To think most parents these days don't consider their baby's names for when they are adults..

[LondonAnne5]

Just that really.

I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen someone post a picture on their feed of their newborn with a name that is either really, really different or something that the child may not enjoy being called in the future when they are a teenager/adult...

E.g. Billi Mucklow naming her new baby boy Wolf Nine. It's different, yes and okay when he is a baby but I'm just imagining a professional middle aged businessman named Wolf and can't picture it.

I grew up with a very different name that is often mispronunced and is also a bit "babyish" for my age now which I do find awkward in a professional environment.
AIBU and alone in thinking this?

[Mustang27]

@SloeSloeQuickQuickGin lol I didn't think of that. Oh well poor sprogs. I was hoping he was just at it.

[ChevalierTialys]

Reign-Beau. Ffs

[Crunkly]

I think there are lots of people who don’t like their given name, they just use a different one/ a nickname in day to day life or change it. Not the end of the world.

[Leontine]

Zowie Bowie is always one that gets mentioned on these type of threads but it's a bit of an urban legend. He's always been called Duncan Jones (his birth name is Duncan Zowie Jones). His parents called him by his middle name Zowie as a child and 'Zowie Bowie' was coined by the press.

[DivisionBelle]

Maxima, well, in my opinion you do sound , ok, closed- mind about names. Most people in a mixed, cosmopolitan environment have learned, by constant lived experience, not to judge people by their name. A name bestowed by someone else, not them, even (unlike a choice of email address).

Marley isn’t even that rare or unusual. It was the name of the daughter in tne Kate Atkinson ‘Brody’ detective series, it is the name of Pierce Brosnan ‘s granddaughter.

You judge it ‘daft’, I judge you as having a narrow field of reference for judging it.

[LittleRen]

I have a Soren, sometimes I wonder if it's too unusual but we just fell in love with the name... and I don't think it's really a babyish name. We also gave our two boys really ordinary middle names just incase they end up hating their first names (although other is a Sebastian so pretty normal!!).

I agree some baby names would sound odd for an adult now but then names like Alan, Dave, SImon etc all sound odd for a baby but they are normal grown up names... the times change don't they, names move on.

[MaximaDeWit]

• Maxima, well, in my opinion you do sound , ok, closed- mind about names. Most people in a mixed, cosmopolitan environment have learned, by constant lived experience, not to judge people by their name. A name bestowed by someone else, not them, even (unlike a choice of email address).
  
  Marley isn’t even that rare or unusual. It was the name of the daughter in tne Kate Atkinson ‘Brody’ detective series, it is the name of Pierce Brosnan ‘s granddaughter.
  
  You judge it ‘daft’, I judge you as having a narrow field of reference for judging it.*
  
  Gee whizz, thanks for opening my country bumpkin eyes to the way things work in your cosmopolitan environment!
  
  The Marley in question is a boy - your two examples are girls. Can you tell me about all the boys named Marley? Can't wait!
  
  The irony of you judging me for my narrow field of reference when you don't even KNOW my name is truly brilliant.
  
  I'm not here justifying the fact that people are judged by their names in many scenarios, I'm not saying I think it's fair or right... I'm just agreeing with many other people that it does happen.

[expatbaby]

Wolf would do well in Germany. It's a perfectly normal name there.

[DivisionBelle]

I have no idea where you live.
I don’t see why Marley is any more daft for a boy than a girl.
But I find judgement of children’s names (as daft, or any other derogatory put-downs common on MN) snotty, snobby.

You may not LIKE Marley, fine, but judging it as ‘daft’ is, IMO, closed-mind.

[MaximaDeWit]

* I don’t see why Marley is any more daft for a boy than a girl.*

Good for you

[LaurieMarlow]

I don't see Marley as particularly odd for a boy. It's a common surname where I'm from and there's longstanding form for surnames being co-opted as first names, so I'd assume it's more of the same.

[MaximaDeWit]

It's pretty unusual. Not offensive, not hideous, not jaw droppingly odd.

I just can't imagine a 40 year old middle manager named Marley. It's fine for a cute little boy, and for a dog.

[DownstairsMixUp]

I'm a grown woman Jamie. Why the hate for my name

[Maireadplastic]

I really like Soren, Littleren.

[BarbarianMum]

Maxima I don't know what wanky recruitment practices your work allows but i suggest you get some equality training. We recruit based on qualifications and experience. Don't even know the names of the candidates until after interview.

[MaximaDeWit]

Barbarian - it was a CV someone handed in for a job in a crappy cafe I worked in while I was at college about 20 years ago - it was most definitely a wanky place to work with wanky HR practises.

I don't see names (or email addresses) now - just qualifications and experience - for that very reason. That's the point I was making - people make judgments based on a name.

[theliterarycat]

Oh please

[MumsGoneToPieland]

When naming my DC I aimed for names that would work equally well if they were lawyers or professional surfers. Like Jessica, Charles - sort of classic but could be modified to be a bit less formal

[LaurieMarlow]

I wouldn't bat an eyelid at a 40 year old middle manager called Marley. I'd assume it was a family name or his mothers maiden name or something. No big deal.

[NattyBatty]

IMO first names shouldn't be too unusual because it's how people form their first impression of you, but middle names are fair game. I went to school will a girl called Holly, and her middle name was Storm, which I always thought was lovely, but she didn't want anyone to know. Imagine how bad it would have been if Storm had been her first name!

I also know a lady who goes by her middle name and refuses to tell anyone her first name because she hates it so much.

My son has a normal but uncommon first name, Eric, but his middle name is Leonardo. I would never have Leonardo as a first name because it's a bit too unusual these days. Hopefully I've struck the right balance between normal and odd 😄

[BaldricksTrousers]

When I was a very small kid, I used to be friends with a boy named Claybee.

How on earth is the name Claybee supposed to translate to an adult??

[BaldricksTrousers]

And by translate I mean transition, of course.

[AiryFairy1]

Expatbaby, that’s what I came on to say - I have German friend called Wolfgang, but we call him Wolf 🐺

[MarnyEira]

I am a 46 year old Marny and I love my name. I never met another Marny until I was in my teens, there are lots of us now though. My son is Joseph shortened to Joe, he’s 27 and he was the only one in primary school, lots of them as well now. My daughter is Dennie after my dad Dennis (which I love). I like unusual names they make you an individual. When I was in school there were 3 Ian’s, 3 Rhian’s and 2 Lisa’s in my class. I loved being the only Marny!

[Longtime]

I know a Wolf here in Belgium and have known plenty of Xaviers. Ex from many years ago was a Gary. I don’t see it becoming popular anytime soon if my dcs reaction the name is anything to go by. Similar to my thoughts on the name Karen.

Dh is Alan. I blame this video for the resurgence in its popularity:

Alan