AIBU?
about really plain names for girls?
MrsBadger · 07/02/2007 09:20
Now I swore I would never start a baby-name thread but I can't hold off any longer.
DH wants to give the impending BadgerCub a name that's been used in our families before. I'm fine with this - we have about 20 generations and 500 names to choose from.
The boy's names are generally fine by me (classics like Edward, John, James, Benjamin etc), but he always leans towards girls' names that I just find a bit... dull.
We have a short surname - think Stone or Rowe - and I can't help feeling that (eg) Mary, Susan and Jane don't sound especially nice with it.
Am I being overly picky or should I hold out for something longer and (oh the shame, never thought I'd say this) 'prettier', eg Eleanor or Susanna?
Come on, beat me with sticks now, I know I deserve it!
MrsJohnCusack · 07/02/2007 09:25
I'm with you
any pretty names to choose from in the family? it may just be a matter of extended negotiation - am nearly 38 weeks and FINALLY persuaded DH away from the original choice a couple of weeks ago as I can see from the paper here he would be one of hundreds (and would have the same name as the only other boy out of 10 children amongst me and and my siblings/cousins). but it took protracted and clever work to do so
wurlywurly · 07/02/2007 09:26
we was exactly the same choosing boys names for ds2. In the end we both went thru a book of name and wrote down all the names that we liked seperatly and then compared lists after, opting to stick with the 2 names that we had both agreed on.
Honestly, if i was me then i would hold out for a 'prettier' name, this child will have to live with this name all their life. Oh and we have a surname like yours that no name goes with, which is such a pain.
marthamoo · 07/02/2007 09:28
I do think you need a longer surname to balance a short first name. And I speak as someone who has the plainest of the plain first names (the one that goes with plain, in fact) and a one syllable surname which begins with the same letter. It's a bit "bam bam", iyswim
gingermonkey · 07/02/2007 09:35
My dd has a short name (just like the scary black singer from the 80s who was in a Bond film)but she has my maiden name as a middle name just in case she wants to use it when she's older hypenated. I have the same, I don't use it but it's nice to know it's there! There are so many fancy frilly girls names knocking about these days it's nice when someone has a good old fashioned plain one!!!!
MrsBadger · 07/02/2007 09:35
marthamoo I love your name and if we had any other surname I'd seriously consider it [contemplates changing surname for this very purpose...]
I think this is all coloured by the fact I had a short, dull and common maiden name and was thrilled I had a three-syllable first name that made it sound a bit less blah.
(NB Eleanor and Susanna are family names, they're just not favoured by DH - the family bit was just to explain why we had a limited list to choose from)
marthamoo · 07/02/2007 09:40
I'll forgive you then
I hated my name as a child - it was so short and plain - and I longed to be something exotic like Vanessa or Cassandra. I had a one syllable maiden name too so no help there. But I really like my name now (it's classic and it hasn't dated like a lot of late 60s/early 70s names: never was particularly in fashion so hasn't gone out of fashion, I suppose) - just don't think it goes particularly well with my married surname.
alarkaspree · 07/02/2007 09:47
You are not being unreasonable, of course, you have to choose a name you like. But if I was naming a girl again I would go for something like Sarah or Mary on the grounds that she would almost certainly be the only one in her class - plain names seem to be very unusual at the moment.
I talked dh into a more elaborate version of the fairly plain first name he wanted for dd and now regret it a bit - she is one of about four in her toddler music group. But I do live in quite a ponce-tastic area.
PrincessPeaHead · 07/02/2007 09:47
I don't think you can ever be accused of being overly picky when it comes to naming your child.
I also have a slightly unusual but not wierd 3 syllable first name, and have married a man with the worlds second most boring surname (no, not brown, the other one) and the thought of naming my sweet and lovely dds either mary or susan or jane would make me SO DEPRESSED. I personally really like the names mary and jane (not so keen on susan!) but only if there is an interesting or even just polysyllabic surname. Otherwise it sounds like a slightly downtrodden country maiden who died of consumption at the age of 22 and now has a plain and rather lopsided headstone in the local churchyard.
You are pushing this child out of your fanjo, you don't have to call it ANYTHING that you don't want to. Tell him he is lucky that he even gets consulted
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