To hate when people say in response to a name that they can't imagine Judge/CEO/Accountant having that name.

[squoosh]

These days names are chosen from such a wide and wacky pool that it's inevitable that in 50 years time when we're old and doddery and looking to draw up a will, speak to a financial adviser or surgeon that many of them will have names that seem silly to us. I'm thinking Lexie-Rae, Poppy, Spike, Jayden etc.

I hate lots of names and have very rudely said so on a number of occasions but this is my most hated reason. Are people basically saying that the name isn't middle class enough? I don't make a judgement on a person based purely on their name, I may make a judgement on the person who bestowed that name on them.

Do people honestly think that if someone is called Daisy-Boo she will be unable to study hard, get into a good university, gain a good degree and become a doctor/scientist whatever. Will her name physically prevent this? No it bloody won't.

on MN I mean.

"Well what about posh people who call their kids things like Binky? I know these are generally nicknames but they are still their day to day names."

Binkie is a traditional yiddish name

as someone else said, to me its not about class, its about only giving childish pet/nickname versions, which means that IMO the person is more likely to grow into the name, than the name grow into them (which IMO is easier if there are a variety of versions - long and serious, tomboyish, cutsey..)

My children have 'unusual' names.
If you ask my 4 year old what he wants to be when he grows up he answers 'a paediatric oncologist'

So ner.

I have a vair middle class name and I am only a couple of velour track suits away from Kerry Katona
So double ner.

Us plebs have aspirations for our children. We may not have the same advantages as more affluent parents (tutors, moving into catchment areas, GPs with spare dosh etc) though so lets not pretend the lack of Kyles and Jaydens in the upper echelons of the judiciary is all down to lack of parental ambition.

There are people called Autumn, Savannah and Isla in the royal family now as well.

Maybe we'll end up with a society in 20 years time where people don't do something as silly as judge somebody on their name.

Although let's face it, you're not REALLY judging the name, you're judging their background.

What I find silly is all the "I'll call them Charlotte with the nickname Char." Just give the child a name already, you are really over-thinking it if you are giving them a nickname too.

Only on MN have I ever come across parents that give their children a 'proper name' and a nickname.

Igor Judge (Judge Judge) - if that's not nominative determinism I don't know what is.

I've only taught one boy called Kyle - very driven and bright. Now a very successful surveyor.

"Only on MN have I ever come across parents that give their children a 'proper name' and a nickname"

really? you don't know any Edwards called Teds? Or Jennifers called Jen or Jenny?
really?

Everyone in my family has a real name and a nickname

I mean when they say, Edward to be known as Ted.

Just call him Ted. Nicknames just happen IMO

YANBU

I really really hate it too. I have a friend called Pansy who is at uni becoming a gynaecologist. Yet according to some people on MN there is no way she could do something like that.

DS1 is Freddie and I have read several times he can't be a judge/lawyer/doctor. Well bollocks to that shit!!!!

He can be whatever he wants to be! He wants to be a pilot and I fully support him to do that. Or anything else if he changes his mind.

someone starts it (usually immediate family/parents) and it catches on? what's the difference?
I would think that most people giving a proper long name consider the nicknames before giving it

people can and do change their names if they think it's twatty or unprofessional

i also have called my daughters unusual names...but then i really don't expect them to be 'normal'. i expect them to be slightly odd...

that oddness will be a reflexion of my parenting (and genetics perhaps) as will their names...

though actually i see them both as eminently employable. so far. >touches wood<

both Dbro1 an dbro2 suffered some bullying related to their names at school ...but then as i did too (with bog standard name) ....that again was more about us standing out as targets?

unusual names seem to be mroe common if that makes sense, so hopefully names that would have raised eyebrows previously will simply go unremarked.

I don't know any one that has ever given their child an official NN , I am a pleb though.

Personally I don't like unusual/"unique"/out-there names, but that is my personal preference. What really gets on my wick, however, are existing names spelt differently to the norm. If you like the name then spell it the right way, otherwise you are condemning your child to a lifetime of having to correct people.

Looking at my lists of of undergraduates from the last few years I see quite a few names that MNers would decry as far to chavvy to ever get near a university. And some of them got Firsts too. Just shows you should never mark blind

I know an Edward who has always been Ted and Matthew who has always been Matt and Joseph who is Joe etc - called by parents before everyone else. Surely that's normal.

I'm recruiting at the moment and there does seem to be a correlation with odd names and poor CVs. In a sad indictment of British schooling and parenting the strongest ones seem to come from people with foreign names. I'm an accountant.

Usual My friend has just had a baby girl. She is called Evelyn but my friend demands everyone calls her Evie and gets really pissed off if you say Evelyn.

Very strange if you ask me.

YANBU - I have never come across this form of snobbery other than MN. It riles me every time I read it.

Success is down to who you are, your family and your education, NOT a name.

I have a Molly and the number of times I have read on here that a Molly can't be a judge/doctor etc. - utter nonsense. She has a beautiful name and as she is 3, at this moment in time, she can bloody well be whatever she wants to be.

I think a lot of my DSs friends names would be considered 'chavvy' by MNetters funny how they are all taking A levels or at University, Wonder how that happened with their WC names.

I know a doctor called Max Power.

I've never heard of an official nickname either. I thought the point of a nickname was that it just happened and fitted the person? Rather than being treated like another name and announced along with the other baby names. My DD2 has two nicknames and one is not a real name at all, just a funny and odd endearment type word. Which nearly everyone calls her. And some friends managed to shorten her short first name (I didn't even realise it could be shortened until then)

Anyway, one of my kids has a very unusual first name and her name itself has never hindered her in any way. Only a couple of judgy types (the ambitious middle class type in the school playground usually) ever turned up their noses and I don't care about them.

Condoleeza was never held back by her name. Dr Pixie McKenna obviously felt comfortable calling herself Pixie onscreen. And everyone I know with an unusual name has never had problems with it regarding jobs

The only worrying names are like that boy who was called "Adolf Hitler" and the like. I am the least judgey person ever and even I judge that

I had a name for DD and a name I thought would be her nickname (just assumed). Well our childcare worker called her a much cuter version of her name and it has caught on. I really do think NNs just happen.

Yabu

Generally speaking, people with wacky names are less likely to become professionals.

But of course, some people with wacky names will be highly successful.

No judgement on anybody's kids, who knows where they will end up.