to wonder why anyone would ask strangers on a forum to validate/suggest name choices for their child

[nonmifairidere]

Really, why would you refer to anyone else, it's so personal.

Thanks for explaining try-hard crowler. If that's what it is then I'm all for it. A woman I worked with had two DC, Jack and Katie. She then had a third and we all waited to hear the name.

After two weeks of suspense - they just couldn't decide apparently - it was announced. Thomas. Jack, Katie and Thomas. Nice enough but the so-what factor after two weeks was pretty high. Now if they'd come back with Widgeon, or Aardvark, that would have been something. Try-hard? How about "try a bit harder"... .

There are a whole range of personal issues people ask advice about on here. Precisely because they'll get an objective opinion from a range of people

carabos

I agree. I have a very unusual name and I feel fairly strongly about people thinking carefully about the impression their choice of name for their child will convey to others- even before they have met the child

Ages ago there was a story in the papers about a baby boy called Drew Peacock. His parents genuinely though they'd picked a lovely name for their son..................if only they'd put it to the online jury!

FruitSalad

hat's really true. Happened to me

it used to baffle me, too. I would always say choose the name you like & stuff anyone who doesn't like it. And just no ruddy way am I going to curry favour on here. Besides, MNers seem to love loads of names that are verifiably in real life.

So the baby name threads are fun places to vent one's prejudices, let's face it.
Don't read unless you really want to know the random opinions of likely ignorant people.

For lots of reasons.

What's it to you? Don't like it? Don't read it.

Frigg I enjoy very much reading your lists!

You can't rely upon a friend to be honest with you for the very reason that it's so personal

Really? Don't you just like a name & call your child that name because, well....you like it? Would any of you really change a name you liked if a friend said they hated it?

I love my children's names. I didn't ask for anyone else's opinions on them because 1] it just didn't occur to me & 2] I couldn't really give a rats arse what others thought of my choices.

Jack, Katie and Thomas. Non-adventurous, then!

To get ideas? To get a second, unbiased opinion? To avoid boring the pants off RL friends by obsessing about baby names?

I actually chose DD2's name from a baby names thread... I wanted something Welsh but nothing had clicked- someone suggested it and I loved it! It was a name I had heard before but had kind of forgotten about it.

But Crowler, there's nothing more inherently original or strange about Calliope than about Olivia, surely. Both are pretty names with nice meanings, both are 'recognised' names historically, it's only that Olivia is incredibly popular in the UK at the moment, and Calliope is pretty unusual. (I imagine its more common in the US, and Greece.) Surely the fact that Olivia is a 'safe' choice because so common doesn't make another name 'try hard' purely because its more unusual?

I don't think there's anything "inherent" to names whatsoever, it's entirely contextual.

Because it's fun? Because they want to discuss it without giving away their choices to people they know?

Or, you know, especially to annoy you.

Because it's exciting being pregnant and picking names. I loved considering lots of different names and I often comment on the baby names threads. I asked about a couple of names for my own ds - I wanted opinions from mumsnetters with English accents as one of the names I was considering sounds really different with an English accent compared to my Scottish one. It was helpful.

I had my last two children in the UK, when I was new to the country. I asked opinions because I had to run each name through two cultural gauntlets: what if a name with positive connotations in the US was the name of a villain on some popular show in the UK?

Crowler, I have a Jack and a Thomas, and I have always loved being named Katy. It's never been trendy, and never gone out of style. And Katherine is so wonderfully versatile. You can be anything from Kate to Kathy to Kitty if you don't like Katy.

All my boys have first and middle names that are the first and last names of historical figures. One of them is also the first names of his grandfathers: John and Milton. We call him Jack to avoid confusion with his grandfather. So, while Jack is a very ordinary name, his full name is interesting and has family significance.

I think a name is a name I do not think a name is any less or more because people have put thought into it , the name is no more deep and meaningful just because a parent thinks it is deep and meaningful, it is just a name that you like, My Dds names are ordinary and probbaly thought of as boring but we liked them

Most of the name threads seem to be very samey. They are either slagging off anything ending in -mae as chav, or suggesting Persephone (again)

yes they are all the same it is just difference of opinion , can get heated and mean though

As a non-Brit, I am genuinely taken aback at how frequently people on the baby names forum angst about whether the initials 'VD' or 'BJ' might get someone teased in the playground. It sometimes seems as if 'will s/he attract playground attention for this name?' is the primary consideration in name choice.

I find myself wondering whether people feel forced to choose low risk, common names to minimise this, and that's one of the things that fuels some of the vitriol towards more unusual names? Ie that some people wish they had the confidence to call their child something unusual, and, having felt pressured into conformity, resent people who blithely call their children by 'non-recognised' names...? It feels sometimes as if some kind of 'tall poppy syndrome' thing is going on...

I think people have fun choosing names and enjoy chatting about the options in anticipation of their new baby. Also, a name is not a private thing but a very public one and I would like to know if there are any trends in the name I chose that I wasn't aware of.

On the way to register my birth my Dad decided to call me Angela instead of Sara " because you looked so angelic". My Mum was at home with me, so had a bit of a surprise when he got back!

Gasp at dad changing the name on the way to register the birth. I would not be happy! I know someone who's name was spelt Antonee instead of Anthony because his dad, who went to register the birth was dyslexic. Think his mum got a shock too!