Boys name Feral?

[iknowimcoming]

Overheard a rather new-age looking chap address his son as Feral in a pub garden yesterday, thought maybe it was Ferrell and I heard wrong but no it was definitely pronounced Feral several times, was a bit shocked as would interpret that as a bit derogatory (maybe too much time on here) but wondered if it had another meaning somewhere in the world? Has anyone come across it?

Was the child misbehaving? I've often referred to DS as ferrel.

Feral is a character in a couple of Jilly Cooper novels
A bit of a bad boy , but he turns out well 😀

Posh accent (as in, terribly far back) Farrell? Otherwise, unusual.

Perhaps it was Ferrule (meaning ring or cap) rather than Feral meaning wild. [grin}

I've never read any Jilly Cooper. Am I missing out?

No not at all badly behaved, child was 10ish and seemed perfectly lovely, it was definitely his name as in "Feral what do you want to drink they've got x,y and z?"

Maybe it was Veral.

"Feral" is commonly used in Australia. We call the young children in the family "the ferals" not because they are, but because it's a commonly used term... a bit like ratbag.

It must’ve been Beryl. Underused in modern boys, good to see it making a comeback.

Only ever heard it used in a derogatory sense.

Could be Pharrell being mispronounced / pronounced with an accent?

Feral isn’t always derogatory though, some people use it in the same way as “wild” - and I’ve actually known a kid whose name was Wild.

Beryl 😁

Pharrell perhaps?

Surely that can't be the boys name? Maybe the child was pretending to be called feral for one reason or another that day and the father was humouring him?

It was definitely spoken as Feral - can't vouch for spelling obvs - not particularly posh accents but his brother was called Rafe (which I think is Hebrew?)

maybe it was Thelwell, like the little fat ponies, with mispronunciation of all the letters

I reckon it was Farrell said in a very posh accent.

I used to have thelwell wallpaper in my bedroom when I was v little!

Obviously not an a-la-mode name and I'm just out of touch then judging by your responses!

Rafe is posh for Ralph isn't it? As in Ralph Fiennes?

Perhaps it's spelt Pheral? Less wild.

Idaho - Jilly Cooper is definantly well worth reading.

Rafe is posh!

Must have been Farrell.

I knew a Feral pronounced and spelt as feral as in wild. He’d be around 40 now. And he was pretty wild to be fair!

Maybe he is Errol, but he is such a pain they call him Fucking Errol, as in " Fucking Errol has keyed the Ferrari again" but have decided to shorten it to F. Errol for convenience and to save dear granny's blushes because she hasn't finalised her will yet.

I frequently refer to my own children as feral, and I’m mostly only being mildly derogatory.