everyone does the cats bum face when I say Barbara...

[ikeepchachachanging]

Name changed for this as will definitely out myself. Announced baby's name as Barbara to honour relative but have got lots of . One person says dd will get bullied.

AIBU to call her this? I think it sounds lovely!

I'm all for older names, I really am. Certain older names have stood the test of time and are still very much 'in' or are at least acceptable and don't stand out too badly- think Oscar, Elizabeth, Ivy, Beatrice etc. Barbara is not one of them. I'm just saying that to be honest, it's not good... You can shorten it to what, Babs? Which is even worse! I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hide by disdain at the name choice either as rude as that may be...

Very much doubt it's bullyable - kids don't know what names are young or old sounding. I really like it actually and agree that it is due to be hip again in about 15-20 years - so actually far from sounding old I think that the little girl will end up having a younger sounding name. Much more so than her friends called Emily/Amelia/bella etc who really do have a date stamp on them.

I like it (I live in North London) - think it's nicer than Lily / Maisie / Evie / Isobel / Emily etc. BUT it is my Mum's name and she hates it. She has a cousin called Pauline and they've often talked about how awful their names are.

It is probably going to come into fashion again soon. It isn't Spankbottom, I can't see why anyone would get bullied for being called it (particularly here, loads of the kids have weird names).

Jesus, there are some really, really horrible people around. Truly horrible.

All these people saying that they would judge. That it's a nasty name. This is a child. A real actual child who has been given a name. A perfectly nice name. I bet you're the same people who get all sniffy when you here there is a child at the park called Jayden.

The OP wasn't asking for what people thought of a name she was considering. She was asking about a child with a name that has been given to her.

OP- if you are still there. I think that it's a pretty good test of people who aren't worth wasting your time on.

And I've said this on another thread all this "it just doesn't sound nice" stuff is mostly rubbish. It is cultural baggage, no more and no less. I've never once heard someone say that the name Harry doesn't sound nice. And yet people say exactly that about Barry and Gary (and, as was pointed out to me, Larry).

*hear

I think some people are horrible too. I used to live somewhere where there were loads of kids with names that would cause outrage on MN - there were a lot of Chinese families who used to give their kids an English name to go along with their Chinese name. Think Clive, Raymond etc. I thought it was cute.

you should just choose a name you like.

penguins you've expressed my sentiments to a T

That's purely a matter of personal taste mousefinkle

To me, Ivy is firmly in the camp of names that sound terribly old-fashioned and should have been left on the cobbles of Coronation Street.

I love Edith and Margaret/Maggie tho- which I'm sure sound just as awful to other people.

Certain older names have stood the test of time and are still very much 'in' or are at least acceptable and don't stand out too badly- think Oscar, Elizabeth, Ivy, Beatrice etc. Barbara is not one of them.

They haven't stood the test of time. They've come back into fashion which is slightly different.

Personally I think Beatrice is drippy in the extreme but that's just my opinion and doesn't alter the fact that it's a perfectly usable name.

I don't get the extreme reactions here Barbara is not a name I'd pick, but it's a normal name. She'll never have to spell it, there are no unfortunate celebrities or serial killers with that name. Jeez!

We called DD Dorothea, and the reactions are quite interesting. Some people go "Dorothy?" In a tone of disgust which is massively rude IMO.

Some illiterate people clearly think I have made it up and it is a "unique" name

Most people say how lovely it is, or that it was their great-aunt's name.

I like that it's not top 100 and is very nickname-able (Dodo, Dottie, Dora, Thea etc). Same could be said for Barbara really!

It is very extreme, isn't it. It's been a real eye opener - it's just a normal name to me and yet so many people seem to hate it.
I've read quite a few name threads on here, and I can't ever remember such an extreme reaction before.

I think it's horrible, sorry. I wouldn't inflict it on a new baby and agree with pp that it's not "granny chic", it's just really old fashioned.

I am really surprised at the strong negative feelings on here. My mother was Barbara, and my niece was named Barbara after her (I call my niece Barbarella). It is easily spelt and easily pronounced. Great name

It's old fashioned, but not so long ago when people began using Isabella, Madeiline and Ruby, people thought they were weird.

Have you looked at usage stats for the lat few years. i think it is one of those low but steady use names.

What names children will tease about is unpredicatble.

