Do you like having an unusual name?

[WeAreNow]

Just that really.

DP thinks it’s mean to give baby an unusual name as people will struggle with it. All of the names I’ve suggested are unusual. My name is really common, there were 4 of us in the same class with the same name at school and I always wished I had an unusual name.

So my question is if you have an unusual name do you like it or do you wish you were called something a bit more ‘heard of’? If you don’t like it, why not? I know there will be usual problems such as not being able to find things with names on in shops but I’m not sure of other reasons!

YABU: no I don’t like it
YANBU: I like it

Yes. We all have names that are unusual here but common in their countries of origin, so not made up names. It's a little annoying having to spell it sometimes, but I get so many complements on it.

Depends what sort of unusual, really.
John and Mary would be quite unusual for a baby born today (though I expect they'll come back in fashion fairly soon) but they're going to get very different reactions to River-Phoenix or Perseus.

My own name was fairly unusual when I was young and dropped out of fashion so dramatically that there were no babies born with it a couple of years ago. But it's still recognised as a "proper name" so never going to get a "Wow!" or "Fucking hell, what were your parents thinking?!" sort of reaction. I'm quite happy with my name.

Yeah, I agree that uncommon is a lot easier to live with than unusual. My name is uncommon (I've only actually met one other) and sometimes people ask me about it, but it's not weird and it's definitely a name by anyone's standards. Plus it's easy to spell and there's only one way to say it, which helps.

Like it now, didn't like it as a kid when I had to explain to every new teacher how to pronounce it which they generally failed to remember and I didn't want to point out they were wrong!

Mine was very unusual. It’s not even a name imo.

I changed it at 14 when I moved schools after begging my Nana (who I lived with).

Imo my name was the first example of my parents neglectful attitude. They might as well have called me “BullyMePlease”.

It's that balance, isn't it between being yet another Claire or Jane or Dave or Andy or being the only Harpiscord or Bismellah. And you won't know until they hit school if everyone else was hit with the same inspiration and there's a Tarquin A and Tarquin B and Tarquin Withasea in their class.

Google the name, lots. Including initials e.g. BJ Champion.
Ask someone you trust if there's a nickname you hadn't thought of - kids will find one - e.g. Victoria Lucas known as Sticky Mucus for secondary.

When I was pregnant I was taken aside by two blokes from the office called Brett and Lindsay and advised never to call my child after them - wasn't my plan but they pointed out the utter pain in the arse it was for them to have those names.

My name was unusual when I was growing up, but it’s now in the top 20 of baby girl names.

As a kid, when it was unusual, I HATED it. It was definitely not fun when hardly anybody could pronounce or spell my name correctly. It’s not cute, it’s dull and irritating.

Now that it’s much more common, I like my name a lot more.

So, I guess if you are going to pick something unusual, maybe go for something that could have a good projection in popularity in the future 😂 My parents like to think they were trendsetters in that respect!

For me, if I have kids, they will have very normal names.

My dd3s name is incredibly uncommon yet a name everyone knows. Only 13 given it in the UK that year. Some names just fall out of favour (it's not Brian!)

I have a unique name. Hated it as a child because it lead to lots of teasing/bullying and I was very sensitive back then. Now I like it because I don't know anyone else with that name though it can be a pain when people pronounce it wrong. Or ask me to spell it out for them three times and still spell it wrong

My name is uncommon, rather than unusual. Only ever met one other. I hated it as a child because it's a very grown up name - it was like trying to wear an adult's overcoat! It's a bit easier to wear now I'm an adult myself

The thing I really hate is that no-one can spell it, and I feel like a pedant constantly having to correct people. It was more unusual when I was I child, so people tended to ask how to spell it, but now more people have heard of it, they think they know how to spell it (and ususally get it wrong).

I have an uncommon name, but easy to spell, say etc. I have met maybe 10-15 other people with it in my life (I'm mid-40s). It's always nice to meet them, but I'm quite glad there aren't too many of them.
My sister has one of those classic 70s/80s names, like Sarah, and was one of several in her class at school. I always felt lucky that I had the unusual name.
My own kids have ended up with more common names (partly due to DH). We're from Cornwall, and two of them have names that are Cornish/more common here than elsewhere. My nephews have all been through phases of referring to themselves as, for example, Charlie F., even in the family, as there's another Charlie or two in their class, but hasn't happened to my kids yet and I'm glad (in a first world sort of way, obviously!) about that.

