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

Matilda

111 replies

looki · 14/02/2015 23:37

Apologies if this has been done a thousand times but names go in and out and opinions change as a name gets more popular.

What do you think of when you hear the name Matilda?

Are there are well....chav associations with it? Sorry for using the 'c' word but my other front runner seems to be associated with this word which has turned me off the name.

Thanks

OP posts:
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Rosieliveson · 14/02/2015 23:40

I really like it. I dot junk it had be lNe more popular recently but I've not picked up on it being chavvy.
Out of interest, what was your other choice?

WestEast · 14/02/2015 23:41

Don't like it personally.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 14/02/2015 23:42

I wanted it as DD1 has a literary first and middle name so DD2 would have had Matilda as a first or middle name to keep with the theme. As it is I had a boy.

Love the nn Tilda.

looki · 14/02/2015 23:43

I don't really want to say the other name as people here may have used it.

Which spelling? Matilda or Mathilda?

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labelwriter · 14/02/2015 23:46

I love it (DDs middle name) but I do know 4 Matildas so it's a very popular name.

jazzyjenbo · 14/02/2015 23:47

Its a lovely name but very popular near me...however most seem shorten it to milly, tilly or tilda. It would be nice to hear of afew who are actually called Matilda (iyswim)

Rosieliveson · 14/02/2015 23:48

Sorry, my post went crazy in the middle there! It was, I do think it has become more popular ...
I wouldn't let it put you off if you love it.
I like Matilda. I think the added h would make for a lifetime of your dd spelling her name out and getting post which addressed incorrectly

looki · 14/02/2015 23:53

What do you think when you hear the name? I'm scared I will read that it is a name often heard screamed in Iceland etc

I know that shouldn't put me off, that a person makes a name not vice versa but I want to avoid any negative associations as much as possible.

As you can probably tell, finding negative comments about the name I had chosen has warped my confidence completely.

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Rosieliveson · 15/02/2015 00:01

I know what you mean. It's awful to think you might 'saddle' your child with a name that's thought badly off.

When choosing my DS's name, I imagined those phone calls after the birth where people say "so what's he called??" Once I felt happy saying the name out loud I knew it was a keeper. Alternatively, if you're actually keeping the name a secret but want to try out responses tell a few people you don't socialise with much to gauge reactions Smile

jazzyjenbo · 15/02/2015 00:02

If i'm honest when i hear the name I think ... Ohh another matilda... In the same way i think of ohh another evie, ava, eva etc... But they are all very pretty names just popular, but that shouldn't put you off if you love it.
Do you love it as much as the other name you liked?
I am also having a girl and finding it hard to find one that isnt criticised in some way or another... Just remember we can't all like the same thing!
Share your other choices (the one you were put off?) so we can say which is nicer?

Pixa · 15/02/2015 00:03

I love the name Matilda. Even though we are not pregnant yet, we are TTC-ing and Matilda is on our names list. It is our front runner alongside Penelope. Smile

SoonToBeSix · 15/02/2015 00:04

Love it , but without the pretentious h.

WienerDiva · 15/02/2015 00:05

My dd is Matilda, not shortened either (she won't let anyone Grin).

People are very quick to compliment me on her name when out and about. They often say things like "don't hear that name often enough", "is she as lovely as the Matilda in the book/film?"

Nobody has ever visibly recoiled in horror at the sound of her name, so that's a positive I suppose!

looki · 15/02/2015 00:12

You see I don't think anyone (normal) will say the first name is awful after it has been given to a baby. They are all most likely to say 'that is lovely' or so you would think...... but I am looked at under raised eyebrows when I say the name or asked 'where is that from' (answer England!) and nobody has ever, not one, said its pretty etc

So naturally I want to avoid that this time.

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BrieAndChilli · 15/02/2015 00:26

Dd is a matilda
We havnt come across anyone in real life with the same name and it's never in those pens/bracelets/baubles etc with your name on
She is 6 and is normally called Matilda but some of her friends call her Tilda as when they were younger they couldn't say it properly.

ImGoingForATwix · 15/02/2015 00:32

I like it. I think of Roald Dahl. Matilda was my favourite book of his. I would have it on a shortlist for a dd but dh doesn't like it.

EllenJanesthickerknickers · 15/02/2015 00:53

Haven't heard of a single one and I work in a school! It's nice, fairly posh and makes me think of the Roald Dahl book.

EllenJanesthickerknickers · 15/02/2015 00:57

It was 36th in the last ONS baby names data. Which was 1 in 245 girls. So not that common!

ScotsWhaHae · 15/02/2015 01:01

I love it. I've never met one, but if I had a girl she'd be a Matilda. For lots of reasons.

I do have a tattoo of Matilda from the roald Dahl book, I'm maybe not particularly impartial

sticklebrickstickle · 15/02/2015 01:02

I really like Matilda. Definitely don't think of it as 'chavvy,' in fact quite the opposite - seems to be a middle-class name where I live. I definitely associate it with sweet, soft-spoken girls for some reason - it's sort of pretty and delicate but without being at all saccharine like some girly names. It does seem to be a name growing in popularity and I know a few Matilda's under four, none of them have their names shortened either and all are known by their full name, Matilda.

squoosh · 15/02/2015 01:22

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squoosh · 15/02/2015 01:26

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looki · 15/02/2015 02:21

Squoosh with all respect your post wasn't very nice.

My favourite name has been described on this website as many things, many associations and very few of them positive. The Iceland example I gave was an actual quote not some made up snobbish notion.

I fail to see whats knobbish about wanting to choose a name that my child in years to come won't read horrible things about it on forums like these. I simply want a regular name , I'm not enquiring about perceived posh names. If that was the case, I think I'd be asking about Xanthe and the like not Matilda!

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Rosieliveson · 15/02/2015 02:31

Haha, well knob or not, I think it's a great name Grin

squoosh · 15/02/2015 02:38

looki with all respect your posts sound utterly snobbish.

You're the one who mentioned the term 'chav'. You're the one who specifically mentioned Iceland supermarket. It's a bit late to backtrack now.

If you're worried about what your child will read on forums in the future then may I suggest that you don't post such prejudiced views about the name you're pondering?

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