Your baby's name is 'so weird' ...?

[brandnewcoffee]

Due with our baby girl in just a few weeks. It took us a long time to pick a name that will flow nicely with the middle name as well as the surname and a name we both love equally. My nan texted me this morning and ask if we've picked a name yet so I told her that we have and told her the name we chose is Esmé. Her response was simply 'such a weird name'. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm gobsmacked and don't know what to say back. I know it doesn't matter what others think about the name we chose for our baby girl but it really got me doubting myself and now I'm sat here worrying whether we picked the right name. AIBU?

Rude
Is she disappointed that you haven't named your baby after her??

Nothing would have been suitable OP, unless you called your DD after her.

When we told my in laws about the name for our daughter. My father in law just said well I'll just call her (another name that we had mentioned). Pissed me right off. Funnily enough he hasn't dared call her by anything other than her name.

Esme is a lovely name.

People can be very fixed and quite odd in their impressions of names .. and what is a "normal" name etc.

One of my sister's opinions about the Celtic name I'd chosen - Lasair - which means flame, caused me to decide to call me child an intended middle name instead. In retrospect I was hormonal, utterly sleep deprived etc and I wonder if I should have stuck with that name, it works well with her surname which has an in it.

My sister is not into languages or travel, not well read, not into culture etc and sometimes I think you need to keep in mind people's background, character, experiences etc when they react to names they consider weird because they're not Jane etc.

Your Nan needs to get out more if she thinks Esme is 'weird' 🤣

Tell her some nutty muffin is considering calling her child 'thanksgiving'

Beautiful name. Tbh, her opinion doesn't matter.

I think it's become mainstream. But your grandma wouldn't know that.

You cannot please everybody. My DD's name is quite simple and a close friend from school said ''that's not doing it for me'' when I told her the name.

She didn't have a daughter but she liked names like Phaedra and Ismene and Xanthe and I remember thinking good luck to you getting Steve to agree to those

People can be so rude, and they also underestimate the difficult process of finding a name you both like, not used by any other close friends or family, that goes with the surname. Do they not think you've thought about it all already!!!

(an S in it)

@Kokeshi123

Sometimes people who aren't around children much don't realise how many more names are used these days or what names are currently popular.

This. You should have seen my mother's reactions when I floated Iris as a possibility. Of course, when she was having her own kids, it would have been seen as really old fashioned.

Yes, I suggested Stella and my mother nearly died I still like it but my mother told me that when she was growing up on the farm, the milk maid who was an elderly woman I guess was called Stella. Do people not have the ability to see names through a fresh lens though!

sometimes I ponder over Beryl for example and I think, it's a nice sound

That's a lovely name for a girl, stick with it. I would also advise on not sharing it with anyone and definitely not on here either (though am aware it's now too late for that). It's your child and you have the right to name them whatever you want. Some people do choose "weird" names but still it's their right and their child, so everyone else should back off.

Esme is a pretty popular here and not at all 'weird'

I love the name, but as an oldie, I remember it as an old lady's name that certainly was considered weird back in the 50s and 60s. Your Nan is of the generation that really disliked it.

Impossible to shorten @NewlyGranny you clearly aren’t welsh, we can shorten ANYTHING
But esmé is easy to shorten, Ez or may.

As for the accent thing, my daughters names both have accents, the letter â, never been an issue.

I’d ditch the accent because it has a perfectly standard English version without.

Why? Zoe (that's without the more trendy 'Zoey' variant) is often spelled as is, or with the umlaut, and I've also seen it spelled with an acute accent. Doesn't seem to create too much of a problem.

I like Esmé. Someone always has an intrusive, unsolicited opinion on other people's kids!

It’s a beautiful, soft and very feminine name. Gorgeous.

Clutching at straws here, but is there any chance the word ‘weird’ was an auto-correct error??

A bit late now, but you should never tell people your baby’s name before the are born because some people are very rude and seem to think they have a right to have input. Once your baby is born and they are presented with the name, they tend to tone down the comments.

You’ve chosen a lovely name and it’s also quite popular, so plenty of people out there disagreeing with your grandmother.

My parents didn't like any of my children's names and told me so.

Youngest was like 'Hugo' -he's not but just using it as an example and parents kept saying 'Hugh' we like Hugh and not Hugo. Youngest hated Hugh as it is not his name and refused to listen or respond and angrily called them out on it.

Meant to add in -just ignore and do not engage. She's rude and unpleasant for saying anything.

It's not weird at all. If it was that weird it wouldn't be as popular as it is.

Nothing wrong with it, perfectly normal lovely name.
My youngest is a Christopher and my mum gave me a funny look when I told her. She didn't call him by his name for ages. She's totally fine with it now.

I’m wondering if your nan might not have heard the name before? She might think it’s something like eee-smeeee (which would be horrendous) and would explain her wtf reaction?

Never share a baby name until it is born! Having said that your choice is beautiful and not weird at all. I would text back with 'what a weird response'.

Esmé is a beautiful name, maybe she’s still thinking of her generation of names and thought you’d call her something else.
She’s your daughter and that’s why you get to choose her name. Enjoy the last few weeks of pregnancy.

@MrsGulDukat

I was told my daughter's name was unusual.

My daughter is called Phoebe.

Not unusual then, just not well used.

There are 3 Phoebe's in my Dad's class and 1 in her ballet class, it's a lovely and very popular name, not unusual at all! Some people, eh!! 😂🤦

Sorry @Stroopwaffle5000 your autocorrect from dd to dad has me the mental image of an adult man in his 60s in a tutu with toddlers and has made me laugh 😂