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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Have you had any really negative reactions to name choices?

46 replies

NaiceNickname · 11/12/2014 23:47

Our DS is due tomorrow. Sister asked today if we have come up with a name yet, and whilst we weren't going to tell anyone for this reason like we didn't tell anyone DDs name until she was born, I'm not that fussed about it being a secret so I told her.

His name will be Leo Alexander.

Her reaction was exactly this "face like she has just smelt sour milk.... aww (in a pitying way, not cutesy) Leo?... milk face again... I like Alexander..." and then walked off.

I know you will never please everyone with your name choices, I just find it incredibly rude to comment so negatively to someones face on what is a very personal and bloody hard choice for the parents!

What is the worst reaction you have had to your name choices? And how do you deal with the negative comments?

OP posts:

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fidgetywidget · 13/12/2014 04:11

My mil has recently announced to my dh that she really doesn't like our dd's middle name & why on earth did we choose it. DD is 4.5 & mil had kept quiet up til now, why did she feel the need to share that view, it really annoyed me! I'm normally a very mild mannered person/ don't let her (silly) comments get to me, but it gave me the rage!

Thewrongmans · 13/12/2014 04:24

I am surprised that got any response at all. It is very ordinary.

ItsAlwaysBetterOnHoliday · 13/12/2014 04:31

Leo (also with a middle name beginning with A, not Alexander though!) is our five month old DS' name so I'm biased - it's a great name. Ignore ignore :)

ItsAlwaysBetterOnHoliday · 13/12/2014 04:33

Oh, and we've never had any negative reactions to his name. If people don't like it, they're too polite to show it - which is as it should be!

ohdearitshappeningtome · 13/12/2014 04:34

When we picked ds1 name, it was a case of...

"Ffs why did you pick that name! Don't like it"

We picked a name we both liked and stuck to it ....

It's the same name as the man who built the andthe animals went two by two

LionWings · 13/12/2014 06:53

A common theme here from parents and in laws!

When I told mum DS3's name, she just said 'oh well we didn't like DT1's name either but we got used to it'. Cheers Mum

ChippingInLovesChristmasLights · 13/12/2014 07:06

Is Leo here yet?!

lastnightIwenttoManderley · 13/12/2014 07:10

Stupid in my mind your kids are now called Dougal and Ermintrude!

scrivette · 13/12/2014 07:15

DS has the same name as a car. My DB asked if we were joking when we told him the name and my Dad suggested we call him by another car name as he didn't like the one we had chosen.

Now they love the name and say it suits him.

JimbosJetSet · 13/12/2014 07:15

Leo and Alexander were both on our list for DS

We didn't tell anyone our final choice of name until he arrived. When we told Mil she said 'oh dear. How about calling him X instead?' When DM arrived to meet him, I said, 'don't tell me if you don't like his name'... She said 'I don't like that name!'

Fwiw it's a top 100 name, no more outrageous than Leo or Alexander.

However, two and a half years down the line, DM recently told me that she is getting used to his name now, so there is hope! DM and MIL are both wonderful grandparents too, I wasn't expecting such negative reactions

PennyJennyPie · 13/12/2014 07:33

I called my dad from the maternity ward and told him Ds name. He said "oh well, you can always change your mind". He completely denies saying it now though 17 months later.

DeadCert · 13/12/2014 07:49

Yes, DD's name is a complete "marmite" name. People have gone "oh. That's...unusual."

The best one was 3 days after I had her we ventured out for a walk, the neighbours came out to see her in her pram.

One said "Whoever thought that one up?"

I replied: "Me. I thought it up. Lovely isn't it?"

How effing rude are some people? By the way, Leo Alexander is gorgeous!

SnoringNorma · 13/12/2014 10:42

My son has a family name on my mum's side which has always been used as a middle name. Her reaction? "What a funny old fashioned choice" My daughter didn't fair much better. Mum turned her nose up even it was pointed our the name ( a proper name btw) was a joining of her name and her sisters. Knickers to nay sayers even if they are family!

UpSheFlew · 13/12/2014 10:50

Upon naming my brother, my mother was told by my grandfather that his name was "a dog's name". Naice. She stuck to her guns though.

I personally think that Rover is a U.U. (unique and unusual) name, (all the rage at the moment dontchaknow), so don't know what all the fuss was about

curiousgeorgie · 13/12/2014 10:56

Everyone hated our baby name.

"That's probably the worst name I've ever heard"

"Please don't call your child that"

"Over my dead body" (Mil)

"You're giving her a stripper name"

And actual laughter.

We still used it

mrsnec · 13/12/2014 10:59

I think it's a great name too.

We had a bit of negativity too and I stopped telling people in the end.

I think I would have preferred people to be honest and tell me a justifiable reason as to why they didn't like the name we chose for dd instead of offering hideous alternatives that were nowhere near along the same lines and didn't fit my brief at all.

I didn't mind as long as they were helpful. But I remember telling Mil I wanted something a bit continental, not popular at the moment and with a beautiful meaning, possibly flowery, she came out with Jane and Ashley!

Now dd is here we have only had nice comments, the ones who don't comment are just ambivalent and that's fine.

ChickenMe · 13/12/2014 12:25

I still feel bad because, years ago when I had no concept of ever being a parent, SIL told me a possible choice for her DD and I told her it was awful. The name they eventually chose was far nicer though. I hope I didn't offend too much.

We aren't telling ours till it is here. My Dad is Mr Opinion and whatever name I say he will screw up face and bark the name as in "Lucy? Lucy??? No!". He will still do it when presented with baby but I will shut him down if he does that.

vomistheworst · 14/12/2014 08:16

I cannot find anything to dislike about Leo - it's a really nice name!

Fortunately we've never had any negative reactions to our DS's name, but my mum asked what we would have called him if he'd been a girl, and when I said he would have been Ramona, she screwed up her face and said she couldn't pronounce it (WTF?) and made a really big deal of it.

123Jump · 14/12/2014 08:28

If you're Irish you'll get this.
I really wanted to call one of my DSs Bosco.
I love the name, and I know some older guys called that, as it was just a normal irish name before You Know Who came along.
To say i was laughed out of town is putting it mildly!
Except by my mum, who knows a guy called that and she likes him,.

Pregnantagain7 · 14/12/2014 21:28

We named our fourth Rocco.

When I told my mum she said it was dogs name.
When I told fil he said "is that what you're calling him then?"

Foggymist · 15/12/2014 02:07

123Jump I read your post and my first thought was "Sure you couldn't call a child that!". I can't even view Bosco as a name/nice name, it's just....Bosco, Bosco Bosco! :D

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