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Baby names

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

Original poster

Baylor?

503 replies

WittyUsername102 · 06/10/2014 15:55

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.

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moxon · 07/10/2014 19:46

hearts - interesting point. I have a not unknown but certainly far from common name, and I find people remember my name (and thus me) many years later, and I always look the right idjit for not having a clue that I ever met John Smith or Jessica Brown. I think you're right about the potential negative impact due to having a memorable name.

moxon · 07/10/2014 19:49

Oh, and: I'm getting Team Laurel/Team Baylor t-shrits printed. Who is in?

grocklebox · 07/10/2014 19:52

Hideous. Also a boys name. It's the kind of name you hear and say "how...unusual" but what you really mean is "wtf? what did the kid do to you?"

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 07/10/2014 19:52

Hearts (great name BTW, always nice to meet another hearts Smile ) not unless he has moved here from Toronto sometime since 1986! But if he has, your lucky friend, he was lovely.

AlpacaYourThings · 07/10/2014 19:54

It is bloody awful.

Original poster
WittyUsername102 · 07/10/2014 20:07

heartscakescandles - my experience has been the opposite - I hated having a popular name, the grass is always greener on the other side, right?

OP posts:
heartscakescandles · 07/10/2014 20:13

Middle ground between really unusual and really popular? I'd say laurel fits that nicely :)

Hearts - aw!

YolandiFuckinVisser · 07/10/2014 20:17

Has he been reading the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood? Baylor is one of the kids (boy) in that. From memory he ends up a depressive alcoholic in the sequel. This name has this association for me, its only fiction though & you should name your child whatever you want !

KatieKaye · 07/10/2014 20:30

Even if you have a wildly popular name, why would you go to the other extreme and give your DD a wildly unpopular boy's name?

Unpopular = disliked, broadly speaking. Baylor certainly has the ability to provoke a very negative reaction, and that would make me very wary of using it.

Choosing a name that is almost universally hated just because you've got a popular name is probably going a step too far.

Have you ever considered Jane? Or Anne? Maybe go wild and settle for Mary?

moxon · 07/10/2014 20:43

Laurel Jane sounds good. Unusual these days for both, but not wtf at all.
IMO it would be a tragedy of Baylorian proportions if you did not go with Laurel. A Baylorian tragedy, if you will.

Original poster
WittyUsername102 · 07/10/2014 20:50

KatieKaye - it's unisex (I've seen some sites list it as only female or only male though). More common for boys, but so were names like Mackenzie and Madison.

OP posts:
magicalmrmistofelees · 07/10/2014 20:51

Madison is definitely a boys name. Hence the ending 'son'.
OP do you like Baylor? If so, do you prefer it to Laurel?

Bluestocking · 07/10/2014 20:58

According to this baby name website it means "barrel inspector".
OP, I doff my hat to your DH. He has come up with what has to be the worst of all the awe-inspiringly bad names I've seen in ten-plus years on MN.

KatieKaye · 07/10/2014 21:00

Mackenzie is not unisex either - "Mac" means "son of". And it's a surname.

Baylor is about as butch as you can get without actually calling your DD "Butch".

Bluestocking · 07/10/2014 21:02

Butch Baylor has a ring to it.

Original poster
WittyUsername102 · 07/10/2014 21:04

Yes it was, but now it is much more common for girls - top 10 compared to below 1000.
Infact thanks to google I just learnt that until the 1900s my name was only used for boys.. would never have thought that! (Truly surprised).

I prefer Baylor.

OP posts:
magicalmrmistofelees · 07/10/2014 21:37

Well if you really love it and think it's the perfect name for your daughter, don't let a load of strangers on the Internet put you off it!

WhiskeyTangoAlphaFoxtrot · 07/10/2014 21:38

makes me think of banks.

MerryMarigold · 07/10/2014 21:55

Oooh, are you Evelyn?

So, you changed your name. And your dd1 changed her name. (What was it, btw?).

I guess if you want to give your dd the ultimate reason to change her name...

Original poster
WittyUsername102 · 07/10/2014 22:01

Nope not Evelyn Grin

DD1 was Emily and she changed it to Carissa.

OP posts:
KatieKaye · 07/10/2014 22:25

Hilary?

MerryMarigold · 07/10/2014 22:32

How old was she when she changed it? My dd's name is a bit like Carissa. Maybe she'll change it to Emma when she grows up!

MerryMarigold · 07/10/2014 22:34

I love the name Hilary. I think it sounds like hilarious and hilarity, - makes me think of happiness and laughing. You just don't hear it anymore in people under 50.

OwlCapone · 07/10/2014 22:53

Madison is definitely a boys name. Hence the ending 'son'.

Alison?

manicinsomniac · 07/10/2014 23:02

Baylor is a character in the book/film 'Divine Secrets of a Yah Yah Sisterhood'. Could your DH have read/seen that?

The character is a little boy though.

I quite like it.