In your opinion, can people with names like 'Posy', 'Kitty' or 'Dotty' be taken seriously?

[Stateofgrace]

...I happen to think so, but my family and a few friends disagree. Strongly.

Almost every name I have considered is of the 'cutesy' variety - as well as the above three, I also like Polly, Lola and Nelly. I seem to just like girly names. My mother is fond of telling me ''You are naming a person, not a baby'' as if I am not aware that baby will grow up.

I know that you shouldn't tell people the names before baby is born and present the name as a fait acompli, but I really don't want to pick a name which everyone else seems to hate...

Any thoughts / experiences on this? My mother this morning has just told me that ''she wouldn't trust a Doctor called something ridiculous like Posy'', which is actually one of my favourite names.

Any thoughts/experiences on this?

My boss is five years younger than me, I'm 32. She's a real high flier, has numerous degrees and has always had high paying jobs, she's the youngest manager in our company and her given name is Kitty. And that's it.

People have different opinions and if they base a lot of that on names they aren't going to get very far themselves.

I agree with others on here that, these names are going to be very common place for high fliers in the future.

And OP love the name Polly, have known a couple in the past.

Sorry, that was my mistake.

I'd be surprised to meet an adult Poppy/Posy/Milly these days but expect the world to be teeming with them in 30 years time or so. So I have faith that the Millys and Tillys and Archies and Alfies of HR departments up and down the land won't bat an eyelid when they see these cutesy names on job applications.

I dont think the traditional names will be rare, lots of Georges, Thomas', Williams, Charlottes and Isabelles round here!

Ooooh OP you've made Discussion of the Day!

I'm sort of sat on the fence, my dh would agree with your mum. In his opinion Phillipa looks much more professional on a cv than Pippa, hence why our little pip pop poo's name on her birth certificate is Phillipa!

Polly is fine, but I agree with your mum about dotty. Unfortunately, it is a term given to someone who is a bit scatterbrained, or not very bright. I'm not saying I uphold these sentiments but many people do. This is why I wouldn't call my child a name like this. Pippa is also fine, but I wouldn't choose posy, and Kitty could encourage name calling and cat associations from other children.
It's up to you what you call your dd, it's nobody else's business, but if it were me I'd think about the person, not the baby.
I knew a Kitty once, she was lovely. Very extrovert, unconventional and very fair in her treatment of others.

I have a 'cutesey' name. I am a barrister, and have been to a top university and now have a good job. I don't feel my name has been a barrier to opportunity, as many on this thread seem to suggest. I find it hard to understand why people cannot imagine 'cutesey' names being successful in 'serious' jobs. This is ridiculous, and of course adults with these names will still do as well as if they happened to have been called Elizabeth, Tabitha, Thomas, James and other names that are considered middle class enough.
I have read many applications for pupillage, and have never discarded a single one of them for having a name that doesn't meet with my approval.

I have a DD called Poppy. Her father and I chose it because we like it and it suits her. I hope and expect that she will be judged on her ability, work ethic and qualifications, not on a name that she did not choose herself.

Aiden I can see you don't like your name which is fair enough, but why didn't it help in terms of you going to Cambridge and being a doctor? If you got in and you were successful then how did your name stop you?

I just refuse to believe that anybody with half a brain that is reading applications for universities, jobs or training is going to hesitate over an excellent application that happens to be from somebody called Posy or Nellie. If this is the case, then it has passed me by completely and it is very disappointing.

Good choice...my dd Polly is nearly 5, absolutely gorgeous and loves the fact that there are songs about 'her'...Miss Polly had a dolly etc. Whoever said her name was horrible should remember that names are subjective, as a pp pointed out.

I think you should name her what you like really. She'll find her own way of changing peoples perceptions about her.

My 6'5 rugby playing DH is called Jamie and has never had anyone make comment about it. There are loads of 'em up here in Scotland.

Perhaps people have (incorrect) preconceptions of cutesy names, I accept but disapprove of this on a general level. However, Aidan the reality is that you were still interviewed, and still appointed so whoever was reading your CV was more interested in everything else about you. As these names gain in popularity, which they are currently doing, even the preconceptions will go as numerous Poppys, Nellies, Honeys and Posys apply for jobs and it becomes less of a novelty.

I think pretty much all organisations, public or otherwise, adhere to strict policies on matters such as equality. On that basis then, the OP should go ahead and call her child whatever she pleases, safe in the knowledge that whatever other people may be thinking, names are not a reason for discrimination in future education or employment!

I have to say purely based on the name I would judge the parents of a Katherine or Elizabeth to be stuffy and unimaginative. I would be as wrong in this assumption as someone who judges a person by their name rather than by their personality or abilities.

I think people are taken seriously if they earn it by treating things in a professional way. Imo a person informs the perception of the name rather than the other way round.

I have been thinkg about this a lot (being pregnant and all!) and have come to the conclusion that the name we give our baby has to give them the best possible chance of being able to do anything they want.

It needs to be suitable for a CEO of a FTSE100, an actress, a tax inspector an airhostess...whatever she may want

I obviously know a name doesnt preclude you from doing anything you want, but I truly cant imagine a CEO of a Financial Services company called Daisy or Dotty

....

I love challenging preconceptions - I think people wear their name. THey end up embodying it. I love soft male names because they counteract pride in certain male characteristics. A strong man (morally) with a soft name is lovely. Also, love the idea of a Posy standing up in a board room challenging assumptions of a downy, subservient woman. Love it.

I totally agree with your mum, sorry.

I HATE cutesy names and I am so very thankful that my parents didn't give me one. I don't like all the Polly, Dolly, Molly, Milly, Tilly names (fine as shortened nicknames) and I don't like all the flower names that are so popular at the moment. I've never heard the name Posy before but I just find it a bit twee. I would have hated to have grown up with a name like that...I like names that have a bit of strength to them. That doesn't mean harsh-sounding names...names can be pretty but still have a bit of strength to them. I actually don't mind the name Lola which you mentioned (although wouldn't be able to shake the Charlie and Lola connection!).

'Elizabeth is statistically the highest flying female name in terms of the professions, City etc iirc.'

This may well be true but their success isn't due to them being called Elizabeth. More that the name Elizabeth was popular with middle class families who could afford private education thus ensuring their daughters went to good universities, studied for Masters etc. etc.

Posy and Milly's families may have as many resources and as much educational ambition for their daughters as the families of the Elizabeths had for them.

Estell 'My rule would always be: if it don't sound graceful and dignified, or if there ain't no saint with that name, it's a no go. '
What do you think about using St Sexburga as a guide to naming your child.

My dd and ds names are both high in the telegraph names list, they were fairly out of fashion when we chose them, and to be honest if i'd know how popular they were going to be I would have gone for something different maybe anglo saxon - Aethelred for a boy and Boudicca for a girl type thing. something with a bit of history to it.

Whether it be ptolomy/calypso/pretentio or mitzi/buddy bear/trixibelle or destinee rae rae/Demi-Leigh or whatever

I do think that some people, in their quest to be unique or make people think they are oh so educated or quirky, do forget that it is an actual person they are naming. And that this person will have to go through their life saddled with this name, especially if a more conventional alternative has not been offered on the birth certificate. And people who said that their kid is called Zebedee etc and no one ever says anything - well people are generally quite polite in real life , but people will be thinking in real life.

Having said all that I do inwardly groan when I see another Lily Rose/Amelia Grace birth announcement. Find a happy medium!

Of course my son's name is perfection