To think that parents who give their children unusual names are egotistical...

[Crouchendmumoftwo]

I live in an area where there are lots of children with unusual first names, one might say contemporary or ever preposterous. Names such a Lux, Brutus, Fire, Ace, Rudy. Most of these children are mild mannered and don't stand out in any particular way. I wonder if the name giving is more to show other parents the: "we are creative and middleclass and bit different". I feel that the parents havent given their children much consideration in later life. A man in his 50s called Brutus doesn't have the same appeal as a small boy. I guess that is why David Bowie's son changed his name from Zowie back to Duncan.

I don't understand why Rudy is on the OP's list. It is a proper, real name and always has been. It is just having a resurgence of popularity right now, that is all. I don't see how that makes the parent 'egotistical'.

I love my very unusual (but not unique) name. It does make me very identifiable though, which can be good or bad. I like not having to use my surname though :)

dh's name was the No1 in the year he was born and at university there seemed to be hordes of them. We aimed for something in between the two when naming our children, although ds's name totally exploded in popularity a year or two later.

My son is 13 and he is still one of only three people in the world as far as I can see, on Facebook with that name.

You could be forgiven for thinking then, that his name must be 'weird'. It is not weird at all - just very, very unusual. So far anyway, although I suspect there area few babies and toddlers knocking around with his name now.

The same thing happened with my DS2's middle name. Very very unusual for years (he's 17) and suddenly as common as muck.

There's no point everyone boasting about their "unusual", "one-in-a-million" my names a bit "non committal"....ooooo I'll give myself away if I post...just SAY what it is or just don't bloody mention it?........... sheesh...

I would never say my or my sons or DH's names on here.

We are far too easy to 'out'.

We live abroad, and I talk about the specific place all the time, and some of us have very uncommon names, so I'd give myself a way in an instant.

away

CaptainNancy - Nooo, I definitely haven't got five children!!!

It occurs to me reading this that it's so not about what you call them. I would never, ever announce their names with 'pride' or wait for an amazed response. I'm more likely to be apologetic and say 'well it's a bit odd but' or 'we sometimes regret it!'

It's just about whether I like the name and it feels right. Not showing off.

but there are parents who genuinely seem to believe their child is special - I don't think mine are, well not to anyone but me, and my family of course - yes they are great but so is every other child in their class. They're ALL unusual and unique and special.

I really would never want to make them 'stand out' either. Really I wouldn't. I want them to have friends, and to be happier than I have ever managed to be, and to be accepted.
There are a lot of unusual names in their classes and tbh I think a lot of parents do want to choose something that won't be replicated too often by other parents, well at least not among their school friends.

Some people have chosen lovely classic names that they clearly just love, and other people have chosen something more leftfield that they also love. But loving the names seems to be the strongest reason for choosing them, whether they are Zahra or Alfie-Jay.

It's part of the fun of having a baby, to choose something you just really like....like you choose what colour to paint your walls, or what type of coat to wear. There's nothing wrong with it.

P4B, I love the name Beatrice - we had one at primary school, it was considered very 'out there' and so was her family tbh! But ds has one in his class and I am hearing it more and every time I hear it I think 'hooray!' because it's such a beautiful name and deserves to be used.

I've no girls but if i did it'd be on the list

Not inappropriate at all and I am so, so sorry. It must be all you can think of at the moment.

Take care x

sorry just name changed!

I picked an unusual name for my dd which 13 years on is now in the top 10. If I had known that would happen I would have picked a different name. At leastt she is always the only one in her year with that name as we were a bit ahead of trend.
Friends have an Ava which again has gone from unusual to very popular.
You never can tell

I wanted to call my dd Hepzeba or failing that Delilah . Got vetoed on both though.

P4B, I've just thrown up a little prayer for your DD.

I don't even know what an unusual name is anymore! In my children's school I know two destinys and a merlin and yet when people heard I had called my youngest Rosemary they commented on what an unusual name it was.

I was one of 5 [myname]'s in a class of 30 at school. I hated it (not least because when I wasn't paying attention and the teacher asked a question and then said [name?] I never knew if she was expecting an answer from me).

If I have children I would want to try to avoid a common name. There are no guarantee though. My mum picked something that was unusual at the time but became common very quickly.

Perhaps I should have said I have a classical Greek and very unusual and hard to spell and pronounce name and would much have preferred a name like Helen then.

I know three Mavericks...oddly, two of them have the middle name Thomas. Also, I know a blended family who, when they had a child together, put everyone's initials together to make his name. It's...quite different.

P4B, praying for your DD. Lovely name too BTW.
Horrible time of year for it, just found out the same re my father. It shouldn't happen to children though. Hugs.

About 5 years ago my DS was at a group with a boy called Aubrey and his older brother Marmaduke.