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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Help! my family hate my baby's name!!

63 replies

karmum · 03/10/2011 13:20

I love the name we have given our son, it feels perfect and was not given without a good nine months of serious deliberation.. and yet I have become so uncomfortable with it after both my parents (separated) have made comments about it.. our boy is called Oswold - Ozzy for short... the problem is that people of my parents generation or + have mentioned the fascist Oswald Mosley.. i just don't see how this man should commandeer such a beautiful name 30 years later.. am i being unreasonable????

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LydiaWickham · 04/10/2011 13:02

It's a lovely name - tell your Parents they don't have to like the name, but it's done now, if they can't say anything nice, they shouldn't say anything at all, and surely they must realise that people old enough to remember who Mosley was are dying out, by the time your DS is an adult, all their generation will be in the ground or in a care home, and everyone else are more likely to think of Oswold Boatang. (I always find the 'your generation are dying out' line ends most conversations like this).

themightyskim · 04/10/2011 13:11

My mum totally put me off a name I had chosen for a girl and truth be told I resent her for it, dont let anyone put you off a name that you love its your baby and you get to choose, Ozzy is a very cute name and Ive never even heard of Mosley, nor I imagine have the majority of mums that you socialise with - tell them to wind their necks in and enjoy their grandchild

JustinBoobie · 04/10/2011 13:17

Love it. If I have a ds, he would be in the running to be an Ozzy!!

minervaitalica · 04/10/2011 13:23

YANBU in the sense that it's rude of your parents to remark on your DS' name anyway

Having said that - in all honesty my first thought went to Oswald "the fascist guy" too (I am not British, although I lived in England for 10 yrs or so)... ANd I doubt I am the only one who would think that...

oohlaalaa · 04/10/2011 13:30

Sorry my first thought is Mosley too. Saying that I suffer with connections. I would not use Joseph for instance, due to the Stalin connection.

I think the connection is made when first hearing name, but it is soon forgotten.

birdofthenorth · 04/10/2011 13:40

Good name. Strong but cute. Stick to your gut. In 6 months time he will be the only Oswold or Ozzy your friends and family bring to mind.

GnomeDePlume · 04/10/2011 13:52

Good name! My DS also shares a similar though different Nothumbrian king saint's name.

Stick to your guns and if anyone criticises your DS's name then reply with:

'I hope you didnt mean to be as rude as that!'

For some reason families sometimes think they have a say when they really dont!

kelly2000 · 04/10/2011 19:39

Like I said if you like the name then call him that, but I think the idea that only old people know about Mosley is incorrect. the 1930's were an important part of history in Europe, and the rise of the far right even in countries like Britain is important to understanding how world war two came about. he was famous becuase he was leader of the facist party, not because he married a Mitford, that is just reducing an important part of history to a celebrity wedding. You cannot stop people connecting the name unfortunetly. It is the same with any name that a famous person has- call a child jenson in the UK, and people will say "oh as in the F1 driver"

SlinkingOutsideInSocks · 04/10/2011 20:33

Ugh, I didn't say he was important because he married DM; I said that that elevated his fame and notoriety levels tenfold - her sister's connection with Nazi Germany and her own allegiance with fascism and Nazism and refusal to ever denounce either right up until her death made him a much more well-known figure than he ever would have been if he'd just stayed married to Cynthia.

The threat to democracy in the 1930s and 1940s was never from the BUF; it was from Hitler, the Third Reich and Mussolini. I was just trying to agree with the point that he, of and in himself, was actually not that important an historical figure, relatively speaking.

I do agree though, that the people who know of him are really not about to die out - I hope I have a few years left in me yet, at 37.

And as I also said, many people will inevitably think of OM when they hear the name, but it's not enough of a reason not to give it to your child if you love it. There was a similar discussion recently around the name Madeleine and I said the same thing, that yes, I probably would think of MM when first told of the name, but soon enough the new baby would come to 'own' the name and any previous connections would simply cease to matter. It is the exact same thing here.

chandellina · 05/10/2011 12:00

lots of names might be "known" because there is a peripheral historic figure with that name, but that's a far cry from the name being forever associated with that figure. It's not like we're talking Madonna here. And Madeleine McCann - that is ludicrous - some people really read too many tabloids if common names have such resonance with them. for the record I don't know who "Jenson" is and if the name came my way would have zero associations. there is nothing "inevitable" about this child's name being associated with someone who lived long ago and is largely out of mind.

iskra · 05/10/2011 20:14

I think of Oswald Mosley - I'm 27 so not grandparent age! But I did live on Cable St for a while...

I also think of Oswald Bastable mind you.

SlinkingOutsideInSocks · 05/10/2011 22:38

Man, some people just read what they want to read, and not what is actually written...

I said, many people will inevitably think of OM when they hear the name. Not all people, but many people. And this very thread proves it - lots of people have come on to say they would think of him.

Doesn't mean it's a problem though, or that they will always and only think of him.

As for the name Madeleine, again, it's only a fleeting thought. If you can hear a name and not have it conjure up any past associations (someone nice you worked with who made you like a name, a person you disliked who put you off a name, etc, etc) then good for you.

The person posting that thread was asking for honest opinions: did people think of MM when they heard the name - as when she'd mentioned it to people in real life, they'd been a bit shocked that she was considering it. Now I think that is ridiculous - to not choose the name for reasons of the MM association is bonkers, but likewise, I admit I would think of MM but that would be it, and the new 'owner' of the name would quickly make it their own.

As with baby Oswold/Oswald.

Italiangreyhound · 06/10/2011 03:18

I would NOT think of him!

I'd think if King, Saint and martyr Oswold.

www.lindisfarne.org.uk/general/oswald.htm

"What is a Christian saint, if not one who lives a life of love, first to God and then to man?"

"King Oswald was a man of prayer."

"Oswald was a man of compassion. One of the best-known stories describes how one Easter, when he was about to dine with Bishop Aidan, a great crowd of the poor came begging alms. The king gave them not only the food but also the silver dish, to be broken up and distributed among them. Aidan was so moved by this generosity that he grasped the king's right hand and exclaimed, "May this hand never perish!" (And Bede tells us that it didn't, for in his day the king's hand, which had been severed in his last battle, was preserved in Bamburgh church!)"

Well I can't claim all that is true but it is a lovely name.

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