This is what I don't understand.

And the other thing to bear in mind is that the people answering these threads may have completely different tastes/values to the person asking the question.

What if the person who says she/he hates the name Leander (which I love, by the way) in fact loves the name Jayden (which I hate)?

I agree. People should give their children the names they want and not worry about silly bullies and teasing.

Who gives a fig about what other people's badly brought up children might say about the name in school. I hope to teach my kid(s) that they should be proud of their name and if anyone gives them grief in school it's just a reflection on what they are taught and treated like at home.

I had a friend called Claire who was relentlessly teased and called Hairy Claire throughout secondary school. The boy in my class called (seriously, I promise) Wizard got a few comments at the start of term and then nothing else.

In my experience children do not get teased for having a less usual name. Children do not even know what names are popular and which ones aren't. They also don't care about whether a name is 'posh' or 'chav', or whether a name is foreign. And that is good! It seems that some of us adults have issues with anything less than usual - I can only hope that these parents don't pass on their prejudices to their children.

And if a child becomes targets for teasers/bullies then he/she will be teased regardless of her name, because almost ANY name can be made fun of with a bit of imagination.

I never once considered 'teasing potential' when thinking of names for our DC.

My friends with plain names at school still got teased. Surnames are a greater source of teasing than first names in my opinion, and there is nowt you can do about those.

I don't understand why people give a shit, really.

I'd be interested to know how many have actually chosen their child's name because of the response they got on here.

When we were expecting dd2, dd3 and dd4 we didnt tell anyone our chosen names because we found with dd1 that we had negative comments from a few saying they disliked our choice and why (dd1's name is unusual). It made me doubt whether we should call her what we did, but am now very glad we ignored them and everyone tells dd1 how much she suits her name and how pretty it is.

Whilst I love slagging off commenting on mad name choices, I do agree with Seeker.

I'd say if you need to ask someone else if it's all right, then the likelihood is, it isn't.

But don't take my fun away.....

I think you can fall in love with a name and desperately want it to be alright.

Also, I have had my 2 but cannot stop looking at baby name books/this section. Why? God only knows.......

I tested a few names on here. But by far the best indication is to get a feel for the name by using it. I liked (and got a good response) to a couple of names that I tested on here but I felt uncomfortable using them in public or telling people the name! In the end we changed it (twice) and did not register baby for a month.

Having said that, I understand why people ask for opinion on an uncommon name or if a name is used by 'chavs'. When you have your first you may not know many other kids/parents of youngest.

If a child is target for teasing/bullying, then ANY name will be teaseable.

In fact, the only boy who seems to get teased in my ds's class is a William and gets called 'Willy'....

I do agree with all you say - if you're talking about riske, ludicrously spelt, made-up 'yooniq' names. In all honesty, if you have to ask, then just don't do it. It's not you who has to live with the name.

But most a lot of the names threads on here aren't ludicrous - they're just people tossing ideas around and getting feedback, which is better than asking people in real life, I think.

Personally, we decided on DD-to-be's name when I was pregnant with DS1. We haven't told anyone IRL the name, and I haven't posted on here asking for opinions because I don't need them. We're set on the name.

I think what you're forgettign though seeker is temporary pregnancy insanity. I looked down at ds when he was born and almost, almost called him a name that, combined with my surname, would have actually ruined his life. Think A Nurse, P Nurse, along those lines. Thankfully I saw sense before I'd even uttered the words, but it was this close

yy and posting it on the net means you are guaranteed some bad responses too. never seen a thread where everyone loves the name in question.