Beryl

[tummytickler]

Can I use Beryl if I already have a Pearl?
Dh and I agree on 4 girls names. I also have two more that I am trying to get him to agree to.
Beryl is my favourite from the 4 we agree on, but we have a dd Pearl already.

She is nearly 6, so at school. Baby and dd will not be at toddler group together or anything like that.

What do you think?

Wow, some people are horrible on here. The OP was only asking if she could use Beryl if she already has a Pearl. Now while Beryl isn't on my "list", it's hardly the female equivalent of Adolf or something. I agree that once you know a baby with a name your whole opinion of it changes.

If we all had the same taste, things would be very boring. I take it all of the people with their particularly viscious comments are as outspoken in real life? Or is it just much easier to be rude and unpleasant to a computer?

welcome to mumsnet grubbalo

I quite like Beryl. And I like it with Pearl.

Mildred is not to anyone's my taste though.

DOes anyone else think that Tummytickler is having a laugh at our expense and not really considering Beryl, Mildred, Mortimer and Hershel?

MayDayChild

I LOVE Edwin

DS would have been Edwin, but our surname doesn't go with anything that can be shortened to to Ed (head).

I also like Ursula. Can't see Beryl ever becoming ok, I don't think it's the same as Ruby or Pearl. It's just not a grower.

No, I don't think she's having a laugh. She may just not share your taste. Her other childrens' names e.g. Pearl would probably have got the same reaction 5/6 years ago. I actually admire her confidence in her choices and I find her names more intersting and refreshing than the usual mumnset approved names.

And her question was whether we felt that two gemstones would work well together, not what we thought of the actual names. Personally I think most people wouldn't even know that a beryl is a gemstone .

"DOes anyone else think that Tummytickler is having a laugh at our expense and not really considering Beryl, Mildred, Mortimer and Hershel?"

It seems a lot of you are having a laugh at her choices, not the other way round. I honestly am shocked how rude some of the posters are on here. She is hardly suggesting Chlamydia or Armani or something silly, she is suggesting a perfectly normal name, just that lots of us still have 'old granny' associations. Our kids will most certainly not have these anymore.

But to answer the OPs question, I think two gemstones would actually be lovely together. I have friends with two flower names in the family (Rose, Iris).

If this isn't a wind-up, dare I ask what your boys names are?

Where do you live? Can imagine Beryl shrieked in a thick Brissol accent

Jeez - its not a wind up. Don't you think with 4 dc I would have better things to do than wind up a bunch of strangers about the potential name of a baby that they are never going to meet!
Mudandmayhem - I already mentioned our only two boys choices further up the thread.

I am really suprised at the amount of hatred towards the name Beryl on this thread. Jesus - did a Beryl run over your collective dogs or something?

I think it is fine to have two gemstones in one family but I don't really like Beryl much.
I think Meryl, Merryn, Marin, Myrtle or Margery are prettier but it is all down to personal taste, I suppose!

"I take it all of the people with their particularly viscious comments are as outspoken in real life? "

Yes.

No-the absolute joy of MN-being honest!

I certainly hope people are less horrid in real life. And I hope they don't pass on their narrow judgemental views onto their children. Because children will accept most names for what they are i.e. names of their mates (ok, unless its poo head or Willy perhaps ).

Always diplomatic poppydaisy, I would say 'what an unusual name' and pass on. (not being able to say anything nice) If someone posts on MN they shouldn't bother, unless they are prepared for the truth.

I strongly dislike "beryl", to me it sounds like roll out the barrell.

Pearl is a nice name, old fashioned but nice. I do generally like quirky old fashioned names but beryl just doesn't do it for me.

Mildred is okay, Millie for short? And Mort for Mortimer, reminds me of a favourite Discworld book :)

But calling a Mildred Millie would be a shame - there are loads of Millies out there already, I find it a bit dull personally. And I'd probably shorten Mortimer to Morty, not Mort.

People can judge so much just from a name.....

If your dd grows up to be Beryl - the outlandish, artistic, confident, beautiful girl that everybody flocks around, then she's probably going to love the fact that you gave her such an 'unusual' name.

However, if she grows up to be - bookish, introvert, and terribly shy, Beryl may not be loving her name quite so much.

I gave my daughter a less popular name, which I still think is lovely and she's 3 now (however it either gets the reaction 'that's a really beautiful name' or deadly silence) and it's not that unusual tbh . I was aware that I was marking her out - slightly - from the rest by doing it, not always a bad thing for females though IMO and I did have to consider what it would sound like should she decide to become Prime Minister one day!!!

The other important factor is does it go with your surname? If you have a very interesting sounding surname then it could work, but if your name is 'Jones' or 'Brown' say, then it sounds less romantic/evocative.

Ultimately the choice is yours though, just be sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Pregnancy can do funny things to the old grey matter (or it did to mine anyway!)

Anyway, it's not the end of the world, she can always change it if she doesn't like it.

Beryl is a marvellous name, I've known a few wonderful Beryls.
I don't think it's an issue having two gemstone names.
Go for it. I'm sure your baby will be fabulous, whichever name you choose.

OP you already said that you liked the name Beryl best, so there, I suppose that's what your DD will be called.

The difference between chatting to people and posting on MN is that here you will get what people think because they are strangers and anonymous, whereas if you ask friends they will either say they like it or nothing much at all. So, I think you wanted a real picture of what people think and you got that here.

Poppy she asked for opinions and got them. I wasn't trying to be mean, I was just saying exactly how I felt, plus I'm pregnant so I REALLY do say how I feel - these hormones have no mercy!
Maybe its just me but my brother used to call me some of those names just to be mean to me and wind me up so I have bad memories of them.
People DO judge by names I'm afraid - its the truth. I do it sometimes subconsciously. If I hear the name 'David' I think middle class, probably has a decent job, traditional etc.....If I hear the name 'Jordan' or 'Kyle'I might have completely different ideas.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-363230/Chav-names-feared-teachers.html

I always hated my name growing up because some people used to mock me for it being 'old fsahioned' other people just used to say 'WHAT?' when I told them, It has only been since I was in my twenties I grew to actually like it a bit more as it has become a bit more popular and being older I wouldn't want to be called something too common either.

Its lovely when you come up with an origional name to be different, but you also need to think about how it will affect the child growing up - Kids (and teenagers!) can be MEAN.

Beryl is fine for a confident, leader type DD, but makes life difficult for the shy, introverted DD-unfortunately you can't tell at birth whether they are strong enough to carry it off.

tummytickler I have seen you on the baby names board many times and think you have brilliant taste in names. Beryl is a fine name, can't see what all this fuss is about x