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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Initials - how important are they?

73 replies

Michellephant · 14/10/2013 09:00

Hello everyone,

I've touched on this before re: initials but I just want to get everyone's opinion in one place.

I plan on giving my girl a middle name that begins with a vowel. This means her initials spell out a word which is pretty inoffensive - R.I.M.
I don't even plan on using her middle name all the time, it is just a name that means something to me so I want to use it. I have also thought about giving her two middle names which would make her R.I.C.M.

I have been very secretive about the name to people who ask me because someone always has an opinion. At work someone mentioned they had a relative with the first name I intend on using though so I told them that it was the name I intend on using. They call their "R", "R J" so they asked about the middle name. When I told them they liked the names together but then when I said the surname beginning with "M" he pulled his face and said "rim".... and clearly didn't like it.

Now I don't know really if it is an issue or not? I can't imagine primary school children finding anything particularly offensive about it and I don't really expect her to be talking that much about her initials anyway at school? Maybe high school might think of "rim job" but I still don't think many would even think of that?!

What do you think? Are these initials a problem?

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RedToothBrush · 14/10/2013 18:46

RIM is not good.

There was a reason why Arnold Rimmer was such a funny name in Red Dwarf... the character was called that, for that very reason!

CatsAreLikeChocolates · 14/10/2013 18:57

Ooh... I was about to say that initials don't really matter and go with whatever names you like, but I'm afraid RIM is probably a step too far for me. Kids are hideous and although everyone will have something that they could be teased for, probably best not to provide this much ammunition. Another vote for a second middle name here and all the best with your new arrival.

ZingDollyChops · 14/10/2013 18:59

rimming - not a nice thing to read about!

I would avoid RIM

abcdemma · 14/10/2013 18:59

The name we've chosen for our (unborn) son would give him the initials JPS, which is a brand of cigarettes I think. Liveable, and without using his middle name just JS works for me...

ZingDollyChops · 14/10/2013 19:01

F U C-K wins!

awesome!

motherofsnozz · 14/10/2013 19:37

My initials were RIM before I married and nobody ever commented on it and I have never thought too much about it. However my surname was very similar to a popular insult so I was teased about that instead! I also wonder if it would be a word that would be worse for a boy than a girl?

dogindisguise · 14/10/2013 19:49

I used to work with a colleague whose initials were BO, and his email address was [email protected]. I don't think his parents thought that through!

RIM wouldn't mean anything to me.

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 14/10/2013 19:51

HOnestly, I did think of the rimming association, but folk will make up or notice anything with initials. My daughter has initials which don't spell anything...no words, nothing offensive, yet a friend pointed out that they "stood" for a now defunct major car manufacturer. Can't be any more specific than that sorry, but just shows that any initials can be interpreted in many different ways! Do what you prefer OP

ChocChaffinch · 14/10/2013 20:37

there was a psychological study done once in America I think which found that initials which spell out a positive word eg A.C.E generally had a more successful life than those whose spelled D.U.D for example

ZingDollyChops · 14/10/2013 21:12

Choc

no wonder I'm big headed! my initials are VIP!!!!

CanadianJohn · 14/10/2013 21:35

OP, my daughter works at Blackberry, formerly known (for several years) as Research In Motion... RIM for short.

I think you are over-thinking it.

harbinger · 14/10/2013 21:52

Loved playing with the initials. Middle could not be a vowel.

Ended up with PhD and LHD.

Sort of living up to the initials

ohmymimi · 14/10/2013 21:54

My French Teacher was 'MPH' - nn 'Speedy'.

NameyMcChangeface · 14/10/2013 22:12

My DM new someone whose initials were 'SOD', became a nickname (of sorts!)

DownyEmerald · 14/10/2013 22:33

I used to work in a university department. All the lecturers were known by the secretarial staff by their initials. Saved a lot of time.

And where I work now we initial a lot of paperwork.

My initials are AP. Which is a pain on the minutes of meetings, as when I try to skim read to see what I have to do there are millions of APs!

Kasterborous · 14/10/2013 22:38

We had to be careful with having a G at the end, still had an E in the middle as it was a name we really wanted for the middle name so she ended up as R.E.G so not bad.

GoingGoingGoth · 14/10/2013 22:44

I altered DD's name order to TEC rather than ETC, which I though would make her sound like an afterthought

ZingDollyChops · 14/10/2013 22:50

My MIL's initials are R.P.

she used to be a teacher (secondary school) and had a rucksack for school trip that had her initials on the front pocket.

on one one school trip she had a 5 min shut eye with the bag behind her head and her rascal pupils decided to draw an I between the other two letters!

then they were pissing themselves laughing because my MIL looked like she had a headstone with R.I.P. written on!

(when she found out she thought it was hilarious and she's been telling this story ever since!)

ginzillas · 14/10/2013 23:18

I got the 'RIM' link straightaway, I'm afraid, and I do think there is scope for teasing during her teenage years. Could you add in another middle name?
My DD's initials are MRS (oops).

kiwiscantfly · 15/10/2013 08:52

I always think about initials too, DH's last name started with a Gm which can make all sorts of combinations, PIG, TAG etc, but our favourite is OMG, and if we have a son, it's a contender, lol!

My initials are JC which I'm also not a fan of, some people get it straight away but most don't.

Good luck OP.

MrsPatMustard · 15/10/2013 10:21

I'm surprised to see so many people worried about this. When does anyone actually refer to themselves by their full initials?

Besides, even if you pick a seemingly innocent set of initials now, there's no guarantee they will still be innocent when the child is older. My initials before i got married were HRT (It didn't mean anything when I was born, it only became something to smirk at in later life...)

BigGlasses · 15/10/2013 12:26

MrsPatMustard We use initials at lot at work (university). All emails are based on initials eg [email protected] and all costcodes are based on the research group's leaders initials eg RIM-XXX-XXXX. Odd ones are always noticed and commented on.

Original poster

Michellephant · 15/10/2013 20:53

Kiwi, Jesus Christ?! (didn't think of it immediately but didn't take long)

To be honest, I've weighed up the pros and cons of what everyone has said. In terms of initialing docs when older, she would probably just use RM presumably? I never use anything other than MM despite having a middle name. All my email addresses have been [email protected] or something to that effect as well so nobody really acknowledges my middle name.

I'm going to add the extra middle name anyway because it is a family member's name who is no longer with us so it has meaning, as does the I so I'm not willing to budge on it OR swap them over as the I means more than the C.

I suppose kids will be kids either way. If they want to take the mick then they'll do that with or without initials, they'll just find something else.

Thank you everyone :D interesting to hear your views!

OP posts:

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