That no one actually uses the baby names suggested on MN?

[Candycoco]

I see the same names suggested week after week on MN and I think to myself, are you being serious?! Who would actually call their child these names in real life?!

Some of them are so ugly, and ridiculous I cannot believe people seriously suggest them. what are these people trying to prove? Like Sybil or Gertrude etc. Aibu ?

[doublepotions]

The assumption that you can choose a nickname before the baby's born always makes me laugh, my DD is nicknamed goggy, certainly never thought of that when naming her.

[PomeralLights]

Dd is named after a historical figure. Not s glamorous one - a kings mistress

The other girls name I had in mind was Eleanor, after Eleanor of Aquitaine (but didn't really go with surname)

Personally I'm pleased with the trend for old fashioned names because I could go with one I've always loved without much comment.

Possibly this irrelevant to the thread :) but I just wanted to say there's nowt wrong with trends!

Also what is an extreme name, please?

[firstcomeslove]

My DD has a classic Persian name (her dad is Persian) which is over 2000 years old but according to the baby name board it's a bit Disney and will date badly. wtf! I just chuckle to myself and don't bother commenting when it gets brought up.

[LadyCuntingtonThe3rd]

I got a middle name for my DD from mumsnet name board. Not creating a thread, just off someone else's. The reason for googling was that there's only a handfull names that works with Isabella as a first name. And I couldn't figure out even one.
My DP was against the one I chose in the beginning - his ex-gf was called like that. Then I asked would he prefer May or Rose? We are both not very keen on those names, so that worked.
So yeah, people do take advice of MN. Not sure about Sybil or Gertrude though, those names are causing me toothache

[kungfupannda]

Glad it's not just me

On the other hand, Blob, Bum and Clomp are now growing on me. If we have DC3 (as triplets) I might use them.

[Jaggythistle]

No Persephone, Ptolemy or anything similar up here. :)

Hermione does always surprise me with how often it's suggested.

Locally everyone here has annoyingly tasteful (well similar to my taste) names which makes picking a name very hard! I'm a bit obsessive about not knowing other DC with the same name.

I think there are two kinds of 'popular' discussed, I like to avoid the '5 the same in the class at school' type, but definitely not make a name up just to be different.

[Welshwabbit]

Kungfupanda I am trying unsuccessfully to stop laughing at your post in order to avoid waking the baby. I agree that the names suggested by other posters tend to seem completely unconnected.

Most of the kids I know have unusual names. Ours are boringly conventional. I confess to being in London but I know a Stanley, a Solomon, a Wesley, a Hector, two boys called Atticus and an Augusta.

[FeelingSmurfy]

I couldn't comment in there, too worried about saying something about a name and someone with that name or with a child of that name coming along after I have posted, if a friend asked me offline andi knew nobody around had anything to do with that name then I would happily discuss but it just feels wrong doing it where it could bother someone

[RedToothBrush]

No kungfunpanda I don't think you miss something with some of those types of posts. Some posters get the pattern and theme and then there are other posters who essentially just want to post a list of their favourite names regardless. Its those posters not you that miss the point.

[kungfupannda]

I do find the random connections on baby name threads a little hard to follow. The 'if you like X, you'll probably also like Y and Z' type posts. I can never quite see how that works, particularly since the names never seem to bear any resemblance to one another.

'If you like Fritalia Petrofina Fuchsia-Pants, you'll probably also like Blob, Bum and Clomp.'

'I like classic English names like Mary and Jane.'
'What about Yasmina, Dakota or Thistlebottom.'

It's pretty much just saying 'If you like names with letters in them that are names, you'll like these names too. Because they're names. With letters in them. Names.'

Maybe I'm missing something.

[butterflyballs]

My girls have normal names but we don't seem to meet many others with the same name, especially my oldest. Both have middle names from family members, my sister and a gran.

[getbusyliving]

Alis people do post on baby boards to garner opinions but that isn't what op is talking about.

The names suggested to people on those boards were not to her taste and op was questioning whether any are really used in RL.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

If people post on the baby name board, surely the entire point of doing so is the garner opinions (and therefore judgements) on the names in question?

It is somewhat redundant as a board if we're all meant to respond "oh yes that's lovely" like in real life.

[Artandco]

Also remember that although mumsnet is predominantly English based, many mumsnetters have different nationalities or live abroad so will suggest names that might not be popular here, but are popular in their country or culture.
Ie the name Theodore has sprung up as popular in the last few years, in our greek family Theodore or versions of it have been going back centuries. So my brother was always mentioned as 'such an unusual name etc', but now there are hundreds so it's never mentioned

[getbusyliving]

Humphrey exactly!

[Onedayinthesun]

[HumphreyCobbler]

"On reflection, i think what is happening here is that the posters suggesting these extreme names, are simply trying to distance themselves from the masses as much as possible .. Is this a class thing? Don't see anyone ever suggesting Tyler or Courtney?"

Or perhaps they just like those names better.

YOU have decided they are extreme names. I don't think they are at all. Either of those you have mentioned. It really seems you think everyone else should only like the names you like. Judging other people's name choices is always a bit distasteful. As long as you like your own choices why does it matter so much what other people choose to call their children?

[getbusyliving]

Yabu. If certain names are not to your taste you cannot automatically assume they must be unusable for others

[HumphreyCobbler]

I know a Wilfred, a Mabel and two Stanleys. I live in rural Wales. It is not hip around here.

[Candycoco]

Why is it an eye opener there was only 18 Lindas etc? It seems obvious to me

[Buildmeabuttercup]

As someone who hates her 'uncommon' name I made sure my dd has a normal name, top 100 but not in the top 50. I don't care if it's boring or unimaginative, it will see her through life happily without raising an eyebrow, which is what I wanted in a name. Each to their own though

[cuntycowfacemonkey]

Yes conventional but not classic is probably a good description for ds2's name. He's the only one of his kind in school.

[cuntycowfacemonkey]

DS2 was named from a suggestion by a mumsnetter, it's not a common name, but it's nothing off the wall either.

[Totality22]

Also according to MN it was fine for me to name my DD after my cat!!

The other name I loved but everyone in RL hated was Indiana and everyone that viewed my thread was adamant that despite me not being able to find a single person that even remotely thought it was OK in real life, I had to use it!

[Theoretician]

The are lots of very conventional names that aren't "old" but are virtually guaranteed to be the only one in their class. (Before I posted this anyway.)


The number after each is the total number of girls with that name in England and Wales in 2013.

Carrie 25
Karen 25
Marianne 25
Joanne 24
Miranda 24
Vivian 24
Theresa 23
Cecelia 22
Susan 22
Ingrid 22
Jacqueline 22
Tanya 22
Judy 20
Julia 20
Linda 18
Kristen 17
Marilyn 17

It's a bit of an eye-opener that there were only 22 Susans, 20 Judys, 20 Julias and 18 Lindas, but 3575 Avas, 3526 Islas, 2266 Freyas, 2211 Siennas, 1588 Laylas.

(Statistics from ONS.)