to be disappointed that some of my family hate our PFB's name

[bexleigh]

Our little boy is 7 weeks old and some of my family don't like the name we chose. This includes my dad and my grandmother. Their first reaction on the day he was born was "Really? ... Oh. Right. Well, it's not really my cup of tea, no. I'm not a fan". The next day I thought they might have gotten used to it, but no, "I just can't get used to it. I think I'll call him the initial". And ever since the birth they've avoided referring to him with his actual name, instead they make up pet names.

I didn't announce the name before the birth, wanting to avoid negative comments, and expected people to be too polite afterwards to say anything if they didn't like the name. So I feel that this is quite rude. However, they probably see it as being open and "wearing their heart on their sleeve". It just hurts my feelings though! My dad is a kind and loving man but can sometimes be a bit tactless.

Btw, it's not a really wacky name, not made up or strangely spelt, just a traditional name which is uncommon these days.u

Glittery

She got bent out of shape over Kirsten?! Wow. It's not my style of name but seriously...there is nothing wrong with that name.

What did you call your dd in the end?

Re associating Quentin with a person - I think Uncle Quentin from The Famous Five. I appreciate I would be in a minority, particularly given I'm 25

Then Quetin Crisp. I like to ignore Quentin Tarantino's existence because I think he's an utter twat.

I too think of Quentin from The Famous Five. I was a HUGE Enid Blyton fan. And Kirsten is such an inoffensive name...I think it has such a nice sound. I love K names. I LOVE Xanthe...I wish I had thought of that for my youngest DD. I called her Emilie, which I do love, but really I found it hard to think of a name I was passionate about.

I love Quentin! It reminds me of illustrator Quentin Blake, best known for illustrating the books of children's author Roald Dahl.

We called her Phoebe in the end. I don't think DM liked that much either. Comments such as "I've got used to it now and it kind of suits her" makes me think this.

After the rant over Kirsten she thought better of saying much else on the subject.

Oi!! What's character-building about Arthur, Tatty? DS2 is called Arthur although my DSis keeps asking us if we will please all him Archie instead. Drives me frigging mad, not that there's anything wrong with Archie but IT'S NOT HIS NAME and she wants to use it as she has fond memories of an ex called that and has asked me enough times now that it seems massively disrespectful..... She also said "ooh, great we can call him Archie" when I rang her from hospital the day he was born to tell her the news, grrrrr.

I'll be honest, I was beyond shocked at my mothers reaction.

How could it be such an awful name she thought it was a wind up?

I went to school with an Arthur, he was teased about it every day.

There are squillions of little Arthurs around these days, it'll be completely unremarkable in school

I just can't imagine girls writing I love Arthur on their school books.

When I was at school Archie would have been pretty hilarious, but there will be two in every class now.

Don't understand what's wrong with Arthur ? Why would you be teased ?

I went to school with Deans, Craigs, Stevens and Garys!!

My in laws refused to call my daughter by her name and called her something else entirely. I was utterly furious and quite aggressive about it . They have had their chance to pick names it's so rude and obnoxious.

We called her Phoebe in the end. I don't think DM liked that much either. Comments such as "I've got used to it now and it kind of suits her" makes me think this.

I have a Phoebe, no one has said they didnt like the name, who could you not.

My friends Nephew is called Nirvana, with his surname, it sounds awesome.

These days classrooms are made up of little Stanleys, Arthurs, Reggies and Wilfreds. Retirement home chic.

I think there was a law passed in the 70's which required that every third born English man was called Gary.

What is it with people. My dm disliked dd2's name at first (a virtue name) because I didn't name her after my gm who had died a few weeks earlier, or at least use it as a middle name. We had already chosen the first name and one middle name (both our dc have two: one from each side of the family) and to have used gm's name would have given poor dd2 one really awful acronym. We ended up using my dm's middle name (dd1 already has a variant) which also happens to have been gm's maiden name, and lost from the family up til then. She still wad not happy.

The virtue name we chose, however, reminds me very strongly of my gm, and I think is a more fitting tribute.

Now I do not like my niece' name. It's a 'foreign' version of a beautiful, name and even my MIL gets it wrong. Surname is very dull and definitely English.

Your right I do know a lot of Garys.

Arguably it's better if the grandparents aren't keen. I am happy with my mum disliking my curtains because her taste is still stuck in the 1980s.

Seems strange to take such a dislike to Quentin - okay, it's not to everyone's taste, but it's hardly in the Gaylord league....

I think the PP who suggested that their taste is stuck in the 80's has a good point. I remember my PIL's insisting that Isabelle was so freakishly outlandish that our DC1 would be teased to death if given that as a name. Isabelle and it's variants is the most popular name among the under 10's I know of around here, but clearly it was a different story back when they were naming their DC.

Definitely rude of them to be so vocal about their dislike of the name, though.

We had a bit of this with DS, some friends thought we were joking (they have since gone on to give their DC2 an absolute corker of a name) and DPs mum tried to put us off, actually sending us quite strongly worded texts and suggesting more 'traditional' alternatives, saying that she was concerned he would be teased at school That was quite annoying, we knew it was unusual and we held off naming him for a couple of weeks because we weren't sure we were brave enough to use it! We eventually realised that we love his name so it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

However, no one went so far as to actually call him by another name or an initial. That is just bloody rude. In most cases I'm a fan of honesty but when it comes to baby names one should be polite and just say 'how lovely' or similar. Who wants to spoil a happy occasion by inflicting their opinion where it wasn't sought?

Apart from my DMIL of course

Very rude.

I like Quentin. We considered it for ds2.
In the end we went with Jesse and our mums HATE it. For months (when I was still preg) every conversation started with "are you still going to use that name?"
Haven't heard a peep from them since he's been born though. They wouldn't bloody dare!

We have a Quentin! We love it and have generally had very positive responses.

I think most kids know illustrator Quentin Blake or film director Quentin Tarantino, so it's not exactly an unusual or odd name?

Sometimes I wonder whether people realise it's done and dusted. Name has been chosen. Birth certificate done. You're opinion doesn't change anything except to be hurtful. "Just being honest"... "okay great, you're a prick... 'just being honest'".

Quentin is my favourite name for a boy!