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Original poster

Wren for a girl?

60 replies

TheGirlWhoPlayedWithFire · 01/02/2015 14:38

This could be a futile thread as I'm newly pregnant and it could be either sex but I'm mulling over girls names and struggling.

I had this problem with DD1&2 and and DH effectively named them as I was dithering.

However I came across Wren for a girl and I love it. DH thinks I'm mad.

Is it hormones messing with my head? Or is it a perfectly acceptable name?

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PurpleStripedSock · 01/02/2015 14:39

It's my daughter's middle name so it's a yes from me :-)

SoupDragon · 01/02/2015 14:42

It's DDs nickname but I wouldn't use it as a first name.

FelixFelix · 01/02/2015 14:42

I think it's really nice. I'd consider it for a middle name (adds to list for imaginary second child Grin)

sunflower49 · 01/02/2015 14:46

I know a Serendipity, Wren for short. I like it.

Original poster
TheGirlWhoPlayedWithFire · 01/02/2015 14:51

Seems popular as a middle name /nickname. Is that because it's a bit odd?

Wren for serendipity? Hmm, DH would like that ( good compromise).

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 01/02/2015 14:53

I would be wary because DD is a long way from being a tiny delicate songbird :)

StoneFoxMama · 01/02/2015 15:11

On paper it's beautiful, but when I hear it I just think of Ren and stimpy.

SirVixofVixHall · 01/02/2015 15:14

I love it!

SoupDragon · 01/02/2015 15:26

when I hear it I just think of Ren and stimpy.

I kind of agree, except because I know the silent W is there I hear it as Wren.

meditrina · 01/02/2015 15:27

I think it remains unusable becuase of the Royal Navy. Though perhaps when that generation has died out (literally) the usage might too. But I'd give it a good couole of decades yet.

Or are you specifically honouring matelots in your family?

SoupDragon · 01/02/2015 15:31

I can honestly say that the navy has never popped into my mind when hearing Wren, it is always the bird. Maybe you have to have some connection to the navy.

IsadoraQuagmire · 01/02/2015 15:37

I like it. Though if someone told me their name was Wren, I'd initially hear "Ren" in my head ( and think it was probably short for Renee)
The last person named Wren I heard of was male, but I like it better for a girl.

Sophronia · 01/02/2015 16:01

Wren / Ren as a nickname for Kerensa?

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 01/02/2015 16:06

Yes I like it. Very much.

Hakluyt · 01/02/2015 16:09

Oh don't be silly- you can't call a child Serendipity!

cosmicglittergirl · 01/02/2015 16:10

I like it. It's unusual.

butterfliesinmytummy · 01/02/2015 16:11

I like Wren but I use a lot of Ren skincare and it's too close for me. I really like Rae though......

Original poster
TheGirlWhoPlayedWithFire · 01/02/2015 22:16

Meditrina - I'm completely ignorant on naval customs, I apologise but why would wren cause offence in naval circles?

No navvies in our family so I don't think it would cause too many difficulties.

Soup - I like Wren as an adult name, think it would fit far better than some of the cutesy girls names which are regularly recommended.

It's grown on me even more since I started this thread. Plus DH said it's growing on him too.

We did do this with a previous DD though - we had a name picked right up to birth. Then she just didn't fit the name.

But anyway, it's definitely in the short list now

Hak - that's exactly what DH said, before he decided Wren on it's own was ok.

OP posts:
MairzyDoats · 01/02/2015 22:19

Wren is sweet. I also like Linnet. It's the name of the little ghost girl in The Children of Green Knowe.

Tisiphone · 01/02/2015 22:52

I definitely wouldn't discount it it because of the navy (WRENs, for those asking the naval connection - Women's Royal Naval Service until it was disbanded in the 90s, I think?) but in my head it always hear it as 'Ren or 'Wren, as if it's short for Lauren - is/was there someone vaguely in the public eye called L'Wren Something?

meditrina · 01/02/2015 22:53

It wouldn't cause offence, but would look odd.

It's the long-standing ordinary spoken version of the acronym for the Women's Royal Naval Service, and a female matelot was a Wren. (Not just British, other Commonwealth countries had same official acronym, so known internationally).

So it would look as if you were honouring that whole branch of the Armed Forces. Since amalgamation, it's less in day to day use, but it's not really died out yet.

But possibly a fantastic way of honouring any female sailors in your family tree. Especially with all the military anniversaries keeping it all rather to the forefront of public occasion.

TwoAndTwoEqualsChaos · 01/02/2015 22:57

I know a Wren and she does sort-of fit it, as she is dinky. However, she is also babied and it's all a bit arch and PFB, which is much less attractive and colours it for me.

SoupDragon · 02/02/2015 07:21

So it would look as if you were honouring that whole branch of the Armed Forces.

It really wouldn't!

Blahia · 02/02/2015 08:07

I think is lovely! And definitely works on both a child and an adult (with any occupation if that matters to you!)

MabelSideswipe · 02/02/2015 08:33

Lark is nicer.

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