Is this name just asking for trouble or perfectly okay?

[KnittedC]

I'm currently 38 weeks pregnant with my first (don't know if we're having a boy or a girl) but I'm not sure whether one of the names we are thinking of is too out there or not. The day we found out we were pregnant I suggested this name for a boy and DP was adamant there was no way; but since then it has sort of stuck and now he is even more keen on it than I am! The name we are thinking of is Grover.

Because we've discussed it back and forth for so many months I'm not sure if I have clarity anymore over whether it's horrible or not, but we both really love it and it just feels right. It also goes well with the surname. What does everyone think - would it be unreasonable to call our son Grover?

Of course, it's possible that after all this we have a girl and this is moot

[clabsyqueen]

I never comment on the baby name threads but couldn't read this one without saying...DON'T DO IT!!! Grover is a TERRIBLE name. This is not a marmite name - 95% of people on here have said NO. I suspect you'll focus on the few who say its cool as you've had so long to get used to it that you'll look for confirmation that you're right but honestly - to fresh ears it sounds awful. I'm in a similar boat - got my other half whispering HUMPHREY at our baby bump every day and its starting to sound nice. Help.....

[CaptainNancy]

Well I like it! Kermit is a real name too you know

I'll always have a soft spot for Grover as he's my DS' favourite muppet, that doesn't mean the name shouldn't be used, it has lovely connotations as Grover the muppet is a very kind and sweet monster.

[NonnoMum]

How about Stephen?

[LineRunner]

Don't mind, Wow - Merrily and Bronte. Interesting.

[ZZZenAgain]

I think it is a no

[MyHeadWasInTheSandNowNot]

You might not mind 'the muppet thing' but your child might! It's not fair on the poor mite - you may as well call him Kermit.

[MrsMushroom]

People might say "Rover??"

[Hulababy]

I don't like it particularly, sorry.
It sounds like a surname to me.

[shesariver]

Im with the sane people who say its awful and add it to the list of god awful names you see here. I really do think a lot of people forget they are naming a real live child who will grow up and not a puppy or something.

[Floggingmolly]

Our kids won't have seen Sesame Street. My 5 year old knows perfectly well who Grover is. (The blue muppet, that is, not anybody's baby).

[StrawberryMojito]

It's horrible, sorry.

[rachel234]

Do kids still watch Sesame Street? I think us older generation associate Grover with the cute furry muppet, but that's because our brains only know that Grover. We need to meet some real life Grovers to change that perception. But kids won't have those muppet assocations, will they?

[KnittedC]

Thanks for all your thoughts everyone

[LifeIsBetterInFlipFlops]

Sounds more like a surname.

[MidnightMasquerader]

I think if you have to question it to the point of asking random strangers: 'is this name just asking for trouble?', your gut instinct is telling you 'no'.

The Sesame Street association is strong for me, but I accept that for most children nowadays it will be non-existent. However, there's just something I can't quite put my finger on, that's wrong - or not quite right (to be charitable) - about it. And I suspect you feel this too, hence this thread...

If you go with it because you 'both really love it' and you override the other concerns you have, well ... I'm afraid to say that I think that is actually quite self-indulgent... Both of you loving it isn't enough, is it? It's not your single most defining, identifying characteristic that you'll carry with you through life.

Put it another way ... as much as we can't imagine our DSs as grown men in the throes of passion with a lover ... can you seriously envisage some woman having to call out 'Oh, Grover....!' and not lose the moment in hilarity as a result...? :-/ :-/ :-/

I think as a nickname it has great potential.

[DontmindifIdo]

Midnight - you've made a very, very valid point. OP - don't do anything that reduce the chances of you being a grandmother one day!!!

[AlanMoore]

Why do you like it?

If it's the Sesame Street thing (I totally understand, we are Muppet/Sesame crazy here) Oscar or, if you live somewhere quite boho, Elmo, are easier to live with. Or what about one of the humans? I always liked Gordon best out of the men.

I quite like Grover myself, but I am MAD ABOUT SESAME ST so perhaps should not be trusted as an arbiter of taste in this matter. To my working class northern ears it's nowhere near as daft as some of the names that are popular on Mumsnet...

If it's just that you like the sound of it, why not call baby something like Alexander or James and give Grover as a middle name. Then you can use it but he doesn't have to, and if he loves it he can be J. Grover Surname or whatever, which sounds rather nice.

If you were totally convinced then you wouldn't be posting, so that's why I think a compromise would be good.

I'm desperate to know what you've chosen for a girl now :)

[SanityClause]

Quite cool, really.

He's unlikely to be Big Gover or Grover H, which is a plus.

Go for it!

[Sulawesi]

It's bloody awful as is 'we are pregnant' bleugh soz and all that.

[Shellington]

As an aside, I can only say it in a gruff-shaggy-dog type voice I sound like Doodles from The Tweenies.

[Sulawesi]

As for that article, Merrily!! I mean wtf? Why do some people feel that they have to be so different , as someone else said it's not a puppy that you are naming but someone who has to go through their lives with whatever name you land them with.

Go for fairly safe with a whackier middle name if you must.

[OutragedFromLeeds]

Sesame Street is still on and Grover is still in it I believe.

My DC's watch it.

Greg James had Elmo and Grover as guests on his radio show during the Olympics.

I don't think the association of Grover and a blue monster is gone yet.

[mmmmmchocolate]

I never comment on baby names threads but I really think its cool!!

but you can't call a baby it. Sorry

makes note incase I ever have a boy