What names did you like but couldn't call your child?

[NachoNachoMan]

When I was expecting, we were discussing baby names. Me & my husband liked the name Sydney for a girl. We had a conversation about names with my brother and sister in law (who were also expecting) and told them we liked the name Syndey.

A few weeks later it was Halloween. My phone rang, it was a withheld number but answered it anyway. I said "hello" & then the voice down the phone said "hello Sydney", followed by a knock at the door. My husband answered it, and there was someone in a scream mask, followed by laughter. The mask came off... and it was my brother! (He has always been a bit of a teaser, thank goodness I'm not of a nervous disposition!)

My daughter was born a few months later, and she is not called Sydney.

So what names have you liked but couldn't call your child?

Angus- DH is a big ACDC fan so thought it was in honour of Angus Young

Harriet - SIL knew I wanted to call my DD Harriet and then she used it herself. 12 yrs later and I'm still sad....

Oscar- called first dog this name

Ismael/Ishmael but family stuck their ore in and said it sounded like a “bag of fish”

😂

Sophia

I also adore the name Hephzibah but wast brave enough to use it

I liked Kitty, but my husband flatly refused. So, I tried another cat related suggestion with Tabitha, which was also vetoed. He also stuck his nose up at Elspeth, but we ended up with it as a middle name. Any of those names would have really suited her.

Mercedes. Couldn’t use it despite living in a Spanish speaking country. DH seriously suggested Portia for the other twin DD🤦‍♀️

Either one would have worked, but not Mercedes and Portia as siblings.

My husband has a business acquaintance called 'Paul Mycock'. We keep his business card on the fridge as it makes us chuckle.

DH and I both wanted Sarajevo for a girl after my favourite city. DH still wants us to have a daughter and call her Saga, after Saga Noren from the Bridge. I’ve told him no as we already have a pet called Saga and you can’t name children after your pets. He also likes Carmen but she’ll be a northern lass and will get laughed at. Oh Carmen, are you Spanish? No, I’m from Yerkshire.

Manly. I love last names for first names. It didn't even feature as a middle name as i thought I'd possibly get to use it for another boy - i had more girls!

Like some of other posters, I liked boy's names that other people thought were too girly: Gabriel, Eden, Constantine. I actually wish I had stuck with one of these as my son would suit them.

Toby - colleague's son had recently died and that was his name

Lucas - too much like the cat's name and also not great with our surname

Ben - I wanted a longer name, my Mum thought Benedict was 'too catholic' and I went to school with a Benjamin who hated his name

Barron for a boy. Delilah for a girl. Brie for a girl.

One is a cheese, one would make people break out in song and the other sounds like the name of a bull mastif. So I couldn’t. But I do love them secretly.

Oh! And Penelope. I personally love it but I know I just couldn’t do that to a kid.

Ophelia is pretty awesome too.

I really liked Flora for a girl but it was vetoed due to the margarine and the term ‘vaginal Flora’

Madeleine - our last name is McCann. It's a shame as it's one of the few girls names that we both liked.

DP and I both loved Rowan but our surname is too close to Atkinson and we didn't think we could name a kid after Mr Bean!

He also vetoed Juno and Juniper because he's of Jewish heritage and didn't want them being made fun of.

Juliet. It was our second name choice but just didn't suit her, our family mix of nationalities, our surnames etc.

I couldn't have anything with w, th or j sounds in as my husband's family wouldn't be able to spell or pronounce it. My daughter was going to be Karolina but after 2 days of the midwives pronouncing it like the American states it irritated me so much it became her middle name. I also liked the name Klara but my husband said it was a granny name.

Seth was in the running for our first born but my mum, who is German, couldn't pronounce it. It came out as " Sess " or "Theth" ....😂😂😂

I used to go out with a jack flap.

I loved Josie for a girl but I’ve always hated having two initials the same and that’s what she would have had so all J names were out as were B’s.

Luckily dd arrived and instantly suited the first name that popped into my head and still does which is lucky as I was convinced I was having a boy and hadn’t given much thought to girls names!

I wanted to call dd2 Kayla but our surname is Taylor.

Blue - really liked it, but partner didn't
oh and Ruby Tuesday but thought it would annoy daughter, she now 19, said she'd have loved it, ah well, stuck with the one she has!

Olive, vetoed by DH, still love it.

I wanted to call my first born son Augustus, Gus for short. Husband said no.

I also loved Ernest and Herbert but my husband didnt

I loved the name Maggie but in Scotland the link to Maggie Thatcher is too strong (and negative!) So we had to avoid it. Especially as FIL is an ex-miner, he would have been horrified!