Would you use a name you love, knowing there may be rolled eyes?

[CarTroubles]

The name is Willow.

Not particularly controversial!

But I know all our families will be a bit......eye rolly. They'll think it's hippie hilariousness. Possibly think its too silly a name to lumber a child with.

They probably won't say anything much to our faces, maybe the occasional "Oh, that's........ unusual.....why Willow?" with a fixed glassy smile.

But I'm cringing at the imagined snorts of derision that will happen behind our backs. What adds to it is that we have a ugly surname that doesn't really go with it AT ALL. So I can just imagine them all going "Willow ThatSurname???? Really??"

We love love love the name. But I don't want people to laugh at us! DH doesn't give a fuck, lol. But I don't have his confidence!

I named my daughter Dolores (Dolly for short) my MIL didn't like it one bit but never really said anything. Go for it! I couldn't give 2 shits what people think of my taste in names!

I think it's lovely and if you love it then use it! it's not a ridiculous name that your kid is going to be picked on for. It's a really nice name x

I adore the name Willow! It's beautiful! Don't care what anybody else thinks :)

Once your lovely DD is here, you will give zero fucks what anyone thinks.

If you don't call her WIllow, you will regret it. I guarantee.

I would disregard EVERYONE but your parents, who have no say but if you want them on side, mention a few ridiculous names for a few days, but then 'come to your senses' and go with Willow.

It's lovely and it is, in my view, less hippydippy than Summer or Skye. FWIW

Absolutely love that JellyBean. Gorgeous name and nn. Love the name Dolores from a Stephen King book. X

Go for it! What a name to have as a girl, these are characteristics I would want my daughter to have!
The willow tree has a deceptive appearance. The trunk is small and seemingly fragile. Branches are long and weepy. Overall, willows appear to be weak and easily breakable. Despite the willow’s delicate aboveground stature, the secret strength to the tree lies in its extensive root system. Underground, willow roots run long, wide, and deep, each one attached in some way to the stem. As violent storms rage, the long, pliable branches of the willow move and stretch with the wind, bending and not breaking.

Thank you rackham, never heard of it from a Stephen king book but had someone ask if it was after a character from Harry potter, I've never seen it/read the books so had no clue what they were talking about!

Do people not check the meanings of names before they use them?

Reminds me of Marigold Thackeray, a girl from my uni course. Pretty nature name + solid factory owning surname. She was great and really suited her name.

Willow is lovely and your surname is your surname, not much to be done about that. If I put it with the three most uncompromising surnames I've come across you get Willow Grime, Willow Pratt, Willow Grubb. May as well pretty them up a bit.

Just use the name you love and expect your family to be polite about it. They may actually love it, and if they don't, they can pretend!

We have a baby Wilson in our family. Nobody likes it apart from the parents but we've never eye rolled or hinted to them at such thoughts. It's their child. If you love it, go for it. There'll always be people who don't like your choice even if you go traditional. We went traditional for our daughter and peoples reaction was always very 'meh', and now I regret not going with something a bit different.

Cradle I know an adult called Wilson, he's a lovely guy, universally liked so I have very positive associations. I've never heard anyone comment on his name.

Reminds me of Marigold Thackeray, a girl from my uni course. Pretty nature name + solid factory owning surname.

That shows, doesn't it - because Thackeray for me is a distinctly literary name, rather than solid and factory-owning.

One of My DD middle names is Alice and DH relative was all oh, where has that come from? . Is it really that way out there?

Had DH not very firmly vetoed it, my son would be called Barnaby, and I wouldn't give a toss about the many, many people I know who would snigger about it. I still love the name and it would really suit him.

Willow's great. It's not airy fairy, ethereal at all. It's a beautiful tree which gazes at its lover in the water, and puts out catkins. Anything which produces catkins is good in my book!

Stuff then.
I know a Willow and she's gorgeous inside and out. Beautiful name

Willow trees are wide with a short trunk so I don't think a Willow needs to be willowy.

re DD2's name people just said "oh" and tried very hard not to

But we loved it, she loves it, everyone stopped giving a shit came round and it is a fantastic name.

Lovely name, go for it. I have a very unusual name and our toddler has a slightly unusual (but not that unusual ) name. In laws (who have no filter) first comment was 'that sounds like a south African drug dealers name'!!!! They've gotten used to it. Everyone has opinions but sod them, do what you think is best.

Mitzy I believe I was misnamed in that case!

I'll just observe that around my neck of the woods, which isn't so far from Glastonbury and Frome quite a lot of people call their lurchers and whippets names like Willow (big on rescue dogs here too).

I think it would be a lovely name for a child/teen but I'm not sure a middle-aged mum or aspiring professional could carry it off.

Also, don't even consider it if your surname begins with "C" (far too many things get initialled at school).

Definitely announce after the birth. I shared a couple of ideas before s1 was born and had such eye-rolling that I started saying "Boy = Fred & if a girl = Ginger" from the Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers films.

Some believed me And my parents thought it funny and brought me 2 teddies when s1 was born who then had to be called Fred & Ginger.
We've still got them and s1 is now 19.

willow is hardly eyebrow raising, its was the 41th most popular girls name in the country last year, they will get over it, you will learn not to give a fuck

Smith? It's not common, it's popular.....!

The name always reminds me of Britt Ekland in The Wicker Man

My little girl is called Willow 😊 She's just turned 4 months old and I love her name. I've never had anyone look at me weirdly when I've told them her name either, instead I get loads of compliments and the one person who I thought would hate it (my mom) absolutely loves it. It's your choice at the end of the day and what you may like, another may not but vice versa.