To think that it's rotten to put somebody off their favourite baby name?

[gail734]

My best friend is pregnant after having a hard time TTC. She has always planned to call a baby girl Elizabeth, not because she's a big royalist, but because she loved Liz Taylor. Once pregnant, she told her sister about this and the sister was obviously not impressed. She harped on about it apparently, telling my friend that "Betty" would be picked on at school for having such a "square" name, that people would think she'd named her baby after the queen, etc. When I said something about name choices today she replied, sadly, that she'd let the idea of Elizabeth go because of all the crap that her (younger, childless) sister had given her about it. I think her sister is being a total, well, I won't say it here, but it's not a nice word. I told her to think about her name choices, discuss them with her DH and keep them a secret from fannies like her sister!

[SanityClause]

You gave the best advice to your friend.

It's hard enough to choose a name both parents like, let alone everyone else in the world.

[exoticfruits]

I love Elizabeth as a name-no one could put me off it.

[Cortana]

YANBU, that's an awful thing to do.

FWIW I think Elizabeth is a lovely name.

[Convert]

This is exactly why we told everyone when I was pg with DD that we were going to call her Grizelda. Everyone.

It was quite good entertainment as people tried to contain their horror and it stopped people being vile about the name we had actually chosen. By the end we actually grew to really like it

[KenLeeeeeee]

YANBU to think it's awful to insult someone's choice of name, but I've always felt that if you truly love a name, other people's comments won't put you off. That's why my youngest DS ended up being called Theodore in spite of all the flack I had for it when pregnant!

If she's been put off Elizabeth so easily, maybe she didn't love the name as much as she thought. I do think that Betty is a gorgeous shortening of it.

[PinkFairyTaleOfNewYork]

That's why I didn't tell anyone the names I had picked until DS was born, it really bugs me when people do this

[bradyismyfavouritewiseman]

Depends. I told my brother and wife (in a nice way) that the name they picked made the baby sound like a nursery rhyme character. The first name almost rhymed with their surname.
Sil is my best friend (knew her before she met dbro) and am close to dbro so got away with it and they actually agreed.

They hadn't done the whole putting the name with surname and making sure initials don't spell twat pr anything.

[AlwaysHoldingOnToStarbug]

Family did it to us. I got told if I named the baby that, they wouldn't call him by his full name. And that it was a "poofs" name, whatever the hell one of those is.

Unfortunately it did put me off, but it also taught me never to discuss actual name choices with them again.

My children after that were going to be Englebert or Ermintrude. I stuck to that whenever they asked me.

And Elizabeth is a fine name, it's not one I'd choose but I certainly don't think there is anything wrong with it.

[GoldQuintessenceAndMyhrr]

Well, clearly she did not really love that name so much.

My family HATED the name we had chosen for ds2 with a vengeance. There was NO end to their moaning. "You cant call him that, it is a name suitable for an octogenarian. " "It is horrid phonetically, sound like a rock slide". "He will be teased, with that name in the UK"

I said: "you will start loving the name when you begin to love the baby, you will soon realize the name is JUST right for him".

It IS just right for him. It is a cool name. It is an unusual name here, but traditional in Norway. Only three letters, and still people spell it wrong! But hey.

So, dont feel bad for your friend, her sister did her a favour.

[maxbradbury]

I love Elizabeth and Betty!
Upon finding out she pregnant with another girl, one of my friends wanted to call her dd Holly. She already had a dd called Jessica. Holly and Jessica. I know what I think of when I hear thoses name together so I told her. It didn't occur to her until I said.

[AphraBehn]

I am an Elizabeth.

I have never, ever, ever been called Betty .

[dementedma]

Don't get it max what is the connection?

[GoldQuintessenceAndMyhrr]

Little sisters name is Pippa of course.

[DonkeysDontRideBicycles]

Perhaps your friend will come back round to liking the name, which is lovely btw and has many shortened versions, so not necessarily Betty - and what is wrong with Betty, anyway?? I wonder if her younger sister would have picked fault with any name she'd told her about.

[StetsonsAreCool]

Yanbu.

And one of my favourite little girls in the world (apart from dd) is called Betty, so there!

I think the sister wants the name herself, and your friend shouldn't be put off so easily if she loves it that much.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

demented Holly and Jessica are the names of the little girls Ian Huntley murdered.

[ddubsgirl]

Holly & Jessica 2 girls murdered on soham

[ddubsgirl]

In not on

[CoolaYuleA]

Someone I worked with asked me what we were going to call DD. I told her and she sniffed and said "Oh no, I don't like that, it's chavvy."

FWIW it's a classic name, not in the list of most popular but not off the wall, no random spelling and definitely NOT chavvy. (Whatever that actually means these days.) I don't think it was the fact that she didn't like the name it was that she actually came out with such a rude response. I didn't know her very well, and in that situation I would have said "that's nice" or something non-commital is I really hated it. I wouldn't have said it was "chavvy" even if it was Chardonnay spelt Sharr-donae because it's just bloody rude!

We still called her it - and it suits her. Don't know anyone else with her name, although that could be because I don't know any "chavs"

[musicalendorphins]

I love the name Elizabeth, it was on my short list if I had a girl. I was going to call her Beth for short. and kill anyone who called her Betty or Liz

[Lavenderhoney]

Elizabeth is a lovely name, and so is Betty, Betsy, lizzie etc. her sis was very unhelpful. I would take no notice and call the baby what I liked! For this very reason we refused to be drawn into relatives choosing our dc names or even discussing it, as it becomes a power struggle and I didn't want anyone cooing " ooh I choose your name, little lavender"

[reastie]

YANBU. MIL did this with me and some of my name choices (I remember a 'Martha? No, I once knew a Martha who wasn't very nice, you don't want to call her that' type of conversation

[Winetta]

I think your best friend's sister is being very mean - it's your friend's choice and hopefully she will not be put off. Not sure what the sister's childfree-ness has got to do with it, though.

[INeedThatForkOff]

You're talking about my DD's name and nn here. She loves her nn and it suits her down to the ground - cute but not sickly sweet. Your friend's sister is a knob