I'm starting a Baby Names mutiny... Who will join me?

[CheeseAndBunion]

Last year Mumsnetters rallied behind a seemingly pointless quest of mine to find a lost teddy and helped give my son a very Merry Xmas. The comments and posts on my thread were unbelievably kind and I was struck by what a great bunch of people Mumsnetters must be. On the Baby Names forum though I often read comments which would give the impression we are the total opposite and that instead it's populated by quite a vicious bunch.

I have read some awful things written about my child's name on here, comments that have sometimes really stung. If I was posting to ask advice about his weight, hair colour, acne or sexuality then I have no doubt people would reply with kindness but instead I've seen endless posts about how 'x' will never be a doctor or using 'y' is akin to child abuse and that you shouldn't have been allowed to breed if you were going to name your baby 'z' (or worse something beginning with k). I've seen parents and children described in the most awful way just because their naming style differs from others and for the most part the names being attacked are ones in the current top 100. Names that will be unremarkable, commonplace and totally acceptable once our youngsters are young no more. As most people on this forum are likely to be hormonal parents to be, or sleep deprived and angst ridden, I wonder if an intervention is needed?

I'm going to start an appreciation society for the hyphenated. A support network for those with the initial K. A meeting place for the made up, awkwardly spelt and abbreviated. You're all welcome - membership is free and there is booze on offer. Founder members include Tony and Cherie (nickname and slightly common sounding), Condoleeza Rice (made up spelling), Madonna (sounds like a sex worker) and Willie Walsh (never going to get a decent job with a name like that). Kay Burley, Kirsty Young and Kate Middleton have shown interest in joining. Yes, Kate has the far more acceptable 'Catherine' to fall back on but it's obvious she has experienced first hand the negative affect on your life a 'K' name can cause. Our hyphenated patrons have asked to remain anonymous as they know the persecution that might follow if the unfortunate dash in their name becomes public.

So I'll start...

My name is CheeseandBunion and I have a child with a nickname on their birth certificate... And I like it.

My name is hyphenated, but apparently it's one of the acceptable hyphenated names, not a chavvy one.
DD1 has a much mentioned flowery name and will never be taken seriously.
DD2 has a name much loved on MN, but some people still think she should have a fuller version on her birth certificate.
They both have common 1970's names as middle names an are introduce themselves using their full name.
Oh and DH has a welsh name, but no welsh heritage.
In RL I have never had any negative comments about the names we chose.

I have a Liam. I love it and always have.

People who say its 'chavvy' can suck my big toe!!

My name is Goonie and apparently DS1 has a try hard name (as it is was very popular in the late 70's/early 80's, but spelt a foreign way) and DS2 has a shortened version of a royal name but people insist on calling him the long version.
Neither of them have anyone else in their years with the same name.

Ooh ooh forgot to say both have awful middle names not my choices and I have a ridiculous first name which no one can ever spell and most people think I'm a man (until they actually meet me I hope!)

Love this post

I have a name with a k which after reading other posts is classed as an awful 'chavvy' name, my dd has a name which is apparently to cutesy and popular so she can never be taken serious as an adult or have a good career, and my second dd due in 6 week is also going to be called a name which is described awful for been so popular and probably will be one of several in her class. Both names in top 10 popular ones but i really don't care though as me and dh both love their names xxx

Liam is NOT chavvy!

NO WAY!

Whatever chavvy is today. Everyone thinks its something different anyway!

Goonie! Whats your name? Go ooooon!

I would love to tell you Pickle but it would definitely out me to any RL people I might know on here.

All I wanted when I was a child was to be called something nice and girly like Emma or Jenny or Amy.

I wanted to be called Nicola or Justine or Joanna. They were the best names in my school. I did NOT want the only other person with my name to be my 80 year old neighbour.

And Becky, thought that was a great name. All them had lovely wavy hair.

YES! One of my good friends is Becky with long wavy hair.

And all LOVELY!

Ive never met anyone called Becky who was not very lovely.

My name is ElephantsAndMiasmas and I was named (MN) after a family pet. Looking to continue this tradition, if I have daughters I intend to call them after long-dead family pets Muffin and Tibbles but as first names this time. Yeah.

I loved the name Liam but was told I couldn't possibly use it for DS because it sounded like a drug dealer's name. WTF?

WHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

At least you would have a supply of mind bending drugs for the weekend. Although you wouldnt want your son to end up like Al Pacino in ScarFace.

Now thats an idea, Al first name, Pacino Middle name. Hmmmm.

I am in, my DC all have classic MN approved names. My own is hideous, mentioned in the OP wife of Mr Blair. I would love to change it as it does not suit me at all. I think it would upset my mum so much

I'm in as the mother of a child with a name described on here as"80's",."boring" and "wet".

Haha picnic that's a new one

Woah there! After a morning of faffing I've returned to find out that 2 middle names is also not the done thing. No-one told me. Thank goodness I set up a support group as clearly my children will need more support than I realised. Both have two middle names. The youngest has my maiden name as one of his which is utterly unpronounceable. Its more of a jumble of letters. It will no doubt be the bane of his life and shall be my revenge for what I like to call 'the whining years'.

On the plus side my name is adored on Mumsnet, although I think it's rather dull, so I'm definitely eligible to be Prime Minister :)

not new my ds4 is Rudi and i have been told frequently on mnet that it is a gansta name associated with drug dealers etc, there was a bit of a debate about it on one thread with one particular poster insisting that if you live din a city you couldnt possibly use it because of those connotations and of course because of the son 'message for you rudi' which is where we got the name from!

CheeseAndBunion, I'm afraid that your naming crime is worse than you originally thought. You see by using your maiden name as a middle name, you have committed the ultimate offence of using a surname as a given name :o

Shame on you!

thank you rockin and panda, at least someone appreciates DS1s name. It is getting more popular now but when we picked it 5 1/2 years ago there was a chorus of "you can't call him that".

I was never very good at listening to other people's advice....

My inlaws live in Northern Ireland (I am from there too, but we escaped). The latest addition to the family has an Ok name, not too Irish, can be pronounced, no excess consonants...BUT it has an accent when dcousin spells it, an accent which it shouldn't have and is there for decoration only....AND as it isn't needed it moves between the i and the a.

If my DC1 is a girl, she will have an old lady name, with a made up middle name - think To Kill A Mockingbird

If its a boy, he'll have a fairly common first name, with two middle names. Rudi being one of them, after my grandfather who's full name was Rudolf!

Rudi is a great name! ours isnt a rudolf, tho we get asked if he is and we met an oldish man ie 50's also called Rudi, he was very impressed as he hadnt met any little Rudis and he loves his name, as does my Rudi, he calls himself the rude dude! or rudi doodey, etc :) he does have a penchant for playing with toy guns/swords and wears tops iwth hoods, he is ALREADY turning into a gansta

My rudy isn't a Rudolph but I call him that all the time.

I don't get the issue with having to put the long version on the birth cert. Why?