Jessica and Holly?

[doblet]

DD1 is Jessica, dd2 is due soon. I love the name Holly but am worried people will just think about a news story from several years ago.
What do you think?

I really don't get it.

oh well, at least there is one criteria that is not on my and dh's radar when we are trying to come up with a name for dc3.

Bad idea. I'd steer clear.

marvin it's the combination! Surely you can understand why that's different? If the op had asked for opinions on either Holly or Jessica, no-one would have mentioned the Soham girls, but together it's the first thing a lot of us thought of.

So;

Peter - fine unless your surname is Sutcliffe
Maddie - fine unless your surname is McCann or similar
Milly - fine unless your surname is Dowler
Jamie - fine unless your surname is Bulger

Adolf, Sadam, Osama are pretty much always out.

I mean, honestly - your child brings a friend home for tea. she is called Jessica.

while chatting, you find out her sister's name is Holly. and you think what? really of two girls who were murdered 10 years ago? who weren't even sisters?

I can honestly say it would not occur to me.

Immediately thought of the story.
Sorry.

Soham came to mind immediately for me, too.

Both lovely names, but not together now, I'm afraid.

'I can honestly say it would not occur to me'

It clearly occurs to a lot of people though, you only need to read the thread to see that!

I immediately thought of those poor little girls - sorry.

Also the first thing that I thought when I saw the thread in "Active" - sorry...

Marvin - What about if there's a school picture of both of them sitting together and MUm says to you "Oh I'm glad you like it, that's my girls Holly and Jessica"

Anything else will be so much happier for everyone !

well yes, it obviously does occur to a lot of people.

but what I don't understand is why that would not be more than a fleeting thought, once faced with real, actual people in front of you.

if you started work in a new office, and your 2 colleagues were called Holly and Jessica, would you think every day of the Soham girls?

if your child had 2 children in their class called Holly and Jessica would you think it every time you saw the relevant pegs in the cloakroom?

I don't understand why it matters beyond that first thought. are people really going to think it every single time they speak to/about either of the girls?

I'm really not getting the 'so much happier for everyone else' line of thinking.

as I said before, if the OP knew either of the famiies, then yes, avoid (but tbh, you would probably avoid using either of the names in that case) - fair enough.

but none of you (I assume, and hope) knew these girls. and yet you are all saying that it is all you would think of when faced with 2 lively, giggling girls?

I do find that odd.

The response is what I thought. Back to the drawing board. I like Clara, thanks for the suggestion, will run it past DH. It's hard to think of a name when you can't use the one you really like

I think once you got to know them you probably wouldn't think about it every time.

On first hearing it I'd think of those poor girls, closely followed by 'I can't believe anyone would name their children Jessica and Holly'. It would be more than a fleeting thought, but I wouldn't think it everytime I spoke of them.

Problem is that during their lives you're going to meet loads and loads of people. So there will be loads and loads of 'these are our girls Jessica and Holly' other person ''.

Clara is beautiful OP.

So much happier for them too.

But I've not got much more to say marvin

If you don't get it you'll just have to take people's word that it comes to mind for them.

Why would you want a difficult and sad association for your children when it's so easily avoided ?

Good luck OP. For me at least it's a no brainer. - Hoping you like some other names !

Clara is beautiful - I think she's a friend to Heidi in the book "Heidi"

I think it means "clear" like the name "Claire" does too.

"but none of you (I assume, and hope) knew these girls. and yet you are all saying that it is all you would think of when faced with 2 lively, giggling girls?

I do find that odd."

Really Marvin? You find it odd that less than ten years after these children were murdered people still vividly remember the case?

Despite the fact that there was widespread media interest in this case, not least because there was a period where they were missing children and their bodies had not yet been found?

That people might remember them because their deaths could have been prevented if public bodies were better at sharing information?

That their deaths let to the Bichard Inquiry and an overhaul in how information is held and shared?

They have been dead for less than ten years and people remember them. The way you post is condescending, to say the least.

Yes, they are remembered. Get over it.

I do not find it odd that they are remebered, fgs.

I do find it odd that people would think it strange to use two perfectly normal, popular names because 2 girls (who were friends, not sisters) sadly died.

and I do find it odd that people would give it more than a passing thought when a friend/acquaintance introduced her two children.

but hey, I obviously didn't care enough about 2 girls I had never met. Clearly I should still be mourning people I did not know, because of the widespread media that surrounded the case.

"Clearly I should still be mourning people I did not know, because of the widespread media that surrounded the case."

Yes, that's what I said, that you should be in mourning.

right back at you.

The fact that they were friends and not sisters is irrelevant. It's the combination of the two names that brings the case to everyones mind.

They didn't 'sadly die', they were murdered by someone they knew and trusted, their bodies burnt and then left in woodland, while the whole nation watched 2 weeks of coverage of the search for them and their parents appeals for help in finding them.

That's what the combination of those two names brings to mind.

It was a passing thought, but how would you feel knowing that every time you introduced your daughters, there was a reasonable chance that they will make that association?

Even if it was fleeting, I'm not sure I would want my children to be thought of in association to a tragic case.

So have I fucked up having an Ollie and Jessica, because it never occurred once to me until this thread. Have people been tutting at me behind my back for the past four years?

It would take me a lot longer to make the connection with Ollie and Jessica. In fact, thinking about it, I know an Oli and Jessica and it's never clicked before though probably will now