Beware of 'unusual' names...

[EricNorthmansMistress]

your children may not thank you for it...

But the whole point is that unusual is fine - it's bonkers you shouldn't do!

My ds is Patrick - and in all his 9 years he has never met another.

I am always suspicions of people who call their children Silver or Nutmeg "because we want them to be the only one in their school" The same result could be achieved by calling the child Edith or, probably these days, Michael. But that wouldn't make the parents feel like free spirited rebels. It's all a bit "look at me" for my taste.

Which is why I gave my son a name which has virtually endless nickname potential. He can pretty much choose what he wants!

DH says having a name he was teased about was character building and helped him develop verbal dexterity that has served him well in life.

His names aren't unusual, but together they contain a very rude word.

In Scotland, a bridie is a flat meat pie, a bit like a cornish pasty. Sounds really strange as a girls name!

Agree about Bridie being unspeakable. Merrily is naff and Bronte not much better, but I'd have either of them ahead of Bridie.

Also agree with avoiding very common names. All the people I know who love their names were the only one they knew. This includes DH who wants his children to have unusual names too.

Obviously you can't guarantee that another Canaletto-Crispina won't end up in your class, but you can make sure your child doesn't have to go through life always needing to use their full name.

:o

I love how in Scotland they give human names to inanimate objects.

Any name you care to mention a Scot will appear and say "oh James is another word for toilet brush in Scotland"

or: "Catherine is how elderly Scottish women refer to their piles"

Hmmmm give me another example of that Spidookly?

Spidoodly
I know Bridie as a pie too (Forfar Bridie) but have heard of Bridie as a name in Ireland. I don't think it is the Scots being awkward as such. Just we have strange names for things.

I know that Toby makes me snigger cause it is a slang word for penis in the area of Scotland that I am from.

What horrible names. And they don't even seem to have any sort of theme. Just random and poorly thought out. To really appreciate Bronte you have to hear it bellowed in any sort of American accent -- it will always make me think of Bronx raspberry. And Merrily is a dreadfully middle aged American cat lady name, imo.

But Bridie is right up there with Attracta and Assumpta on my mental list of names that are the equivalent of fingernails on a blackboard. I love Brigid/Bridget/Brigitte though, and I really love Biddy as a nn.

I agree with the 'look at me' comments.

Why didn't she bother with the umlaut on the 'e' in Bronte? (I can't do it on MN but I'd make sure I ruddy did at the registrar's if I was going to force it on a poor unsuspecting newborn.)

Admitting that it's not after the novelists makes her look quite dim.

Once met a couple who had called their son Otis. I said 'oh, after Otis Redding?' and they admitted 'no, after the Otis Elevator company - we were in a lift...'

The child said it herself: it's naming a person after an adverb that is bizarre.

'Hello, I am Merry'- fine

'Hello, I am Joy'- also fine

'Hello, I am Merrily'-

I walk Merrily, I behave Merrily, I Merrily flush my name down the toilet- yes

but not, I am Merrily

I read this in the paper today. I dont think Merrily is that unusual tbh. I like it.

When my friend called her daughter Trixy every one was up in arms about it. The child has never complained or been singled out for it except when her name is never on any cup in a gift shop!! we all love it now but it took abit of getting used to.

I dont think any of the journalists childrens names are outlandish at all.

'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.'

No not any more, but I was when I was about 8 and you couldn't get things personalised then (in the 80s) not like you can now.

My name's not so unusual - but not all that common when I was growing up (and probably still not all that commonly used), - it's Louisa. I used to get fed up that everything had 'Louise' on it.

Based on my experiences, though, I've preferred to pick less commonly used names for my DCs (apart from DS who is Joseph - named after DH's father).

spidookily while we're on the subect, any connotations with the name Angus that you (or anyone else is aware of?) :)

thereisalight - same here, on the very rare occasions that there were mugs it was only an approximation of my name, not my actual name. Very irritating as I have the correct feminine spelling but the male spelling has crossed over and become dominant - now only used for girls.

Drat my mother for being a pedant! (Actually am named after one of her bridesmaids so can't really blame her that much.)

Of course it matters to a child that they cant get a tacky mug with their name on it when they are out on day trips.

I bought my friends daughter a t shirt from the states it says "Trix loves kids" on it, I dont know what it means it was from a retro shop but, that child has never had it off her back because its got her name on it.

It does mean something to them.

I think it matters too, even if I think the mugs etc are tat, I think DD is going to be a bit put out when she's old enough to realise that DS can always find things with his name on and she can't. Hers does pop up sometimes, it is not that unusual but not as popular as DS's.

I can really identify with Merrily. I have an unusual name and have only met one other person with the same name. As a child I hated my name, now I merely dislike it. I got teased a lot as a child and yes, I didn't like not being able to find mugs, pencil cases etc with my name on.

As a result I decided to give DD a name that people had heard of, needed no explanation, could pronounce and could spell easily. There is one other girl with the same name in her class, but it doesn't matter to me or DD.

Bum - I still don't get the mug/pencil case thing.

My name is Gwen

uncommon? Well - depends on where in the country you are -but I certainly never ONCE found anything with my name on it when on days out.

I'd hazard a good guess that out of the 100 top names you won't find all of them in the personalised gifts sections of tacky gifts places either........

oh f*ck

it's bun isn't it - not bum

If you're a mug/pencil manufacturer, which names will you choose to print? Probably only the top 10 or 20 most popular names at the time. So the only way to get named mugs is to have a very common name.

As others have said, nowadays you can get ANY name printed on almost anything, for a very reasonable price too. So you don't need to have a top 10 name for that.

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

It REALLY REALLY annoyed me as a kid not being ever able to find anything with my name on ever. Really annoys me to this day that it's never ever spelt correctly (how can you get three letters wrong) and I hate my name.

Mine was relatively unusual when I was a kid - has risen in prominence since then. Also, despite it being unusual - I ended up sharing a house with a namesake at university anyway!

we're not talking about personalising mugs here. By the time the child gets home it has forgotten about it. Besides, a personalised mug wouldnt be half as tacky as the ones in the gift shops and kids love tacky!!

Of course it matters, its not just mugs either its key rings for their bags!!

Obviously, its only a certain age group.

Now, at the extreme end of the scale my Kitty is incredibly happy with her name!! Hello bloody Kitty everything!!!

I like my name but all personalised stuff was spelt differently (i.e. wrong) :o I spent my childhood trying to correct the spelling but it always looked daft.

I still check the shelves now

Hello Kitty has made me laugh and reminded me of someone I went to school with, he was called Colin and found it extremely annoying that every year someone would think it a good idea to buy him a Collins Dictionary.