My dcs have unusual names as is in not commonly used but perfectly normal Irish names but Dds name wasn’t at all common when she was born she now has a fair few friends/ knows other people with the same name. But people do get confused with the spelling and pronunciation if they haven’t seen it written down before.

I also think It also depends on how unusual the names are.

It’s a pain tbh...

Mine is a real name, just very very uncommon and doesn’t work quite right phonetically in English.

So no-one has ever come across it before, and it’s either changed to a different name that’s said differently or spelled differently depending on whether they hear it or see it first... and people forget it a lot, they literally just remember it was something unusual.

So either people take forever to remember my name, or call me something else no matter how often I correct them... or I send emails out with my name in the email address (because you can have just your name as an email address if no-one else has it, lol) signed with my name, and they reply to a different name.

Oh and I’m easily googleable as well, first name and city or first name and county and I’m the first result.

Sometimes names start off being unusual but become really popular very quickly, and just as quickly become unpopular.

I'm thinking of Sharon, for example. Really unusual and exotic at one time.

My name is a bit like that. Was very unusual in the 70s when I was born, but became much more popular in the 80s and 90s, and now is regularly used on social media to give an example of a dumb woman (not Karen but similar).

So what I'm saying is I think unusual names can date quicker than classic names.

I have a ‘unique’ spelling and hate it with a passion. I have often considered just changing it by deed poll to the more common spelling to save me a lot of hassle

No.
Unusual, uncommon and regularly mispronounced.
For some reason teachers and nurses had to make comments "ooh that's unusual, where did you get that from?" It is so very tedious.
I really wanted to be called Susan.

My dc have classic names.

Love it.

My mum gave me an ordinary middle name so I could choose if I hated it when I was older.

My partner has an unusual name. It's not English and very unheard in the UK but it's common in Europe

He has to spell it out two or three times every time he tells somebody his name.

"Can I make a reservation in name of John: j-o-h-n? J-o-h-n. J-o-h-n"

Every single time

On the plus side, it's memorable

So my name is a bit unusual and long. I hate that I'm always asked to spell it or asked the right way to pronounce it

My parents gave me what they thought was an unusual (not 'made up weird' but out of fashion).

When I got to high school it turned out a lot of other parents had rediscovered that name too and I was one of three in my year. I grew to hate it and changed it when I was in my 20s. Only the taxman and the NHS use my 'real' name now.

My wife has a very unusual first name. We have never met anyone else with it. She loves it despite the fact she has to keep correcting people who think they're reading a misprint.

No, I hate it. It isn't even unusual, just a bloody stupid spelling like Kati instead of Katy or Katie.

Don't do it, it's so irritating to correct everyone on your name on a near daily basis. Like the morons who stick an x in their child's name or change the spelling to be 'unique'.

It's awful.

DS has an unusual name he's the only one registered in Scotland between 2000 & 2018.

I still get the look followed by the extremely polite "where did you get DS name from cause I've never heard of it so I can't imagine why you picked it?"

He's 13 now so at that stage of awkwardness & just asked him if he minds having an unusual name his response was "it's just my name".

It's an actual name though & his full name goes so well together I'd be gutted if he wanted to change it at some point in the future.

I have an unusual name although it’s not out there or a wacky spelling

I’ve never liked it. Partly I just don’t like my specific name but I also don’t like having an unusual name.

I have a name that is very popular/well known in the country it originates from, but virtually unheard in the country I live in. It's difficult to spell, and isn't pronounced exactly as you would expect. Consequently, although I love it, I don't use it for anything other than official things, as I get so fed up of spelling it out and correcting people's pronunciation!

Thanks for the responses so far!

The names I like are actual names and not made up but more unusual. I do like names that have been spelt different but he has told me absolutely not and it’s cruel for the baby because nobody will spell the name right ever. I guess that’s fair enough.

Funny someone mentioned River Phoenix because I love the name Phoenix but DP laughed at that suggestion. I also like a lot of names from Greek Mythology but he won’t entertain them either. I haven’t got a list as such, every single name I suggest he tells me is mean because nobody is actually called that apparently!

I don’t know if it matters but our baby will be 1/2 English and 1/2 Jamaican so I don’t want to give it a stereotypical English name so that might be influencing me a bit here too.