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Baby names

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

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Original poster

The name Pan Pan!

50 replies

VanezAJ · 14/12/2015 05:07

My dh is half chinese and I was thinking we might name our dd after a rare flower in Sichuan province. The flower's name is Pan Pan.
I love this name!
What do you think?

OP posts:

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FrancisdeSales · 14/12/2015 05:12

Hmmmmmmm.

Interesting, on the other hand it sounds like Bam Bam in English or similar, unlikely to be found on anyone above the age of 5.

Be prepared for your dd to have to explain her name for the rest of her life unless you move to China.

LucyMouse · 14/12/2015 05:13

It's very open to ridicule

InspectorNorse · 14/12/2015 05:19

I like it! She can always go by Pan if she thinks Pan Pan is too much, but i think it's lovely. Our daughter has a more unusual (in Britain!) name too, due to her father being African, and I think it is special - though we gave her a very normal English middle name, in case she doesn't think her first name is so special when she is older.

InspectorNorse · 14/12/2015 05:25

Also, I think Britain is multicultural enough for her not to have to explain her name. It might just be where we live, but there are hundreds of east asians here (university) and I never feel a need to get them to explain their names!

WanderingTrolley1 · 14/12/2015 05:28

That's a no from me.

0verNow · 14/12/2015 05:32

You know that a pan-pan is a distress call on emergency radio, yes?

TheHouseOnTheLane · 14/12/2015 05:50

I love it. Beautiful. OverNow I'm sure a tiny portion of people know that fact.

MangosteenSoda · 14/12/2015 06:30

I think that would be a difficult name to carry off. It might work better if your surname is Chinese Pan Pan Chu, but not so much if it's English Pan Pan Jones. In the latter case, there would be more questions, explaining etc which your daughter might get sick of.

Also, it would be a fairly unusual name in China. Normally names go something like Wei Pan-Liu nn Pan Pan.

Doesn't really lend itself to a middle name either.

How about Pandora? Pan Pan as everyday name.

Glastokitty · 14/12/2015 06:42

Depends a lot on the surname. Pan Pan Han would be ridiculous. And it sounds like Bam Bam. Its a big nope from me.

lighteningirl · 14/12/2015 06:56

No from me and I love unusual names

pretend · 14/12/2015 07:00

Your DH is only half Chinese? So your child will only be a quarter Chinese and will be called Pan Pan. Sorry I think it's silly.

My mate's kids are a quarter Italian. She has called them all the most outlandish Italian names in a bid to be different (yes she's more an ex mate) and it just sounds ridiculous.

At the very least use a name which works in both countries. Not one that sounds really silly in one of them.

Hamishandthefoxes · 14/12/2015 07:03

Pan pan is the international call signal for a medical emergency and used in the same sort of way as Mayday.

Just pan would be better.

pretend · 14/12/2015 07:04

Pan Pan Houlihan
Pan Pan McCann
Pan Pan Moran
Pan Pan McMahon
Pan Pan Soloman

Actually scratch that they're all brilliant....

meditrina · 14/12/2015 07:16

Do the Chinese members of DH's family like it as a name?

IIRC, Chinese naming is fairly intricate (in finding personalised auspicious names) so their view might be important. (Because it might be a bit odd for your DD is on one hand telling her non-Chinese friends/family that it's a Chinese name whilst her Chinese family just find it weird).

And yes, it's much more widely known as a distress call than a flower, so your preferred association will need to be explained. Possibly multiple times.

PinkSquash · 14/12/2015 07:24

Pan Pan is the worlds oldest Panda, and male.

0verNow · 14/12/2015 09:01

So at least 3 of us on this thread thought distress or emergency.

pinkyredrose · 14/12/2015 09:03

I think it's fab! Would you call her Pan for short?

OneMoreCasualty · 14/12/2015 09:06

Does the flower have an English or Latin name, if it's the flower you love?

I have a friend with a fairly similar Chinese name but she uses an English name also.

Glastokitty · 14/12/2015 09:06

Pan Pan Spillane. . Almost as ridiculous as the legendary Pocohontas McGinty!

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 14/12/2015 09:14

I've just googled it and lots of things about the distress call have come up.

I liked the idea of Pandora with Pan Pan as a shortening / nick name,

Tuiles · 14/12/2015 09:17

Distress call came to mind first here too.

Quiero · 14/12/2015 09:22

Call her Pandora and use Pan Pan as a nick name. That way she can drop it if it feels too infantile.

Quiero · 14/12/2015 09:22

Xpost

blaeberry · 14/12/2015 09:31

Pandora let all the evil out into the world (Pandora's box).

Could you have it as a middle name, with a more conventional first name? You could still use it as her name. Pan pan sounds more like a family pet name (as in nick name rather than dogs name).

Sophronia · 14/12/2015 12:23

Agree that it would be better as a middle name.

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