What were your naming rules?

[BananaBubbles]

What were your 'rules' when naming your dcs?

I'm curious to know if it had to be modern,classic,unusual,religious,beginning with a certain letter,a family name,popular etc.

a proper name with no made up spelling.

not used too often so there wouldn't be lots in the class, but not too unusual.

sounds ok with surname and when said with Scottish accent.

seems to have worked as I've not met any more with my boys names yet... :)

i did fancy a Scottish name, DS2 got one but DS1 didn't. our middle names are family names too.

Mr rules were

1. I like it
2. Easy to spell
3. Would suit an adult
4. Not weird
5. Not too popular ie not in the top 10.

Oh, and not anything obviously funny about it or that will get the rip taken out of the kid, so had to go with surname nicely and not make any weird sentences, acronyms or words from initials either.

Hard job ths naming game

Our no. one rule was No Tolkien. DP is a massive Old English / Old Norse fan so jokingly tried to sneak in Earendil, on the grounds that it's old English rather than Tolkien originally...

Not to be named after friends or family, not too popular, not to sound made-up or something that will mean a kicking in the playground, good vibes (ie not bringing to mind a mass murderer or whatever, and preferably much more positive than that, like reminding of a scientist or writer who had achieved something noble).

Needs to work in English and in European languages like French and Portuguese.

So, a few rules then!

1. Pronounced the same in Danish and English
2. Not biblical (Dh)
3. Classic/solid name (dh)
4. unusual name (me) (aka not in top 100)

dd1's name promptly went into the top 100 list as highest riser.. the other 3 have not got names that are near the top 100

Not a rule but an overriding principle - when you have the baby the name feels right. We had chosen DD's name but it didn't seen right so we went away and slept on it to get something that suited her better - so be flexible. Her name was more cutesy but she was such a little fighter we wanted something smaller, yet stronger.

1. Suit an adult and a child
2. That both DH and DD like it
3. Easy to spell and spell it properly
4. Won't make you sound like a ponce if you have to call your child at soft play in north London sometimes I nearly choke when I hear some of the trying too hard names you get round here.

Personally I think avoiding popularity can backfire. We did that for DC1 and it was the fastest riser and now very popular. As most people seem to do it now it often means the same happens where names do big leaps. Far more important that it suits them and that you love it.

Even though DD's name is now popular she is still the only one in her class. She is none the wiser.