To call my baby calliope?

[heathergray]

Pronounced cal-y-oh-pee

Is it awful?

All names are new to children, so Alexander is just as new and exotic as George, Jonathan, Damien,Joseph, Hamish, Mohammed etc none of them have any context for children. They are just a collection of sounds which children tend to take at face value. It's amazing the words which sound 'funny' to dc and those which don't. Because none have baggage. Its only when adults start making twatty comments to kids that they then echo that and tease based on those comments.

My children's names have elicited a few peculiar comments from adults but nothing major (more is it a boy or a girl?). In fact we get loads, probably daily when out and about, of lovely comments. 'Where's that from?' 'What a beautiful name' etc

I have an unusual greek name from the Illiad - or it was in the 70s. Still now almost everyone i say it to says how lovely it is. Its nice to grew up with a special name. i felt special to be different from the sea of Katies, Rebeccas, Gemmas, Emmas, Annas etc.

There are so many beautiful names out there, i find it odd people stick to such a limited selection.

I grew up with a "special name" as well and I feel differently to MrsKoala although there are many valid points. I have an uneasy relationship with my name. Even when people react positively to it, the very fact they react at all is not always welcome.

I do think a lot of it is linked to where you live, mind you. Outside of my home town no ones ever had an issue with my name. In it, I still get outrage I am not called Rebecca or Katie :)

Maybe it's because I'm a massive show off Worship!

I love it!!!

Grey's anatomy fan here though so I know how to pronounce it and if I ever had another child I'd wanna use this name!!! And Dr Torres is amazing!!

My name is unusual. Never met anyone else with it.

It's two syllables and phonetically-spelled, no silent letters, etc.

People hear my name and almost always mispronounce it, transposing letters or saying a different name (with some letters in common) altogether.

There is invariably a discussion about the name which I could do without.

I've filled in official forms and had a card returned to me with my name completely WRONG.

People seem to have a blank spot about my name. They cannot read it, hear it, say it or spell it

Nodding along there, flora

Cal-y-oh-pea?

Never heard that pronunciation.

I'd pronounce it Cah-lye-o-pee (accent on the second syllable, short first and third syllables.

I don't think i agree that anyone was advocating sticking to a limited pool or not using anything exotic though, Koala
I've noticed over the past few decades, and since I named my own first child 25 years ago the huge increase in lovely "new" names (be they foreign, with our increasingly diverse population, or variations, contrivances, etc.), and the turnaround in existing names - i.e. names falling out of fashion and old ones being resurrected - and also an increasing appreciation of the exotic and unusual.
I knew few boys called George, for example, when my son was born, but it surged just after. And there aren't many new Gary's now.
People were merely giving their subjective view on the name Calliope. And some like me didn't like it!

A name from the Iliad? I do hope you're Hecuba!

There are so many beautiful names out there, i find it odd people stick to such a limited selection.
They don't. Because, in fact, we have the biggest, and most diverse, name pool now than we have done at any other point in history.

i felt special to be different from the sea of Katies, Rebeccas, Gemmas, Emmas, Annas etc

You weren't, your name was.

Boglarka is a really lovely Hungarian name, but it's not common in the UK.

I love it, I love loads of names from classical myths. I think you should go for it and if you have another daughter, go for Thalia or Euterpe!

My friend's little girl is called Aurora, I love that too. She considered Ariadne, but much to my disappointment, her DH vetoed it.

I think there certainly can be a sense of alarm/indignation/curiosity when a child is named outside a certain pool of names.

Names indicate someone's cultural background (Mohammed, Francoise, Sakura and Dumitru all give an indication of country of birth and/or parental background) they indicate age (Shirley, Jean, Douglas, Brian are all 'of a time' as much as Oliver and Amelia will be in years to come) and, as vehemently denied as it is on here, class and background.

For many people, avoiding a name because it is too popular isn't a consideration. On the contrary, they will want a name that is popular. Calling your children Gracchus and Arsinoe calls attention to them and you in a way that subtly (or not so subtly states) 'my children are different from yours.' I think that's what people react to when they hear an 'unusual' name hence the questioning. 'Where is that from? Is it Welsh? Is it Forrin?' Then the uncertain 'that's a nice name ...' generally roughly interpretes to 'I am welcoming you.' However, the very fact they have to welcome you is an indication you are a visitor.

All language is used as a way of including and therefore by logic, to exclude. Garcchus will be included in some streams of society but not others. That's why many parents do seek a name which will allow their child to slip unnoticed between societal streams. It can be a distinct advantage.

I like Cally. My favourite character in Blake's 7 (showing my age there).

countrygirl "Is there a formula for working out how may posts it takes for someone to say racist/phobic?"

I don't normally see Baby names becuase there's a separate topic I think.

but it does feel racist when you get "your name is WHAT? Can I call you bob? It's too hard to say" - like Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty.

Though I'll grant you, asking Jade Goody to say a 2 syllable word might have been a tad cruel.

so I don't know how these threads go, but surely in England, the main question around calling your child a foreign name is tightly linked to how much racism they'll endure because of it? I suppose we could see it as an easy way to filter out the Jade Goodys of the world....

I know it should be Cal-EYE-o-pee but I'm sure at school when we learned about the muses we read it Cally-OH-pee. I think the correct pronunciation is really ugly. It also makes me think of calipers. I didn't know about the fairground instrument but am pleased to have learned something new today.

Regardless of whether it's the largest pool so far it's still small imo. Just because it's more than it was doesn't mean it's lots.

And as for your special comment just

Goldfish, it isn't racism.

It is prejudice, after a fashion - but it isn't racism.

It's a way of telling you that 'you do not belong in our world.' This CAN be linked to race but also to sex, to age, to class and to culture.

Just because it's more than it was doesn't mean it's lots.
It is lots. Which names do you think haven't been used in the UK and need to be, if the pool is still a small one, then? Do tell me.

And as for your special comment just grin grin grin
Unusual names don't make people special. Better to be known for your talents, achievements and abilities than just for having an unusual name.

Agree, worship. It is prejudice.

It is prejudice, yes, and "othering".

Well, I don't know that it is 'othering.'

If I see I have a child called Francoise on the class register I would assume she has a French cultural background. That's only 'othering' as much in that being French is not the same as being English, which isn't anything to suggest there's something wrong with being French or superior in being English.

Where it becomes problematic is where your name is used to prevent full 'access' to some streams of society and admittedly the name is generally only part of that. But it does happen. If you spend your life in one stream you may not be aware of it at all. It's when you need to swim in many different streams you realise your name can be a handicap.

It's "othering" on this thread.

Posters effectively saying "What, what, never heard of it, can't pronounce, it, callipers, oh dear me no".

Hope OP comes back. Probably to tell us she's never heard of the amazing Dr Torres

I think it's lovely and I knew how to say it too

So I'd go for it OP

I don't think it is goldfish

This is what the OPs DD, should she choose to name her Calliope, will contend with in her life - if she mixes with a similar range of people.

If she almost exclusively will be associating with people who are familiar with Greek myths, it is unlikely to be a problem.