To wonder if the choice of names is ill judged?

[BoysofMelody]

A very close friend of ours has just had a baby and whilst they have two very lovely first names,the initials spell a well known contraction of two very rude words, along the lines of Fiona Ursula Smith (FU Smith)or Bethany Jane Jones (BJ Jones) but even ruder!

A mutual friend was aghast and thought it will make the child the subject of teasing and was all set to raise it with our friend tactfully, but the baby has already registered with the unfortunate combo of initials.

I'm a bit on the fence, when told the first names, the rude initials were the first things that leapt into my head, but I guess if the kid is embarrassed by it, they can simply avoid using their middle name, but the mutual friend is adamant they'll have the piss ripped out of them at school, citing someone in their year at school whose initials were W.C. Taylor and they have been known by all and sundry as Shithouse Taylor for the best part of 30 years.

So you think this newly named infant will run into trouble in later life?

Not your problem, not your monkeys...

Please don't tell her, it's not fair, or important.
as this is only in your head, don't put it in hers.

Not quite as extreme but my aunt was called Beatrice Alice Gertrude......BAG. Her husband used to call her 'old bag' all the time!! :-)

No one will bat an eyelid at that

I had a friend who had a middle name beginning with T and the Surname Watt. It did cause some ribbing.
Another with BJ as first two initials and a dad who used them as a nickname grrrrrrr.
I don't think I'd worry about something less obvious though.

MF is really not a commonly used abbreviation. Nothing at all would have occurred to me seeing that name and your friend being aghast would have struck me as ridiculous to be honest. I think FU and BJ are much more commonly used as abbreviations and even then, no big deal. Major overreaction.

My DH is MF. Have never thought about it until this thread. Hopefully I can forget again quickly.

My DS is 8 and his initials are MF. I have never ever made the connection and I have never ever had any comments about it. This is the first time it's been aware that there may be a rude connotation. I'm glad the overriding opinion is that it's fine! I would never have chosen a BJ or FU name though!

I wouldn't notice either. I think the more common abbreviation these days is "mofo"; if MF was ever common in the UK I think it's faded into obscurity.

I think the thing is that when people are choosing a name / hearing it for the first time it's under much more scrutiny than it ever will be again for the rest of their lives. Do the first and middle names "go"? The first and last? Does it go with his sister's name? Do the two names together sound unfortunate? Are there any obvious nicknames? Whereas from then on people just hear the name.

at "Ewan Kerr" though! Poor kid!

One of my DS's initials spell out an illegal substance. Never thought about it much and only my mother has ever made a comment about it. I suppose if he ever had to wear monogrammed clothing it may look like he was encouraging illegal drug use, but he's not fussed and says no one has ever commented at school.

My cousin is an MF and I've never even thought about it.

I knew a girl and her initials are S T D

And there is also that viral picture with the message "always see what the name spells" where a couple had chosen a name let people know and they received a blanket with the child's name embroided into the blanket and the initials are - J E W

Really no, I use that word and there's no way I'd make that connection if I saw the initials together. BJ yes, FU yes. But not MF - I just wouldn't think of the initials as representing the word at all. MOFO yes!

Totally fine.

This one of my favourite of unfortunate names on the list. If the name doesn't resemble any of these I think they will be safe.

blazepress.com/2014/06/45-unfortunate-names-ever/

Same as Viserion = DH with MF initials but only realised reading this thread. I've known him 17 years!

OP, you're definitely overthinking this.

Motherfucker isn't commonly shortened to MF - if the initials were MoFo then that's another matter entirely. I think you're overestimating the popularity of Prince in the under 30s in the UK.

I wouldn't worry about MF, particularly if a girl. People can get nicknames in SO many different ways, or you name your beautiful dd Elsa and then Frozen comes out, someone with your child's names becomes a pop star or a serial killer etc. A Canadian boy I was at school with once said of a chemistry experiment we were observing something along the lines of "gee that's dinky" (not dinky but yswim) and aged 50+ is still known as Dinky (but at least his initials weren't MF eh)

You are definitely definitely overthinking.

I worked with a BJ (who went by those initials) and once answered the phone with "Morning BJ!" to which he replied "is that a greeting or an offer?!" Hahah!

My mum vetoed the name veronica for me because my initials would have been VD, pretty common slang for venereal disease in the '70s I guess although I'm sure no-one would make the connection now.

once answered the phone with "Morning BJ!" to which he replied "is that a greeting or an offer?!"

Yeah I don't think calling someone Melanie Fiona Smith is setting them up for a lifetime of mocking really.

When you responded 'MF' to someone asking what was worse than 'FU' I had to search around for why MF would be considered troublesome. "What, like MDF? Eh, Multi Ffffsomething? MILF - is it somehow a shortened version of MILF?" (which you could argue that it kinda is Before I got to motherfucker.

The poster whose birth initial made SLAG that is hilarious.

It wouldn't even occur to me to link MF and motherfucker!

I don't think I have ever heard anyone say motherfucker in RL.

Your friend needs to get out more if she's 'aghast' at those initials. Kids aren't going to make that association. I can't actually imagine anyone making the connection

I wouldn't have linked MF to motherfucker. My first thought was MFL as in languages. If her surname is an L, the initials of a school dept might be noted. I don't think the swear would be - it's nowhere near as known or widely used as BJ or FU... don't panic OP.