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?

And yes DH has a diminutive as his full name, and when he introduces himself as eg “Nicky” people actually lengthen it to Nicolas (which has never been his name) or just call him “Nick”. He finds it a bit insulting that nobody will use his actual name.

His GM dealt with it by calling him Andrew. Which is also not his name.

DH wanted to call DS Barold. As in the long version of Barry (it’s a real Anglo-Saxon name like Harold/Harry, it’s just fallen way WAY out of use).

We went with Alexander.

Interesting. But a wise choice to steer clear of Barold, I think. To my ear, it sounds more like barrelled. So if I heard someone say "I'm Barrelled", I think I would interpret that to mean the person was telling me - in an obscure way - that they were drunk.

I know 3 grown up Candy's, none of them are strippers, unless they are leading secret lives.

but I do think that people who just name their child Alfie because they like it, do so partly because they haven't thought about the adult only the child and also because they haven't considered their child in a professional role

See this is why I've named my children Wendy Chalworthy, who will work in a wool shop and Gary Allen who is going to be a plumber.
.

Surely Candy is just short for Candice. A popular 80s name I believe.

Gary is a truly unusual name these days and there hasn't been a Gary born in the UK since the 90s.

There are two toddler Alans in my DS's nursery! Interestingly both have parents who speak different languages at pick up - I don't know which ones - so perhaps it's a name that is in use across the world, and that is why Alan is coming back but Barry isn't?

Little Dave's are a rare breed too, calling your child Dave would seem quite retro nowadays

I love Wolfe. Was very tempted to name one of my boys Wolfe after Wolfe Tone but I chickened out...

Meh, I'm not very keen on 'lexi-belle' type names, but to be honest where I live is such a mixed area that half the kids at the nursery have names I've never heard of, presumably they are 'normal' names somewhere outside the UK.

Names are much more diverse these days, I don't think an adult with an unusual name in 20 years will stand out as much as now.

Also I think Wolf is fine, basically. I'd probably have assumed some kind of German ancestry.

My friends all seem to use James, Charlotte, Robert, Elizabeth type traditional names which are all fine and nice but a bit unimaginative IMO

My friend's dad is called Barry - when she saw the registrar to fill out the marriage certificate details she was asked if his full name was Barrington She found that hilariously funny.

When I was picking a name for my son I read an article saying that there's a test to see if your name is a sensible choice:

'Can come out to play?'
'Do you think __ should get the promotion?'

If the name works well when you slot it in to either gap it's a goer. I actually found it quite helpful when I was trying to get my husband go with a slightly 'out there' name.

My gran has an 'old lady' name which is utterly superb now she's in her 80s but she said it was awful when she was a child.

BAROLD!

That had made my day. I'm currently expecting DS2 and I'm putting BAROLD on the list

I tested out names by putting "Detective Inspector" before them. Anything that sounded ridiculous was out. I've got one of the faddy 70s names and it's been a bit of a liability in work. I had a middle ranking civil service job where I spent a lot of time chairing calls with lawyers and senior people and among all the Charlottes and Antonias I stuck out like a sore thumb.

I like Martha.

But Mavis is a bridge too far.

As a child, I was in ❤ with the name Dora and thought it terribly exotic because I didn't know any Doras with good reason.

A name will hinder your professional career? Seriously?

See this is why I've named my children Wendy Chalworthy, who will work in a wool shop and Gary Allen who is going to be a plumber

So interestingly, while Gary is now outside the top 1000 boys names, David hasn't left the top 100 since records began in 1905, and was still 43rd last year.

Wolf is usually short for Wolfgang, just like Rudy is short for Rudolf.

It’s funny you mention the name ‘wolf’ and then talk about him being a business man!

In my last job, that I worked at for 12 years (in the energy sector at one of the big six companies) the CEO of the whole company was called Wolf! He was German mind, but still I don’t think his name bothered him!

toomuchtooold Galadriel?

I named DD a very normal name but with an unusual (foreign) spelling. She was born in that country so I thought I’d go with the “local” spelling as it would be easier for her in school and with friends.

We then moved back to the uk when she was 5. No one EVER spells her name right and it’s got to the point where she now spells her name the UK way so as not to be different. Plus anything personalized has the uk spelling on it.

It really irks me but there’s not much I can do. Even when you think you have played the system you can get it wrong!

I don’t think anyone will bat an eye at a judge called Evie or Milly in twenty years time. Names are just one of those things that change and follow trends over time. A stripper called Marjorie or an MP called Buffy - who cares?

my DDs have unusual (but real) names, I made sure they sounded OK doing the "shouting across the playground" test, also the "introducing one after the other" test, but have failed with the "would you be happy being treated by Dr Blah" test, as only two of the three sound OK as Dr MiniVisions. The one who does actually want to be a doctor sounds much better as Lady MiniVisions, so much so we bought her one of those highland titles the other year, so she is now officially Lady MiniVisions .

That was me CruCru. Still don’t!

Wolf is quite a common diminutive of Wolfgang in Germany. I think it’s very much not a trendy name there at the moment but there are probably a fair few older men knocking about going by Wolf which sounds ever so trendy to British ears

I can't do Martha or Mavis - but I fell a bit in love with Maude after reading the wonderful "Elizabeth is Missing". Names grow on you when you read them over and over, I find.

Eurgh, 'Alan'
My ex was called Alan and the only way I can say it without vomiting is to say it like Alan Partridge's assistant does.
It can't become normal again or I'll have to go back to using 'That Twat Alan'.

I really should let go. It was a long time ago. It's just we still work in the same field and bump into each other from time to time.