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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to judge this baby name?

337 replies

PyongyangKipperbang · 17/09/2017 19:21

Or rather the parents that chose it?

Overheard in the local shop a young girl (8ish) telling her friend that her new baby brother is being called....Kaiser. She wasnt joking.

OP posts:
Blinkedandmissedlastyear · 18/09/2017 23:40

OhtoblazeswithElvira Mon 18-Sep-17 20:24:42
zeeboo I thought Kai was as in the Welsh Cai (pronounced Kye) which comes from the Latin Caius.

No doubt someone will come along soon to put me right grin

I think it's one of those names that occurs in lots of countries, as well as the Welsh Cai, I think that there are German and Finnish versions of it. It apparently means ocean in Hawaiian and it means food in Maori. I've come across quite a few Chinese people called Kai too.

Blinkedandmissedlastyear · 18/09/2017 23:42

Fekko I'd forgotten about her, although Minnie Driver always makes me giggle.

seventhgonickname · 18/09/2017 23:50

Am I unusual to think that Ebony,although a beautiful name may cause problems for the very white baby I know that has been given this name.?

paxillin · 18/09/2017 23:52

I know a Minnie, she's actually a Marie. Minerva could be another name resulting in a Minnie.

lalalalyra · 19/09/2017 01:35

Minnie was also a nickname for Mary in Scotland (that was my gr-gran's name).

LittleBird74 · 19/09/2017 03:02

There is a girl called Paradise in DS school..

SpikeGilesSandwich · 19/09/2017 04:02

I recently met a Jem which I assumed was short for Jemma or something. No, just Jem, fair enough, not bad.
Hang on, he's a boy? Ok... Confused

Obviously I didn't say any of that but is it just me? Jem seems odd for a boy's full name somehow.

SpikeGilesSandwich · 19/09/2017 04:02

I recently met a Jem which I assumed was short for Jemma or something. No, just Jem, fair enough, not bad.
Hang on, he's a boy? Ok... Confused

Obviously I didn't say any of that but is it just me? Jem seems odd for a boy's full name somehow.

SpikeGilesSandwich · 19/09/2017 04:03

I recently met a Jem which I assumed was short for Jemma or something. No, just Jem, fair enough, not bad.
Hang on, he's a boy? Ok... Confused

Obviously I didn't say any of that but is it just me? Jem seems odd for a boy's full name somehow.

SpikeGilesSandwich · 19/09/2017 04:04

Oops! I didn't mean to do that! Blush

CamperVamp · 19/09/2017 04:09

Jem is the name of the boy in To Kill A Mockingbird.

Probably goes along with the current huge popularity of Atticus.

SpikeGilesSandwich · 19/09/2017 04:21

Ah, that's interesting, thanks Camper. (I'll confess to never having read that) It sounds to me like it could be a nickname for Jeremy which I quite like but on its own I'm not keen.
Wasn't there a cartoon called Jem and the Holograms?

Blinkedandmissedlastyear · 19/09/2017 04:26

I think Jem is an old nickname for James

Blackcatonthesofa · 19/09/2017 04:59

I know a Jeremy nn Jem

TheRugbyValkyrie · 19/09/2017 05:13

I was at university with a guy called Attilla.
There is nothing wrong with the name Kaiser, or indeed Wilhelm. My youngest brother was nearly Wilhelm. People need to stop being so insular and realise that, while not necessarily common in the UK, are perfectly normal in other cultures.

PetalMettle · 19/09/2017 07:13

I think Cindy Crawford a daughter is a kaisa. And yy to whoever said ww1 wasn't as simple as Wilhelm being a naughty man who the plucky Brits had to sort out. And even if, I don't see many people clutching their pearls about Robert, name of one of the most horrific leaders of recent times. I myself am a fan of Anthony...
The rest of the thread has descended into the usual poor people or poc call their children some funny names thing.
All non biblical names were made up originally - my son's name, whilst very conventional now was originally a surname.
There is, If you think about it, reasons for poc to want something new, not linked to their past, and to utilise sounds like la in names

dachs · 19/09/2017 07:19

My daughter went to school with a boy called Tuna Can (first name, last name) - no joke

OliviaStabler · 19/09/2017 07:24

I'm waiting for a smarty pants to come along and scold us for laughing at Khaleesi (ancient Egyptian name for the god of cat poo or something).

GrinGrin

dollydee · 19/09/2017 07:26

Years ago, my then 3 year old daughter insisted her cousin was called Celery. Her name was Celeste.

stabbyjoe · 19/09/2017 07:44

Yes nell!

Sarahrellyboo1987 · 19/09/2017 07:47

I judge....but keep it to myself! I never tell people if their name choice is awful....I will just say something along the line of "awww, it suits him".
I think the awful trend of "original" and "unique" names are anything but unique or original. They're setting your poor kids up for a life misery. My daughter goes to a school with a girl called "xyienna" as in sienna! The kids hates it and often cries when well intended people don't realise her parents chose to spell it like complete and utter a*s!

massi71 · 19/09/2017 07:48

Kaiser is a Pakistani male name. And it's not pronounced like Kaiser chiefs.

OP you don't say what ethnicity the person was. Many names sound sound odd to Western ears.

Esspee · 19/09/2017 07:58

Came across a two year old (t-shirt, no pants, big belly and sticky out navel) in Tobago who was called Aristotle. My mum questioned his mum and apparently she had seen it in a magazine. (Presumably an article about Jackie Onassis this was a long time ago)

CamperVamp · 19/09/2017 08:31

Cos someone in Tobago couldn't possibly have heard of an actual philosopher....

The MN orthodoxy on names is very well demonstrated by the recent 'lists' threads of all the girls / boys people know.

My kids' school friends' names, in a S London state school show a far, far more diverse picture. I didn't post because I can't the squealing and OMG-ing at perfectly normal Nigerian / Polish / Eritrean / Vietnamese etc names.

drspouse · 19/09/2017 08:43

I didn't post because I can't the squealing and OMG-ing at perfectly normal Nigerian / Polish / Eritrean / Vietnamese etc names.

I often wonder when people say "what name goes with Natasha" or "tell me all the names you know", well, I know a Natasha and a Boris that are siblings, but did you want Bulgarian names or just English names? Or did you want Raina and Hawa and Noga and Owais or just "English" names?