To call our baby Huckleberry?

[queenmools]

We are really struggling to think of boys' names for our second baby (due in 3 weeks.) We have no idea if it will be a girl or boy. The girl's name is all sorted but we already have one boy and have kind of peaked with naming him. My husband came up with Huckleberry and says he is not joking. I really like it but don't know if I'm brave enough. We are not American and feel it is a very American sounding name so maybe would be out of place. Also would it work for an adult? Would an adult named Huck sound like a complete tosser? I should point out that we live in a very alternative area with lots of unusual names around.

There was a lad at our primary school called Attila-Armani. His brother was Paris.

Re classical education - you could upgrade to a Master's by watching Troy a few times. It would mean looking at images like this, I'm afraid.

@ phaedra

My real problem with the cry that you need to name children normal names is the implicit racism that comes with it. A person may have a completely average and common name for their society but move into another and it becomes an acceptable reason to bully and discriminate against them.

I fear it's why there is such a split in the acceptability in names on threads like this - there's too many little Englanders who don't believe an Aarav or a Marcin is a real name.

More than a few people have been incredibly rude to you on this thread, OP, yet you have handled it exceedingly well.

I like the cut of your jib.

I don't agree, there, fredfred. The names that attract the most incredulity and opprobrium are the ones that are chosen just to be different, not to reflect the family's roots/culture.

mimsy If I was Jewish I'd be tempted by Saul or Solomon. Or even Absalom. But again, my family couldn't carry it off, particularly like you said with with our surnames, which are solid northern English and not particularly lyrical Irish - think Quigly and you're almost there.

Solomon O'Reilly sounds like a character from a Damon Runyan novel though, and I'd be sorely tempted by that before sobering up at the registrar's office and going for something like Thomas.

I love Solomon O'Reilly, but it would be a hard name to carry off before the age of 50.

Fred does have a point, though it is not necessarily applicable to this particular thread.

Baby name threads are awash with "well,that name is fine as long as you don't live in England". Usually in reference to Welsh or Irish names. Posters tend to be a bit more careful with names from other nationalities, for fear of being called racist/narrow minded.

The same people who say no to Ffion (Welsh girls name) and Aoife are often the same posters who suggest names like Hebe and Ptolemy. Makes me chuckle.

Don't do it, OP!

I have a very unusual name and often wished I could change my name when I was younger. I got loads of teasing at school and it affected my confidence as a child.

These days as an adult, I get fed up always having to spell my name out or having it spelled wrongly. On being introduced to someone new I'd like just once for the conversation to not be about my name. I usually hear 'ooh what an unusual name' or 'is that English?' The most common response is a blank look followed by 'can you repeat that?'

I deliberately chose the most popular names at the time for my DC for which they are grateful.

But Aoife Sweeney sounds good. Aoife Middlesworth, less so.

AllMimsyWereTheBorogoves yes, but the result is the same, it doesn't matter if the name is unusual because it's unusual as a name, or unusual because it's from a different culture. It's still the unusualness that is being accepted by so many as a reason to pick on people.

Ketchuphidestheburntbits But Huckleberry is not a name that people won't know how to spell or pronounce - indeed it's likely more easily spelled and recognised as a name than many of the top 100 names. Many of them have different spellings in the top 100 (Lily / Lilly are both in the top 50 girls names, those people run into the same problem - and even the popular name this year, may have changed in 30 years. It's certainly true now of the ones from 50 years ago.

Mimsy I have watched Troy purely for the purposes of self-improvement.

I like Eric Bana and Brad Pitt slicked in sweat (or baby oil) but couldn't be bothered with the boy Bloom.

I've studied the 1960 version of Spartacus a lot and was particularly struck by the acting style Woody Strode who was an Olympic athlete .

And of course the TV series of Spartacus

I didn't realise that Spartacus and his sidekicks Crixus and Gannicus were actually real people .

So I'm grateful for being disabused of that notion thanks to Starz TV.

Just to confess more about my lack of classical knowledge, when I saw 300, I thought the Spartans were in with a chance

They looked great though, didn't they?

Have just seen someone mention their child ULYSSES on a facebook group.

One to add to the list? :)

Huckleberry? I just banged my head on the desk to see if I'm dreaming..This is a joke no?

limited, you could also watch I Claudius to round off your classical studies. As far as I recall there isn't really any eye candy, but it's a cracking good yarn, and grounded in fact.

Herb names:
Angelica
Bay
Basil
Borage
Chervil
Cicely
Coriander
Dill
Hyssop
Lavender
Lovage
Marjoram
Sage
Sorrel
Tarragon

It's a list of names of herbs but not all of them are also used as names for people.

Has anyone apart from Hetty Sorrel been called Sorrel?

Araminta isn't a herb. It seems to be a literary invention from the 17th century.

There is also Lettice although that has nothing to do with lettuce.

Phaedra is a lovely name. I've come across a couple of them , but it is a girl's name.

I'm still not convinced why out of the millions of choices available one would pick something as daft sounding as Huckleberry.

I don't see any problem with Ulysses.

Is huckleberry a brother for Mary and Dangle?

mimsy I've watched I Clavdivs a few times. And read I Claudius and Claudius the God.

I love both. There's a scene towards the end of the show where it's obviously getting a bit warm in the studio and Sian Phillips is playing 80 when she's about 35 and her prosthetic jowls are dripping off

Despite that, it's fantastic. When I started watching Spartacus, the sex-fest TV series on Sky, I Clavdivs was on BBC4.

I did a very sad thing. I actually wrote out a timeline of the characters also using the real life characters from Rome I am

Thank youRalph. I love the phrase cut of your jib!
Yes some people have been really rude but most people have been funny and lovely. Any way it doesn't really matter because I don't know them. They just think that they know me. They presume I'm stupid, rich, posh, a show off and desperate to stand out at the expense of my children. Some have delighted in telling me my child would get a kicking almost as if he'd deserved it for having a stupid name. In reality I'm none of those things, I'm ordinary and really rather shy. My husband suggested a name and I wasn't sure. Didn't want to ask in real life so asked here. That's all.
I haven't dared tell anyone my top name choice is Sherlock!

They presume I'm stupid, rich, posh, a show off and desperate to stand out at the expense of my children

I don't assume any of those things. You asked the question. I answered it that it sounds silly and there are millions of names to choose from that don't make your child sound like a pony. Did you expect universal approbation?

"I like the cut of your jib" is a well known saying of one Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber Burns.

Montgomery.

Problem solved.

mools

Now Sherlock I could almost get behind . Certainly as a middle name.

To be fair you have taken this all very well but also, you've taken it as so many wish other people who post about baby names would. The beauty of the Internet is you get people's unfiltered, brutally honest opinions.

The only person who I could trust to tell me so honestly (about anything not just baby names) in real life is my mum. But sometimes I don't want to tell her things iyswim?

limited

But Aoife Middleworth's mum might be Irish!

I was quite surprised when I found out that Nick Clegg's son's have Spanish names and his surname. Clegg does not lend itself well many names. Sort of expected his wife to put her foot down there as she hadn't taken his name herself. Or done something more like the Spanish surname tradition.