When choosing a name did you ever consider the 'future prospects' of your child going by that name?

[CarbonEmittingPenguin]

Sorry for long thread title. This isn't in relation to any impending baby but just wondered if parents ever did think something like "James sounds like a name of a future CEO of a fortune 500 company, xxxx doesn't."

Did you just go with what you liked? Was any of the above ever of any concern? Just curious. I have two first names - one of which is loved on here and the other not so much.

But those lists in other countries with naming laws aren't about social class, which is what is at the crux of the 'high court judge/business card/ CEO test'.

I do think the naming laws in different countries are interesting - as you say, many places require a name not to be gender neutral, and some won't allow names that are, or are like, surnames, as well as more common laws about not using obscene terms or brand names - but I can't think of anywhere else with as finely-calibrated a nose for the social class of names, which in this country, the population seems to do a fine job of self-policing on...?

Could well be different in 20 years time, plenty of MC kids give their kids 'different' names. My nephews for example have completely whacko names. Fwiw we gave ds a biblical name and combined it with both Df and Fil names. It was only after we realised he sounded like a corporate lawyer

'You don't think that Chardonnay-Mae with her Oxford First and packed CV might suggest to potential employers someone who has triumphantly transcended a background in which no parent was aspirational enough to subject her names to the high court judge test?'

That is putting a lot of faith in the employer being scrupulously egalitarian and right-on, not to mention the clients with whom the employee will be expected to interact. Better to choose a name that will suit a business environment made up of people who read the Telegraph as well as the Guardian.

I have come across a solicitor with a very "unsolicitory" name.

And I did think "she did well, considering that name". Names do indicate background, or appear to, a lot of the time.

I had a few criteria for DD's name. I wanted it to be easy to pronounce across several languages, quick to write on forms and unisex. I wanted future employers to not know if she was male or female on applications.

And obviously I had to love it :-D

Mynd I'm now curious as to what name fitted all that criteria?

Robin

'You don't think that Chardonnay-Mae with her Oxford First and packed CV might suggest to potential employers someone who has triumphantly transcended a background in which no parent was aspirational enough to subject her names to the high court judge test?'

I think Chardonnay-Mae will have been savvy enough to become Charlotte May.

Mynd Lovely name. I was expecting you to say Bob

'You don't think that Chardonnay-Mae with her Oxford First and packed CV might suggest to potential employers someone who has triumphantly transcended a background in which no parent was aspirational enough to subject her names to the high court judge test?'

That is putting a lot of faith in the employer being scrupulously egalitarian and right-on, not to mention the clients with whom the employee will be expected to interact. Better to choose a name that will suit a business environment made up of people who read the Telegraph as well as the Guardian.

No, I didn't mean the employer would be scrupulously egalitarian or right-on by any means, only that Chardonnay-Mae might emerge as a potentially more unusual, hungrier, more hard-working candidate from a pool of two hundred equally well-qualified Charlottes and Jonathans with professional parents and public-school backgrounds, for whom Oxbridge was always an obvious destination. I think she might get past the first cut, anyway.

I would also imagine that Chardonnay-Mae would, in her time at Oxford, be likely to have taken on a certain amount of protective colouring from her environment, and would be perfectly capable of relating to potential clients. I did it myself. I can perform unimpeachably middle-class, and my background is from the more deprived reaches of the WC.

CarbonEmittingPenguin She's Bob to me

I would assume Robin was a boy...

Yes, I tend to like names that sound decidedly stripperish so had to give myself a talking to. We went with Vivienne in the end.

Mynd Interesting that you should mention that you didn't want future employers determining her sex based on her name. I've heard of people from ethnic minorities changing a name to make it more 'European' or westernised but it'd never occur to me that sex is an issue. Obviously I don't mean that women have equality in the workplace but just interesting that you pre-empted a bias. Even so, if she did ever make it to interview stage it'd be then very obvious that she is a woman.

I work with a "Honey". It is just awkward as, to my mind, it feels as though I am using an affectionate/patronising generic term. A couple of times I have had to say "Honey" quite loudly across a busy room to get her attention and you do get a couple of people who look up with faces ranging from bemused to WTF to "who, me?" and a bit of me itches to then explain it is her name but that would just be more embarrassing. I have yet to hear our male boss address her by her name. Honey's siblings have normal names!

we live in a class ridden and racist society (a casual glance at the baby names board throws up all manner of prejudice dressed up as "good taste") and in this context sadly names do matter.

I agree with you Perkins. Unusual names seem to be more tolerated on MN if they're middle class unusual rather than working class unusual.

