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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wish I hadn't called my daughter Ruby?

211 replies

gonenative · 27/02/2010 23:23

When me and DH chose her name 6 years ago, we didn't know any Rubys (or any kids for that matter!) and liked the feisty sound of it. We actually thought we were being pretty original.

It was the MOST popular girl's name in 2007, 2nd in 2008, and there are 4 others in her year at school.

Am I being unreasonable to wish I'd called her something a bit less, well, common?

She has two lovely middle names and to my shame I've even asked her if she fancies being called one of these instead.

I know I'm being an awful snob, and I do still like the name but what do you all think?

OP posts:
Flightattendant · 28/02/2010 13:02

The only way to avoid this is to give your child a deeply horrible name, that way you will never start a trend. It worked for us

Flightattendant · 28/02/2010 13:03

though actually ds1's name is lovely and very unusual, he's the only one in the school...strange.

AnyFucker · 28/02/2010 13:34

Harriet is a great name too

It was one of the options if DS had been a girl

I also love Freya

MrsPotiphar · 28/02/2010 13:38

idont liek ruby much
its a cleaners name

AnyFucker · 28/02/2010 13:39

lovely

BriocheDoree · 28/02/2010 13:48

Ruby is a lovely name. We also gave DD a name which turned out to be one of the most popular that year.
Then we moved to France so she's the only one

ilovemydogandmrobama · 28/02/2010 13:57

Think I only know one Ruby, and she's the older sister of a girl at DD's nursery. Don't think it's that common, really.

Jamieandhismagictorch · 28/02/2010 13:58

i sympathise, OP.

I have a Charlie, and thought I was being very fashion-forward at the time.

Then Charlie and Lola came along. Darn them. Darn them to Heck !

However. It really suits him. And he was named after a friend, so ......

notnowbernard · 28/02/2010 14:16

How is Ruby a cleaner's name?!

tootootired · 28/02/2010 14:34

I reckon it's the law of names. Many of us are under such similar influences that we can't help choosing similar names and thinking how pretty and original they are. I do think anyone who picks a name without checking the top-10's is in for disappointment though - I can't believe people are still going with Thomas, I know five or six of them.

My DC's are in a tiny school and still there are doubled-up names in every class.

taffetacat · 28/02/2010 14:44

haven't read all replies but I don't think you should worry. I am sure in 10 years time her name will have been adapted anyway.

we picked the name for our DS that we thought would suit him. It does - massively. There are 4 others in his school and more joining via pre school. It doesn't bother me as much as I thought it might, ( it wasn't that popular when we chose it ) because it suits him so well I think.

DD on the other hand has an unusual name that no-one else in the village or school has. Yet. She's only 3 so we will see. No regrets there either though, because it was and still is the only girl's name DH and I could agree on.

BackToBasics · 28/02/2010 14:50

When i had my dd in 2006 i was going to call her Ruby but my dp wouldn't let me because of the character Ruby was popular in Eastenders at the time and thought everyone would use the name. So i called her another name that i love now. I still love the name Ruby though.

It's wierd because if ds had been a girl i was going to call her Olivia and now i see it's a really popular name. Strange.

Casmama · 28/02/2010 15:02

If it makes you feel any better I gave my 6 month old son a name which not only seems to be all over the place but was also mentioned many, many times on the thread about boys of that name being thought of as trouble makers. Oops.

kitkatsforbreakfast · 28/02/2010 15:03

Oooh, this thread has whetted my appetite for names. Going to go and mooch on the baby names forum, and make outrageous comments and as when appropriate...

pagwatch · 28/02/2010 15:03

I haven't read the thread but is it because she actually did take her love to town?

trice · 28/02/2010 15:13

I know two six year olds called emily elizabeth whose mothers must have been watching too much clifford the big red dog. I don't know any children called clifford though.

Ruby is a lovely name.

Jenbot · 28/02/2010 16:37

I think it's cruel to ask your daughter if she wants to be known by one of her middle names, you'll give her a complex.

oldraver · 28/02/2010 20:02

I had a friend who chose her daughters name from an Australian book her sister sent her. At the time nearly 24 years ago Kylie was unheard of here. Two years later and it suddenly became a popular name. My friend was mortified as she too thought she had chosen an unusual name

Blu · 28/02/2010 20:06

LOL - you were slow off the mark - my neice is called Ruby, and is now 12!

I have a name which was v rare when I was born but had a big wave of popularity 5 or 10 years later. It's great - everyone thinks I am younger than I am

Rockbird · 28/02/2010 20:12

I have a Harriet. Was 70-odd in the top 100 two years ago and I really expected it to move up. But to this day I haven't come across another one. I have one of those names that everyone had in the 70s and I have always been one of about 8 of them wherever I am. Am very pleased that DD's name doesn't seem to be that popular.

ninah · 28/02/2010 20:16

Look it's still a nice name! lots of people agree with you, so what?

Original poster
gonenative · 28/02/2010 23:48

Can I just reiterate my 2nd post on this thread from last night.....

"Suspect I simply need to get over myself and start worrying about things that are actually worth worrying about........."

I know it's a nice name. I LIKE it. I'm not going to give my daughter a complex by making her change her name. She hasn't taken her love to town yet, she's only 6, but I do love a bit of K Rogers...and I've never met a cleaner called Ruby - but what's the problem with cleaners anyway?

OP posts:
hester · 28/02/2010 23:57

I feel your pain. I too gave my dd a name that was not unusual but I thought fairly under-used. Boy, was i ever wrong. The year she was born, that name leapt 50 places in the top 100. The year after, up another 30. I meet her namesakes everywhere. A few weeks ago I met one in a park, 3 weeks younger than my dd. As the girls played, her dad groaned to me: "Don't tell me, you thought you were picking a nice unusual name, didn't you?"

It's really strange how this zeitgeisty thing works. I truly didn't know anybody else with that name, then all of a sudden it gets really popular in a way i couldn't have guessed when I was pregnant.

If I could go back, I'd definitely choose a different name. Still, worse things happen at sea and my dd likes her name. She won't suffer any worse than my schoolfriends called Sarah or Michelle or Deborah.

almond · 01/03/2010 00:17

look on the bright side , its better than diamond or emerald

Mumcentreplus · 01/03/2010 00:20

[email protected] sound like stripper name!

I actually like Ruby alot..tis cute and feisty