Regretted an unusual name?

[MickeyAndMallory]

Reading comments on other name threads, a theme seems to be people saying they loved 'insert unusual name here' but stayed safe and picked a more conforming/normal name. Wishing they had been braver to pick those wilder names they loved- but has anyone gone the other way- picked the unusual name and regretted it??

We chose an unusual name and didn't regret it, if that's any help! Our DS is now nearly 5.

Not in the slightest: I would definitely choose an equally unusual name for a second DC if we have one.

DD's name is pretty unusual.
It's really rare but not unusual in the sense that people have never heard of it... But many say that it's the first time they have actually met a (insert her name).

I've never regretted it, no.

I don't regret it now (DD is 18m) but it took me a while to "own" it IYSWIM. When people asked her name at first I always seemed to feel the need to add "... bit weird I know but we like it". I annoyed myself! Still love her name, though I'm sure I would have loved a more popular name just as much if it was my lovely DD's name

My DS has an unusual name - one of 18 in England and Wales in the year or his birth - not once have I regretted it.

The name is unusual as in have never met another but not 'out there' - it's a real name iyswim not made up unusual. I couldn't imagine him with a different name now. He's 4.

My son has an unusual name, he is now 14 and he loves it and owns it. We have never regretted it however when he was younger he struggled to understand why he could never find anything with his name on. He did have personalised items but we had to get them made. I would do it again if I was ever planning on more children.

We chose an unusual name for DD and will choose unusual names for future DCs. No regrets whatsoever :)

It really depends on what you mean by unusual.

If it is a recognisable name that is rarely used, then no probelm.
If it is a word that is easy to hear/pick up then not too bad, loads of those around.

If it is really out there weird that everyone needs to hear it 10 times before they can remember it, then really not so good, and setting them up for a lifetime of boring repetition.

Having said that, many ordinary names have alternative spellings (Katherine/Catherine) so even then they can spend their life having to say 'Katherine with a K'

I know a couple of people with very unusual names who hated the fact that they said their name and people looked puzzled and asked her to repeat, every single time. I also have a friend with a very boring one syllable first name followed by one syllable surname and she hates how dull and boring her name is.
Can't win really!

My friend mentioned the other day that she regretted the name she chose for her DD (Zara). I think it's a fab name and suits DD perfectly, but apparently she and DH chose it on a whim and she's really gone off it. DD is 9 btw and she's regretted it for years apparently

With our DD, I wanted a really unusual name. DH wanted something really popular. We went with something in the middle. It's unusual for her age group, but is an established name which most people from lots of different countries recognise, can spell and pronounce easily. We have a bit of a mix of cultures in our families and are likely to live abroad at some point, so it was important it worked in other cultures.

Tbh, I was a bit miffed at first that I didn't get my more 'out there' choice, but it was the right compromise for us. I haven't met a baby with the same name yet and, realistically, I think I might have cringed saying the 'out there' name aloud for a little while. It also could have ended up being a pain in the arse to spell out all the time if we moved abroad.

We are now TTC DC2 and I would now go for a similar, not too popular, but well known name over anything really unusual. I certainly wouldn't set out to find an unusual name, as Sod's law says that the minute I did that, it would become hugely popular anyway .

If both you and your DP love a name which happens to be unusual over anything else, then go for it. If you only like it because it's unusual, then I probably wouldn't. You have no idea if your DC will share your enthusiasm for its unusual-ness. Or, they could get to school and there would be several in the class with the same name. That's no problem if you really love the name anyway, but would be annoying if you only love it because it's unusual iyswim.

Imo having an unusual name makes you an intriguing person!!
More character too!

No didn't regret it at all! 7 babies with his name born in his birth year (2015).

Exactly what Jooni said though, I found myself explaining where it came from/spelling it without even being asked. A lot of 'say that again?'s etc but people seem to like it now. I did have 2 people (random snooty mother of an Oliver *, and batty great aunt who is a horrible person generally) refuse to call DS by his name, but luckily I don't see these people ever/more than once a year.

DS' name is similar to a MUCH more popular name (top 20), and I just accept that people will call him that name unless it's somewhere important eg doctor, nursery. People spell my own, much more common, name wrong all the time, and I just can't be arsed to mind. Hopefully DS will learn the same gracious attitude and/or be confident enough to correct them :)

• I actually love the name Oliver, but ya know, it's number 1 so obviously she wasn't a fan of unusual names anyway

My parents gave me a name with ambiguous spelling/pronunciation and regretted it. It is constantly mangled.

My older daughter has an extremely unusual name - and one that most people have not heard of. It is pronounced as spelled and doesn't look unusual (and isn't made up).

I still love it and don't regret it. She got sick of people not being able to pronounce it. So she goes by a short version (first 3 letters) which is also a name and very easy to pronounce. I don't think she regrets her name though and I can see her going back to the full name some day. When people discover her full name now they always so "how lovely".

my 3 are called recognisable but not common names. Ds name is now in top 50.
dd1's name is abbreviated to Lucy, which she now prefers (actually her name isn't recognisable, it is Dutch, but it isn't difficult to say)

dd2's name still remains rare, but recognisable.

They have all been the only ones in their class/year, until secondary and now I think there is another one with ds name (good job he isn't 10 years younger)

That seems to have worked well, I avoided the top 100 as far as I could. My parents did similar and they chose well, we liked our names, not common, not a PIA to repeat/ pronounce etc

My dd has an uncommon name. I have moments of 'ffs' when I have to keep repeating her name/spell it out and have the same conversation about where it's from/why we chose it etc. I don't regret it but it is certainly influencing my choices for any future children. I don't want anything too common but I will probably choose something that is top 200 in popularity rather than top 1000

I really want to know what the names of your DC are now!

No. Well except that which was unusual 24yrs ago may well be a top 10 name soon! ( no 61 in 2016 apparently , unheard of when we named dd well apart from 2 instances in the music world that we knew of)

Ds name was not that usual either but every 2017 boy we know has it.

Can't wait to see what 2018 will do do youngests name 😂

I have three

The oldest has an unusual (ish) name. Still top 100 though. We have met other children with the same name but never shared a school with one.
Second has a very unusual name for 2000s but a name everybody would have heard of and was common in the 1960s/70s. I think he may have been the only child given that name the year he was born.
Youngest also has an unusual name, never met another child with the same name, probably not top 100 but has been mentioned on MN though.

All three a real names, not made up, well, thinking about it, middle child's name was probably made up, but in the 1950s!
No regrets.

My children are 8, 10 and 11 btw.

No regrets here. DS's name didn't appear on the stats for his year of birth, which I believe means fewer than three babies if that name were registered. There were six girls with my first name in my class all the way through primary, and it was grim.

Last point. All three names are easy to read, spell and pronounce.

I wanted to choose an unusual name for DD and gave her a name I loved which was almost unheard of at the time (only 3 years ago!). Suddenly the buggers are everywhere! I still love her name but i wish it was a bit less popular.

Not quite what you wanted but I have a very unusual name for the UK and I love it. It's hard to spell and pronounce for most English speakers but I wouldn't change it. I don't think my mother regrets it