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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

The name Darcy

144 replies

HerRoyalGoddess · 08/01/2013 13:47

My DS is 9 and when he was born I called him Darcy (using the boy spelling) after Mr Darcy from Pride & Prejudice (my all time favourite book) it wasn't a popular name and the only other person I'd heard of was Darcey Bussell (ballerina, notice the difference in the name spelling). When I was in the hospital at the time every single nurse asked "Did you name him after the guy in Neighbors?" WTF!?! No I did not, I politely told them why we chose the name Darcy.

Everything was fine, as far as I was aware there weren't any children in my town called Darcy, my son loves the fact that I named him after my favourite character from my favourite book but...over the past two or three years I've noticed more parents (one being a parent at my sons school) calling their daughters Darcy and when I say Oh that's a nice name my son's called Darcy but I spell it CY for the boy spelling they say "But that's how we spell it as well" and then they give me a look as if I'm the strange woman who's given her poor son a girls name.

I just want to punch them in their smug faces.

OP posts:
GiveMeSomeSpace · 09/01/2013 05:53

OP Boy's name or girl's name - does it really matter?

What puzzles me is: if the problem you have is people's reaction to it, why on earth did you choose a name that would clearly elicit a reaction?

My brother has done the same - chosen names that always get a reaction and get's upset when he gets one. Very odd........

If you're chippy about it then I'd advise keeping a lid on it, otherwise your son will certainly become chippy about it as well.

diddl · 09/01/2013 06:45

Michael Learned anyone?

Must be about 70 now.

Played Olivia Walton in Little House on The Prairie.

diddl · 09/01/2013 06:50

I also don´t think it´s the name per se-it´s not that unusual/unheard of, is it?

It´s the essentially telling parents that they have spelt their daughter´s name wrong!

No they haven´t-especially if like OP they are using Darcy surname from P&P.

Which can surely be given to male or female as a first name-without altering the spelling?

twofingerstoGideon · 09/01/2013 07:11

Darcy/Darcey - the Lesley/Leslie of our days...

Greythorne · 09/01/2013 07:26

I think your mistake, OP, is saying 'we use the boy spelling' as there is no consensus on boy / girl spellings.

In Pride and Prej, it's a surname so the spelling has no relevance.

feelokaboutit · 09/01/2013 07:41

Hi OP - I too know a six year old little girl called Darcy. Because of this to me it is a girl's name, but I will readjust my mindset!

StrawberriesTasteLikeLipsDo · 09/01/2013 07:46

My sister is called Darcy, she is two and tells people she is Darcy Bussell (n'aww), my own 3 YO at first called her arsey!! V funny.

To me its a girls name. But thats just my opinion. I can see why it would annoy you but in the grand scheme of thing if you let in annoy you longterm in a big way YABU as its not that important, you like the name so does your DS.

MusicalEndorphins · 09/01/2013 08:00

I only know one Darcy, and it is a guy. But I'm not in the UK.

Flobbadobs · 09/01/2013 08:12

I know of 2 boy Darcy's and one girl. Both of the boys are in DS's year at school, the girl is tiny.
OP it's a lovely name however it's spelled and becoming more and more popular so I think you'll see many more of them (probably not spelled right... Grin).

orangepudding · 09/01/2013 08:13

I know 2 girls called Darcy. It's getting quite popular. I always think of it as a girls first name or the surname or a male character in a book.

littlemissnish · 03/08/2014 21:52

Hi! Been doing some reading on Darcy for a boy as my OH and I both love it (if our baby is a blue one!) I am 32 weeks pregnant. Just wondering if you are in the UK or elsewhere? And how you've found your sons name to grow on him? Here in the UK where we are, everybody is calling their daughters Darcy! And while I like it for both genders, I am terrified of people saying "it's a girls name" and him being bullied when in a school with here to her Darcy's...all girls!!! I totally agree with you on the spelling too! CY for boy CEY for girl or CIE! I love this name so much, there is literally nothing else we like for a Boy...just don't know if I'm brave enough to use it...? Please reply!

MrsMook · 03/08/2014 23:35

Zombie thread

SistersOfPercy · 04/08/2014 00:07

I know a toddler girl Darcy, also an early twenties male Jordan. I went to school with a male Jade as well and never met another (though come across many female ones).
I have two cousins both named Kerry, one male and one female and another cousin named Kim who's a big, strapping male sailor in the navy.

SistersOfPercy · 04/08/2014 00:07

Ooh didn't realise it was a zombie. As you were.

helenenemo · 04/08/2014 00:12

Oh, Darcy Tyler!

HappySeaTurtles · 04/08/2014 00:15

Gender neutral names stay gender neutral regardless of spelling. I have two cousins with neutral names, boy cousin has one that's typically given to girls, the girl has one that's typically given to boys. They're spelled the same way as their counterparts.

Doesn't make a difference. One look and you can tell their gender.

If you can name a boy Ashley or Kelly, I don't think they have any grounds to complain about Darcy. Though to be honest, hearing the name I thought it was a girl's name too. Spelling never factored into it. But even if it is a "girl's" name, so what? It's his now, isn't it? :)

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 04/08/2014 00:19

The sad thing is I actually remember this thread the first time it was posted. Good LordHmm

SavoyCabbage · 04/08/2014 00:28

My cousin is called Darcy, also after Mr Darcy. He is in his sixties. My cousin, not Mr Darcy.

MoominKoalaAndMiniMoom · 04/08/2014 01:00

Wasn't Emily Elizabeth the little girl in Clifford the Big Red Dog?

MoominKoalaAndMiniMoom · 04/08/2014 01:00

Oh bloody zombie threads!!!

steff13 · 04/08/2014 01:27

I know a girl named Darcy, though she's hardly a girl now. She was married when I was in junior high school, so she must be in her 40s by now.

taxi4ballet · 04/08/2014 01:40

I have just done a family history search on the freebmd website, and right from the beginning of the Register of Births in 1837 and up to 1900, the first name (spelled either Darcy or Darcey) is fairly uncommon, but judging from middle names also given, was almost entirely used for boys during this period.

After 1900 there start to be a few more girls, both with and without the 'e'.

claraschu · 04/08/2014 01:53

Don't forget G D'Arcy "Stilton" Cheesewright, from PG Wodehouse.

Trickydecision · 04/08/2014 06:21

Someone mentioned a DD called Taylor and this seems to be becoming fairly popular. But how did it becme a first name ? Why Taylor but not Butcher or Baker let alone Candlestickmaker?

TaliZorahVasNormandy · 04/08/2014 06:33

Darcy \d(a)-rcy, dar-cy\ as a boy's name (also used as girl's name Darcy), is of Irish and Gaelic origin, and the meaning of Darcy is "dark". Also a Norman place name, "from Arcy". Literary: Jane Austen named the haughty hero of "Pride and Prejudice" "Mr. Darcy", with connotations of Norman aristocracy.

Darcy has 4 variant forms: D'Arcy, Darcey, Darsey and Darsy.