Baylor?

[WittyUsername102]

We were originally going with Laurel for our DD, but DH discovered this today and really likes it, but I'm a little unsure - what are MN's opinions?
He really likes the meaning of it and it does fit our family - it means horse trainer.

It seems to me you may have found that perfect pair of jeans here.

Ah math - this made me lol so much DC choked on ze midnight boob interlude.

So, I'm just thinking about this whole Baylor debacle. If you're keen on the pronunciation, and you're pronouncing it as Bay-luh, as you've said above, why not just register her as Bayla? It is still weird IMO, but recognisably female, like Kayla and Layla, and follows some pattern and validity, and so is much more familiar and less contentious; remember that most people will say Baylor like Gaynor - 'or' not 'uh' - anyway.
Oh, and just a late stab in the dark here, but are you sure your dh didn't mean Beulah? Because that is a real girls' name, you know!

Maybe I lived in the US for too long (12 years) but I am totally unbothered by Baylor. I think it will actually be a lot better for her than the 3000 squillion Ellies, Amelias, Sophias etc. Noone would bat an eye at this in the US and definitely would not say she couldn't be President, a lawyer or whatever because of it. My accountant in the US who was very highly qualified was called Rainbow. They have also had Politicians called Newt, Mitt and Ladybird (OK she was the First Lady). The UK must still be massively snobby.

I live in the US, and this is a name that would stick out like a sore thumb among all the Millies, Sophies, etc. Of course it won't stop you becoming an accountant or president, etc., but it will have people thinking you're a boy, or looking over the family names and thinking you are the red haired stepchild - Carissa, Daisy, Simon, and .....Baylor.
It's as white bread and mayonnaise as it gets.

Newt Gingrich is Newton Leroy Gingrich.
Mitt Romney is Willard Mitt Romney.
Neither one of these personages have been exactly spectacularly successful.
Ladybird was a nickname. Her real name was Claudia Alta Johnson (nee Taylor).

Yes, my point is these names (and nicknames) did not prevent them from succeeding. Where I lived in the US Baylor would not have stood out as there were plenty of Taylors, Baileys, and surnames as first names. I knew girls called Michael, Chauncey and Tyler. I am no fan of Newt or Mitt but to say they have not been successful when Newt was House minority whip for 6 years, pushed through major legislation and was on the cover of Time for Man of the Year is a bit silly. Anyone who runs for POTUS is hardly a slacker. Barack Obama's name hasn't held him back either.

Francisde the OP is coming back to the UK in a couple of years though where I think the name will stand out a lot more.

Met a little boy called Baylor today at a football game, that was nice. Also another boy who had my original name.. so strange to hear it on a boy, I had thought it was used only for girls now, but also kind of refreshing to hear.

Newcollection - I am not saying that worldwide people's names do not affect them, but in the cities I've lived not really. Affect is probably the wrong word, prevent would be a better one. As the posters just above have stated, people with unusual (nick)names have still been extremely successful.

If you google ' Baylor meaning', plenty of baby name sites list it as a name of Irish origin for a boy or a girl meaning horse trainer.

Mila Kunis and Aston Kutcher called their little girl "Wyatt".

I studied Irish at university and I can assure you that is baloney. Baby name sites in general suck at Irish name etymologies and most post names that are not now and never were Irish names.

Actually, there is only one site that I have come across that states that Baylor is an Irish name meaning horse trainer (meaning-of-names.com). This particular site also states that Michaela is an Irish feminine form of Michael .

All the other sites that I have looked at say it is Anglo Saxon, English or Scottish (and means horse trainer, which is a load of cobblers).

romey listen to math, read the thread, and do better research. Seriously people, naming sites are NOT the word of Dog when it comes to meanings. Get thee to an etymological convent!

Nineteen pages on a name someone can choose if they wish? Nope, have got better things to do with my time!!

Ditto the etymological research. I live in a very non-chav area and there are far more eye-brow raising names than Baylor.

romey true, you might not have time to check the meanings properly, fair enough, but then you should also probably not just assume. Especially taking into account the length if the thread.
FYI a really big part of the reason the OP wants the name is because she thinks it means horse trainer, which she says reflects something of her family's background/current situation. The fact that it very much doesn't, is thus quite an important factor!

It is not a 'really big' part, it is one of many parts. As I have stated before, the most important part to me is that my DH and DC like it, and they do, without knowing the meaning. This fact of us liking the name is the only thing needed, so taking away the middle names, nickname, meaning, etc, would have little effect, they are just bonuses. So no, it is not an important factor. Even if it does mean something else, I'm certain that my friends aren't the type to research names, and it will still mean 'horse trainer' to me.

I studied biochemistry at university, and I know the frustration of people thinking things that are incorrect. But I learnt quickly that there's no point correcting people - they are happy thinking what they think and they are doing zero harm to anyone, so I thought why bother correcting them when they won't really care anyway? (Unless they are in a science related job and doing something wrong).

Why did you start the thread then when you were clearly going to give your child a god awful name from the beginning

Newcollection - As I explained a few other times, I/we did not decide to use this until about half way through the thread.

I am at how a name can mean horse trainer when it doesn't mean horse trainer.

And no, there really is no point correcting people, is there.

math I for one prefer to use the words 'horse trainer' to refer to what you call 'apple pie'. 'Apple' to me means your 'deviate', and 'Iniut' is my word for 'House of Commons'. As in 'I appled away from my usual route past the Inuit to try the horse trainer at a new foxglove' ('foxglove' will always mean 'restaurant' to me). It's not as preposterous as it seems - language is in constant Lionel (= 'flux').

If by preposterous you mean 'Merry Christmas', then I have to say I heartily concur.

If by concur you mean 'botanical rarity'...

Horrid name

So I want her to be 'Baylor Belle' but I can't decide if we should have her initials as BELLE (meaning we get to use the middle name Elizabeth), or just have it be Baylor Belle Lastname ? I want her to have a middle name of Elizabeth but finding the LLE seems impossible.

Why not concentrate on the Belle sound and go with Isabella, Isabelle or Isobel? Or Belle?

Isabella is a Spanish version of Elisheva/Elizabeth and there is an old French name Elisabel too.