Aibu to think the name suggestions on mumsnet are awful a lot of the time?

[hcarter8]

One thing I've noticed on Mumsnet is that people never actually suggests the type of baby names that the OP likes/asks for example if someone came here and asked “what’s are good sibling name for?”…. And their first child’s name was what mumsnet would call a a “ trendy and American” name like Paisley, Hunter, Harper, Jaxon Etc. (i don’t really like these names but I’m using them to prove a point) a lot of the people in the comments don’t even suggest similar names, the suggest old classic names like Josephine, Ophelia, Atticus that are clearly not the OPs taste.

Like if the OP has a first child with a trendy name like Harper they won’t won’t their second child to be called an old name like Olivia will they. I do feel like there is genuinely a lot of snobbery that comes into it aswell, like a lot of people on here try to make the parents choose a “classic” name because they themselves don’t like the modern ones even though it would look silly and out of place with their first child's name. Sorry for the rant it’s just been something I’ve noticed here recently.

The name threads do make me think that some people would prefer the UK to have an official acceptable baby name list (as Denmark etc do) - but only containing the names Jack and Olivia :)

I agree with you OP, although I think now someone could well have a Harper and an Olivia, which is the current equivalent of Lucy or Katie in the 90's.

Another is when OP posts that they are set on a name and really love it and someone says "what about so and so it's much more classic)

I hate the name snobbery here. We're not all white and middle class. In my culture giving a child an obscurely spelt name is a sign of endearment

The best name thread I've seen recently was where the OP asked for ideas of names Annie could be short for and suggestions included Andromeda or Antigone.

Yes, I think some posters just think "well, that's not to my taste at all. How about..... -insert some completely different style name-...?"
Olivia no. 3 most common name in the UK in 2022 btw, think it was no.1 for a few years.
But yes, I take your point. If someone likes Jaxon they're probably not going to like Atticus.

YANBU

Tiberius and whatnot

The name threads on here never end with the OP saying ‘Thanks for the suggestions, I’ve decided to go for X’ so you never get to find out how the ideas have gone down anyway…

Top law school, get fucked.

It does make me snort when somebody asks for suggestions similar to whatever, and posters reel off a list of about 20 names that are in no way similar, it's just a load of names they like. I think there are a lot of people on the baby names board who just like listing names, like the man in Best in Show who likes naming nuts.
*Edited for typo
**Edited again for another effing typo

The best ones are where they ask for suggestions and someone lists -

Obsidian
Artemisia
Euripides
Vladimir
Gustav
Bartholomew

That being said, my DC goes to school with Montague, Pandora and Ptolemy, so I guess their parents must be on MN.

We are talking Rhodes right? 😀

They won’t.

I love love love the name Andromeda.

(I’m a cosmology geek.)

@Everanewbie Have you looked at school/nursery register recently? I'll assume not.

Apparently you don't want to slip into Katie Hopkins territory, you want to dive in head first.

But to the OP, yes, the suggestions often seem to be 'a list of names I like' rather than 'a list of names that fit your requirements'.

All roads lead to Rhodes

I don't see many of the baby name threads but when I do, I always end up wincing, partly for exactly the reasons you've given - people pay zero attention to the OP's own taste when they give their suggestions. And I agree with @defi that there's a ton of classism/racism in a lot of those threads which give the whole conversation a really unpleasant tone.

The other thing that always makes me roll my eyes is when people start chipping and claiming their cousin who is a midwife definitely delivered a baby that was called Chlamydia or Abcde or Le-a (pronounced Ledasha) and it's always just an urban myth that's as old as the hills and absolutely did not happen.

The whole thing of someone saying 'My DCs are called Paige and Harley, do you think Keane would work for baby number 3?' and people replying to say 'Eww, no, how about Titus or Ptolemy?' reminds me of when someone posts a Style thread and says 'I usually dress in a gothy, edgy rock chick style - kind of cross between Wednesday Addams and Courtney Love. I wanted to wear this black dress with red roses and skulls on it for a formal lunch but it's sold out in my size, has anyone seen anything similar available? I'm on a really tight budget though' and people start replying 'How about this plain navy knee-length shift dress teamed with nude court shoes, it's only £300 from Reiss'

Why do they do it though?

I mean why (unless they've blindly stumbled into Mumsnet for the first time in their lives), would they ask what a bunch of randoms think of their potential kid's names?

They must know what this place is like? They must've seen the snobbery ethnic ignorance?

It's the last place on earth I'd ask, even if I was desperate.

snobbery and ethnic ignorance

@NCyousee 😂

I love the baby names board because I’m convinced it’s a subtle (or not so subtle) experiment in online trolling. It’s brilliant. Once you assume about 50% of the poster are trolling the OP it becomes a fun game of spotting them.

I'd does make amuse me that inevitably someone will say 'what about Evelyn (or similar) just don't call her x or y!' with x and y both being my DDs name

Ordinary, classic, non-yooneek names. Equivalent of Sophie Olivia or similar.

It makes me laugh because 10 years ago the same poster would probably have been saying 'what about something classic, like Sophie or Olivia?