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?

I wouldn't do it because these little names will be very dating in a few years ..slightly Stronger names like Gillian, Caroline, Harriet will be the next wave.

LilBlondPessimist

The professions are increasingly dominated by people with well-off backgrounds. This is not a good thing, but it is a thing:
www.bris.ac.uk/cmpo/publications/other/socialmobility.pdf

How sad that many people don't name their children the names they like just in case it's too twee - there is far too many baby name threads with 'I would have named ds/dd Luna/Ptolemy/Gaylord but not brave enough' wtf? I don't care if my children are lawyers/doctors/bin men/actors as long as they are happy and confident. All 3 of my children have not so common twee names - the last dd being a Dottie and I get so many lovely comments on all of their names. All 3 have 2 middle names and if they do become a doctor and feel they're not taken seriously because of their name (doubt that would ever happen as we live in the 21st century) then there's always deed poll. Until then they just lap up all the comments and know that mummy was brave enough to give them names that stand out against the crowd of Jacks/Ellies/Rubys/Alfies

i was given a diminutive name in the late '60s when it was less common to do this.
the only issue i ever have is that some people presumptuously call me by the name for which my name is a common nickname and teachers especially had trouble accepting that the long version didnt appear on my birth certificate and wasnt my name...

a slight annoyance in this regard but otherwise its been fine.

"Until then they just lap up all the comments and know that mummy was brave enough to give them names that stand out against the crowd of Jacks/Ellies/Rubys/Alfies"

Oh yes, incredibly "brave"!

There's nothing brave about giving your child a name you really like.

If so, I was "brave" when naming DS with a name outside the top 100...then loads of other people copied me, and suddenly I did't look so brave any more. Still love the name though....

I actually think I was braver with my other DS, going for a traditional name knowing there would very likely be another in the same class, and never shortening it.

Your mum won't be treated by Dr Posy, she'll be treated by Dr Smith. And the burglary will be attended by PC Smith.

MPs are at great pains to be informal- Ed Balls, Tony Blair, call me Dave Cameron.

Personally I prefer a full name on the birth certificate, and I like traditional names, but I'm not naming your daughter. Go with what you like and maybe use someone else as a sounding board.

Or tell your mum you've decided on something outrageous so that Posy etc seem like a good option!

Dottie to me suggests scatty, ditzy, eccentric and possibly outright mad. Not the connotations I'd have wanted my daughter's name to have.

Brave? Saddling a poor child with Dottie? Wtf is brave about that? What's brave about any name choice for another person? Do you understand what the word brave means?

It's easy to be downright nasty about someone else's child's name when you're an anonymous forum member.

You do realise you're talking about someone's actual child, no?

"You do realise you're talking about someone's actual child, no?"

Nope- wer're talking about that child's mother's choice of language!

"Dottie to me suggests scatty, ditzy, eccentric and possibly outright mad."

"Saddling a poor child with Dottie?"

I'd say this is definitely the child's name being slated.

I agree with those who say that diminutive frilly names will be quite the norm among this peer group when they grow up. There has always been a smattering of this type of name anyway - it's not like they are way out there. Some of the ones you mention sound perfectly serious and grown up to me (Kitty, Polly). I particularly dislike the suggestion of giving a totally different, stodgy birth certificate name and then calling the child a totally different sounding nickname. Margaret-Daisy -eh? Josephine-Posy - wot? I know that technically the one is derived from the other but if you like Daisy, just give the name Daisy! If the child doesn't like it they can go by another or develop their own nickname. FWIW my great grandmother was Helena, nn Nelly. My great-aunt was Nellie, nn Nan. So even shorter names can get their own nickname.

I personally prefer more grown-up sounding names but only if you are actually going to use them day to day, otherwise what's the point?

it is not slating a name to point out its meaning.

Not to be a pedant, but the little girl's name is Dottie, not dotty.

It's a homophone - so will have the same associations.

Chardonae is still named after white wine and Foxx is still a ginger scavenger.

No, it's the name the mother considers 'brave' and, as said by curlew, the mothers ridiculous (my addition) choice of language.

I have a name like Susan on my birth cert, but since birth I have been called Susie by my parents. But the world falls into three camps : those with an issue with shortened names who insist on calling me Susan, those who can't do as they're asked/ don't care about my wishes/ think they're cool who call me Sue, and finally the reasonable people who just call me the name I ask them to call me: Susie. I have called my daughters really short names without diminutives. I can see that the Russian system probably works in Russia but that is not the culture in this part of the world. I find it really odd that people would presume to change someone's name when they have been introducesd as for example, Susie. When people do it to me, especially when they insist on using the longer version I feel that they are implying that parents have done something wrong. In fact one of my elderly in laws has actually said this. Mind you, he insists on calling his grand children by their full names when the parents have asked for them to be called by the diminutives which causes all sorts of upset.
I think OP if you are very keen on the names you mentio, I would put the long name on the birth cert and use the diminutive at home but make it very clear to the child that they have a longer version that will also be used formally. No one explained this to me as a child which may be why I find it difficult.
Also don't tell your mother, or any one else anything. Just present them with a fair accompli. But be prepared for them to tread all over it. IMO names that cannot be shortened or lengthened are the way to go.

Is the way to go!

What are you thinking now OP?

cornflower people using a different name or diminutive to the one you introduced yourself with is plain rude! I hope you pull them up on it!

I do with the lengthening. But the shortening is v difficult because it's actually people very close to me - I think they all got it from each other and I didn't really notice til it got to the stage where they were doing it all the time. It seems kind of petty to pick them up on it now. I'll probably just explode and yell at them one day, which is really not the way to go...

It doesn't offend me Alis. What I call my children might not be your cup of tea and likewise. What does offend me is bigoted views in any capacity.

I think you can use a 'cute, girly' name that's still classic and strong.

Holly a good example maybe?