Do you like Wolf for a boy?

I second what foreveroptimistic suggested Wilfred Wilf for short would be better I think

My son has a grandson as a friend at school called blaise, but I have a feeling Wolf will just encorage bullying. Sorry

No

Well, their parents or parent's parents may have adopted Smith. My point is that round here it's just not an issue because there are so many cultures and cultures within cultures. So personally, I wouldn't really double-take at a solicitor called Perver. Maybe some racist high-profile organisation will reject my daughter for having an ethnic-sounding name (it's actually a poncey, pretentious name instead), well, more fool them.

As I said, maybe we move in different circles..

Message withdrawn

If they have adopted Smith as an English variant (and I get VERY annoyed when people feel they have to do this - I used to work with a Pavan who called himself Paul because it was easier. Easier? just because his lazy English colleagues couldn't take a second and a half to get his name right? ) why have the kept Perver?

If I lived in America I wouldn't call my child Fanny or Randy. In England I wouldn't call my child Roger.

It's not racist or conservative, it's pragmatic. You can call your child anything you like - but it's the child who has to live with it for the next 80 years through all the phases of their life.

See, I don't - how do you know one parent isn't non-English or they have adopted 'Smith' as an English variant/English surname. It's all very odd this English conservatism to me, and I think I may move in different circles to you.

If you meet someone with a non-English last name whose first name is Perver you think briefly "Oh that's a bit unfortunate - but it obviously doesn't mean the same in [insert language of the person's family of origin here]"

If you meet someone called Perver Smith you think either "He's been in the army and has one of those nicknames Prince Harry finds so entertaining but it is deeply weird that he hasn't changed it back to John now he's civilian solicitor" OR you think "That perspn's parents should be sued"

If you have an unusual name people ask all the time. It does make a real difference if you have a good story as to why you are called Bollivar or Scolastica (or even Wolf) or even Perver. It's also much more likely to make you feel positive about your name if you feel that your parents had a really good reason as to how they named you.

But who knows the background of someone's name? How do I know meeting Perver the solicitor whether he is of Turkish or English origin? Should I ask him to check whether his name is valid or ridiculous?

There is SUCH a difference between a Turkish person with a Turkish last name called Perver, and an Anglo Saxon person deciding that Perver is a lovely name and what's wrong with being called Perver Mc Donald how narrow minded of people to thing it's at all a problem. We live in the world we are in NOW, not the one we would like to live in, which is full of people - some of them wielding power- who will judge. Why give them amunition?

I have lived in Ealing, Edmonton, Oxford, Chester, Devon, Sweden, France and Reading.

The most rural place I lived in had the most diverse or as diverse selection of names.

Reading and Chester I came across the least variation.

Small sample, but not sure urban=less variation.

Not another parent trying to live another life through their children... poor kid

I was at school with a Hans. Absolutely no German connection at all. We gave him hell.

In English, Perver (Turkish name I think) isn't great. I didn't even notice it was Perver (like well, a Perver) til about a month later when someone pointed it out to me. None of the kids cared or noticed. Sure there are loads of other examples.

I'm not objecting to Wolf because it's a foreign name - I'm objecting to it because in English it is the name of a large hairy carnivorous animal known for howling at the moon!

Wolfgang is OK with a German/Scandinavian connection, could even be cool in the right circumstances. Wolf is not. It's just silly/try hard. Makes me think of Citizen Smith. Far too loaded. Nothing wrong with Björn, or any other foreign name (I went to school with a Zoltan. His dad was Hungarian) but it is much easier if you have a genuine connection. I think having a good story behind your name is really nice, especially if it is unusual, because you will often be asked why you are called whatever you happen to be called. To me Wolf is like River or Leaf, it makes more of a statement about parents than a gift for a child.

Because you seem to have the experience that a foreign name would make a child unhappy or bullied or make him stand out. Ds's experience is that so many kids have unusual names that it wouldn't occur to anyone to laugh at his. And I reckon he'll stay off that psychiatrist's couch for a bit longer.

What on earth makes you think that?

I am getting quite curious as to where you live, seeker. Clearly not anywhere very multi-cultural.

Nope, she does not. Fairly large southern English town. Also plenty of Indian names around, a fair few Polish, some Russian and Portuguese. People just don't do a double take when they hear a foreign name.

Of course, what cory has failed to tell us is that she lives in Oslo.....

seeker, I did ask dcs tonight if they'd ever found their names a hindrance or that people at school made fun of them. They seemed quite surprised at the thought; apparently people think it's cool. So that's all right then. There's another Björn in the next road btw; he also looks calm and well adjusted. Foreign names are not that unusual here.

No that is a shit name!

I prefer Giraffe, or maybe Lion, or I don't know, Elephant maybe?

cory - no, but you had better start saving for the defence barrister he's going to need when he finally snaps and kills the next person who says "Sorry, what was that? Oh, like the guy from Abba! How do you spell it again?"