to change her name to Doris...

[bertieatemybisqui]

Hello I'm new to all of this so please go easy on me!

My dd is 13 months and called Emma. Only somehow Doris has evolved.

It started off as a nickname but in the last six months it became the default choice. Now she seems like a Doris. We bizarrely answers to both. She also answers to Monkey!

Now I know I'm probably giving her an identity crisis and I know Doris is a marmite name but it seems to have evolved...

So much so that in a few years the change could be made by deed poll.

Is this nuts?

[wreckingball]

Dorian is most commonly a boys name.

[wreckingball]

A Wally is a twit, you know, 'don't be such a Wally'.
'He's a bit of a Wally'.

[shinysparklythings]

As an Emma that always hated my name. I think it's boring, too common and doesn't sound nice.
Even I wouldn't change to Doris!! Keep it as a pet name and let her chose when she is older.

[wreckingball]

Emma's a nice name but maybe, imo, a bit boring.

[bertieatemybisqui]

Yes I know its slang for twit.

But then lots of names have alternative meanings and are popular. Amelia being one of them.

[wreckingball]

What's the alternative meaning for Amelia?

[bertieatemybisqui]

Its a medical condition

[Thebodynowchillingsothere]

Wrecking Emma's are never boring. Just incredibly hot.

[toptomatoes]

It's probably just because it is a real name that you are thinking this. I call my son Bobbin at least as much as I use his real name but obviously wouldn't change it. My uncle was known by a nickname until I was in my teens, i didnt know his real name but knew it was a nickname. He now goes by his real name. You may find it evolves over time and she starts using her given name so i wouldnt jump into changing it.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Amelia is a medical condition but it isn't common slang as Wally is.

[bertieatemybisqui]

True but my point is some people can over look a negative association for a name they love.

Can you imagine if your dc's name suddenly had a negative association, like it was slang in TOWIE?

Could you give me an Emma? (meaning enema, but they simply got the term wrong.) No name is safe.

Its already happened to Reem!

[Thebodynowchillingsothere]

I always snigger at candida. Sad I know.

[ScrambledEggAndToast]

I call my son Farty Pants but I won't be changing his name by deed poll

[MimiSunshine]

Don't change it. I had an old lady nickname as a child, people thought it was my name as it was used so much. Over the years it stopped being used and it's just something we laugh about now

[Alisvolatpropiis]

I think parents who "overlook" real social issues with a name and then give it to their child are arseholes.

Not you specifically, Doris, other than being wildly unattractive, has not got other negative associations. It is cute...as a nickname.

Also I don't think Emma and Reem are comparable, in the UK at any rate. Towie had been around a couple of years before I even met someone called Reem (who is an adult not a child named subsequently). Emma, met loads of them.

[Artandco]

Bertie - nah he's too old to bother changing by deed poll now. He just keeps official things like banks etc by actual name

[bertieatemybisqui]

alis you may be right. I have a very normal name and I was grateful for that as a child.

I read an article about a young woman called Doris who hated her name as a teen but loves it now.
www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/whats-in-a-name-doris-day-is-done-but-isabella-and-sienna-are-the-trendy-baby-names-of-2011/story-e6frf00i-1226103570864

[GladysKnight]

Fwiw on the technical issues I was (lets say) 'Margaret' on birth cert but 'Meg' from 3 weeks. Margaret at secondary school (dm must have put on form) but nicer teachers copped on to meg - kudos to them!

I know it might have been easier as two are in a way the same name, but am meg on bank accounts, passport, house deeds, kids various forms et cetera & its my professional name. Only encountered odd bit of extra bureacracy (eg when we got married I think) but has never been big deal as I recall. I just decided that from age 18 I would use meg on all paperwork and thats what i've done.

I don't knowif you need deed poll for kids?? but maybe add as 2nd name on all paperwork from now on, to keep it open? My df, db and bil all known by their 2nd names as it happens!

Oh, and child benefit for my ds has had wrong 2nd name on it for all his 17 years.! Can't say it worries me!

My dd now complains her name is too ordinary, btw. I quite like name doris - kids do seem to have weirder names now, deoeds if you are in an urban lively area or a rural backwater if anyone notices. Maybe I'd check it wasn't the weirdest name at the local nursery, and go from there!

[GladysKnight]

Depends if you live....sorry!

[SamiBE]

My daughter is Ellie but I call her Belle

[bertieatemybisqui]

gladys I didn't know you could have a different name on bank card than on both cert! Learn something every day

[WhodidyousayIshouldbe]

I wouldn't change her name OP for two reasons:

1. As PPs have said, I would leave it to your daughter to choose for herself in the future. You could go through the process of changing it, only to find that she wants to use something different further down the line.
   
   My own DD has a name that only DH and I use as a nickname. I hate it when anyone else uses it, it's our pet name for her. She uses her proper name at school and with friends but I've noticed that now she's in Y2, her friends have started to call her by various shortened forms. I think she'll eventually choose one of those and stick with it. That may also happen with your DD in time.
   
   
2. Doris and Gert are used by (some) men to refer to their wives and girlfriends. Similar to saying "her indoors", they say, "our Doris" or "our Gert".
   
   Apparently it can also be a term for a woman who is either plain or unattractive or it could just be used to describe a girl as if to say that her name is of little importance. i.e. "I was out last night with some Doris" or "She's a bit of a Doris". Apparently this term was invented by city traders in the 80's.
   
   The Urban Dictionary actually talks about today's Yoof using Doris to say someone is good at making out and also that they are a person who faffs around a lot when doing something/getting ready.
   
   It's all a bit derogatory for me despite it being quite a pretty name which I hold in high affection as the lady who ran the sweetshop next to my Granny's house was called Doris........

[bertieatemybisqui]

who our Gert! Our Doris. Who's gone from a frump to a right goer.
Is it just me or does it seem like a name that belongs to long lived women? Dorises seem to live into their 90's despite chain smoking and having a jolly good time

[Imi22sleeping]

I love the name Doris!!! I called my daughter Isobel and it's pretty old fashioned don't change it be droll though just call her it

[burgatroyd]

Love the name Doris!