To resent my parents choice of name for me?

[Blaengwnfi]

This is a rant - apologies.

I’ve always hated my name.

No one can pronounce it. Not even my father or siblings. It was always read out incorrectly at school and the other kids would laugh at me. It gives me major anxiety having to introduce myself.

I use my middle name professionally but it doesn’t feel like “my” name. I feel so angry with my parents sometimes for burdening me with this name.

Parents - please think before giving your kid a weird or “unique” name! It could really mess them up…

@MolkosTeenageAngst , Ira is definitely a man's name and very hebrew.
Maybe someone reading your post might have thought that Buddug and Beth sounded the same or that Gwenllian was pronounced Gwen-Leanne (Ugh!). Both Buddug and Gwenllïan are such pretty names.and sound nothing like Beth or Gwen-Leanne

FWIW, a lot of people won't get that DD and TH, F and FF, R and RH, and LL and CH don't sound the same.

People can struggle with pretty straightforward names.

I think Nigel is quite a nice name.

If I had said ‘six other kids in their class’, you’d have a point. I didn’t, however. Again, loose grip on reality. Perhaps actually read what you’ve responded to.

Elizabeth has been one of the most popular female names in the U.K. for decades. There are more Elizabeths than any of the names you’ve listed. The fact that ‘Clara’ or ‘Delilah’ might be popular for a few years doesn’t change that. This is basic common sense, but you can check ONS stats if you don’t believe me.

They are (indisputably) common names, I think they’re boring and I don’t like them. The fact that this upsets you so much (but you apparently have no objection to people complaining about ‘unusual’ names) is extremely funny.

Buddug is Welsh for Boudicca. So it’s a strong, powerful name!

And also, Buddugol is Welsh for winning or victorious so it could be thought of as Welsh for Victoria.

I’ve just put Buddug into Google translate. Listened to it in Welsh, translated it into English, translated it into Welsh from Welsh. All different and all pretty hard to pronounce.
How would you say it?

YANBU to dislike your name, but YABU to blame your parents for it. You said yourself that your mother felt her own name was too common so she tried to choose differently for you. I doubt they knew at the time that no one would be able to pronounce it. It's hard choosing names for children! It's a tightrope walk between too popular and too unusual. As a former teacher, I've seen thousands of kids' names, some suit some kids and not others, some are really hard to pronounce just because they're not written phonetically so everytime I see them I have to remind myself of the vowel sound (e.g. Mya pronounced with an ee in the middle like tee not an igh like thigh), but I'm sure they seemed obvious to the parents, some are from a foreign language so I can't pronounce them first go but I can learn them pretty easily. It's not parents' fault! Unless they choose a really ridiculous name and ignore warnings that it won't work, most are only trying to do their best.

Biddig. Short I’s, and the dd is like th in this, that and the other.

"If I had said ‘six other kids in their class’, you’d have a point. I didn’t, however. Again, loose grip on reality. Perhaps actually read what you’ve responded to."

Calm down, it's just a name 😅 ok, you said 6 other kids they know. Don't know where the precious bundle you birthed and stared into the eyes of is finding their similarly named peers if not at school. Untoasted? What even is that?

@lightisnotwhite , the google translate sounds really strange saying it.

Budd rhymes with with, ug rhymes with wig

I think it was Nigel Farage who put him off!

I agree Gwenllian is a lovely name, personally not keen on Buddug but I do understand that a lot of people don’t pronounce them correctly or know how to read or pronounce the Welsh language sounds. My nephews have traditionally Welsh names and I know it infuriates my sister that people don’t pronounce them correctly and they live in Wales.

I wasn’t trying to suggest that the names sound similar or meaning to make anybody reading this think that Leanne and Gwenllian or Buddug and Beth etc particularly sound or are pronounced the same, was really just trying to suggest to the OP that if she really does hate her name it’s never too late to change it to something that would be well known in England and that if she’s worried a new name wouldn’t feel like ‘hers’ there are always ways you can try and choose a new name that in some way links to the old one, even if the link is only obvious in your own head! Sorry if that caused offence to anybody though, personally I do like Welsh names and wasn’t trying to suggest they should be anglicised in typical situations, I was just trying to offer a suggestion to an OP who obviously doesn’t like her name.

