Plain and safe or exciting but controversial?

[katonic]

I'm due in a couple of weeks and we've compiled a short list of names but have agreed we want to see what she looks like before committing to anything now.

My big issue however is that I'm getting quite hung up on the fact that I'm choosing a name for someone else, who has to go through their entire life with that name.

So, using a couple of names off our short list for illustration, this is what is going through my mind:

Choose a plain, safe 'normal' name like Robyn. Classic, inoffensive, totally acceptable by anyone in any situation as a real name, however I struggle to imagine any personality that goes with it. I have a really plain name, and I find it doesn't say anything about me, it's boring. I wish I had a more individual name. But could this be a benefit? She won't get any pre-judgement based on her name and can make it her own, if she's quiet and bookish or loud and outgoing she could carry anything off as her name doesn't imply anything about her.

Alternatively I could pick a much more unusual name such as Indiana. Rarely used and massively linked to a single character for pretty much all of my peers. I love that it's quirky, it sounds lovely with our surname, there are lots of nn options, and I can imagine what an 'Indiana' might be like. But will she feel it's a real drag because everyone automatically says 'Jones' when they hear her name, or it doesn't suit her personality as the image I have in my head probably won't be anything like who she turns out to be. Will people judge her (and us as her parents) for having a 'trashy/pop culture' name rather than a classic? Is it just my own longing for an interesting name that makes this option more appealing and if roles were reversed I'd be begging for something plainer!

Your opinions and experiences would be much appreciated! If you didn't use an 'exciting' name do you regret it? Or do you wish you'd gone for the safer option as you've received some negative responses to the name you picked? Do you ever feel awkward introducing your baby as something unusual?

I've tentatively discussed this with friends and family but it's so hard to know what people's real opinions are! Robyn gets 'that's nice', Indiana gets 'Jones' followed by 'that's pretty cool and I like it' (from my peers) or 'that's ridiculous' (from parents and older people). I'm just finding it so hard, as she'll be my baby for a few years but for most of her life she'll be a totally independent individual, so I want it to be her name, not my name if you see what I mean.

What about India to keep Indi as nn but avoid the jones jokes?

Ooh India is lovely Once

But why would you want your children to be memorable for their name? Call them what you want- Zsazsa or John or anything inbetween- but surely the thing is to make them memorable for who they are, their personalities, their nature, talents, interests?

I grew up with a marginally unusual name and hated it, even though I went to an international school in Central London and was surrounded by unusual names. I didn't want to stand out. I pretended to be called Laura, there were a few of them.

My own DC deliberately have very common, mainstream unremarkable names. Their names identify them but do not define them.

Robyn is not a plain 'normal' name for a girl imo. Maybe for a boy.
It is obviously a unisex name now, I wouldn't consider it to be a traditional girls name at all,and I don't think there are too many Robyn's around.
I only know one, who is 15, and is affectionately called Bobbie.
She's had all the Batman/Robin Hood jokes, just as an Indiana will get the Jones jokes.
You sound as if you prefer Indiana, so go with that.

Aside from me thinking that unusual names are sometimes less memorable, (because people are too lazy to learn a name which is new to them ime, unless they have to - i.e. if they work with the person daily or something), it's not always a good thing to have a memorable name imo.

I knew a boy with a very memorable name when I was a teenager, and he was a bit of a prat. He now works in the same industry as a good friend of mine and every time his name comes up, she remembers the teenaged prat that he was! Neither of us knew him well, but because his name is unusual, we remember the name. I was probably a bit of a prat as a teenager too, but maybe people are less likely to remember my name as it's not very unusual (I hope so anyway)!

The lesson is, if you choose a very memorable name, try not to raise a prat .

Love Erica, Nina and Robyn.

Love Indiana and it was on my list for DD. Although not one person I mentioned it to in RL actually liked it, including DP

They are both beautiful names! And fwiw I dislike 'plain' names but love Robyn

If Robyn is really your "safe" name, I can assure you that it's not that common - I've known one person who had it as a middle name and one as a first name, both in their late teens now. And ignore anyone who says it's a boy's name as I think that spelling is much more common for a girl. If anything I think of Indiana as a boy's name!

I think both are lovely- also I don't think Robyn is plain at all. In terms of Indiana... I wonder would this generation associate it with Jones? Is it not long before their time?

I know two Indiana's (both under 6) but both are boys. I didn't know it was even considered a girls name.

Nina is my ABSOLUTE FAVE name. DH's sister is Nina so it's been vetoed

Also, I love Robyn. I can totally picture a Robyn full of character and I don't think it's a 'safe' name at all. Love it.