My first name is both Biblical and Hebrew. It is not common, but is not Hepzibah either. I have gotten every response from the delighted gasp of "OH that's LOVELY!!!" with the eager requests that I spell it so they can write it down and add it to their own baby name lists, (I have had at least one child named after me after her mother fell in love with my name!) to the utterly horrid "Oh. THAT'S weird." and my most favorite of all times the sour-faced, smug, VERY sarcastic: "Oh. I'm sorry." Really... REALLY, LADY?!?! I have never even laid eyes on you before, and this is how you respond to hearing my name????!
The absolute WORST response I have EVER had to any of my DC's names was upon the birth of our younger daughter last year. Early in my pregnancy, I had shared with my father that we were planning to name a girl Saoirse. He LOVED it!!! In fact, he went on and on about it for nearly an hour... Told me not to worry one little bit what people thought of the spelling ~ They'd get used to it! Told me over and over how much he loved it, and that it was the perfect name for our daughter!! He was delighted with our choice!
Apparently my step-mother did not share the same sentiment, and must have incessantly belittled it to him, because from that moment to her birth, his opinion changed drastically... and that with little warning whatsoever!! We had not found out what we were having before she was born, so upon giving birth, I rang them to let them know we had a girl.
My step-mother answered the phone and acted a bit disappointed that we had a girl and immediately asked what we named her... I happily responded with Saoirse, followed by her two middle names. My joyful announcement was met with stony silence followed by "Oh." BIG silent pause. "Sooo... What are you going to call her???" A bit taken aback, I replied (as though she hadn't heard me) "Saoirse!" Once again met with stony disapproval and a most dejected "Oh. I was hoping you were going to call her (middle name number one!!!) Right about this point, I heard my father walk by in the background and make a very snide, sneering sounding comment at which step-mother immediately began laughing at most amusedly. When I asked what he had said, she repeated with a tone of triumph that he had just commented that Saoirse "Sounds like a porn star name!!"!!!!!!!!! I was utterly appalled, and worst of all was totally not expecting this from him, particularly after all those lovely comments he had made when originally discussing it with him. He had literally told me to "Listen to your Daddy... THIS is the quintessential perfect name for that baby!!!" Wow. Big shift of heart there, and HORRIBLE manner of expressing it! I was in tears for hours solid, and then for days after that, whenever I would think about it. I am seriously contemplating not calling them at all after the birth of our next baby. Maybe a text. Maybe an e-mail. Maybe have my DH call them. But I do not need to have anymore experiences like that... It was AWFUL!!!