I don't see how anyone can say that Elizabeth is boring. It's always in use and has so many diminutives.

It can't be as bad as Ikea surely. 😂😂😂

Sweetheart, I’m not the one taking offence because a stranger on the internet doesn’t like my untoasted name. 😂

You quoted me and I responded. I’ll stop now and leave you to it.

Just change it, pick something you like, no big deal, just some paperwork. One of my sisters hated her name (Bible Old Testament, perfectly nice in my view but she hated it) and changed it in her last year at uni. We all use her new name, her choice. Have fun picking a name you like, no need to involve your family.

Offended 🤣 love it. It's a baby name thread, how do people manage to drag the pass agg into every single thing. And sweetheart? 🤮

I knew a woman whose parents just made up a nonsense spelling for a fairly standard name. It was unpronounceable unless you asked her. Imagine Doanxhsenjh or Haelopgheva or something. But pronounced Delaney, or Henrietta. So verbally she was fine, but when written down, she was called "Er?" or "Christ I'm not saying that."

She said it was like having no name at all. She went by a nickname, tolerated the confusion her documents created, and obviously named her children normal names.

@JubileeTissues You’re not really in a position to call anyone pass agg. You picked an unnecessary fight and you lost. 😆

‘Made up a nonsense spelling’ / ‘made up names’
as opposed to what? All the ‘real’ names that were also at some point made up?

people saying ‘Christ im not saying that’ or similar are so rude. What is wrong with a ‘how would you like me to pronounce your name?’

the concept of ‘prime minister names’ seems similar to me to sending your child to a private school because the comp isn’t good enough. You are perpetuating and enabling a system that disadvantages others, typically based on race and class. That’s fine you have to do what’s best for your children, but it’s odd to feel superior or judge others for not doing so.

and it’s really odd to me to judge someone for a ‘unique’ name, when the point of a name is to literally differentiate you from other people.

over and over this thread is examples of people trying to demonstrate how a name is ridiculous, but in fact just demonstrating how rude they or the people around them are.

Thank you, that’s really helpful.

@Cherchezlaspice apologies, my post was for an English context and I'm aware some other cultures have different approaches. Have met some people from one of the communities in the USA that seem to place a premium on a completely unique name with spelling. Other places can be more like the scene from Goodfellas where most of the men share a couple of names (Big Paulie, little Paulie...) Although the names would change over the course of a generation, almost everyone in my primary class shared names with several others.

That's my pups name!

I did consider it for DD. Lovely name from the Welsh mythology but hard to cope with living in England.

Your blindly quoting random statistic.

Statistically Mohammad is one of the most common names in Britain but how many Mohammads do you know?

'Common' is relative and as everyone else is pointing out we know very few Elizabeth's then its NOT common.

Just because something is historically well established and well known does NOT means its in common usage.

1 in 250 people are called Elizabeth, the average person has a social circle of 150 people, it's really not unusual for people not to really know ANY Elizabeths.

Generational trending reigonal peak names are 'common' and thats relative to things like class and race - example: Kevin and Wayne might be 'common' to someone here because there was several in their infants school but it might be unheard of by someone who attended a posh private school.

I didn’t quote a single statistic, blindly or otherwise. 😂

I’m related to a Mohammed and a Muhammad. I know at least three more (various spellings). Your assumption that I wouldn’t know any (despite it being common) is actually very interesting. Says something about your reflexive assumptions re race.

‘Everyone else’ isn’t pointing out they know very few Elizabeths. A couple have. And none of them have said they don’t know any. That’s a common name.

I think certain names, of which Elizabeth is a prime example, are common and boring. Your argument that 1 in 250 people (yet I’m the one apparently quoting random stats) is named Elizabeth doesn’t really counter any of that.

Oh, I totally got what you meant. It’s interesting, isn’t it? I wonder where the different attitudes stem from?

Your the one quoting its popularity, how long its popularity has been going and stating ONS to back it up... my statist was from ONS which is what YOU told me to check so NOT random lol.

You know many Mohammads and Elizabeths, where do you live?