Ptolemy???

I'm nosey and bored so did a search. She saw sense and called him Harvey.

WHY??? What do you like about it?

Goes hand in hand with Persephone, both with questionable references imho. Why associate a child with war or the underworld??

Oooh I'm sorry I think it's really really pretentious. Possibly it's because of the silent P, I don't know.

Whatever the OP went with in the end, he'll probably be at school by now...zombie thread or what?!

Wow, 2008 thread!

I live in one of those London areas, and I would say don't do it. Poor child, imagine learning how to spell it, understanding it from a phonics point of view.

I have a difficult to pronounce maiden name, and married name, which causes hassle everywhere we go. Restaurant reservations, doctor's appointments and so on. My maiden name was mis pronounced continually at university.

Finally a few years ago, my husband looked for work for six months, and got no joy, until he shortened his long to pronounce foreign name.

It may not just be mispronunciation issues, but people, where it really matters not bothering to call, to avoid the embarrassment if mispronunciation. I can assure you that it will not just "act as a filter" to (how did someone put it earlier) route out the ill educated. Should your little one prove not to be academic and need to operate outside the well educated world, this name will not be a bonus.

Not crazy just because i don't like the way it sounds - a bit hard - rather that for reasons of pretentiousness...

As to folk growing into their names, is that true - i just think the name grows with them.

If he is the camp arty type i guess he will keep the full name

If he is the sweet guy who works in advertising/nursing - Tolly

If he is a builder or architect - Tol

:) HTH

I love this name - i am working class and proud :)

I would love to have called a son this, but there was no way DP would have allowed it because he couldn't spell it besides, we had a girl, i chose and easy to spell name.

At my DDs school i think you may get a few raised eyebrows from the mums but i shouldn't imagine that the kids would bat an eyelid. Its a very conservative school with not a Sharla or Kyon in sight

I had a baby boy in December and called him Ptolemy - I love the name, and it suits him - yes we get alot of how do you say/spell that and sometimes 'did you make that up?', but we love it and really that's all that matters.
If you are offended by that name then you will totally hate that my DH choice for one of his middle names is Robot

I think a child will grow into any name - it's the person behind the name that people associate with a name. And if the person is nice, clever, funny or whatever then that is what people will associate with it.

If you like Ptolemy I would definately use the name for your son. It's then up to him what he makes of it. He'll be much more likely remembered than if he was another Jack, Tom or Harry etc.

I don't understand why people can 'hate' a name. Surely its the person behind the name that matters more!

Personally I think it sounds dreadful (connotations of pretensiousness etc)...I am quite sure you are not pretentious, just telling you my unedited first reaction

MDM - it's a teeny bit more unusual than Alexander (which is common in quite a few countries).

It's a name that goes beyond 'unusual' 'creative' and 'stylish' into the 'wilfully absurd' camp, I'm afraid. Don't do it.

Girl called Ptolemy here

you can't be serious

I know a 7 year old Ptolemy who goes to a state school in Surrey and he is very popular, clever and, I think, happy with his name !

Wouldn't do it, myself. Having a distinctive name is one thing, but Ptolemy is a step too far for me.

georgiemum does that mean you wouldn't use (for exampe)names such as alexander or agatha unless you had a Greek surname? same difference imo

as in 'father of history, father of lies'?
I wouldn't personally. Unless you have a greek surname.

I also don't understand why it should matter whether a child goes to a private or state school...

A child and will accept whatever names they hear (unless the name is really silly, like Poopoohead or something . It seems that some PARENTS may have a problem with 'unusual' or 'different' or names.

Lovely name.

But what's state / private school got to do with acceptance of unusual names? Am I missing something?

Besides, if your DCs go to an inner city state school like those I used to work in, the demographic will most likely be much more ethnically mixed than your average private school, so there will most likely be plenty more 'strange' names around. In the state schools I worked in I doubt other kids would have given the name Ptolomy a second thought.

OK the spelling isn't straightforward, but then nor are Siobhan, Niamh, Sian etc. People learn how to spell them. I have to constantly spell my surname, but it really doesn't bother me.

Sorry but a big NO from me.

For some reason it reminds me of Pterodactyl - you know the same strange thing of having a silent P!!!!

FWIW my dh has an unusual Christian name, and although it only has 4 letters, he has to endlessly spell it for people. Now if he has to spell it out for others, can you imagine how much Ptolemy is going to have to be explained. Especially the silent P!!!!

Why hasn't it got a silent Q or a silent Z???

I think it's lovely. And it wouldn't stand out among the names at my son's state primary, and we're in Birmingham!