To find the baby names thread bizarre?

[boomoohoo]

Why do people care what strangers think of their baby name choices? I find it fascinating (hilarious) that people ask advice re potential names of their offspring to complete strangers! Surely the people around you in RL can tell you whether it may suit / be appropriate given ur community or whatever.

Yanbu

I find it odd people want an unusual name and them want approval. I mean most rarely used names are probably rarely used for a reason ie most people don't love them.

My dc have popular names. Just choose a name you love. Strangers on the internet don't matter.

Och don't be a meanie

I don't know but YANBU. People seem to need approval for lots of things now instead of deciding for themselves. Or maybe it's just conversation and reaching out? It's not for me but some people just need to do that. MN is just a big ol' chatboard at the end of it all.

I think it's a good place to sense check a name, just in case someone comes up with a good reason not to call it that. Eg you might think calling your baby something which you don't realize has a double meaning, or spells a funny word when you look at the initials. Or maybe if there is someone notorious with that name which you weren't aware of.

If you tell people your name ideas in RL it's totally different, if people on the internet hate a name you love you might not care, but if your own mum tells you she hates it then you'd be more likely to be put off.

On the other hand, people who know your DC as children and then adults will have opinions of them regardless of their names. For strangers along with appearance it'll be the starting point.

The people I know in RL would be terribly polite about any name we chose (to my face at least!) so I definitely think it can be useful to have straight-talking mumsnetters tear any dubious, hormon-inflicted choice to shreds!

I thought that this was going to be about the names suggested.

Bizarre and the attitudes towards why you should/shouldn't choose a name, is fitting.

Theanna ok I see that reason.. Though it also could be accomplished through a google search! I love mumsnet, I think the relationships board can be really supportive, and I enjoy the debates / discussions on most of the boards, but I've always been shocked at the use of the names thread..

I get the need for idle chat about all things baby, and indulging in the excitement and pleasure of choosing a name. But to genuinely let a stranger sway you.. Wow

What I find amusing is when people say 'I like names like Sarah, but not Sarah, can you suggest names I might like?'

And then people copy and paste huge great long lists of names that are absolutely nothing like Sarah

Why??

What I find bizarre is that someone will say I like traditional names for example and than people will post a whole heap of names that are not traditional .

I think you get more honest opinions from anonymous internet posters and you get lots of opinions very quickly and with minimum effort. Also, you may not want to tell the people you know what names you are considering - I didn't, I wanted to keep them private until my baby was here. I know that Mumsnet isn't private as such, but there are virtually no people on here that know who I really am. Mind you, I didn't ask for name opinions.

WRT the "names like Sarah" thing. I can understand why you'd ask as you may have a Sarah in your family already so it makes sense not to use Sarah. Why people post names that are completely different to Sara I don't know. I can only assume that they get a different feeling from Sarah than I do!

Taste in names is so personal and individual..
Everyone I kno in RL keeps it quite hidden until a name is chosen.. Cos they don't want to be put off by other people's reactions I'm supposing.

In RL, anyone with an ounce of manners would say the name is lovely.

If you want to know what people really think, asking a bunch of strangers on line is one way of doing so. So finding out that 2/3 of people would assume that name X means the parents are old hippes might give you pause for thought (or if you are old hippies, delight you).

Also if you were unaware there is a newer pronunciation in ascendancy, or a second spelling, being warned so you can decide if you can live with confusions that might arise could be handy.

As could finding out that the name means something like 'little snotface' in Portuguese might be worth knowing before the baby is labelled if you live in Little Brazil.

And the associations people make with names, or ones they find similar, can be fascinating. They might seem totally off-beam to some posters, but exist for others.

I personally think that anyone who doesn't believe in a North/South divide in the UK should be directed to the Baby Names thread.

But not if you are racially offended because the ignorance is astounding (especially as they claim to be raising high court judges/educated professionals).

Lol. I kind of like it, especially suggesting names just because I think it's quite a fun and creative way to pass the time. Also my dh has zero tolerance for names discussions and likes to basically suggest one name only (after 20 weeks so we know gender) then stick to that as his favourite.
I went off it recently when another poster suggested my DS's name and the OP said no, too chavvy :-( I know it's pathetic but I did cry many salty (hormonal) tears about it, until a few weeks later someone started a thread on the same name and most people liked it. I envy people who say 'why do you care what other people think' because it must be nice not to. I think most people do care though at some level.

Sometimes people need to be told that their chosen baby name will always remind people of vomit or a penis though (whenever the name Ralph is suggested)

You get more honest opinions on here, you get a range of people from different backgrounds (for instance, I didn't know that in the SW "Jasper" is a local word for wasps, I don't knw anyone from there so wouldn't think of that). there's lot of 'local nicknames' for things that if your DC was likely to work in that area later on in life, it could cause them issues, good to know how names are 'locally received'.

If you tell someone you know a name you are thinking of and they say they don't like it, they might continue to try to talk you out of it/spoil it for you, whereas a stranger on the internet it doesn't matter once you've closed the thread, you aren't going ot be talking to them several times before the baby is born with them trying to talk you out of a name.

It's also good to discuss it with strangers while in public being able to announce a name and hold the position that no other names were considered. Saves arguments of "but I prefered ...." types.

I think it's a fab topic - full of women who have too many hormones being prevented from calling their kid 'doorhandle'

Or Lulu-Fluffy

Cos that's a great name for a lawyer

Taste in names is so personal and individual

Really? How come there are so few Carols or Julies or Keiths being suggested?

I find them interesting and like suggesting names.

Although the lack of cultural awareness does sometimes make me want to throw things.

Example -

Apparently Alys is not Welsh, oh no - it's parents being wanky and trying to be alternative.

What do you mean Birds?

It's useful because you know people will be honest, and you can ask over and over again with different names rather than annoying people you actually know.