In thinking its not ok to pass negative comment about names unless directly asked?

[IneedAsockamnesty]

No issues at all if your actually asked your opinion but if your not asked

if you are not one of the parents of the actual baby being named or recently named you should do nothing other than smile or say something nice.

Anything else is overstepping rude and hurtful.

Amen. My two have stupid and pretentious names and I've actually had people laugh in my face when I've told them.

I wouldn't say anything negative and would try my best to be positive, even if I thought "what the fuck". But I think if you pick an "original" name you've got to be prepared to get some interesting responses from people with little or no filter.

What thecraicdealer said

My friend is a bit out there and picked a dreadful (IMO) name and middle name for her DS2. I didnt say a word, none of my business and even though i find her a tad i wouldnt dream of upsetting her.

No need for it - YANBU

Sometimes silence speaks volumes.

I think sometimes you have to.

I'm pleased to report that I'm responsible for a girl not being called Annette Kirton. And a friend stopped parents calling their DS Justin Case.

Sometimes you have to say something.

I completely agree OP its bloody rude! DD has a fairly common first name but slightly unusual middle name that sounds like a more common name. For example her name is Sarah Lucky Smith (its not, just an example) and neither my parents or IL can get their heads around it being Lucky not Lucy and just call her Sarah Lucy. Irritating!

However my best friend may disagree as her name rhymes and she hates it. Her mum has the same name as someone very famous, for example her name is Doris Day. She then named her daughter Fay Day! She says she wishes her parents had called her Claire like her gran suggested.

I wouldn't say a word. My eyebrows may rise of their own accord though.

It's incredibly rude if the person is already named. If a parent is about to unwittingly give their child a pun as a name its worth politely mentioning. If you just don't like a name, keep it to your self

I wouldn't dream of saying anything negative about a name when talking to a real person in RL.

But I do speak up on this board! For this is where people are asking for opinions, assumptions, pitfalls, plaudits and need to take the rough with the smooth.

I always feel very sorry for people who are so very rude that they are unable to observe even the most basic of social niceties.

Like not reacting when someone tells you their child is called a name that you think is "way out".

If someone says to you - here's my shortlist of names, please tell me what you think. Then fair enough.

Annette Kirten and Justin Case

A friend I knew stopped a couple naming their daughter Tia Maria!

They'd always planned on Maria as a middle name, and then they started looking at first names separately, without putting it all together.

Agree it's rude. I take TheCraicDealer's point, but the thing is that counts as 'original' or quirky varies wildly from place to place, and within social classes etc. My very ordinary Irish name is exotic and unpronounceable in England; my son's not-much-used Biblical name didn't cause a raised eyebrow where he was born, but has attracted comment in the small, rural place where we now live where all baby boys are called Harry or Louis.

I have recently met a little girl with a particularly awful toddlerish, made-up, frilly name which sounds more like a Tellytubby than a child who will eventually become an adult. I am not remotely judgemental about names - my NCT coffee group where I used to live included babies called Ace, Mindy, Ferdinand, Ophelia, Soren, Jedd. Magnus, Percy and Scarlett-Lily - but in this case I did judge. But silently. There is no excuse for rudeness.

I would never comment on a common/top 10 name as being unoriginal and boring or say something like 'aren't you worried about them being one of many' but that is just good manners to keep opinions that may hurt or offend to myself. I don't know why they don't seem to apply the other way round. Yanbu.

A friend once told me her baby's middle name was 'Danger', and I admit I double took and blurted out, "Seriously!?"

I then apologized profusely, because silly as it is, it's her kids name and obviously she must like it. Thankfully, said friend was forgiving,

And on the plus side, the embarrassment of that moment kept me from doing it again. I've since had two students whose middle name was Danger.

Fair enough in the case of a unintended pun or combo that its obvious the parents haven't thought off or a name likely to have the registrar refuse

But perfectly usual unremarkable names that have been in regular use for a long time or ones that used to be popular but are now in occasional use nothing odd like fire dragon or anything like that just names actual real not made up names?

Asking with the sole intention of saying "oh no not xyz" or snorts of laughter its just rude and hurtful.

I mostly agree, but I can't quite warm to 'your baby, your choice' either. If you're getting lots of faces, maybe you should...you know...reconsider before you inflict Bilbo or Rosey Blossom on your poor helpless offspring?

Well who else is going to name a baby apart from the parents?

And seriously I'm not talking about out there names I'm referring (in the situation that has prompted this thread) to perfectly normal everyday names.

The friend who has not long left my house crying because her DH and her wanted to name their baby after her grandmother their older child is named after his grandfather. The name in question I'm pretty sure is in the top 10 (haven't checked recently but if memory serves me correctly from the most recent ONS list) so really not unusual.

Dalek that would probably have been my reaction to Danger as a middle name too. It's not even that funny or original.

It's also not OK to suck air in through your teeth in that way you do which conveys more disapproval than any words ever could. Looking at you MIL

It took all my self control not to laugh out loud when I heard about baby Jupiter

I am still proud of myself for not reacting to Princess or Bluebell in the baby clinic.

Unspeakably rude!! I have had one (ex) friend tell me she liked the diminutive of DS1's name but not his actual name (hadn't asked her opinion). Silly cow. That's not why she is an ex friend but it really irritated me.

I'm not quite sure why people think its ok or that they have some sort of ownership over the decision

So have people have been mocking the name your friend wants to use? That is quite horrible, particularly if it's after a relative.