Safe vs brave names

[Evelyn2405]

My little girl went by a more usual name for the first month of her life and just before we registered her I had a change of heart and decided to go for my braver option, I wasn't excited at all by the first name and I was just worried about what people would say about me changing my mind/the name. I've always loved unusual names and I'm so happy I went with my more unusual name! Be brave ladies!

What are your safe names and brave names??

Didnt really have safe and brave.. Just names dh and I liked (and frankly that was a marathon and a half to get to agree on as it was)

I have 4 3 have what I call unusual but not weird names (so not in top 250 list any of them) 1 has what now is a top 30 list name however when we gave it to her it was not on the top 100.

dd3 was almost Seraphina it was our name for her but she didnt look like Seraphina. i guess thats a bit unusual.

Our dc all have names we love! They're all classic but not trendy names, outside top 250 or even top 500 I think.

I agree with you op!

Always think about who it is that has to be brave. A clue. It's not the person who chooses the name.

I agree with Bertrand. Choosing a name means thinking about the person who has to live with it from cradle to grave. And that's not you!

Took the words out of my mouth there, Bertrand! My estimate is that on any thread about unusual names the people who say 'My name is unusual and I love it, I don't mind constantly having to spell it and explain how it's pronounced and it doesn't bother me at all that other people get it wrong all the time' are outnumbered at least 3 to 1 by those who say 'My name is unusual and it's a pain in the neck because nobody knows how to pronounce it when they see it written down/nobody knows how to spell it when they hear it said/everybody assumes it will have the usual English spelling but my parents wanted to be different and spelled it with a kyz instead of cis...'

I'm on the be brave side. I love unusual names. But what is unusual today may make the top 10 in five years time.

I agree, you don't want to pick a name that you think your child would hate, or one you wouldn't want to be called yourself! I don't like the made up names with silly spellings but I like rare unusual names

I agree with Bertrand too; it's all very well to choose a 'brave' name when you're not the one who has to go through life saddled with it. Its usually something like 'this is Kate and Peter Smith and their children Antigone, Horatio and Skylark'.

I like names that aren't used very much, but are spelled correctly and actual real names. DS has one of those (3 born with his name the year before his birth), future DDs names are already picked out too. But also its very regional, for example there are NO baby Zaras round here but I'm sure that's very popular elsewhere. So Zara is unusual here, but obviously everyone knows of it.

I don't think that you should ever choose a name because it's 'brave', for reasons already given. On the other hand I think it's a bit sad to limit yourself to 'safe' names when naming your children. Luckily there are thousands of names that fall between the two :)

I have a very unusual name that I love, but it also has the option of a very commonly used diminutive (well common when I was young, now would be seen as very dated I suspect), so if I had wanted to be more anonymous that was an option. I do have to spell it every time, but then my dd has to do the same as her (top 10 for more than a decade) name has picked up some variants in the last twenty years so is more often than not misspelled now. Which annoys her way more than it annoys me having my name misspelled.

Choose names for your children that you love, just check before you go ahead that you would be happy if you had that name yourself.

"I don't like the made up names with silly spellings but I like rare unusual names"

I agree. Just because a name is outside the top 500 or now widely used, does not mean it is 'made up' or has a weird spelling. In fact, there are so so many classic underused 'unusual' names out there that are perfectly easy to pronounce, spell and understand. They're just not 'trendy' or 'fashionable' at the moment.

That depends on what you mean with 'brave'.
A name like Bertram, Hiram, Clematis or Flurina? Sure. Ayebraham, Chassidee, Himmler and Jordyn? Just no. The parents aren't the one that have to spell the name for the rest of their lives or have a name with negative connotations.

I really don't get this 'bravery' thing on Mumsnet. It's baffling. Just go with the name that you like. Bravery/safety didn't cross my mind once when I was choosing names for my DC.

Its only brave if you put it on MN to the dismay of posters who will inevitably hate it and tell you that you have made it up and spelt it wrong then stick with it anyway and call your child what the hell you like.
The best solution is to not test a name you love on MN.

I would rather go with a safe name since I wouldn't like my kid to hate their name and be ashamed of it later on!

I like names that are uncommon but well known in that if you see it wrote down you know what it is and when telling people they know it and don't have to repeat/say slowly.

I think you only need to be 'brave' if you are easily bothered about what others will say. My choice of girls names on a previous post has resulted in some really horrible comments! These comments just reassure me that I'm making the right decision going 'brave' rather than 'safe'. As long as you're confident that your child will flourish with such a name, then go for it. I have taken into consideration my new child's (due Dec) siblings, family, home environment and future school and none of these factors warn against a 'brave' name.