Have I limited DD's future with an unusual name?

[whatsinaname5]

DD9 is called Raya. Her elder brothers both have traditional, biblical names and that was the plan for her, but DF died just before she was born and she ended up with a "tribute" name, which I also thought was lovely. Hormones.

She likes her name and no issues at school apart from the millions of other names ending with "aya" and "iya", but I have had a sense of dread that she'll be denied job opportunities or friendships because she's being as a chav - or at least someone of a lower class. What if everyone hiring is a Millie or a Hugo and they see Raya on her CV.

Of course there's not much we can do now apart from steer her to use her traditional middle name??

YABU - she's fine! No problem!
YANBU - uh oh ....

Raya is a really lovely name!

The people you met don’t sound very bright despite their education and academic ability. I’m loving the name Raya. It sounds like a ray of sunshine.

Not seeing the issue. I was expecting something spelt “uniquely”.

She will be fine

Anywhere that only hires Milly & Hugo type names will be an unpleasant place to work whether one is called Raya or Ophelia.

YABU for pushing the idea that a name can make you lower class.

You're over thinking this. It's a lovely name and not at all chavvy. Round here, all the chavs have proper old fashioned posh names anyway (think Rupert, Hugo, isadora etc)

It’s an absolutely gorgeous name, don’t worry.

Nothing wrong with the name. But if she, or anyone she knows has trouble pronouncing their 'R's it will come out as "Wire" which might be a bit unfortunate. We avoided 'R' names just in case, but then we watched a lot of Jonathon 'Woss' on tv when we were younger. 😁

I had a few instances at uni where I opened my mouth and potential friends physically backed from my regional accent

Really?! Seems unlikely. Maybe you had bad breath

If anything it might swing in her favour. It’s a lovely name and as it’s not traditional, people maybe assume she’s got a different heritage.
As companies are looking to be classed as multicultural it might open a door to an interview.

I must add I have looked at so many CVs and I hardly even look at the name at first glance. I tend to scan for spelling mistakes / experience / how it comes across first. Name or sex doesn’t influence me.

I would probably assume she was of Indian heritage. It’s not a horrible name though.

I'd not heard it before, but it's pretty.

YABU to overthink it this much and to be rude about not wanting a “lower class” name. Should have thought about it properly at the time if you’re so worried about being judged by it.
Anyway, it’s a perfectly nice name, I wouldn’t say particularly unusual but perhaps it stands out amongst traditional Biblical names.
In my kid’s multi cultural school it wouldn’t stand out.

Oh yeah, because the upper and upper-middle classes at Oxbridge would never react this way to a regional working class girl, would they.

Rays is an ancient and traditional name, just as much as many biblical names, just from a different branch of tradition. She was a Greek goddess

Not remotely chavvy imo.

I had someone apply last week for a job in my team with the name ‘Chelcee’ which I assume is pronounced Chelsea. Now that….🤨

The fact that anyone would be put off employing someone because of their name is appalling (though sadly I have no doubt it does happen). Unless the child has legally changed their name then they will have had no say in it. I don't think there is anything wrong with Raya, it is a beautiful name, spelt as you would expect and a lot less unusual than many other names that are becoming popular. I know the worry though my DD also has a very unusual name, with a more common middle name in case she prefers that as she gets older.

It's a beautiful name. Doesn't sound chavvy to my ears at all. It sounds a bit middle eastern but not exclusively so. I love it.

It does not mean that!!! It is a worfrom the Travellers community. Meaning binge-drinking, bling-loving, boob-displaying, Burberry-wearing type of person to put it into 'modern speak'. I personally first heard it in the 80s

Raya is a beautiful name. I used to have a Rainbow with a similar name & she was lovely so that may be influencing me! I have 2 with unusual names (both nature inspired) & it’s never stopped them! Unfortunately I can’t tell you my kid’s names as he was an actor, my daughter is an illustrator & their wiki entries would blow my cover lol!

@Moomeh your comment is disgusting. I faced discrimination due to my regional accent when I first moved to London to work in a top ten law firm.

I've not heard of Raya before, it's a beautiful name. By the way, where I work we do 'name blind' recruitment so we don't see a person's name while sifting their application - only if they get to interview stage to help combat any bias that might come with a name (not that Raya would suffer from this)

OP, it's a lovely name. I have no doubt there are some who will get passed over for jobs later in life with 'unusual' names but Raya wouldn't be one of them.

@Thedogscollar 'council house and violent' is a backronym that appeared in 2010, meaning someone came up with that long after 'chav' took on its current meaning. And not everything is a personal attack.

Is this a "Spot the humblebrag"?

@daisychain01 what a bizarre comment, I'm genuinely confused about what you think @whatsinaname5 is bragging about? Losing her Father? Giving birth to a daughter? Going to University?