To tell them their baby name options aren’t great?

[Ellase]

I can be fairly confident DS and DIL don’t use Mumsnet so I’m prepared to take a risk and post this.

DS and his wife are expecting their first baby, all very exciting, a little girl. Tonight they came over and we were chatting names and they told me what their two front runners are, and well they aren’t inherently awful, but they are diminutives that aren’t well established as names in their own right (so we aren’t talking Milly or Rosie which are now fully fledged names). I asked if they were planning to use a longer name too and was told absolutely not. This worries as I feel their child won’t much appreciate having a name that is not well established, sounds a bit off (I don’t know how to explain better than that), and could easily have a longer name that would provide more optionality however they choose to live their life.

Should I cautiously mention it or just bite my tongue? We have a very positive relationship generally and they tend to be open to advice.

Gigi is ok but I fear it would be a lifetime of correcting British people on the pronunciation. I have images of it becoming giggy or gee gee with a hard G.

Not even sure what Tiggi is a diminutive of but it’s terrible. I’d just sway them towards Gigi because it’s the better of the two.

Their child... their name. Period. Butt out.

Nail it. 100%

If I'd used the name every time my dad would sing (in a bad French accent) 'Thank heavens for little girls....they grow up in the most delightful way.' 🤣But only that as he doesn't know any more lyrics. That would be enough to put me off. Although I think it's quite a sweet name.

Do you mean you are regarding Ella as a diminutive? That's been a regular name for many many years. I knew an Ella who would be about 100yo now.

@Bungle2168 yes she got that joke a lot.

@Ellase I don’t think Gigi will be mispronounced tbh, it’s fairly popular. You really cannot and should not say anything, believe me. All the posts on here from ppl whose parents did comment show that I think.

Shame they dont have your genius foor giving names.
Neither of these is awful really, I have known two Gigis and both are adults and didnt face grief because of their names.
Im glad you decided to butt out of this, please stick to this decision- unless you wanna be an object of "MIL criticises my baby name" thread some months down the line.

My DD (7) has a Gigi in her class. It’s a lovely and, contrary to your view, very well “established” name. One of Colette‘s novels is called Gigi.

Tiggy I also like, though agree it’s more of a nickname. But it’s not so outlandish as to be weird.

Even if they wanted to call her Tinkerbell I’d keep my mouth shut, if you want a decent relationship with them and your grandchild.

Those names are very popular right now. Ziggy is also having a moment. I don't dislike any of them.

Flipping awful names! What is the matter with people saddling their kids with ridiculous monikers like that? They are nicknames, not real names.

I don't blame you for disliking the names but - as others have said - nothing you can do, say nothing, stay out of it. You'll get used to it.........in a few years.

They're not ridiculously bad. Come hang around my DD's school & listen to some of the names. More than once I've had to stop my myself saying 'what now?' to their 'unique' names.

It’s their child not yours, mind your business. My MIL would know what would happen if she gave her opinion.

I know I should be used to it by now, but I am still surprised by how easily shocked and outraged some of the nervous Nellies posting on here are when confronted with, really very normal, baby names. Anything more unusual than John or Jane seems to be greeted by the most bizarrely unnecessary pearl-clutching!
As I commented previously, I would strongly advise against sharing your baby name with anybody until baby has arrived and the name is a fait accompli to avoid having everyone and their dog sticking their oar in and trying to talk you out of your chosen name. There is not a single name which everyone will like. Someone will always have been to school or worked with someone with that name who was horrible or have some other esoteric association with the name that they will claim will be universal, even if it specific to them and is very much their own personal problem.
The number of posters on here banging on about the film Gigi, released in 1958, is very amusing to me. The idea that this will be the first cultural reference that will occur to the majority of people on hearing the name Gigi now is a bit silly given that this film was released many years before most of today's kids' grandparents were even born! That this is the most contemporary cultural reference point for the name Gigi for multiple posters on here says a lot about the demographics of contributors on these threads and might go some way to explaining how out of touch so many seem with pretty commonplace baby naming trends.
As for the posters claiming children with, again, completely unremarkable names, will be bullied at school and will never be taken seriously in the workplace, I really don't know what to say other than that you must live in an extremely insular and reactionary environment which is really quite sad.
In short, MN would be the last place I would come for sensible or rational baby naming opinions! It's depressing that there's a whole section of the site dedicated to this topic. However, maybe it could be useful, if your suggested name causes a mass fit of the vapours to break out amongst MN posters then it's probably a good one!

If you raised it with them then the chances are others will say the same and maybe the penny will drop. If not shrug your shoulders and let it pass. There are worse things in life than having a shortened name.

Gigi is fine. It's French. It's from a famous film. Tiggi makes me think of the appalling socialite and Royal family nanny, Tiggy Legg Baulk (or however it was spelt). Encourage Gigi.

OMG Tiggi and Jiggy (that's how I'm saying it...) So bloody cute! (for kittens)
Love it..

I don’t remember the thread but I hope the general consensus was that the grandmother was behaving terribly if she chose not to use her grandchild's name because she didn’t like it.

Your grandchildren are your business in the sense you love and are invested in them. They are not in that grandparents should not expect to be involved in parenting decisions. The clue is in the name, that is the job of the parents!

I think they're both quite sweet (although I think Tiggy is better than Tiggi). I particularly like Gigi. If you have a good relationship, I'd maybe say you prefer them as shortened forms for longer/formal names to give more options.

But I think all the "they'll be teased" worries are not so much of an issue anymore as it was in the 70s/80s/90s because names are more varied now. My DS is 13 and has said that his peers don't generally get teased over names either at primary or secondary. They just accept more varied names now (he had a Mystique in his class!) and I actually love it! I have one more modern and one more traditional name for my two DC but I love the variety of names now and think it helps reduce bullying as there aren't a standard set of 30 or so names that everyone has.

But Colette's Gigi is a diminutive of Gilberte.

So what? Susie is a diminutive of Susanna, but also a name in its own right. Ella is a diminutive of various names, but also a name in its own right. Plenty more examples are available.

Fair enough, I just think it's reasonable for the parents to at least know where the name comes from, or what it means.
I genuinely (some years ago, pre-internet) heard two women on the bus discussing whether Bianca was Italian for black, or for white. They concluded it was 'black', 'because it starts with B', and therefore a suitable name for the imminent baby that one of them was carrying.

At least the child would go through life with a good conversational ice breaker I guess!

Both my kids (now young adults) have a full name but use the diminutive, and have since birth. The full name is an inconvenience really. It’s like using a different name altogether to them in certain settings.
I wish I hadn’t bothered and just called them their shorter names.

I quite like Tiggi! Think I’m in the minority though 🤣

I don't like the names. I work in a school and we currently have a Tiggy - I think it sounds like a name someone would pick for a cat or dog. If I had to pick then GIgi. However, it's your son and DIL's choice, not yours. I wouldn't say a word. It's possible they may change their mind, especially once the baby is born. My neighbours granddaughter is called Sissy, which I think is just as dreadful, if not worse!!

Gigi is quite popular now and it's a lovely name! Tiggi I'm not so sure on.