When my mind was addled with pregnancy hormones, I wanted to call my baby...

[MaryAstor]

Oak.

A good, strong, very English name, I thought. Unusual but beautiful. Incredible that it is not widely used. Very smug about landing on such a perfect name.

If I hadn't been so off my face on morphine and sleep-depravation post-birth I'd have legged it to the registry office then and there to make it official. A few days post natal, I realised that the top 100 names are popular for a reason, and the fact that Oak was not ranked among them spoke volumes.

See also: Bran, Heath, Prospero.

I wanted to name our son after my Grandads "joke" middle name - Algernon! DH wasn't convinced, unsurprisingly!! But his middle name did end up being my darling Grandads first name - Albert :-)

What's wrong with Bran? It's pronounced Brahn , means raven in Welsh.

McKenzie or Charli (for a girl)

I was young.

I know, Bran and Heath are perfectly lovely and normal! Arf at them being lumped in with Prospero

Lorelei. And our surname begins with an L. What was I thinking - would have been a disaster poor DD1 would have sounded like stripper - she is 6 now studious and thoughtful so the name would have really not suited her.

Autumn and Malachi. Still addled. Still think both are lovely but sound ridiculous with my surname

Rafferty, nn Raffy. Still love it. DH was having none of it.

Ds1 suggested Lovelace or Sven for Ds2. I seriously considered them.

I now know that you should Never consult a 17 month old in the naming of a child.

I wanted Fox.

doctordwt Wed 07-Nov-12 11:29:02
I know, Bran and Heath are perfectly lovely and normal! Arf at them being lumped in with Prospero

Now come on. Bran and Heath are not perfectly lovely and normal. They are slightly bonkers and you know it. Prospero, on the other hand, is having a bit of a surprise renaissance with me. Damnit, I knew I should have stuck to my guns.

Bran is a welsh name is it? i'd hear of Brynn, but Bran? come on. That is just so all bran....... which reminds me of a bowel movement, or maybe worse, a long overdue bowel movement. Give me Heath or Prospero over Bran any day!

My XDP wanted Stiggor for our DS. We had a book of Celtic names ( including Cornish, Manx and Breton ones) and we were going for Cador at one time. Can't remember what it means. DS did get Bryn as a middle name though.

I wanted to call ds1 Tiger. I bloody well would have done if it wasn't for DH.
When I was pregnant with dd we told everyone we were going to call her grizelda, to stop people being rude about the name we had actually chosen. I got very attached to it in the end and was actually longing to give it as a real name!

My DD is the result of multiple rounds of IVF. I wanted to call her Ever as in 'Happily Ever After'. Luckily the nice ladies of Mumsnet talked me out of it

Another Lysander vote here.

The names we did go for are quite out there though, so maybe the crazy hormones take a while to go in me!

Ever is lovely! Maybe as a NN for Evelyn...

I am pregnancy addled.

I want to name this baby after one of the knights from Merlin, or even just Merlin.

When I was pregnant with dc1 I wanted to use the name Loreal for a girl.... Cause she's worth it (luckily I had a boy)

When I was in Junior School-in Dublin- the dog in the Irish books was called Bran. Think 'Peter & Jane' type stories. This was back in the 80's. Madra dea,Bran!

I know a tiger-lily and a Malachi.

I wanted Lysander or Orlando. DH said there is no way a Glaswegian could have a son called either and DS had a sensible name instead

B1ueberryFields yes,as my previous comment said, Bran (prn Brahn) is Welsh for Raven. I think you need to remember that Welsh is a language distinct from English. Just because you have never heard of it doesn't mean it's not a real name.

And Bryn is spelt with one n.

Are you American? I've seen the Brynn spelling bandied about by Americans on similar name boards.

Yes it's not pronounced bran like the cereal is it (brahn)

And Malachi is an Irish name

I know a few children / adults with names from this thread. They've not been teased, as far as I know.

In the early 1970's my DB was nearly called Garfield after his great grandfather, this was before that cartoon cat was so ubiquitous.

Also my DF was nearly called John Thomas, but his own DF relented at the Register Office.

I had a friend who was on the verge of calling her DS Oak which would have been ridiculous with her surname...

I wanted Indiana (whether DS1 was a boy or a girl) because I thought it was a fabulous name and the films turned me into the archaeologist that I am today. Also wanted to name all my children after members of a-ha. Think the hormones made me quite certifiable.

I know about Malachi, moomins and I still like it, but with my surname it sounds like the worst tongue twistery lot of silliness. Really bad. Would be lovely with the right combination!