Unusual names and reasons for them

[Frazzledandfedup]

Deeday born on D-Day. Significant and has a nice ring to it. I wonder what his mother's reaction was to her husband's unilateral choice of name.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-48528531

I'm curious to hear of other unusual/unique names and the stories behind them. Do you have any for me?

Really? Naming a child after a battle that resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of people??

Why not call your child Leningrad... Somme....

It's a weird choice

I had a friend called Leontine, shortened to Tina, her Dad knew someone in the army, it was his wife's name. She hated it

Oh I had a school friend called Aome. (Rhymes with Naomi). Because her mum liked the idea if using the letters for Apple Of My Eye

Leontine.

So.... Her dad named her after a mates wife???

God these are awful.

There is a Pocahontos round my way. Christ knows the reason though. Stupidness I'm guessing.

I have a Miranda because she was born in Bermuda where, allegedly, the shipwreck at the beginning of The Tempest took place.

Ex’s son is called Lucky.

What if he’s not is what I pondered when I heard about it.

@00100001 probably a crush on mates wife : )

Makes it weirder!

I like the Miranda one! The others I am less keen on..

Lucky's parents might have just named him Felix and had done with it, surely.

@00100001 But it wasn't a past historical battle when chosen. It was contemporary and seen as an invasion which led to victory on the western front after a 5 year war (So not viewed in the same way as Leningrad or the Somme. Other people, especially those that had lost friends/family may not associate it in the same way, like you.

As Aome sounds like Naomi, it could be any less common name that I hadn't heard of but not particularly odd to the ear. To me anyway.

@Accountant222 maybe it was because his friend saved his life in battle and wanted to pay homage to him, but thought wisely enough to name a girl after the wife and not lumber her with a man's name. That's better than a crush

@Lobsterquadrille2 Miranda is a beautiful name and an inventive indirect way of naming after birthplace.

@Soola Tempting fate...

DD1 has an unusual name (so I won't say what it is because that would out me). According to the ONS stats, there are about 6 babies a year given the name in the UK. It is a Welsh name and we aren't Welsh.
We chose it because we liked it. No other reason. Not because we wanted to give her an unusual or unique name. We had a shortlist of 2 names when she was born, and the other name on the list was Emily which was one of the most popular girls' names that year.

Blue - when first heard it. However he his parents experienced years of failed pregnancies and IVF. They had stopped trying and a he a surprise that came 'out of the blue'. Fortunately he has the most vivid blue eyes as well...

A woman whose father was killed (before her birth) during WW1was given the middle name Innes, the surname of her father's commanding officer. I think he supported her mother somehow after his death.

Apparently in Kosovo, a popular name for boys is "Tonibler" after Tony Blair.

@Bezalelle I'd heard that too most amusing. Can't imagine any Theresa Mays anywhere though

www.bbc.com/news/uk-40645645

There were babies called Somme!

I had a friend named after Halley's comet which came round the week she was born.

Howard and Bernadette on TBBT named their baby girl after Halley’s comet too.

Reputedly, there was a baby born in Chislehurst Caves during the blitz... And called Cavina. (The Caves were used as an air raid shelter. Worth a visit if you are near South East London)

My DD has an unusual spelling of a name. It is the name of the place my DM grew up, and using the English version didn't seem right.

happypotamus

You prompted me to have a look at the ONS and I was rather surprised.

It says that in 2017 there were over 63,000 different baby names registered for live births.

The top 100 names accounted for about 45% of all babies but there were also 43,000 babies born that had a unique name that year (ie only one baby was given that name in 2017) which is about 5% of all babies born.

So 5%, or 1 in 20 children born that year had a unique name. So, given typical class sizes, it's likely in each class that there is at least one child who has a unique name for children of that age.

I was just really surprised by this.

Link to ONS:-

Baby names in England and Wales: 2017

@Aroundtheworldin80moves at least it wasn't Chislehurst! Did you see the ghost? According to a poster on another thread, they had met a Bexley. Even though my DD's name is an island, the thought of certain towns being used as a name I can't get used to. It could be that it was local to where I grew up and there not the type of places that I would name anyone after. I wanted to escape the area.

Aneira was the first baby born in the NHS and named after Nye Bevan which I have always thought was lovely

KindergartenKop - I suppose if someone given the name of the fallen soldier the meaning may be forgotten/ not questioned by subsequent generations. But if your named Passchendaele you're more likely to question it. Lest we forget.

@prampushingdownthehighst that's very fitting.

Naming your child after someone is the ultimate compliment.

My ds2 is named after a Ww1 poet..