Do I be honest what I think about this name

[Driftingthoughlife]

With everything going on with DH (previous thread) I may be potentially be about to fall out with my best mate if I tell the truth
She is pregnant due in a month and she has texted me to ask what I think of the name they have chosen. I think it’s awful. She says she really values my opinion
I don’t know if I can take falling out at the moment so aibu to lie and say it’s lovely but at the same time in am thinking this poor kid has to live with this name

@Kittywampus 's reply is perfect.

@HBStowe my cat was pottering about my bedroom as I read this thread. His name is Bowie so I called him over, calling him Bowjewelaze. He was not impressed.

There are really are some right arseholes on mumsnet. You go over to baby names and people are calling kids Mildred and Maud and Ethel and Jolyon and those are fine, but god FORBID someone call a child Nellie. A perfectly normal name.
Nelly Furtado did ok with it.
Nell Andrews too.

You don’t HAVE to say something just because you think it, even to a friend. She obviously loves it, she’s not asking you to name your child it, I have friends with children who’s names I don’t much care for and in some cases the names I dislike most in the world. Do I tell them that? Of course not. It’s just not necessary.

@Gigglinghysterically I have both a Rose and a Josie in my family, both are early twenties, what’s wrong with that?

We learnt CPR to Nellie the Elephant! True story
But I think it's nice, it may well have sentimental meaning which is why they chose it, and the pop star Nellie is cool!

I'd just say (provided your own kids names don't contradict) that personally you prefer full names and abbreviating to nicknames, but it's absolutely her choice and Ann is a very classic choice

Eleanor/Elinor/Elena/Ellen/Helen/Helena/Petronella/etc as a pp said are all lovely names. Nellie-Ann is woeful. It sounds like the sound wellies make if you wear them with bare feet.

Maybe say whilst you like the name you fear her dd will be heavily teased in school for it. Maybe Kelly Ann or kerry Ann would be better in school

Erm .. is it not worse that you've posted on mumsnet about a name you hate and not told her?

I'd rather you told me you hated it rather than telling the world but not me ..

I absolutely love it. Love Nellie like Ann, don't care either way about the hyphen, love Nellie the elephant and would sing it to my child even more if she was called Nellie! Hate names like Kelly and Kerry! If you don't like it just say "don't think about what anyone else thinks, it's only the parents choice that matters, you should go for what you love and not what others want"

As others have said, it’s not my cup of tea but wouldn’t be half as bad if they lost the hyphen. How about:

“Hi, glad you’ve finally aged on a name, however I think it’s better without the hyphen. You should decorate her room with a jungle theme, because I bet she’ll get loads of elephant toys!”

Some of the answers on here are extreme as adults can’t we just say something isn’t to our taste

Yes agreed, awful! Nellie is just one of those names where the bearer will never be taken seriously (apologies to any Nellie's here, just IMO)

It's possibly cute when person is younger, in to adulthood - forget it.

You could be matter-of-fact and say it's OK, not your favourite, but that it carries a bit of risk if the girl ended up being overweight, or possibly even with prominent ears or nose...

Also as people have said, it rhymes with unhelpful things; belly, jelly, smelly. It is defined in the dictionary as a silly person, or an effeminate homosexual - although spelt nelly.

@HBStowe my cat was pottering about my bedroom as I read this thread. His name is Bowie so I called him over, calling him Bowjewelaze. He was not impressed

Neither was mine!

Mind you, my cat's name is McVicar so I'm not in a strong position here.

The only thing I would be worried about is if people started reversing the name order. Do that, out loud.

My best friend and I had our babies 3 months apart. I asked her what she thought to my Dd's name and vice versa. She had a list of a few names and I was completely honest with her as she had asked for my opinion.

If she is your best friend I would just be honest in a nice way. If she really likes the name she will probably stick with it anyway.

Not a great name but not so terrible, I was expecting Chardonnay-Mae or something.

It's not as bad as Hugo or George or for fuck's sake Archie.

No OP! Of course you shouldn't be honest. At best, your dear friend will be hurt, at worst you will drive her away at a time when you really need her.

Is your opinion on this really worth more than your love for her? Let it go. Soon you will lose your negative connotations and be all "I know a Nellie and she's the most beautiful/amazing /clever little girl" on MN Baby Names.

OP I can't remember your name, nor previous posts.
Anyway as my DM would have said - if you haven't got something good to say, don't say anything.

The friend has asked for an honest opinion, saying that she trusts OP's judgment.

She's owed an honest but kindly worded answer. I'd be very annoyed if I genuinely wanted my best friend's honest opinion, and they weren't straight with me.

I like it. Better than being the fifth Olivia/Isabelle/Amelia, etc. in the class.

I do, however, feel it looks a bit unbalanced and needs another ‘e’ on the end: Nellie-Anne.

The only thing I would be worried about is if people started reversing the name order. Do that, out loud.

Yikes.

In Oz I mostly hear people called Janelle shortened to Nellie. It's not a name I like.

But lots of my friends have called their kids names I don't love, I'd never say anything.

The only thing I would be worried about is if people started reversing the name order. Do that, out loud.

I don’t get it. Ann-Nellie 🤔.