Should we stay safe, or go for the name we love (that's seen as 'made-up' and 'chavvy')?

[MushroomWorld]

What the title says! I'd rather not say what the unusual name is, as it's rare. I like 1 spelling of it.

Or Olivia

I like Olivia, but love the other name. Should we just go for it?

I'd call her Amber Leigh on official paperwork. You can call her Amberleigh when you talk to her, introduce her, etc. She can then decide to be 'Amber' when having to sign for stuff or spell her name over the phone to a call centre. (I have a surname that requires constant spelling, I'm a bit tired of it, can you tell?!)

What about Hadley, Wellesley ( pronounced wellz-lee) Waverley, Yardley

Noooo don't listen OP. Amberleigh is much better compared to those 'names', and I was one of the naysayers earlier in the thread

Hi, meet my daughter/son, Yardley

Sorry

Olivia is beyond dull and overused. It will soon sound dated.

Amberley (I prefer this spelling) sounds lovely and is easy to spell/say. And she won't need to add her surname initials to her name.

Amm-burgh'Leigh is how you should spell it for maximum chav impact.

You should go with the name that you love! Which sounds like it's Amberleigh. Olivia is a nice name too but if you named your daughter this, would you always be wishing you went with the unusual name instead?

I like it! But my daughter is called Amber ☺ my only issue is "amber leaf" I played around with amber Leigh and Amber lou but amber leaf came to my head everytime. I do realy like it tho

I'd register her Amber Leigh, call her what you want and let her keep/drop the Leigh when she's older.

I'm another who has to constantly spell my first name and repeat my surname explaining how to pronounce it properly. It drives me mad sometimes...

i like it! i don't think it's that chavvy at all, it's not like you're calling her destinee-may

Amberleigh. Olivia is lovely but not when it is so popular.

I think it's a pretty name. And I'm quite far from being a 'chav'. What on earth is wrong with it?!

I have no idea what's wrong with either ha!

Amber is a lovely name.

Olivia dull.

Amberleigh - Ugh.

Can't you go for Olivia as the first name and Amberleigh as the middle name?

Amberleigh sounds like something Aldi would call their dairy produce or maybe a pale ale.

But if you love it use it!

Last night I dreamt I went to Amberleigh again. I mean Manderley.

I love amber and I love lee...

Does that help?

Oh I thought the name was going to be much much worse. I really like it. I wouldn't think it was chavvy at all. Just please yourself OP - it's not like your calling your child dandelion or something!

To me, not having heard of the name before, it sounds like a placename. Also, as it's quite long it will end up being shortened anyway, probably to Amber. Olivia will probably get shortened too, so think Liv or Livvy - if you don't like that then it might make a difference.

My name is long and gets shortened by almost everyone, which can be very annoying.

My friend really liked this but went with Amber in the end. Her little boy is called Oliver so you clearly have the same choice in names! My daughter has a very unusual name, and we get nothing but compliments on it. But it is easy to spell and say, it just doesn't sound or look like anything else. I think go for it if it's what you really love.

Amberlea? Sounds a bit like a bed and breakfast place though however you spell it. I like Olivia better.

Amberleigh all the way. Olivia is incredibly boring and it's nice enough but hardly the most beautiful name (sorry). Don't compromise on the name you love. Do I like it? I'm very snobby about names and actually I can't help but like it. Would I choose it? No, but only because it sounds a bit American. So do Madison and Harper, and plenty of people choose those names. Go with your heart.

BYW: Amberleigh the way you've spelt it is absolutely fine. I prefer that spelling to Amberley which sounds like a place name/man's name/adjective or Amberlea which is really twee. And no hyphens- that really is chavvy!

Sorry, it's awful. As for a PP's advice to 'just please yourself' - it's not really yourself you need to please when naming your dc, it's their future self. Called Amberleigh, your daughter will have constant issues with people spelling it wrongly and making 'unusual name!' comments and, like it or not, people making assumptions about her. Call her Amber Olivia. I'm not wild about Amber, but it's recognisable as a name, iyswim.

I disagree with the others. Always 100% go with the choice you LOVE, over the 'safe choice'
For DD1 we originally called her Lily, which was the 'safe choice', and ended up changing her name at 11 weeks to Natasha, which we preferred in the first place, just thought it was too fancy and OTT.
In summary: go with Amberleigh :)

Amberleigh is the name of a local retirement home.