Mercedes yay or nay?

[escorpion]

We live abroad, my husband is South American and here there would be no problem with this name. It´s on our shortlist for a girl. I just worry if we come back to the UK to live about how this name is seen. i.e. chav. Thoughts?

Or, to put it another way, exactly what Bothendsburning said .

Perfectly sound name. Go for it.

Love Mercy for short. Know a 40 odd year old Mercedes she's a lovely, very successful woman. Go for it I say.

I think a lot of people will automatically think of the car when they hear Mercedes.

I wouldn't assume that even a well educated person would realise that Mercedes was a classic Spanish girl's name before a brand of car unless the person either has Spanish connections or is very into cars.

Given your south american connections o think its totally fine, and very pretty.

I don't have Spanish connections and know absolutely nothing about cars.

But, somehow, it has seeped into my consciousness that Mercedes is a much loved girls name in Spain.

I'm definitely nothing special in the intellect stakes so I think its safe to assume that people who would automatically associate it with a car are frankly just not very clued up at all.

Not clued up about Spanish names, sure.

They could be very clued up about plenty of other things.

I think it's a lovely name, but I wonder if people in the UK would automatically pronounce it like the car (Mer-SAY-dees) so to speak, rather than like the Spanish name (MARE-thed-es), and if that would get rather annoying rather quickly?

I think the Latin American pronunciation is different from the Spanish anyway.

just reminds me of hollyoaks

Go for it. Don't let the ignorance of other people put you off.

It is a name used in Germany too -- the car was named after a girl named Mercedes Jellinek whose father was instrumental in its development.

In general it is a name from Catholic cultures.

I knew a man who was registered as E-type on his bc. Sorry...not helpful.

I'd worry because as pp said its an unusual name in the UK and so the DD will spend a lifetime of interacting with 'ignorant' people who have only heard of the car brand (I don't think our educational system covers traditional Spanish names and wouldn't dismiss everyone without this knowledge as ignorant ). If OP comes back to UK whilst DD is still in school its a bit unfair to expect the average schoolkid to know that Mercedes is a nice Spanish name rather than a car. She'll also encounter people who make jokes like the Skoda one above because its 'hilarious'.

Being realistic about teasing potential and unpleasant comments doesn't mean a post is nasty, and I'd actually say that just because a person isn't aware of a name's origins it doesn't make them 'ignorant' or 'nasty' either - Mercedes has a strong brand association in the UK, Just like the recent Octavia thread - again fine if you don't mind your kid having Skoda as a nn. Its a name with teasing potential, the association in the UK is primarily with a car rather than a nice Spanish name and to pretend otherwise is a bit naive. She may be teased, she may not, but I don't think its nasty to point out the reasons for that possibility.

As previously pointed out, there are some perfectly nice shortened versions of Mercedes which would avoid the whole issue of potential teasing in the UK.

Unless the OP wants to use the name she's posted about rather than Mercy or Merry.

It will be up to the child to decide which she prefers.

I think Mercedes is a gorgeous name.

I love it and do not think it sounds 'chavvy' at all.
Only uneducated people would think that.
It means 'Mercies' in Spanish as I am sure you know.

Yes, it's a shame when people feel that they have to pander to the lowest common denominator.

It is a shame.

Though you see it all the time where people don't know the origins and how it was a name first, and the brand or item named after the person. Thinking of recent-ish examples:
Octavia
Clementine
Augusta ('people will think you were born in August')

etc etc

It is a shame. But it's also potentially a reality for kids given those names, so worth considering.

No name is without teasing potential.

It is really beautiful and in your position I would go for it personally. She might get some comments here but nothing too terrible.

No one said that Burning I'm not really sure what your posts are for unless you're being deliberately argumentative?

The OP asked I just worry if we come back to the UK to live about how this name is seen. i.e. chav. Thoughts? A number of posters have suggested that whilst a lovely name the primary association is likely to be the car/brand rather than an awareness of traditional Spanish names and so it may be seen as an aspirational sort of name.

Several posters have commented that this makes people 'ignorant' or 'uneducated' which is pretty unpleasant, especially as children are likely to be 'ignorant' of this connection. Mercedes cars are vastly more common in the UK than girls of Spanish origin called Mercedes, that's a reality, and whilst any name may have teasing potential, that's not what the OP asked.

I disagree that a majority of people in the UK would associate the name Mercedes purely with the car. I think most people would indeed be aware of it as a name in the same way that they'd know Pablo or Henrik or Manuela are commonly used Christian names, just not often for British people born in Britain.

Therefore, as bothendsburning said, op should not worry about pandering to the lowest common denominator.