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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

please help. everyone hates our boys name and its causing real problems betwenn me and dpa

75 replies

itsybitsy08 · 28/07/2011 11:32

I started a thread a while ago, but now know we are having a boy :)
DP picked Gabriel and although i didnt love it at first, it grew on me and was quite happy to use it.
However, my mam (she was nice about it) is 'really concerned' that he will get picked on.
My brother hates it and really ripped into it, thinking i was joking.
DPs sister hates it also and thinks he will get picked on.
Friends at work think he will get picked on, and have had a very luke-warm reaction from others.
DP is really upset about it all, and it has really put me off using the name, and its causing abit of tension.
I know it is up to us what we can him, but i am worried if that many people think he will get bullied, maybe he will, and is that fair to impose it on him?
Any ideas on other names because i am totally at a loss! (We have a DD lexie)
Really long i know, thanks for reading.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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drcrab · 28/07/2011 17:16

I think it's lovely too. TBH we had that reaction when we were choosing names for both our DCs...and now, no one can imagine them being anything else but their names. So sod it. go with your choice.

Tigerbomb · 28/07/2011 17:20

I love the name Gabriel but friends have a ds called Gabriel and he is bullied re his name. he is often called Gay boy. What is it with kids and the word Gay!

Their DS has asked to change his name. He is 8.

I think that's really so sad

PirateDinosaur · 28/07/2011 17:21

Gabriel is a top-100 name, staying pretty level in the popularity stakes from year to year at the moment. There were more boys named Gabriel last year than there were named Robert, for example. It's not even remotely weird by current naming standards. And I know a gorgeous three-month-old baby Gabriel.

alowVera · 28/07/2011 17:21

Tell them to sod off, Gabriel is a lovely name, and it's your child not theirs. IMO if a child is going to be pick on it really wouldn't matter what they were called.

HoneyDuke · 28/07/2011 17:27

I once knew a very beautiful man called Gabriel < drifts off in to daydream>

noddyholder · 28/07/2011 17:28

I love it and know a few and none are picked on and tbh it is not even that unusual so not sure what the problem is.

bitingfairy · 28/07/2011 17:48

If DD had been a DS she'd have been Gabriel. I love it, and think Gabe is good too. Not at all girly. Go for it.

scarlettlips · 28/07/2011 19:22

HoneyDuke me too....he was utterly lush, I was 16 he was 19...mmmm!

Great name, GO FOR IT!!!!

My friend has a Gabriel and everyone always says how lovely it is.

allthefires · 28/07/2011 19:34

I think its time you worried less what others think and concerntrate more on your new little family. You will have lots more battles ahead if you allow your family to dictate your name choice.

ensure · 28/07/2011 20:20

It is a nice, perfectly normal, name!

BeerTricksPotter · 28/07/2011 20:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ajaybaines · 28/07/2011 20:34

I like it. I think Gabe is a really cool nickname.

Ignore them!

pussycatmomma · 28/07/2011 20:39

ive not read whole of this thread, but my honest opinion is a beautiful name. Actually its my ds1 middle name, I love it to bits . Dont be swayed!!!! hes your boy , its a beautiful name, and if you dont use it you'll regret it. I liked a certain name when we were having ds1 and my father in law said we couldnt poss call baby that because it sounded like a greyhounds name!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was mortified and didnt want my child mistaken for a mutt running out of trap 6, and hence we didnt use it as the whole of dps family were against it. Ive always regretted not using it and even though i have 2 lovely ds's with names i adore, i've always thought about the original name . Use it!!!!

thisisyesterday · 28/07/2011 20:45

I have a Gabriel and I have never, ever, ever had a bad comment about it.

honestly, hand on heart. people have only ever said nice stuff

it shouldn't matter what your parents/family think... it's YOUR baby and if you are happy with the name then that's wha tmatters.... they'll get used to it I'm sure

there are an awful lot of people out there who "think" that a child called Gabriel will get bullied and called Gay. I've yet to come across anyone who has actually had experience of this happening.

TheOriginalFAB · 28/07/2011 20:46

FFS when will people learn NOT to discuss their name choices until they are announcing the baby's birth?

If you like the name, have it. Gabriel is a lovely name and much better than some of the stupid names some people come up with.

spottyock · 28/07/2011 21:05

I have known several Gabriels in the schools I have worked in. I think it's a lovely name and pretty cool. I like it's shortened name - Gabe - too.

Ignore others. It will grow on them. If you and your DP like it then go with it.

spiderlight · 28/07/2011 22:04

I love Gabriel! It was very high on my list and nobody said anything negative about it (apart from DH - 'too Biblical' )

dinkystinky · 28/07/2011 22:06

OP - I knew a Gabriel at school - he was amazingly goodlooking, cool and artistic. Every girl I knew had a crush on him. And it is a lovely name.

DS1 goes to school with a Gabriel - no one picks on him.

MirandaGoshawk · 28/07/2011 22:08

Gabriel is a lovely name.

bonkers20 · 28/07/2011 22:18

Do your family all have personal experience of being picked on at school? It seems a strange thing to harp on about TBH. Or maybe you asked in a non-confident way which invited negative comments?

A child is picked on for all manner of reasons, sometimes initially to do with their name, but long term it really doesn't make any difference at all. Kids will make mean names out of anything in the world.

MyLifeIsChaotic · 28/07/2011 22:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Hulababy · 28/07/2011 22:31

I know a 6y Gabriel, nn Gabe. He's a lovely lad and noone ever comments negatively on his name at all.

Your family and friends sound very rude. TBH I'd just put them straight - this is the name we are using and that is it. If you don't like it fine, but please do not comment negatively to me or our child again about it. And if they do, then remind them again and get shorty with them if necessary. Don't let them bully you.

BabesandJugs · 28/07/2011 23:34

When i was pg with dd i completely vetoed Gabriel - i was young and naive and it just conjured up images of a boy ready to be bullied. That was over 8 years ago.

We now have a gorgeous, very cool 2.5 year old DS and you guessed it. Gabriel

I wanted an otherwise popular boys name and that was used by a family member 2 weeks before ds arrived.

My family in particular HATED the name Gabriel - but now they LOVE it and he wouldn't be anything else. (other than Gabe / Gabey)

Go for it, it is fabulous!

When he was first born people would ask his name and then say 'oh thats erm lovely / unusual - to be polite. Now he's older and full of character people adore it! (and him!) xx

VikingLady · 01/08/2011 16:04

I live in the northeast too, and people are a little more intolerant (on average - I am aware there are exceptions!) about names than in my native midlands. This is going to sound snobby, but what sort of school will he be going to? If everyone he mixes with are like the family members you've mentioned, then maybe they have a point....

But is your brother just like that? Would he have found something to laugh at REGARDLESS of the name you picked? I have relatives like that, and you won't please them and shouldn't try (since they clearly don't try with you). My inlaws hate the names we've picked, but that is their problem.

Oh, and Gabriel is not a camp name, despite the first syllable being "gay". Besides, if he does go to school with people who think the same way as your family, what about all the kids names after pop stars and their kids? I bet there will be a bunch of kids with numbers for names in his year...

VikingLady · 01/08/2011 16:05

Sorry, that may have been something of a rant. I feel pretty strongly about it. Would they prefer a name that automatically excludes him from getting a good job when he is older? Gabriel certainly won't do that!

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