’t like Joy, Grace, Belle/Beau, Rebel etc.

I do think some parents forget that their baby is actually a person and not a doll. There’s no other way to explain why three babies were named Teddy-Bear in 2024.

Same here. Sooo many girls called Eve or Ellie….

I think Charm is a great name that’s way more memorable than some of the overused top 10 names.

As long as the name is easy to spell and pronounce and doesn’t have negative associations, I think unusual names are much nicer than boring top 10 ones.

You do wonder what the kids will think of these kinds of names when they’re adults.

Although, people do have more unusual names now so perhaps it will be fine.

I am amazed by the popularity of the name Bambi, just seems a mad name for an adult woman.

I quite like Dandelion !

I think for some people naming children has definitely become a creativity contest and there’s some really wacky names coming from some influencers in particular. (And then others choose to name their children in line with what they think is trendy so the unusual, creative names people have struggled to come up with end up more mainstream after a while anyway.)

I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing to want to be creative. I put a lot of thought into naming my children because I wanted something that felt a bit more bespoke than off the peg and my choices would probably be described as “try hard” on here. Although I scour history, literature and the baby name books for a real but underused name, not pluck a word or an assortment of letters and sounds out of thin air and call it a name which I do think is silly!

But a virtue name like Charm isn’t even that out there and it probably wouldn’t look that out of place to the Victorians or the Puritans who loved a bit of that sort of thing, in fact it’s quite tame in comparison to some of theirs. And for every creative name there’s probably like ten Theo’s so it’s all relative anyway.

Keith Richards named his daughter Dandelion, although I think she went by a different name when she got older.

Most kids are called the same 6 names. In our case the name Eve. At one point one third of the girls in dd1 class were called a variant of Eve. Mental. And extremely confusing.

You’ve never met a little baby Toadflax, or Hensbane?

You’re right, whatever happened to good old-fashioned Christian names like Chastity, Increase, Continent, and If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned.

No. I’m not keen on the name, but was just pointing out that ideas of ‘normality’ and ‘conventionality’ are entirely dependent on where you’re coming from.

This sums it up. I’ve noticed the same. Some people just want to disagree with the OP no matter what

As someone who was saddled with an 'unusual' spelling I totally agree.

Who decides what is and isn't a name? Look at flower names, Rose, Violet, Ivy, Holly all perfectly normal names but why not 'Daffodil'? 'Aspidistra'?

Very true - I used to know a lovely nurse called Mercy and she did genuinely live up to her name.

my username was inspired by two Mormon model/influencer types 😄

Charm Inultra. It sounds like toilet paper.

My late DM, who would be in her nineties now, had a friend of a similar age named Jewel. I really don't see what is so odd about Charm.

I’m more interested that she went on FB to announce the name of her unborn baby. I guess she’s excited.

I agree. I would argue that there’s not enough judgement and pressure within society. Social norms usually prevent people from doing things that are unwise. You see this in America where parents regularly name their children after weapons because of the lack of judgement from others there. There was even a couple in the UK who named their child after AH. Charm is just on the less extreme end of the spectrum.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-45800445

www.huffpost.com/entry/weapon-baby-names-trend_l_66fc3db0e4b0d70dca9f58f9

I think Charm is a virtue or quality name, like Mercy, Faith, Merit, Honor, etc., although not one of the more popular ones in the UK. Could also be short for Charisma, I guess - as in Carpenter.

Or siblings Quark and Strangeness

Charm isn’t too bad, in the grand scheme. Far better than some of the ridiculous names that parents are saddling their children with in their pursuit to give them a unique name. I’m sure some of them just stick a pin in the dictionary and choose a random word.

Charm is a lovely name let’s hope she’s charming! I’m a teacher and in my 20 plus years at this job I’ve never met a Grace that was graceful not once!

My Nan is a Charm (pronounced Sharm) short for Charmaine. Have you heard them say it or just written down? If it’s pronounced Charm as in lucky charm then I’m not much of a fan.

Charmaine, Charmian

There seem to be a lot of Alberts and Enids round here. Perhaps more unusual names are a backlash against toddlers with great grandparent type names