To want people to calm my baby by his actual name?

[SimGuruRu]

Name change as outing. To avoid the inevitable “what’s his name” replies ... he’s called Brian, hence outing.
He’s 6 weeks old and friends and family seem unable to call him by his actual name. They make up stupid names for him “baby Bobo” for example, I’ve had people literally snigger when I say his name. MIL has outright told us it’s an awful name for a baby and she can’t say it without laughing.
I’ve told DH I’m getting to the point where I feel if people can’t call him by his name maybe they shouldn’t be seeing him?! He thinks this is an overreaction and that I’m being too dramatic. They are going to make him grow up hating his own name.
AIBU?

I’d rather have a baby called Brian than an Arlo or Jaxon or any number of other fashionable names!

Tell your family to stop being awful.

@GappyValley I'm a bit confused, why on Earth would employers be sniggering at a CV from a Brian and why would it limit his chances in life? It might not be a trendy name right now but it's a perfectly normal, recognisable name...it's not like one of those made up names that mark you out as a "chav" or whatever.

I’m not sure what you were expecting by calling him Brian. It’s on par with something like Rolf. Not at all comparable to George like you said in a pp.

I agree that your family shouldn’t comment. Brian is fine for a middle name but as a first name?? I can’t believe you would do that to your own baby.

See in ten or twenty years, names like Brian and Colin and Keith will be the new Alfie and Oliver and your Brian will be so trendy, so fuck them.

Our DS has Brian as a middle name, named after a much loved grandparent. The sniggering is incredibly rude but think ‘Bobo’ is just people giving him a cutesy nickname rather than avoidance of his actual name.

His name is fine and they’ll come round to it. I remember being appalled when I heard of these poor little boys being called ‘Alfred’ as all I thought of was Alf Garnett! But nowadays people just wouldn’t make that connection.

but the employers sniggering at a CV won't

If you pay any attention to how long it takes names associated with a certain time to come back into fashion, it's pretty likely there will be plenty of Brian's by the time OPs child is old enough to be applying for jobs.

If anyone can actually answer what is so inherently funny about the actual sound of the name Brian, that would make it immune from the effects of time that bring all other once "ridiculous" names back into fashion, that would be great. Because otherwise it's quite obvious it's just a name like any other and will be fashionable again, or at least sit within a bedrock of names from a similar era that are now popular again.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a thread on mumsnet where people have been so unkind and rude.

It’s because it’s made it into the mirror and they’re trying to cause a bit of controversy hoping their posts will get mentioned. It’s embarrassing.

Meh op least your kid won't be laughed at when he goes to get a job. Kid with a weird spelling of a normal name to try and be unique might, or the kids named after foods or brands. Might sound cute as a baby, stupid as an adult.

My dh looks through Cvs, which are anonymised, no names so no preconceptions of race, class, background. He also has to write references for research applications avoiding male or female pronouns.
So Brian should be ok , he could be Bryn or Bryony or Briana, no worries.

@MindtheBelleek

It’s just the ‘wrong’ stage in the naming trends cycle to use Brian — it’s not a timeless classic like Edward or Thomas, and not from long enough ago, so we all know Brians in their 50s and 60s. It will of course eventually, when that generation of Brians has died off, lose those ‘older man in slacks’ connotations and be revived, but probably not for another 20 years. At the moment, it’s like calling a baby Nigel, Malcolm, Bernard, Marjorie, Barbara, Edna etc.

To those not from the UK, surely you can think of equivalent names in your own culture that would sit strangely on a baby born in 2031?

It's got absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with any of that, and everything to do with 'Monty Python's Life of Brian'.

Brian is a great name. It's just that nobody over a certain age can even think of the name without thinking of the film - and laughing.

It's annoying but to be fair, everyone calls babies cutesy nicknames. They grow out of them. I call my twin niece and nephew Heffalump and Woozle. I won't still be doing it when they're school age.

I'm am so sorry OP, the audacity of some people suggesting you change your babies name. My DD has an older name, Mary, and is named after my grandmother My son has a more unusual name having being named after a character from a TV show (I won't put his name as my DD's is outing enough) but both of them have made their name theirs.
Don't listen to the mean people on here, Brian is a perfectly normal name.
In regards to your family if you have already told them his name is Brian when they use nicknames with him then you could try the whole I won't bring him, but as it is just nicknames and he is still a baby, I personally would leave it.
I did threaten my DF that they wouldn't see my DS as my dad said he wouldn't call him by the name we had chosen but would call him Bill instead.

@aSofaNearYou Theodore is an ancient Greek name. Theodora was a Byzantine empress. That's pretty royal and quite a bit older than "slightly longer" ago...

Brian is a great name.

It's just that nobody over a certain age can even think of the name without thinking of the film - and laughing.

It's perfectly possible if you aren't an arse.

It's not just on the wrong side of fashionable, it's just a seriously uncool name compared to many others of its era. I can't explain why but it actually makes me cringe and I encouraged someone to name their baby Kevin on another thread recently so I'm not against all unfashionable names. I am sure I remember some TV programme years ago where possibly Davina McCall hosted and viewers voted on the worst name for a baby and it was Brian. Or maybe it was Barry? Brian and Barry have a very very similar feel to them.

Honestly, do the poor kid a favour and relegate it to middle name or adapt it to something like Bryson or Briar.

[quote ChoChoCrazyCat]@aSofaNearYou Theodore is an ancient Greek name. Theodora was a Byzantine empress. That's pretty royal and quite a bit older than "slightly longer" ago...[/quote]
And Brian is Celtic 🤷‍♀️ We weren't talking about the origins of the name, we were talking about it's current associations.

@user64325

It's not just on the wrong side of fashionable, it's just a seriously uncool name compared to many others of its era. I can't explain why but it actually makes me cringe and I encouraged someone to name their baby Kevin on another thread recently so I'm not against all unfashionable names. I am sure I remember some TV programme years ago where possibly Davina McCall hosted and viewers voted on the worst name for a baby and it was Brian. Or maybe it was Barry? Brian and Barry have a very very similar feel to them.

Honestly, do the poor kid a favour and relegate it to middle name or adapt it to something like Bryson or Briar.

What is actually uncool about it, though? Like, can you actually quantify what it is about it that makes it uncool? Why isn't Ryan laughably uncool? It sounds basically the same.

If there's nothing inherent in the name to make it uncool, then it isn't, is it, it's just your associations, and they aren't a constant. One day soon people won't have those associations.

Some absolutely mental replies on here. Brian was on my short list for DD if she had been a boy and she is only two. I'm in Ireland and it's a fairly solid traditional name.

All those people posting on here saying the Brian haters are rude and offensive. The OP did ask and people are entitled to their opinion. Maybe don't post on here if you're going to get upset.

Did you give birth to a 60 year old man??

Is this really about the name OP? Do your family do this to you a lot? I mean go against your wishes then brush you off when you protest?

@Doghead

All those people posting on here saying the Brian haters are rude and offensive. The OP did ask and people are entitled to their opinion. Maybe don't post on here if you're going to get upset.

She didn't ask for opinions on the name at all so yes, they are all being very rude and offensive indeed.

It makes me think of Brians of Britain and
Brian May
Brian Cox
Brian Eno
Bryan Ferry
Brian Sewell
Brian Aldridge
Brian Blessed
Brian Clough
Brian Johnson
Brian Epstein
Bryan Robson...

I think that the fact that people are reacting in this way tells you that the name is really not a great choice as a first name.