I know most of you won't like this name, but that doesn't matter. What I need to know is...

[allhailtheaubergine]

... are there any reasons I can't use it?

Any negative references or unfortunate initial sequence that I didn't notice. That sort of thing.

The name is Gilbert.

Middle names probably Merle Thomas (though the Thomas is undecided).

Surname - short and fairly usual.

God I love it when I m useful! I was brought up in West Country, but moved to Lincs for 20 years and it seems to be known in all those quarters. Come on MNetters - who else knows bogies as gilberts, where are you?

Never heard of the bogie thing but I can't get Gilbert, the Morgana character, out of my head. That's reason enough not to saddle a kid with it IMO!

I'm from the west country and live in Bristol and have never heard this gilbert/bogie thing.

No gilberts in my part of Yorkshire. Am loving the name and the nicknames too, which is a sodding miracle as I usually hate nicknames with a passion usually reserved for trainers.

I can vaguely remember it (Bridgwater girl, ex anyway) but it was nothing I remembered until being reminded IYSWIM.

I'm from and in the West Country and have never heard of that association.

Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables, my first girlhood crush.

FAB name.

Much better than your last babynames thread, Aubergine.

Like Gilbert, but Merle is a girl's name to me - Merle Oberon is what came to mind.

Gilbert fine - artists Gilbert and George, v cool.

I have only ever come across Merle as a girls name though - I know 2 female Merles.

Gilbert is a rugby and sportswear manufacturing company.

Here

So he'd always be able to get personalised sports kit without having to fork out extra!

So long as he never lives in Argentina, it's OK (gil means stupid in Argentine slang).

Gil from Johnny Test, the twins love him.

But not Geoffrey - please, no.

I actually love Gilbert and Thomas, not keen on Merle. Can't think of any weird things for kids to call him.. But you have to be an evil 8 year old to really know. And tbh they will find something to abuse him for because that's what they do.

I know a lovely male Merl, but he's short for Merlin. He has to contend with people calling him Meryl all the time.

The name reminded me first of this bloke I knew a long time ago who called his penis Gilbert, then that green snot monster. So not all that nice, but that's just my opinion.

Oh yes. And Gilbert and George - more penises.

I'm another who thought- you can't call a child after a nickname for snot! My husband's family refer to 'green gilberts'- I had never heard them called that before I met him, but definately couldn't call my son Gilbert! Doesn't seem that widespread though, from other MNers opinions!

It could grow on me, Gilbert. Herts born and bread, no green gilberts there.

Green Gilbert. Was the Alien which poured snot from his nose, and lived on the Millenium Dustbin on some Saturday morning TV show when I was a kid...

I presume he was called that because of a previous association between the name and bogeys, but perhaps that's where it all started?
www.oddballsmcc.co.uk/bright.jpg Here's a pic of him....

Chunky - I d forgotten about the Snot Monster! Thanks for the memory! But gilberts in general predate this Green Gilbert.

OK Merle is a girl's name (as in Merle Oberon) so you might want to change that.

Apart from Gilbert Blythe (nice but wet) and Gilbert O'Sullivan the only one I have known was at the (rather roughty-toughty inner-city) school I worked at last year. He was in the 6th form admittedly, but he seemed to carry it well.

They never gave him a nickname either, he was always Gilbert. He was a bit whacky tho, mad hair and glasses, so maybe that helped. Nice lad!

Re bogies btw - I'm from Lincolnshire and went to uni in Bristol and have never heard them called Gilberts!

I quite like it, and know a lovely little boy called Gil. But my first thought was Greenwich Mean Time is bound to be his nickname...