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?

OP, do you think those from foreign lands living in the uk should give their children Anglo names or a name from their culture/heritage?

Alan is a nice name, he'll either be an actor or an entrepreneur, Messrs Sugar and Rickman were toddlers once upon a time!

If I ever have children they would end up with gemstone names, because although still unusual I think of them as quite traditional, and possibly play around with them (Sapphire for a boy, although it's usually for a girl, for instance,) and then use plants for middle names. (You can blame The Ordinary Princess for my love of gemstone names.)

Wolf isn't that bad a name, really. One of our local doctors was called Wolf. It's a Germanic name, I think.

However, I agree to the basic premise of your post - living in Australia I've had to reset my bar over names quite a lot, because, especially where I live, there seems to be a high preponderance of names I could never have imagined, including "yooneek" spellings.
Current favourites include Jaykub, Iszack (Isaac), and Talon.

Calling your child Bear is never good!!!

I recently had a meeting with a corporate lawyer called Wolf - suited him VERY well....

Marnie and Jude are really not unusual names.

But I agree that this trend for cutesy names, flower names and even the old lady/man names just don't suit people from about teenage years to 60. I met siblings the other week called Betsy and Bertie. I would just hate being an adult with names like that. I know adults called Daisy and Poppy and I cringe for them. And likewise for meeting 20 year olds called Ethel. My kids have children in their class called Teddy, Dolly and Dotty. I just wonder what their parents were thinking. Yes, some of these kids will have longer names on their birth certificate but I know for a fact that many don't.

When I named my kids I did the name test for every generation. I can't understand why other people don't. It's like they think their child will remain a baby forever.

My dd has an unusual (though real) name. I also gave her a pretty, extremely common name so she could chose. She has always preferred her uncommon name.

I love the name Wolf. It's quite typical in Germany esp as Wolfgang. It's a family name for me (my great grandfather, who was from Ukraine).
I had my heart set on it for DS however decided against as I feel the increased use of animal names (Bear, Wolf, Fox etc) by celebs is having a vulgarising effect

That said, I perfectly understand that it's not to everyone's taste

I just don't get the whole "I like this spelling because it looks nicer" or "this spelling because it's different".
All you're doing is giving your child a lifetime of having to spell their name.
I know, I have to do it most days and it's a complete PITA.
What advantage/benefit are you giving your child by being "different"?

Duncan Jones was Zowie Bowie wasn't he poor kid

I had friends who called their first born Maudy-Mai and then out did themselves with their second: Bunty-Bess. Their third child was a boy and he was called Joseph. I think they had something against girls

There are two kids called Arlo in my son’s nursery class of 15. And one Arya. I hope and pray she answers ‘A Girl has no name’ when they call the register.

There are two kids called Arlo in my son’s nursery class of 15. And one Arya

I don't see the relevance of that to this thread.

I just don't get the whole "I like this spelling because it looks nicer" or "this spelling because it's different".
All you're doing is giving your child a lifetime of having to spell their name

I agree. Why name your child Amelia and spell it Amylea? Then get upset because nobody spells her name "correctly"???

There was a boy called Brian in a team DS played at football.

Diego because the discussion branched into how ‘traditional’ names were disappearing. I pass no judgement on the Arlos of this world!

That's the thing, we have no idea what our child will want to be called when they grow up.
As someone mentioned earlier, poor baby Nancy and hank may need pen names to keep from sounding unintentionally hilarious (or utterly forgettable) as writers or artists or actors and baby Delilah may want to be a judge.
What I had wanted to avoid was dating my poor kid with a trendy name that I (and 100s of others) had thought was soo original at the time. .and to avoid the whole Donna/Tammy or Jennifer/Ashley effect where the minute their name is heard someone will immediately know what year they were born. I failed at that, I swear there's some hive mind thing going on when it comes to names

I vetoed DH’s choice of “Alan” if DD had turned out to be a boy (my late grandad’s name) on the grounds that it wasn’t quite due a revival yet... we would’ve been ahead of the game! Mind you, he had a Mr Partridge in mind rather than being generous on the family naming.
I wanted Poppy for a girl and he vetoed on exactly your grounds, op... wanted a name suitable for an “architect” we don’t know any architects so a bit random.

Speaking as someone who has had a lifetime of everyone (well almost) spelling my name wrong…
Please don't pick a name that's hard to spell, or is spelled differently. It's a pain in the bum to be constantly correcting people, having to hand back official documents as my name's been spelt wrong, people even asking me if I'm sure of the spelling (yes, it's my name!) and others simply not giving a shit.
Don't do it. Please. Also, as my name is relatively unusual, I have never been able to buy anything personalised. My name is never there. Might sound small, but as a child it really got to me.

my grandson's middle name is Keith

My mum once taught a family of children whose mother couldn't read or write so she made up their names. One of them was R'Kay.

I thought that was quite nice until I told my friend and she screeched in best bianca style (this was mid1990's!): "Riccckkaaaaay!!"

Also, as my name is relatively unusual, I have never been able to buy anything personalised. My name is never there. Might sound small, but as a child it really got to me.

Solidarity fistbump, Cigars! Me neither.

I agree with you OP. Parents see a cute baby and call it something cute.

They totally forget that they are naming a future adult.

I do think you should give the child the option of using the full name. For example, Catherine rather than Kate or Kathy. Even if you never use it they have the option. Even better to give them a name that can't be shortened and isn't a diminutive, which my mother was sensible enough to do with me. And people can only spell it one way. Much less stress all round.

I'm also afraid that some teachers make up their minds about kids depending on their names. And if they do, so will employers.

Don't really like the revival of old fashioned names either like Florence, Ethel, Ida etc. I just think of a wizened great aunt!

But maybe when I'm 90, people will be calling their kids Sharon, Tracey and Karen again. What goes around comes around I suppose.