And there are often a few 'is that even a real name' when opinions are asked on foreign names.

Currently working at news agency. The board directors are called Cindy, Shep, AJ, Eugene, Sebastian, Franklyn, Kathi and Jackson.
Everyone needs to get a grip with regards to these opinions on 'sociological-economic back grounds' (dear god) and 'chav names'. It's slightly frightening coming from the parents of the next generation and, in all seriousness, not the way the world works any more. If you foresee any kind of future as Board Chairman for your child then they can't be brought up with these views.

Cottonfrock and PerkinsRents both have it right - ("a casual glance at the baby names board throws up all manner of prejudice dressed up as "good taste") - so alarmingly true.
There's nothing wrong with thinking about your child's future as an adult when naming them. I just wish people here would allow themselves to like or dislike names based on criteria other than a real fear that others might think they don't shop at Waitrose.

I did! I stress tested all their names with 'pollyputthekettleon, orthopedic surgeon' and 'pollyputthekettleon, foreign correspondent' and then double checked that it would be a good name for a writer/artist. I always did the first check in a Ron Burgandy voice if that helps.

I agree, BroadcastHouse.

I work in media and it's an industry populated with non-traditional names. I really do doubt any employer would say 'Well, it's a shame that Riley-Mae has that awful name, because otherwise she's a perfect candidate for our position'.

CarbonEmittingPenguin - yes I wasn't aiming for turing my daughter into a unisex Orlando creature. At the time of her birth, I was in a rather sexist work environment and it annoyed me so much, I decided to at least give my girl a chance of getting that first interview based purely on qualifications and experience. If she then goes on to bugger it up, then that's how it goes. I'm now pregnant with daughter no.2 and I'm not as bothered this time around. The world is changing, even over a short 5 years.

I think the bottom line is that you have to love the name. Everything else is secondary. If you're the sort of person who worries so much about what total strangers 'might' think that you compromise on one of the biggest decisions of your life, then I think maybe that's the attitude that damages the future prospects of your kids more than any name might. Fit in, be a sheep, obsess about how others see you, compromise beyond reason for people you don't know... none of these are messages you want to pass on to the next generation. There's a reason why artists, singers, scientists and writers tend to come from unusual backgrounds (and have unusual names!). They understand that to go places, you have to stand out, not fit in.

Gosh, yes. William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Joseph Turner, Margaret Thatcher, John Keats, Marie Curie, Alexander Fleming, Amy Johnson, David Attenborough - all really held back by having very ordinary names.

Well obviously they weren't held back. I'm not saying you HAVE to have an unusual name .

But Spike Jones, Honeysuckle Weeks, Woody Guthrie, Denzil Washington, Oprah Winfrey, Barrack Obama, Cherie Blair, Dr Pixie McKenna and Geena Davis haven't suffered either.

That was my clumsily-made point. The name is irrelevant so stop worrying about High Court judges and pick a name you like.

Pixie Mackenna is actually a Bernadette.
Woody Guthrie was Woodrow Wilson Guthrie.
Geena Davis is a Virginia.
Spike Jones was originally a Lindsay - Spike Jonze was born Adam Spiegel.
Cherie Booth is a Theresa.

Presumably they chose the variations because they thought it would enhance their careers.

My favourite girls name is a classic anyway but I had a few different options in mind aswell when finally choosing the name for my daughter. I did actually think about what the name would look like on a CV even when thinking what middle name to put with it. I have gone for classic names for both first and middle names without it sounding too "old". It's always good to think of the future. Even though a name doesn't determine the intelligence or ability of a child/person we unfortunately live in a society which judges on certain aspects such as a name. It's a shame really.

Our son's name is Miller. I think it is simple, easy enough for him to spell, I think it's different without being outlandish, I think it will serve him well as an adult and I don't think it will hold him back in anyway. It might not be unique but I would say uncommon. He is an extremely bright boy, and school is looking through his interests with him, currently engineering and law, not one mention of his name not being James or George - which is how I think it should be.

Our daughter is Ottilie (German), it's a bit of a mouthful, a bit of a pain to spell, but it's her, it's beautiful and should serve her well all her life. Now that we're in Germany she will have less mishearing and misspelling of it too. Since naming her, we've since found out it is considered a very sophisticated and well to do name, apparently.

Sugar plum I think your names are beautiful and strong. I went with very classic names but they sound strong with our surname I think. People all choose names that sound good to them. Does it matter why they choose them other than they sound right to them.