To tell my friend that I’m not keen on her baby name?

[AllHailKingLouis]

Friend told me today she has chosen the name Susan for her baby. I don’t like it personally but automatically said “oh, that’s nice”.

she’s just WhatsApp me asking if I really liked the name as she got the feeling that I didn’t (oops, I’m a shit liar).

would I be unreasonable to admit that I don’t? Or should I carry on lying about it? (Which I can do easier via WhatsApp!)

Absolutely this.

I find it utterly bizarre ANYONE other that the parents of a child feeling the need to express any other opinion that "that's lovely".

Why would you?
Why would you care enough to have an opinion?

Genuinely do not get it.

It is such a personal issue.
I can't understand asking for the opinions of others either🤷‍♀️

My friend told me she didn't like my Dds name I'd chosen before birth,I really didn't care,I loved it and thats all that mattered.
it does sound like it may have an impact on your friend though so I'd lie.

I really like it! Not the point I know but it’s refreshing to hear something a bit different it the norm. Little Susan sounds like she’d be angelic! & I like Suzy as a nn… also, you’re brave positing the name. What if your friend is on MN?

perfect.

This is hilarious. Yes. Immediately tell your friend her choices are shit, she must be corrected so that she does not regret this most heinous error of judgment. Only you can know the true and best choice for this child. And you must repeat it over and over until your bad taste friend gets it. Don’t let her down now.

I’d be honest with my friends but that’s how we are with each other. It depends on your relationship with her.

What’s wrong with everyone?? Tell her - she’s asked you! Real friends tell each other the truth. And it might prevent the poor child from being saddled with the name ‘Susan’ forever. Suzie or Suzanna are lovely alternatives.

OP I was expecting something truly awful. Instead I howled laughing 😂 Susan is my real name. It was really popular in the 1960’s. Tbh my parents didn’t put a lot of thought into it. They were convinced I was a boy and my grandparents called me Graham until I arrived. By the time I arrived the name Graham was really grating on my poor old mum, she was sick of it.

With hindsight, my parents wished they had chosen Suzanne or Suzannah.

As for me I’m a bit meh about it. As a kid I insisted on Susan, family call me something else. Sue sounded bad with our surname. But now I have become a Sue because my extremely long surname can take it and also the majority of people feel more comfortable with calling me Sue and that is important in my job.

Maybe its a jubilee thing, the Queen’s first corgi was called Suzie 😃🇬🇧

I don’t think honesty is the best policy here as it will more than likely cause offence. Just say that it’s not a name you would choose for your own child, but if she loves it she should use it. And maybe point out all the lovely nicknames suggested by PP’s - if Susan seems a bit old for a baby, Susie is lovely.

Yes, as above. Also

Then read any Terry Pratchett novel featuring Susan (adoptive granddaughter of the Grim Reaper). She is a great character, and appears in Soul Music, Hogfather, and Thief of Time. ''Being both human and supernatural, Susan is frequently and reluctantly forced away from her normal life to do battle with malign supernatural forces. As the series progresses, she also begins to take on roles educating children, so that, she has "ended up....a kind of Goth Mary Poppins".

See if that doesn't help you like the name more.

But you probably have a friend who think the name you give your child is a bit crap. Would their telling you have changed your mind?

Maybe there's a reason behind it- deceased mum/aunt etc??

As long as she doesn't name any further babies after Queen's corgis all will be fine! @fortifiedwithtea

Suzie is a sweet nickname. I'd reply that.

Just say, no! I was just surprised as you don’t hear it often for babies now, so it’s nice you’re using it!

this is one of those times where a white lie hurts nobody.

She might be looking for a psychological "out", if she is having second thoughts or her partner likes Susan and she doesn't. Avoid telling her you don't like it outright but don't lie either, and perhaps say something more open so that she can explore her options a bit more.

Unless the baby is called Unicornfrankenstien or some outlandish equivalent I’d just say you like it. It’s not a name that will harm the baby and it’s fairly normal.

I told my parents we were going to name our baby 'Oscar' if it was a boy and my dad piped up, 'oh that just makes me think of Oscar Pistorious now' (paralympian who'd just been convicted of murdering his girlfriend). Cheers dad!

Luckily I ended up having a girl.

Susan is awful. If you are close, tell her.

I wouldn’t lie outright and say I liked it but would instead say that it isn’t a name you hear much these days.

If she asked you, she probably isn’t fully decided on it.
i would never tell her I disliked it though.
She won’t thank you - unless she’s playing a joke on you and has absolutely no intention of calling the baby Susan and just wants to see your reaction?

My middle name is Susan, I always thought it was dull. But... it could be the next name to have a big revival and there's nothing like a cute baby or toddler to make a name seem lovely. I never liked "Elsie" or "Lottie" when the names belonged to my extremely elderly great aunts. But now there's lots of adorable little ones running around with those names I quite like them. So, don't tell your friend you don't like it because 1) it's not worth losing a friend over and 2) when the baby arrives, she'll become the name and you won't be able to think of her as anything else.

If they had a reason I agreed with, yes I think it would. If not, I would ignore it. But then again I do go by the golden rule of keeping names to yourself before the kid’s born. The friend clearly cares what OP thinks otherwise she wouldn’t have shared the name or messaged later for clarification.

I quite like it. I also think it’s a name that will have a completely different feel to the next generation than it does to ours.

I think (unless someone hasn’t realised they’re naming their child after a serial killer or Seymour Butts or something) the correct response is “lovely”. It’s not your job to substitute your taste for theirs.

Then clearly you weren't honest!

Just say you like it. It doesn't really affect you. One of my friends gave her DD a name I thought was awful, but I like it now there's a lovely little person to associate it with. It wouldn't have helped, at any stage, for me to say I disliked the name.