I agree that this thread has been surprisingly nasty. There are a zillion names that aren't personally to my taste. Sometime I have stronger reasons for not liking them than simply that they sound a bit dated but I still don't consider it practically child abuse to have picked one of them. Barbara is a perfectly normal name that is just not popular atm. Is it just because it's AIBU that this thread has got so extreme?

I'm early 40's and my best friend is (was) called Barbara.
She hated it, made worse by the fact that she lived in a country where nobody couid pronounce it, and she changed it when she hit 18.
I wouldn't choose it myself but this isn't my child being discussed here so if you like it OP then don't worry what anyone else thinks.
It's a nice, normal name. Not to everyone's taste but not controversial in any way.

Do it. It's a great name. I have a truly bonkers auntie Barbara and we all love her. She is one of the most fun loving people I've ever met. Bobbie is a great nickname.

Interesting article on how names go in generational cycles - it's based on American data, but I would expect a similar effect in this country.

www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2010/4/the-generational-sweet-spot-or-why-your-parents-have-such-bad-taste

Implication: think of the names of your grandparents . Those are the names that will appear unusual / trendy to your children when they grow up, so be prepared for them to be the names of your grandchildren too!

I think though what I'm noticing is that of those who have admitted to being called Barbara about half say they love it and half say they loathe it. I wonder if that is typical of any name.

Children do tease over names, even if it's only saying them in silly way, and yes, that teasing can go over into bullying, which would be more likely imo if they hated their name.

There's no guarantee that Barabara will be revived, as people here are suggesting too. It may, as others have-but plenty of others have not been, and I don't think you can predict it as easily as that.

If you're a confident person who rather likes being quirky and your dc is too, then it's probably fine giving them a name that's a bit unusual and people will comment on. If you are shy and don't particularly like being picked out in a crowd then you probably want to avoid it.

It makes me think a little about dd2, who was born missing her arm. I'd say that among the adults I know who are similar there's a pretty 50/50 split between those who say "why would it be a problem? No one ever says anything bad, and if they do I don't care" and those who say they were bullied and struggle with it into adulthood.

On the outside there is no difference. I don't know if what makes the difference is the people they come across or the personality they are themselves.

And I've said this on another thread all this "it just doesn't sound nice" stuff is mostly rubbish. It is cultural baggage, no more and no less. I've never once heard someone say that the name Harry doesn't sound nice. And yet people say exactly that about Barry and Gary (and, as was pointed out to me, Larry).

You will hear it now. If you ever anticipate your child being in the US, or wanting to have a career in the US, Harry, not as a diminutive of Harold, requires close attention be paid because it is pronounced Hair-ee, not Har-ee. Boys growing up as Hairy Wolf or Hairy Fox may fair better than Hairy Head or Hairy Bush. Ed Balls can never name a son Harry and expect Americans not to snigger. Nor Alesha Dixon or anyone else with a name beginning with Dick-.

A middle name in between does not solve this problem, as kids at school don't use middle names. Especially if the middle name begins with D. My dad grew up as Harry D Animal.

If short for Harold, the kid at least has the option of not using the diminutive when old enough to make the choice. My Dad didnt have that option. He switched to his middle name as an adult, but as everyone assumes the first name is used until told otherwise, he can never escape the problem. It caused a problem in recording my dad's death.

I dont understand the problem with Barry and Garry and Larry though. I do think if you want Larry, you should go with Lawrence so he has the option of not having a nicknamy name when he is grown, but I wouldnt ask if you did because it's not my business.

I love Barbara.
But I am old.

However when DD is old all her Mia and Amelia friends will say 'I wish I'd an unusual name like you.'

I don't like it, but that's my opinion. Aren't you allowed to name your child as you wish (within reason!) xx

I like the name Barbara. I'm sure twenty years ago there were babies being called Edie and Violet and people were going 'whaaaat' . And I'm sure a lot of the people who are being rude about Barbara now will be nodding approvingly in twenty years when it comes back into fashion.

Mom- yes, fair enough. You can never rule out other cultures /accents having an issue with a name. My point really is that, if you said you wanted to call a kid Barry lots of responses would be that it does not sound nice, but those same posters wouldn't say the same about Harry.

It is generally a nickname for Henry in the UK too, if not the full given name. Like Prince Harry.

As other people have said, it's quite an ordinary name in much of Europe. I know several French and Italian Barbaras.