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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Why the fashion for stupid names.

304 replies

ceecee32 · 25/07/2017 06:22

Can someone please explain to me why on earth there is the need to saddle your poor children with a stupid name which will affect them for the rest of their life.

Is there a competition somewhere to have the most ridiculous thing that can be thought of.....why???

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Bumpitup44 · 28/07/2017 16:12

I work with a St John...first time I saw it written down I was super confused as I'd heard him being called 'Sinjin'...guess this makes me common😂😂 still find it super weird to look at written down

MommaGee · 28/07/2017 16:16

I struggle pronouncing Irish names but accept that my ignorance for not understanding the language rules but in what way is StJohn Sinjin especially when Sinjin isn't all that anyway.

Perhaps Sir Carter is going to be pronounced Sycamore...

sycamore54321 · 28/07/2017 16:52

Isn't Persophone per-seff-oh-nee, kind of like Penelope? It's not a very widely used name but it makes sense in its original language and isn't some "insiders only" secret probounciatuon like StJohn. Even StClair, which I've never come across - I assume the Clair bit is spoken as written, so Sinclair? So not immediately obvious but at least "Saint Clair" is not a million miles off, not entirely set up to fool unlike John-Gin.

reuset · 28/07/2017 17:58

That is how Persephone ought to be pronounced. Though she is a well known character in Greek mythology. Eurydice, and names of that ilk, might be trickier for some.

Though St John wasn't 'set up' in any way, or to fool anybody, it's just how it is. There's lots of names where the pronunciation is not quite straight forward, or easy to decipher, unless you know.

swampytiggaa · 28/07/2017 18:04

Someone I know made up a name for her 4th baby by using the first two letters of the other three kids names. Which were all younique 😉 too. I judged

MikeUniformMike · 28/07/2017 20:03

What was the name swampytiggaa?

grufallosfriend · 28/07/2017 20:24

Were they nice names, Swampy?

Every name was once made up. As long as it's nice, easy to spell and pronounce, what's wrong with a new name?

Liadain · 28/07/2017 20:26

There's a thread currently running (in Aibu I think?) with a mum upset that her daughter is now changing her name. I feel that it should be pinned to the top of Baby Names so people doing their best to stand out can have a look and see what might lie ahead...

sycamore54321 · 28/07/2017 21:00

*"Were they nice names, Swampy?

Every name was once made up. As long as it's nice, easy to spell and pronounce, what's wrong with a new name?"*

I would hate to be some sort of compilation derivative of my older siblings. It seems really disrespectful to the youngest child not to get a proper individual name of his/her own. For the same reason, I would hate it if my parents let an older sibling choose my name, as is sometimes said on here. Each baby deserves their 'own' name chosen carefully by its parents/caregivers. Not by siblings or mother-in-law or anyone else.

Bumpitup44 · 28/07/2017 21:17

Sycamore- how do you feel about children being named after family members? (Genunine question not confrontational) as it's chosen by parents but after someone else so maybe not seen as 'their' name?

malfoyy · 28/07/2017 21:58

Kid at DS nursery called Herbie Hart.

I'm still feeling judgey, 3 years down the line, towards those parents even though they seem very nice people!

MrsBendyBaker · 28/07/2017 22:12

Loving this thread, even if my own name did get called "plain" early on!

Genuine LOL at Vienetta (truly terrible as a name, no matter how much I loved the stuff), L'Oreal and Milf. Genuinely saddened that anyone wouldn't even consider Suicide as an option for a name - horrible idea on so many levels.

I totally agree with whoever it was who said above that it's just plain naive to assume that the name you give your kids doesn't have an impact on them. The lady on here who had an unusual name and hated the impact it had on her school experience is a good example of this. See also this.... freakonomics.com/podcast/how-much-does-your-name-matter-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/

If my choice of name for my kid is going to genuinely affect their prospects in life, then I'm not going to be so reckless as to think "I don't care, it shouldn't matter, I shall call them what I damn well like" and pick something that's going to hinder them. There's enough lovely "normal" names out there, some of which are relatively uncommon, that I don't need to resort to giving them a made up name that will result in them experiencing prejudice in later life.

Also - my Mum is a retired teacher. Pretty much every child she ever taught with a daft name hated it, and adopted a normal, sensible name of their own choosing instead (e.g. Tron. Yes, Tron. As in, shit 80s Virtually reality film Tron - which is what he was named after. He asked my Mum to call him Steven instead. Poor lad. I judge Tron's parents for this, quite harshly....)

Theymisheardme · 28/07/2017 23:59

I'm curious about the idea that people preconceive what a person will be like if its a name they've not heard of before or heard of but never met someone with that name if that makes sense.

So for example what do people assume with a name like Xavier - if a teacher saw it on tube register or an employer saw it one a CV
Maybe someone can give me lots of money to find out haha

Shadow666 · 29/07/2017 00:56

I think Herbie Hart is a great name! Wouldn't choose it myself but it'd make me smile.

I think when people are snobby about names it says more about the person being snobby than the person who was named.

diodati · 29/07/2017 04:35

I wanted to call DS Auberon (Auberon Waugh, brother of Evelyn Waugh) but had forgotten about Shakespeare's Oberon, king of the faeries. Obviously completely unacceptable.

diodati · 29/07/2017 04:41

I like St John very much as a name but the correct pronunciation seems to be increasingly unknown.

MissBabbs · 29/07/2017 06:17

Someone upthread mentioned names that have to be lived up to.

It is hard to imagine a fat, balding middle-aged Truth or Freedom.
Or grumpy old Sky.
But when the time comes we will just be used to them and not notice.

chantico · 29/07/2017 06:45

"There is no way you can tell it is pronounced Sinjin unless somebody has told you"

I agree with diodati it's not class, it's generation.

When Norman St John Stevas was in the news all the time, everyone knew how to say it.

swampytiggaa · 29/07/2017 08:15

No the name is horrible. And the other kids have 'unusual' spellings too.

I also know a c o d y i i and a k l o w y (don't want them coming up in google cos there can't be many of them)

GreenTulips · 29/07/2017 08:45

people saying 'there shouldn't be snobbery - it's nobody's business etc

It happens - people judge - unkindly -
And as some have said they are embarrassed by their names - 85000 people changed their name last year alone - I should imagine the same amount every year do

grufallosfriend · 29/07/2017 10:24

On the other hand, there are lots of people who hate having a very common name that they have to share with lots of others.

So I think unusual is good, but the name should be easily spellled and pronounced.

grufallosfriend · 29/07/2017 10:26

The 85000 people who changed their name probably includes many who changed their names to a more interesting one.

GreenTulips · 29/07/2017 10:32

Does it matter why they changed? The fact is they did because they didn't like their name

chips4teaplease · 29/07/2017 10:45

Schmyae
Shamaya. or Shumaya. Perfectly reasonable name.

Atenco · 29/07/2017 21:17

Nobody wants to expose their child to bullying, but why bend over backwards to avoid it. Surely bullies will always find something to bully people about. I have an ordinary name and was bullied, while my dd has an unusual name and was never bullied.