Beware of 'unusual' names...

[EricNorthmansMistress]

your children may not thank you for it...

besides - there's plenty of places on-line that you can have just about anything "personalised" these days - no matter how unusual your name is

Funny they mention Annabelle as a more 'common' name, then note the problem of personalised crap souvenirs. My sister, an Annabelle, always used to moan that she couldn't buy things with her name on them.

The mug thing is slightly annoying, neither of my DCs names are at all unusual but DS's name hovers round the Top 10 whereas DD's name is relatively rare in her age group (lots of them in my age group). We can always find mugs etc with his name on, none for her. So we don't buy them at all. They are not old enough to really have noticed this for themselves yet though.

There were 3 of me in my class at school and I didn't mind that at all. As a grown up I hardly ever seem to meet another one of me though, wonder where they all went?

I hadn't met another one of "me" (first name) since I was much younger (and they were generally rather old, retired people).

I got most confused at nursery the other day as I was getting DS3's coat on and I could hear a voice saying something to "me"........then I realised it was actually one of the nursery receptionists!

Are people really concerned that they can't buy tacky mugs/pens with their name on them, honestly?

You can always get items personalised yourself. Yes, it costs a few pounds more but 1) the quality is much nicer and 2) you can still have a lovely, more uniqu name .

sorry, unique

I don't think this is about giving children unusual names. It's about giving them names that are going to cause them trouble through life. The other daughter in the article has an equally unusual name but because the teasing potential is limited she is okay with it. Merrily inevitably suffered (and probably will always suffer) teasing and comments. Parents need to consider this when choosing names. Even the most ordinary names when combined with certain surnames can give rise to teasing. I was at school with a Jo King. You can imagine how she felt about her name.

Meh.

I think its pretty hard to have an unusual name these days.

Ds's class alone has at least 6 names that I was a bit 'huh' about when I heard them.

I think its MORE unusual these days to have a 'normal' name like Diane or Maria.

my 2 ds's have quite common names for boys....BUT despite this my ds1 is the only "Ted" in his YEAR at school and I havent haerd of mnay kids with my ds2's name yet either1

Brave to confess that she called the other one Bronte after the lead character in Green Card rather than claiming to be an avid student of English Literature.

I'd have thought Bronte would have been constantly called Bronte-saurus.

Merrily makes me think of Joy from Drop the Dead Donkey. And with Halliwell for a surname? God help her when she's at the dentist and has to book her next appointment after she's had an injection.

I don't think Merrily is that unusual though. My Mum knows of one, and I also know of a Merry and a Verian and a Verrily.

it's not like Moon Unit or something really random or foreign or bananas. It's a word. I don't think it is that unique.

Maybe it's the ding dong merrily on high thath the child doesn't like.

Or maybe the mother is trying to eke an article out of very little.

I can't get things with my child's name on it (either of my children's names actually) and I now regret it. Well, my dc1's name her father's choice, btu I see lovely christmas baubles with Zoe, Phoebe, Lydia on them and I think now, why the hell did I rule out those names....

ny ds2 and grandson have names that ive dont know any other kids called the same but im sure they is

Just read the end of that article and she has called her 3rd daughter Bridie.. OH YUCK.

Well even in Ireland you wouldn't find baubles or mugs with Bridie on them. Maybe tea towels and tat sold at the back of cathedrals?

Bridie on somebody under 90??? That's far worse than Merrily which is quite upbeat and pretty and a word.

I wonder about how Bridie feels about her name. Poor girl. Now that is hideous. Write an article about the cruelty of calling a baby Bridie.

Quite like Merrily, actually. And Bridie (it's no different to the Maud/Violet/Ivy fad in the UK at the moment)

I know a Bronte. Surnames as first names - NO.

I'm not keen on any of their children's names. If I had to pick one, it would be Bronte, but I seriously dislike Merrily and Bridie. Some people really don't think. Too much like Birdie, which the actress Busy Phillips chose for her daughter.

Yes there are hundreds of thousands of stout-and-devout Bridies in Ireland. It looks like Biddie for a reason.

My dc2 and dc3 have traditional classic biblical names.

However, we fail the mug test; there is no space for their names after that Haydens and the Jaydens and Jack and Jason and the Evies and the Mayas.

We just buy wooden letters and spell our own name.s

Meh.

VS \link{http://www.personalisedgiftsshop.co.uk/catalogue/christmas-baubles.html\look} you can get them (there's more places that do them I just happened to have this page open as I was looking at the other stuff on the website)

I agree - kids don't care whether their friends have a common or uncommon name, but they may tease a 'silly' name e.g. William/Willy, Jo King etc.

I'd much rather my name was not on all the cheap tacky mugs/pens because by definition these are the top 20 or so most popular names.

She's 12, she wants to fit in and be like everyone else. She'll like it when she's older, and she'd like it a lot more than if she was called something boring.

Agree that Bridie is terrible. And isn't it short for Bridget anyway?

I have an unusual name. But in saying that, it isn't as unusual now. I'm in my thirties.

I remember absolutely wailing at my mum that I would change my name to Bronwyn when I was older (neighbours obsession). I also liked Robyn or Bethany. She said that's fine, change it. I didn't.

Fast forward and I love my name. Yes I didn't like being 'different' when I was young, but from 17/18 I have revelled in it.

Do what you thnk suits the child.

I do wonder sometimes though, what came first? the outgoing personality and confidence or my unusual name? I don't know the answer. I do know that I love my name, it is totally me, and I'll look for names for my own children that are not in the hit list of popular names. That's just me. Maybe that's what my parents wanted?

My name is fairly unusual, not a word tho, and I've only met one or two others. As a child I wanted to be called Clare (my middle name) as I wanted to fit in with all the Sarah and Emmas etc in the class.

As an adult I love my name, I rarely have to use my surname...