Skip to main content
Skip to main navigation
Skip to talk navigation

Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

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

1 2 3

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

Baby names

Confused about names I like...

59 replies

Writerwannabe83 · 08/12/2013 11:29

8 weeks ago me and DH found out we were having a boy and we still haven't come up any names we both like.

The weird thing is that 2 names I like are ones that generally don't get a good reception on MN for specific reasons so I'm scared that they are ones I like. The other name I like probably won't go down too well either

Tyler : Referred to at times on MN (not by me) as being 'chavvy'

Harrison - One of the dreaded 'surname-y' names

Joey - Too bird like or reminds you of a baby kangaroo???

DH thinks that when people hear the name Joey they instantly think of Joey Essex but I don't necessarily agree and I think the name is lovely

OP posts:

Report

Writerwannabe83 · 08/12/2013 22:59

Harrison and Joey are the front runners.

With regards to calling him Joel, Joseph, Josiah etc but always calling him Joey, I just don't see the logic. Why put a name on a birth certificate that I have no intention of using? I have always thought that if you like a name (even if it is 'nicknamey') then surely you just call the child that and register it as the name?

My cousin just had a baby and called him Freddie and he is Freddie on his birth certificate. Why would they register him as a Frederick just because Freddie is 'nicknamey'? If they liked it they would just call him Frederick in the first place, lol.

Joey also makes me think of yummy Joey from Eastenders

OP posts:

HavantGuard · 09/12/2013 00:38

Call him what you want. They're not to my taste but it's your son not mine. You might want to get your DH to agree though as he does have a vested interest

Oriunda · 09/12/2013 06:42

You may have no intention of using a full name like Joseph, but if your DS turns out to be a judge or similar profession, he may thank you for having had the foresight to give him a more serious sounding name. A judge called Joey would not instil confidence! I don't see the problem in having Joseph on the both certificate but just calling him Joey. It's always good to have a choice. If you insist on Joey, at least give him a middle name so he has an option should he want it.

Harrison would be better I think, a more serious sounding name.

Ninasaurus · 09/12/2013 06:53

Dislike Harrison. I don't think I've met a nice one so I think that might be why.

I like Tyler. I don't know why people dislike it.

I like Joey but I think you need to use Joseph as a full first name.

Ninasaurus · 09/12/2013 06:55

Joe on the birth certificate would be better than Joey in my opinion. Joey just sounds too much like a nickname.

Ninasaurus · 09/12/2013 07:01

I just saw about your surname so is joe is out.
Jonah?

Doctorbrownbear · 09/12/2013 07:06

When I was at school joey was a term used as a put down and I suspect it still is. Harrison is quite nice. .. tyler makes me think of a rottweiler with a studded collar :/

Theonlyoneiknow · 09/12/2013 08:36

"With regards to calling him Joel, Joseph, Josiah etc but always calling him Joey, I just don't see the logic. Why put a name on a birth certificate that I have no intention of using? I have always thought that if you like a name (even if it is 'nicknamey') then surely you just call the child that and register it as the name?"

I agree, this is why we went for names that couldn't be shortened. I just wanted my DCs names to be their names.

RalphRecklessCardew · 09/12/2013 08:40

I actually like Tyler, but it's true that in the UK it's becoming the symbolic un-posh name. So it'll be Kevin/Gary/Tracy in a few years - perfectly ok names but snobbery's made them comical.

TheBunsOfPanettone · 09/12/2013 09:35

"With regards to calling him Joel, Joseph, Josiah etc but always calling him Joey, I just don't see the logic. Why put a name on a birth certificate that I have no intention of using? I have always thought that if you like a name (even if it is 'nicknamey') then surely you just call the child that and register it as the name?"

Exactly what Oriunda said. Do allow your child/ren a bit of flexibility, even if you don't want it for yourself.

I was always called Jo as a child but I am very glad that parents had me christened a longer name that has several diminutives. I came to dislike being called Jo, mostly because I was a forgetful child and teenager whose classroom dizziness would be greeted with loud choruses of "oooohhhhhh Jo" and later I opted for the full name. There are a couple of other one syllable diminutives that I prefer infinitely to Jo. Apart from a few older generation family members everyone calls me the full name or one of the other diminutives that derive from it.

MortifiedAnyFuckerAdams · 09/12/2013 10:55

Thing is with offering flexibility, names such as Laura, Claire, Sarah, Paul, etc dont offer any flexibility either, yet because they are seen as 'proper names' they are ok.

