Brave versus safe?

[horsechesnut]

Most people have unusual/ uncommon names which they love but when it finally comes to making that choice just cannot bring themselves to use for whatever reason.

So my Q is - which did you go for - your brave name choice or your safe option and why? And do you now wish you'd chosen the other one?

Great! Thanks Mrs Woolf!

Ooh - I quite like that.

I don't think i went for either. Iris got a lot of negative feedback 9 years ago when she was born, but I was not being brave, I don't think. I do not think uncommon equals brave.
All my dc's have had a lot of at times, especially my youngest (Amos), but now he is three, people are used to it.
My one regret is that 5 years ago when I had dd2 she was going to be Persephone, all through my pregnancy we called her Persephone. When she was born called her Pearl instead, which is not terribly common, but still sometimes wish i had my little Percy, and now it does not feel it sits well with the sibs, so can't use it in future.
my dc's are Iris, Eli, Pearl and AMos

Definitely think that DH's family thought/think our names are really weird - but then the names they favour are very tradtional. I guess it depends who you speak to - stating the obvious, really - that's why I like MN - you get a mixture of people and a mixture of opinions.

There are common names. There are uncommon names. And there are names you have to be brave to use - and even braver to have. 3 different categories. The firat two are fine - the third isn't. But none of the names listed on here are in the "brave' category, IMHO.

That is an awesome website link! Very interesting not least because we live in Scotland and some of the names that are WAY down the list (like only 200-300 given names) are very popular up here. It just goes to show that where you live really does make a difference. My son's name is fairly common I guess (approx. 1500 of them in 2008), but the 2 boys names we've chosen this time (we're having twins) are both below 100! I wouldn't say they are brave names though - unusual yes, brave no! Off to check out the girl's list now!

And for the girls - our daughter's name is also fairly common (approx 2000) and one of the girl's names we've chosen this time is also fairly high up (about 1000). The other girl's name is less than 10 however!

It bothers me slightly that my daughter's name is so common, but we did know it was more common when we chose it so I guess we've no-one to blame but ourselves. We chose it because we really liked it and its meaning so I'm not sure we would have chosen anything else. My son's name bothers me less because it is a very obvious Biblical name and that is why we chose it. People who know us know that is the reason, not because it is a "cool"/"trendy"/"popular" name. Having said that - I am really glad we've got 3 clearly very unusual names picked out this time.

Found this link to the Scottish list if anyone else north of the border is interested...

here

OK - so I know I'm hijacking this thread slightly, but I really am fascinated by this! It would seem that my kids names are much less common here in Scotland than they are in England and Wales. (and yes - I am taking into account the much lower numbers overall!)

I thought I'd read that the name stats weren't going to be released for 2009? I remember seeing an article about it recently and getting quite cross.

We had two choices for a boy with DS1 - a relatively uncommon one: Felix (tho I think it's getting more popular since) and an even less common (approaching brave?) one: Caspian. We actually got more aggro from our families over Felix so at the time it felt the braver choice but twas the one we went for. No regrets at all.

This time round with DC2 it was a similar choice as we had Caspar or Caspian. We've decided on Caspar, feeling that Caspian was a bit too brave.

I may have just seen old articles/posts from 2009 talking about an ONS decision not to publish the 2008 name stats - which was obviously later revoked as they were published.

I can't see anything saying 2009 ones aren't being published but I'm worried now as I thought I remembered seeing recent articles about it, which I now can't find.

Can anyone put me out of my misery please?

Our Dcs are Merren (never heard of/ seen another one!), Eden ( no. 221 in 2005), and Joel (not too common, but still considered fairly brave by most i know!)

I love unusual names and would have hated my DCs to be one of 3/4 in the class with the same name. As it is there's only One other Eden in dd's school and she's set to leave next year! Dh, amd my PIL, all think i'm a bit

I am a fan of uncommon names, but there's unusual and then there's cruel!

This month's Parenting and Birth magazine features a child called Lettice ...in my view that's just silly and a bit of a mean burden to carry for life I'm afraid!

brave with a safe middle name never regretted it even for a second .

please please tell us your brave names slushy and co!

We went for unusual/brave. But we love it so it doesn't matter - OP - Jasper's lovely - so sweet.

I agree with seeker I don't see any brave name here.
like channelle, brooklyn, rainbow, cherry, jack daniel , fete nat., tesco....

There is a big difference between "brave" names and downright daft ones!

I will say that I don't have any children, yet, (about to start ttc #1) but bad baby names are a real pet hate of mine.

By all means use a name you love but if it is

a) Unpronouncable
b) Unspellable
c) Makes your child sound like a porn star/character from Lord of the Rings, etc
d) or all of the above

then for the love of all that is holy please think it through very carefully. What may sound cute for a baby may not sit well with a 17yo spotty teenager!

A great site for shocking baby names

Looking at the list of baby names from 2008 I'm pleased to see only 22 little girls nationwide shared my name

I am disappointed to see that 184 parents saw fit to saddle their little darlings with Nevaeh and the 5 poor girls who have been named "Kc"

Very unusual names here, with more normal middle names. I think some of our friends think we're a bit odd. I think well their child will be one of 5 in the class, which as others have said is something I'd hate. You can't tell which your child is going to prefer of course, but they can always use their middle name or a nickname. I don't regret it. My only worry is that I'm afraid the fabulously original names we chose are going to become more popular and be the next big trend - gah!

really interesting thread, me and DP were talked out of our 'brave' choice by the in-laws and although I love my DS's name and it does suit him it is relatively common and I'll always be slightly miffed that my post birth fragility allowed me to be talked around. Im now pg again and will be keeping name choices quiet so we dont go through that again! As a matter of interest I remember looking at a website that listed the most popular names according to your postcode but cant find it now, does anyone know what Im talking about? tia

sorry to put a dampener on all you brave folks but I grew up with a bit of a weird name (and v old fashioned) and HATED it. I used to dread social occasions where i would have to tell people my name. I changed it when i went to uni and WISH i had done so earlier, I'm sure I would have been less shy and more popular if i had

marzipan - sorry to hear you hated your unusual name.

I guess for every Ellie/Isabel/(insert popular name) who loves her name there will another who wishes she had something more unusual and vice versa with unusual names.

I've got an unusual name and LOVED being the only one at school etc. I am confident and prefer to be different rather than one of the crowd so I probably would have changed my name at some point if I'd been given a popular name.

Mind you, I have my limits. My parents were somewhat bohemian and I could have easily been called River or Rainbow Dream or something. Actually, my father wanted to call me Polly Alice as one name (fine as separate names but together? )

My Dh is a teacher and so very exposed to children's names ... most of which have associations for him (usually negative!). We therefore ended up with 2 slightly old fashioned and unusual names.