Why the fashion for stupid names.

[ceecee32]

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???

Celebrities often give outlandish names to their kids to show they are different and better than us mere mortals. Yes, I'm looking at people like you, Bob Geldof, Jamie Oliver, Jermaine Jackson. Then the mere mortals copy "because we like to think we're important too".

@diodati Recent thread on the name StJohn/Sinjin. Perfect example of a stupid name.

@SnickersWasAHorse But St John isn't a stupid modern made up name. It's a very old name.

It is, but I think diodati's point was about someone who was thinking of using it but spelling it "Sinjin".

I'm sure Jorja Fox would love to know you're laughing at her name. She is 49yo. It is hardly a new thing to have a wacky name/spelling. Yes, she is Canadian, but perhaps someone saw her in CSI and thought 'what a pretty name and i like the spelling'.

Jorja Fox

I have an aquaintance who just named their son Neptune. Wacky and definitely not for me, but i quite like it!

I have a typically-70s firstname, an embarassingly naff 70s middlename and a hard to spell/pronounce surname. If it had bothered me that much I would have changed the lot, but 42 years on i'm ok with it.

I came across a 10yr old called Hedge the other day poor boy was so shy and withdrawn while his mother screeched his name at him trying to get him to choose something from the menu

I can't believe Jorja Fox is nearly 50!!

In 20 years time the weird names now will be common and "out there" will be naming the kids Sharon, Susan and Stuart.

My baby list for a boy was full of names like Xavier, Ezekiel, Malachi. Lots of people told me if I picked one he'd get picked on. How about just teaching your child not to be a bully (generic you)

Altho Hedge is bloody awful

I once knew a woman who named her two boys Freedom and Truth and her daughter Promise. Rather a lot to live up to, or a bad choice?

Hedge??

Goodness.

Maybe their surname was Fund.

Or Row.

Or Sparrow.

Or Hog

I forgot Hog.

Dammit!

How on earth can you get worked up about someone else's name? Surely if society were less judgy about other people's names then they will never have any issues with it. You are the problem, not the name!

I agree with it's this.

Also, lets not forget that names are given to us so that we can be identified easily.

It's a lot easier to be identified as an Antonia or a Luna than a Sarah, Emma or Ellie.

Let's all be less judgmental and more open to bigger name diversity!

A former colleague of mine has twin DDs, Esme and Isla. Except they're spelt Ezmay and Eyela. Just ... why?

Umm.. because that's how you pronounce those names charlievictor?

Islay is a Scottish island and the "s" and "y" are silent.

And Esme is pronounced Ez-May!

I grew up in a multicultural city (not Uk) and there was such a great variety of names. Nobody got teased. I wonder where the mumsnetters live who like to make fun of others' names...?

Personally I would like to see more Flughafens around

I don't get the obsession with 'unique' names at all.
Names from different cultural backgrounds do not come under this category.
I've seen many people teased (if not bullied) about their names.

Oops!

I'm so sorry charlievictor I completely read your post the wrong way round.

Can you give some examples of the names you mean, from your real life?

I haven't met any babies with crazy names lately (Surrey). There was a Dustie on TV yesterday which I admit I raised an eyebrow to, but have never considered Dusty Springfield to be weird... yesterday I just couldn't get away from the 'dust' association.

Xavier, Ezekiel, Malachi But they're not stupid names?? They're actual names. Hedge, yes, I might go so far as calling that silly, but Ezekiel???? No. Normal name.

Castle. I know someone who named their son castle

My son has a 'wacky' name which is frequently mocked on MN but me and my DH consider ourselves quite normal and not at all out there or different. It was simply the only one we could agree on and if someone wants to judge me on that I couldn't really care less.

I think it very much depends on your definition of "stupid" names.

I know a lady through a friend who has 2 kids called Fox and Cub (I shit you not) because she "believes that Fox's are her spirit animal and she wanted to honour their beauty by naming her offspring after them"... That, to me, is batshit even though I don't necessarily think the names are that bad.

It seems to be a clsss thing. Uniquely spelt names are associated with the hard of thinking. My sons about to start Reception and some of the names of his cohorts are pretty interesting.

Names like Oliver, Jack and Oscar are the new Daniel, Steve and Nigel. Everything dates.

How does "hard of thinking" equate to "a class thing" exactly?

Its a cyclical thing. In the distant days when I was at primary school, Oscar would have been considered a "wacky" name but now there are two in every class.

I agree, though, about creative (ahem) spellings of ordinary names with extra letters and hyphens appearing all over the place. It's a recipe for constantly having to correct people, which will get very tiresome for the child. Reminds me of the Tom Lehrer joke about the boy called Hen3ry, because the 3 is silent.