I have a dd whose name is traditionally a shorter version of a longer name. I dont like the longer name and would never use it, so didnt put it on the BC. The other option was Lara, which again, offers no flexibility. Yet Im sure people wouldnt query that on the BC.

Op if you like Joey, then go for it.

Writerwannabe83 · 09/12/2013 14:26

mortified - scarily so, in your list of Laura, Claire, Sarah you actually gave both mine and my sister's names

And you're right, I have no flexibility with my name but can't say it ever bothered me. It's funny how attitudes to names have changed over the years. I have noticed a lot of MN members also try and plan and choose what their child's nickname will be, but surely that isn't something you can actually force/control??

OP posts:

HavantGuard · 09/12/2013 14:54

You can choose what you're going to call them and I think that's what those MNers are actually doing. They're picking eg Katherine to go on the certificate but planning to call them Kitty when they're little/as a pet name. It also gives scope for the child to choose to be called Kate or Kat by friends when they're older and have something sensible for paperwork when they're adults. You can have cutesy, teenage and adult in one name!

AnAdventureInCakeAndWine · 09/12/2013 15:09

Harrison is fine -- solid name, lots of nickname potentials if he chooses or works well as a full name. The only Tyler I know is at a very academic private school so I have very different associations for the name from the common MN view. Joey is a budgie or Matt Le Blanc, though, sorry .

Re "Why put a name on a birth certificate that I have no intention of using?" well, because you're not naming a cat or a goldfish. You're naming (eventually) a grown man who will have his own intentions and preferences, so there's nothing wrong with giving him options (not saying you have to do that as said already, plenty of names don't have flexibility built in -- but it's one perfectly good reason for giving a full name that you don't intend to use. I bet Pippa Funnell was glad she had Philippa on her birth certificate when she was competing in Athens).

Writerwannabe83 · 09/12/2013 15:10

I honestly can't believe how difficult it is and what a minefield it is just naming a child, lol

It's a shame they don't already come with names, like Teddies do when you order them from the Home Shopping channels

OP posts:

Mattissy · 09/12/2013 16:03

But is it really a minefield? Pick a name you like, give it to child.

How much thought do you really give to your own name on a daily/weekly/monthly basis?

Writerwannabe83 · 09/12/2013 18:22

DH has now thrown Arran into the mix.....

You make a good point actually mattissy - our names are pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The only time I actually pay it any attention is if I'm introducing myself to someone....

OP posts:

AnAdventureInCakeAndWine · 09/12/2013 18:26

Arran is fine but will get confused with Aaron a lot, I predict.

Writerwannabe83 · 10/12/2013 10:09

DH really isn't keen on the Aaron spelling as he thinks people would always be asking how it is pronounced, or just assuming it is Air-Ron, which neither of us like

OP posts:

AnAdventureInCakeAndWine · 10/12/2013 11:00

Oh yes, I wasn't suggesting you should name him Aaron, just that if you name him Arran you won't get away from the problems because there will be a lot of people who assume he's called Aaron.

Oriunda · 10/12/2013 11:49

Arran is an island in Scotland! I would assume its Aaron spelt incorrectly.

AnAdventureInCakeAndWine · 10/12/2013 12:14

Other islands in Scotland: Lewis, Harris, Skye, Ailsa Craig, Cara, Iona...

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Email address

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

SicknSpan · 10/12/2013 17:38

Choose what you like op.

Fwiw, I like Harrison the most out of your list, would try and nickname him Sonny :)

TheBunsOfPanettone · 10/12/2013 19:10

Mortified fair point re. flexibility and "proper names". I suppose I just prefer proper names to nick-namey names and think that it's nicer for the child (and later adult) to be able to choose not to be called something that sounds like a cutesey pet. OP what you said about baby kangaroo in your thread opener is about right. It's cute for a little boy but I don't think it will age well with him.

Writerwannabe83 · 10/12/2013 19:40

I think I feel frustrated too because I'm really not keen on what the baby's middle name will be! Apparently it is tradition for the baby's middle name to be the first name of their paternal grandad It's been long running in my husband's family apparently and I don't think there is any negotiating. I understand that middle names typically do have some kind of Family Tree Link but I'm really not keen.

I'm trying to convince DH to give him two middle names so there will be something in there that I like

OP posts:

Flip

1 2 3

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.