nobody posting in the baby names topic is really serious, are they?

[wannaBe]

I get the impression that it's just there for shock value.

Just wanted to add that I have no problem with names that are common in other cultures. I just don't think it is appropriate for other people to co-opt these names because "they sound pretty".

I'd never dream of giving my children Japanese or Native American, for example, names because I have no connection to the culture.

Rant over
Off to work now!

I love the baby names topic.

It is a fantastic topic.

Where else in life can you discuss the merits of names of the ancient greeks, or laugh uproariously at people's choices in the comfort of your own home?

I like the name Calypso - I would never use it though.

I have to say, I don't get the "your kids will be bullied for having unusual names" idea.

It's the same reason my dad gave for me not being called Storm. I got bullied anyway!

Now I have a friend who is called Storm and she loves it (her family have some amazing names - the kind that would definitely get torn to shreds on here)

If you give an unusual name you need to know that your DC is strong enough to carry it off-not something you can tell when you give it. e.g. a highly confident, chatty and popular DD could manage being called Winnie or Ethel, but a shy one who finds it difficult to make friends and likes to blend into the background might find it an embarrassment.

I have had a look over there and find it quite surprising how many people want to give their DCS 'unusual' names.

I hate 'trendy' names like Apple etc and names that are spelled wrong just to be different. This person will go through their whole lives having to spell their names out. Its annoying enough when you have a normal name that has 3 different spellings anyway and you always need to spell it out (I have had this problem and it is irritating).

It also annoys me when someone gives their DC loads of middle names, like after you football team etc. Or names them after a football team or something similar (I think Chelsea is the exception to this though).

Obviously if we all liked the same names it would be very boring, but some are just wrong.

I like the post that said they suggest Nigel every now and again. Does anyone still use that name? Baby Nigel.

piscesmoon Even that isn't necassarily true. My friend Storm was a shy child, I was a shy child. She loved her unusual name, I hated my plain one.

If it wasn't so much hassle to change it, I'd have changed it by now. Unsuprisingly, we're looking for a little more unusual name for our future child, we're vetoing the really out there ones though ;)

I was a very shy child and very grateful to have a usual name-being called something like Hilda or Apple would have been a total embarrassment.

I wanted initially to call our dd a name to reflect the country of her birth. the only Omani name I liked was ZamZam. Inevitably she would have it shortened and the idea of anyone shouting 'oi z-a-m' to her in the playground put me off the idea totally.

ZamZam is utterly brilliant. Fraid I find myself frequently posting in baby names when I have absolutely no intention of having another baby and so, er, why am I on there? Avoid the obvious 'Buster' trolls though, as well as the 'lets sneer at these chav names' threads.