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?

In answer to your actual question, I don't think that the two together are a huge issue.

However I went to school with a poor soul called Beryl who was called 'Beryl the Feral' and then later it was shortened to just 'Feral'. Please reconsider!

amberleaf - I actually love Gertrude - Gertie and Trudy are very cute.

The names dh vetoed are (amongst about a million others)

Prudence, Cordelia, Morag, Pandora, Miriam, Thora, Gwendolen, Sibyl, Margaret, Aphra, Judith, Enid, Tabitha, Perdita, Eileen, Angela

and just about every other name I could come up with

I don't blame him.

Blimey, some corkers there, I love a trad name but some of those take the cake.

What about Cornelia?
Works well with Pearl, is a stone name, and you could have Connie or Nelle/Nelly as a nn.

Are you naming a human baby or a guinea pig?

I actually agree that Beryl is nice if you sit and stare at it for long enough to make you not see it as old-fashioned horrid BERYL iyswim. But I think the Beryl and Pearl together are the problem - looks twee to me.

Ursula is by far your best on the list. How about more 'ordinary' versions of some of the vetoed? Sylvie, Thea, Josephine, Tara, Penny?

Really awful name. Sorry.

No, for the love of Michael, not Beryl! Sorry I think it is an awful name.

Susan, Jane and Ursula are okay, don't like Mildred. What about Millicent, that is better than Mildred?

Or Cordelia, Penelope, Opal, Emmeline, Melanie?

From the vetoed list, Miriam, Judith and Tabitha are lovely.

Met a Perdita the other day, may sound nice but doesn't it mean lost? Bit of a sad name for a child.

Agree Beryl is awful, as is Mildred. Susan and Jane just boring. Actually do quite like Angela, it has a nice sound just not sure it is quite ready for a comeback.

I think it can be quite risky trying to revive dates names, sometimes it can work (Iris is great) but I was at school with a Joyce - didn't work in nineties, would not work now!

In response to actual question though, Beryl and Pearl do sound too similar I think, esp in some accents. However, guess they are not going to be part of a set all their lives so maybe no big deal. More pertinent I would think is that Pearl is a lovely name and opinion seems to indicate most people think Beryl isn't!

Awful. Seems to me that you are trying too hard to be different. Your child is not a fashion accessory you know.

"Seems to me that you are trying too hard to be different"

Some people actually DO like the name Beryl, especially those of us who haven't got any negative associations with old Beryls (I grew up abroad so don't know any Beryls, old or young, so to me it is just a name, and I like the sound of it). And some of us actually DO try hard to find a name we love for our children that isn't already used by thousands others.

See, whereas I find the sound of Beryl very pretty I dislike the sound Mildred as it sounds too much like mildew. But I honestly can't see what there is to dislike about Beryl (or Sheryl for that matter) and think Berry is a cute nickname.

I doubt very much if Beryl was in the top 100, the OP would have considered it. Same goes for Mildred. She's just trying to be unique, but is in fact looking like a try-hard wannabe.

pickler, we chose our childrens' names from outside the top 100, there are lots and lots of lovely names to choose from .

I agree with Pickler. I doubt these names would appeal to the OP if they were in the top 100, or even the top 1000.

I get the feeling that the more ghastly people say they are, the more the op will be encouraged that the names are not likely to become popular, and so will use.
Don't mean to be horrible, but I don't think they are genuinely liked, just seems like name remorse for existing dc names becoming popular.

I thought Beryl was bad, then I saw Susan. Oh my lord!

I love oldie names and think Pearl is lovely. I know you weren't asking about Pearl, just didn't want to be all negative!

FWIW, my DH's response to Thisbe was "that's not a name, it's a child's toy that you throw through the air".

You've got to be shitting me. Beryl?

Firstly - I am not bothered that my dc names are popular. They aren't that popular anyway.
Secondly - no, I won't consider names that are in the top 100. What wrong with that. We can't all use the same 100 names you know.
However, just because I wouldn't use names from the top 100, it doesn't mean I would pick something horrid just to have a unique name. That is a stupid thing to say. There are loads of beautiful names outside the most popular ones you know.
I genuinely like the name Beryl (and the others) I am surprised it has had such a negative reaction (but actually my other 2 dc did when I was pg with them too). I don't associate it with old ladies, I have never known a Beryl.
I don't get why because most people don't like a name, that surely must mean anybody that says they do like it is lying - lots of people on here like Beryl!
And actually - a lot of my original list is well inside the top 1000 - so there!

tummytickler It seems like this thread has mostly NOT in favour of Beryl, but I like your style, you should stick to your guns and chose a name that you adore. I still think Beryl and Pearl sound too similar, and a bit silly together. Much prefer Thisbe and Ursula.

I have a more unusually named son, I did not want him to be one of 2,3,4 Oliver, Jack, Oscar, George, William, Alfie, Arthurs that abound round these parts. All of those names I really really like, but wanted something a bit different. I have a very popular name for my generation, and it was always "do you mean Gapants with the long hair, or Gapants with the red hair?"

thanks gapants - you know, I seldom get pissed off abouth threads on here, and I can certainly take a bashing, but I didn't actually ask for opinions on the name Beryl. I asked if it sounded a bit mad to have two gemstones in the same family, and got a real bashing for it! Gah!
But I don't really care - I will pick a name we both like (hopefully one of mine!) and then let you all know, so you can have a good laugh

I like some more agreeable names (Miriam, Cordelia, Tabitha) but dh says no - so don't just blame me!

As far as I can tell there is nothing 'wrong' with the name Beryl other than that some of us have negative associations with existing elderly people we know. But I expect that association to lessen over time, just as it has with names like Pearl, Clementine and Mabel for example. I actually quite like the sound of Beryl and think Berry is a cute nickname. I think the OP is just ahead of the curve .

But more importantly, shouldn't we be encouraging more name diveristy rather than having even more Ellies, Ellas or Graces (yawn...).