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 ....

@whatsinaname5 there is a great film called Raya and the Last Dragon.

You might even be able to get great merch with her name!

Wow Raya is beautiful and unusual without being out there. I thought you'd called her Chardonneigh or something.

Just to deconfuse you, it was that saying a lovely name like Rays would hold back the DD in life, was in itself a bazaar concept. Since when could the name Raya which if my memory serves me well is a Spanish name for sunbeam, ever be anything more than beautiful, attested by pretty much every poster on this thread, it comes across as knowing it's a beautiful name but starting a thread to have that confirmed by being concerned it will hold someone back in life. really?? Especially when the ship has sailed and the name has been chosen and given to the DD!

Not chavvy at all. I like it.

*Raya is a name of a dating app.

To me it's like calling a kid tinder. Sorry.*

@melcalfe OP’s daughter is 9, she was around before that dating app was. And it’s hardly a household name, I doubt many people have even heard of it.

Any one of our names could take on new connotations within our lifetimes, that’s not something any of us can control. I was very glad to change my surname when I got married because I had unfortunately come to share my first name + surname combo with a very unpleasant person in the public eye. Not something my parents could ever have predicted over 30 years ago!

Thank you so much, everyone. I wish I'd posted years ago. This has genuinely kept me up at night for 9 years panicking (I am a worrier).

Very very much appreciate all the kind words.

Oh and the Oxbridge incident was very real! It was 30 years ago, but I imagine the walls of the whatever% have actually solidified since then rather than decreased!

@FirewomanSam that's what I worry about (I'm giving birth in a few months) - to pick a name like 'Alexa' or 'Isis' which are both beautiful, only for them to become known for other reasons.

Companies usually shortlist "blind" so her name won't be known until she has shortlisted for interview, and no employer would then look at a name and say "nope" at that point.

I submit, for the court, Dr Marijuana Pepsi...

www.npr.org/2019/06/21/734839666/dr-marijuana-pepsi-wont-change-her-name-to-make-other-people-happy?t=1652081887812

And fwiw, I think Raya is an absolutely beautiful name.

I think Raya is a beautiful name and it has meaning to you as a family. It won’t hinder her in the future. X

It's fine. Chav names are poorly spelled, infantile nonsense, like McBrinkleigh and Spanglez and Popsy-Boo. Raya has the cadence and components of other common names and is recognisable as a name, rather than a dropped pile of Scrabble tiles or the name of a 1980s cartoon unicorn.

I think it's a beautiful name :)

This is a fascinating thread. I agree with most posters that Raya doesn’t have the qualities in a name that Mumsnet snobs look down on instinctively (UK perspective).

When I consider what I think they are, they are usually a combination of classist and racist markers. Names of things/places (e.g. Chardonnay, Florida, Chelsea). Unconventionally spelled (e.g. Jorja, Tracee). African-American influence (e.g. Trayvon, Shaniqua). Double-barrelled (e.g. Molly-May, John-Paul).

Raya manages to avoid all of these. To English racist ears, it sounds plausibly “authentic” but unthreatening. It could be Persian or maybe it’s Gaelic. Or Scandinavian. It’s also easy for Anglophone ears to say and write. It sounds mildly exotic but mild enough to be reassuring.

This is a classic example of Mumsnet classicism.

This is a classic Mumsnet racist post.

Here’s another horribly racist one.

Are you sure it wasn’t Portia rather than Porsche? They sound the same but the first is a legit name.

That wasn't my experience when I was there, no. True there were cliques and some people were prejudiced. But not simply about a regional accent. Regional accents aren't a marker of wealth/class anyway.

Pretty name, makes me think of the Disney film and I definitely don’t think it’s ‘chavvy’.

I like the name, and I have met quite a few Rayas so it isn't very unusual.

Raya is stunning!

I know one Raya and think it’s a lovely name. Not unusual and certainly can’t see how it would cause any issues in life!

Raya sounds lovely. I can’t imagine anyone having negative thoughts about the name.

I was at Oxford on a kind of exchange scheme, complicated and minorly outing so I won't say which, but several of the first years from the college I was staying in pissed themselves laughing and repeated whatever I said for a few days because my broad Lancashire accent was just "SoOoO fUnNy!!!!!". I got the full gamut of 'hilarious' jokes about it.

And this was quite a lot more recent than OP's experience, so I can well believe she had a similar response.

It's a really good name! Is it Arabic in origin?