What do you think your parents were/were not thinking when they chose your names?

[DrMadelineMaxwell]

Mine were thinking...

Ooo that's a nice unusual name from a book I read that I've never seen before (Dad).

Let's go with a Welsh spelling for the middle name.

They were not thinking...

Noone will know how to spell either names and they will have to be spelled out every time. Tedious.

We live in Wales but not in a Welsh area and don't speak Welsh.

I fully expect my youngest to hate us for giving her the Gaelic spelling for Kate.

I have a very Welsh first name, live in Wales but not in a Welsh speaking area and can speak Welsh to a very basic level. I have managed to survive for 56 years with it. I do get huffy if people forget the accent as it is my only name.

I have a typical 80’s name, my parents basically liked the sound of the name used by all their mates who had baby girls in the 12 months before I was born and decided it was good enough. I’m in the school mum group chat, in a class of 30 kids there are 6 of us with the same first name.

My parents were thinking "oooh, what a cute little baby girl. Let's give her an old lady name and then giver an even older lady middle name"

All our names are after actors of the era - 1950s - apart from my youngest brother. God knows where his name came from! Our middle names are all family member names. We all love our names - they are unusual. I am a teacher, I’ve never taught anyone with my name, one of my sisters and one of my brothers.

My parents let my (then), 3 year old sister choose my name....my parents and sister clearly hated me.

Forgot to add, my first name rhymes with my surname (think Zowie Bowie, Rolan Bolan type thing).

My mum gave me a super traditional name ( Elizabeth) as she has an outlandish unusual name she hates. Other front runners were Mary, Jane, Catherine. Yes I think being a Jane Austen fan was also an influence!

My parents thought process was immaculate - European name in case stay living in UK, Indian in case go to live there.

in practice never went back and started with the Indian middle name. I’d never heard the other till age 3 or 4 I went to nursery and they wanted me to use it. Wish I had but my autistic brain knew what my name was and wasn’t changing. AsPP lots of explanations

I don't know what my parents were thinking about for my name, but I know that Mum wanted to name me Mark if I was a boy. By the time my brother was born one of my aunts (father's brother's wife) had 'stolen' the name Mark and my DB had to have a different name. My DB and I are both in our 50s, the aunt is dead, and my mother still hasn't forgiven her for that.

There was very little thought went into my name, it was picked once I'd arrived, my parents assumed I was a boy so only had a boy name. I have a nice name, very popular around the time, but a classic name. My mum just plucked it out of thin air though.

As far as I can ascertain, the only criterion my parents had when choosing my name was that they wanted one that couldn't be shortened. And so they named me a rather boring, one syllable name that everyone instantly forgets and anyone else with this name is about twenty years older than I am.

My parents where thinking 'we have spent our lives going by our middle names let's make sure our DC have to do the same' but other than that I do like the reasons for my first and middle name and like my middle name even if I do spend my life telling people my xyz but I go by y.

My dad: I’ve got an idea for a really nice name!
My mum: No, let’s pick something that’s extremely common but already falling out of favour, and pair it with a completely jarring middle name. And we’ll use a strange spelling for the middle name just to cause maximum hassle for dd. Bonus points that neither work with our surname - sorted!

I’m still resentful about this, the dc’s keep trying to persuade me to change to my dad’s original choice!

Parents were hoping for a boy, name was picked out that had significance for my DF. I arrived and was given DM second and third name, it was like they couldn’t be bothered. My Dsis has an original name, neither first or second name is recycled. Set the pattern for family relations really, not quite what they wanted.

Mine chose the name of the woman who was on the sewing machine opposite her, in the mill she worked in. Very 1960s name.

Ha! Ha! That’s so funny!!!!

God knows. I was born a couple of months after the last woman to be hanged in this country was executed. And they gave me her name.

Some of these have really made me laugh!

My name is Roxanne, my dad named me after the Police song.
He was thinking- thats a cool name and I like this song, I like the band and maybe she can go by Roxie, that sonds cool too.

He was not thinking- maybe its weird to name my daughter after a song about about a sex worker, and that maybe there is a chance people will sing the song at her all the way through school and by the time she is 15 she will be sick of people telling her not to put on her sodding red light

First day of senior school, long ago, and we had to stand up in turn to tell the class our name ( first name and surname). When one girl stated her name, the whole class laughed spontaneously. First name fine, surname fine but not together.

@Jellybean23 , was that Jenny by any chance? What were Mr & Mrs Taylor thinking?

No, not Jenny. I won't say in case she's on Mumsnet

My DM: I've always wanted to name my DD after my cousin.

Did not consider it was almost 30 years out of date by then, therefore not old enough to be 'old lady chic', just old enough to be frumpy and unfashionable. I have the same name as my DS nan! 🙄 I saw it on the baby names board a while ago and it got almost unanimously panned for being awful, so safe to say I don't think it will ever turn 'old lady chic'!