Are you embarrassed about your name choice?

[elseIlltellyourfather]

DH wants to call DC Barnaby (if it is DS obv.) and it is growing on me. However, when people ask about name ideas I am reluctant to tell them in case they laugh. This makes me think I may regret it when I am calling it in the supermarket! Will I get used to it (I do like it, just worry what people think), or do you still cringe a bit when you say your child's name, years on, if it is a bit unusual (or ponce-tastic)?

Love my kid's names and couldn't care less what random people think about them or whether they find them chavvy or posh or whatever. I really don't! I know my true friends will accept me, whatever I chose to wear or call my kids .

People do sneer at names. A girl in my office had a baby, birth announcement sent by email and my boss was openly laughing - about what a strange name it was. I know a couple who have 2 DCs with unusual names and another friend asked me the names and literally said "what the fuck?!" when I told him.

People also sneer at the popular names - I overheard a father in the playground saying "FGS not another xxxx" about one of his DS's friends.

So choose what you want but there will be some people judging whatever it is you choose!

I don't like DD's middle name, I think it is chavvy.

errrr not sure you can compare names with clothing choices....you can just take the clothes off!

Also, the point is not whether you care about people judging your DC's names - the point is whether the DC will care.

But you can never please everyone. There will always be someone who doesn't share your tastes and not like your name. You've got to be able to live with that.

We should be teaching our children to be more accepting of different tastes/values so that hopefully the next generation will be less judgemental .

I called my DD Eva after my great grandmother when it was still fairly unusual. There has now been an explosion of Evie, Ava and Eva's. I still love the name and it suits her but I get fed up with people calling her Evie or Ava. Plus lots of people say 'I know lots of Evie/Ava/Eva's' which makes me cross as I thought I was being original!

Her middle hame is Josephine which I love so I'm thinking she could always ask to be called that later in life if she finds herself amongst too many Evie/Eva/Ava's!

I love Barnaby for what its worth and it is on my list for this one...I think Barney is a great nn, though my ds1 (5) links it to a purple dinosaur...you really cannot please everyone but must go for a name you love.

I have an Archie and a Tom, nothing out of the ordinary but they massively suit their names and couldn't imagine them being anything else!

Yes I know exactly that feeling, not embarrassment but dreading having to justify the name. Felt this strongly when ds1 was born. He is barnaby. Took me ages to get used to saying his name but loved hearing other people say it. Had very positive comments about it over the last 3 years, some people are gushing in their admiration!
Ds2 is Caspar. I was much more comfortable with this from the start but am still waiting for someone to say they like it. I can honestly say I don't care.

"Why are you so keen to please others, name your kids what YOU want!"

Sorry if this offends, but I really hate the "my child's name is all about meeeee" attitude. Our DCs will still be stuck with their names long after we're dead and buried. IMO its important to give them a name they can live with in later life (ie no daft spellings, no strong class connotations), even if its not 'unique' or 'trending' or whatever. Sorry, but it does matter what other people think...our DCs will be living with the positive/negative reactions for the rest of their lives.

I think, unfortunately, that some people will be judgey about any name you choose, for any number of reasons - too popular, too unusual, too faddy, too posh, too old fashioned etc... So for this reason I'm just come to pick the name(s) we want and develop a thick skin to the cat's bum faces! I think Barnaby is great btw!

Nothing wrong with Barnaby, but if it makes you cringe even slightly, then go for another name. You're supposed to like your children's names, not to wait for them to grow on you!

I feel that my dc1's name sounds quite conservative and that's so not me. Her father chose it and I sometimes feel like telling peoplet that. But all in all I don't feel it matters. It's no an embarrassment in itself! It just doesn't match me. But my daughter's name is not all about meeeeeeeeee!!

Lockets I love Rex! not that it matters what some random internet sprite thinks, but I think it's a good strong name but classic enough to mesh in with your other children's names. I loved Dominic too btw, but Rex is fabulous.

The poster who was going to use Sukie short for Susannah, that's lovely!

And Barnaby wouldn't be my first choice OP but it is a totally normally name, and I wouldn't think twice if I heard it called out in my local supermarket.

EVERY single name will be disliked by someone. Thank goodness we all have different tastes .

If it has even 1% cringe factor for you, don't use it.

personally I think it is poncearama, but that shouldn't sway you

My child's father dislikes her name. But I figured as a single mum I was entitled to make the decision alone, he just calls her by her nickname. I still love her full name, no matter how often I have to correct spellings. You're the ones saying it most, just choose your favourite, ignore comments.

jobrien i may have misunderstood you but i think you may be a bit unfair to say "it's all about me attitude" . naming a dc is probably the first and one could argue the most important thing you do for a dc after their birth . something that will stay with them for life and may even influence their life chances. it's something that if you make the wrong choice is not easy to undo unlike buying the wrong , pram seat etc. it must be far better to discuss how you feel about a name before dc's birth than leave it till it's too late as op is doing .
i honestly believe that when most parents agonize over a name choice that it's actually less about how they feel , but how the name will affect their dc and how their dc will be perceived . if i feel embarrassed about this name will my dc , if i'm proud of this name than my dc will feel special etc.

if a parent feels uneasy about a name choice then their is a possibility their dc will pick up on these negative feelings which may affect not just how they feel about their name but how they feel about themselves. even if these feelings are passed on inadvertently .that is why most people try to find a name that "pleases others " but also one they love . obviously you will never please everyone . therefore it must be better to pick a name you love over one that pleases others as you are the one who will have a greater influence on how a dc feels about their name than anyone else .

many parents crave a unique , special name as to them their child is just that. others want something popular because they want a name that blends that doesn't make their child stand out . nothing wrong with either position imho. personally i also dislike daft spellings but each to their own .

to say you should choose a classless name can be difficult if not impossible todays "posh" is tomorrows "naff" and vice versa . in the UK there sometimes seem to be very few truly classless names anyway

Ds has an Irish name, every time somebody asks what he's called I have to say it several times (we're in the UK)
I do dread telling new people as nobody ever says 'that's nice' even to be polite, except every now and then somebody will say that's Irish isn't it? And that makes ma :) all my Irish relatives love it as well.
I wanted to call him Rafferty, but exh vetoed it. Since I've raised him single handed I sometimes wish I'd stuck with that. But he is his name, and hopefully he'll like it.

ds2's name is very rare - possibly unique. He may hate it when he is older but I suspect not.

elseilltellyourfather great minds.....it's Clementine too! Or Clemmus, as bump is currently know fo reasons that are lost to both of us :)

I'm not embarrassed by any one of my children's name just sometimes when I'm asked 'what's your children's names?' and I have to give all three of them together I realise I am a pretentious prat Singularly they are ok together I'm poncetastic.....

Known for. Flipping iPad.

I love love love my kids names but I know when I say them a lot of folk won't and having two middle names makes me cringe a little but wouldnt change them!

I know what you mean. Our ds has an extremely unusual name and at first I was a bit reluctant to tell people even though I was glad we had been brave and refused to back down from calling him that. Now I couldn't give two hoots what people think and I am proud of calling it at the supermarket/wherever. I think it all just takes a bit of getting used to.

I love my DDs name, the only thing I wish we'd done but we didn't, as I was adamant I didn't want to was give her a middle name...