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, I would always go for a name that's not weird, but the kind that makes you think 'oh wow, that's a nice/interesting name.' Not just your regular name that you don't register.

Names are free so you might as well go for a good one!

Our name is really unusual and a lifetime pain in the arse. It doesn't look like it sounds or sound like it looks. It's a native English name which at least half the population have never heard of, and far more than half can't pronounce or spell. And that's just the native Brits. EVERY phone call, appointment, form filling
, use of bank card goes the same way. I say my name slow and clear. Then I spell it out.. The other person then says it back, usually wrong ( sigh,but never mind) then asks me to spell it again and still fails to write it down right. "Er..was that..." "No."

Start again.

Arrive at business appointment/hotel/restaurant. Receptionist calls out something so  garbled I know they mean me. 

I say " That's me. I am Mrs Prouncedright ".
They search the list, lips moving.
"That's .. Mrs Pronouncedwrong? "
"Yes"

Frown "How do you spell that? "

aaaarrrgh.

Please don't inflict this on your child.

I hate, hate ,hate my name. It's a real name but rare and dated. I vowed my DC would have average names. Real names, spelt traditionally, not the most common six in every class names but equally nothing anyone would bat an eye at.

I've only ever met one other myname.
As to made up names or peculiar spellings of proper names. Think of the child who will never have their name spelled correctly.

I have an unusual name.i have only met 3 ppl with my name in 36 years. I like it.

My name is one you would have heard of but I have only met one other one in my life. I absolutely hate it. I think it's pretentious and makes me seem like someone I'm not. If I had had the confidence as a younger person I would have changed it, with hindsight I wish I had.

Depends on the names

Persephone Vs Babywabey

Mine isn't that rare though when I was at school with 1200 kids I was the one of only two. Never seen it in top ten. Most people can spell it now. Gave my kids all names that can't be shortened and are obvious in their spelling. Still had one spelt it completely wrong twice, once isn't even a spelling.

I have a name which is known but not in the top baby names. I loved it as a child but as an adult I absolutely hate it because of the negative connotations that come with it.

Yes, I like it. I was the only one in my school with the name, and the only one at Uni, and anywhere I've ever worked. In fact I think I've only ever met two other people with my name, and I am many decades old.

My daughter had a unusual name, but it was a heard of name. There wasn't any more in either school she went to. Unfortunately it's now in the top 15. She loves her name.

I have an unusual name for my age. It was considered an old lady name (still is I guess) but has a couple of diminutives which I go by and are very popular now - so my parents were either really out of date or 40 years ahead of the curve. I remember feeling a bit embarrassed by my name at times during school years but now I've grown into it I like it.

I have an unusual first name and surname (though the latter is British).

It was an absolute nightmare at school, college and in my early working career.

People laughing at my name, asking where I was from, what does my name mean? Someone even said that with that name I should have achieved more!
Assuming I was the ethnicity of my name. Asking at a hospital appointment how long I had been in the U.K.?

Not sure if it’s because I work in the diverse public sector or if people are generally more enlightened, I don’t get that anymore - say in the last 10 years or so.

Obviously it depends how unusual, how difficult to spell, but I gave both my kids fairly ordinary though not terribly fashionable names as I didn’t want them to suffer the same.

My name is unusual and it is a complete pain. People pronounce it wrong and spell it wrong, even when I spell it out and explain the pronunciation with a similar word.
My children have common names.

I have an unusual pronunciation of an uncommon name. I like my actual name, but I don't ever get called it... Pretty much everyone mispronounces it, and even when I correct their pronunciation they can't remember. I hate it and it makes me feel like I'm unimportant.

I have an unusual name which I never minded too much growing up. It was only when I started travelling for work and realised that almost every single Russian based language finds my name almost impossible to say without sniggering that I found it a bit embarrassing.

I have a standard name, which is less common today. It has two variant spellings, mine is the less usual spelling which should be pronounced with a French inflection. No one ever pronounces it correctly or spells it correctly. I pity those with very unique spellings or pronunciations.

My children have straightforward, cannot be spelt incorrectly, biblical names.

I have an unusual name and have always hated it. I was the only person in my school with this name and always have to spell it out to people. It was chosen by my dad to remember someone he knew in the war

Growing up in the 70s I had a really unusual name, I was 21 before I met anyone else with ‘my name’ and was strangely possessive of it!
Now I can’t go shopping without hearing it screeched at least once.
I do feel sad it’s no longer fairly unique. But unless you make your own name up, there’s no guarantee that your name will never be used by anyone else 🤷‍♀️

My name is unusual in the sense there aren’t many of us. You’ll have heard of it, but you may well not know anyone called it. Only met two others in my life - one of whom spells it the same but pronounces it differently. There were no others throughout school, which I loved.

People struggle to spell it right, and often pronounce it wrong at first, because even though it’s a “real” name, it’s more common in other countries. But I don’t really mind - I have the same with my surname which is English in origin, just not very common! I actually love having a combination of two unusual names - when you google search it, I’m the only one that comes up. In my profession, that’s pretty useful!

@MonaChopsis

I have an unusual pronunciation of an uncommon name. I like my actual name, but I don't ever get called it... Pretty much everyone mispronounces it, and even when I correct their pronunciation they can't remember. I hate it and it makes me feel like I'm unimportant.

I do so understand. What I really hate is having my name changed. Let's say I am Lily and people decide, randomly to call me Lillian. Why do they do that? I have never been introduced as Lillian, it isn't my name! I feel like a naughty child being scolded. To cap it off, some smart arse will say 'bet it's on your birth certificate'. No! It isn't!

My name is unusual but a genuine old English name that's just never been popular but never had a negative connotation either. I love it and always have. I think I have met another person with my name 3 times in my life. My parents had among the most common names for their generation and hated it. I tried to find similar names for my children (but failed because everyone wants unusual names now).

Not sure its very advantageous to have an unusual name these days. Means you are too easy to track down online.

@TwoAndAnOnion

I get the opposite problem - people insist on shortening mine - but to a nickname I don’t use. I do have a shortening I use, but not in a professional context. It does drive me wild that people presume to do it. Like calling someone called Katherine, Kate without being invited to. But it doesn’t make me regret my name, just other people’s rudeness!

I agree it depends how unusual. I like having a name that is not common but it's not completely out there either. Perfect

I have a very unusual name. I love it.