Will people understand?!

[mariaallen]

Hi! My husband is American and he recently brought up a name for our son due in September I actually quite like: Zero, as in the actor Zero Mostel. I've researched the name and it has a significant amount of meaning and history, it means so much more than just the number. We love it and think it's a strong name with an interesting history, but not everyone will feel that way---any thoughts? Thank you so much.

If he turns out to be not very great academically he could end up with stuff such as zero by name, zero by nature etc.

It's not a great name.

I know people with only slightly unusual names who get bored of the whole "oh that's an interesting/different name, what's that all about?" conversations they have with almost every single person they ever meet. Imagine what it would be like for poor Zero. Why condemn him to that for the rest of his life when there are literally thousands of names to choose from?

I googled it and there is actually an American guy called Zero who has a whole page on his website dedicated to his ridiculous name

zerodean.com/about-the-name-zero-dean/

And he says this:

Explaining my name to every person who asks about it can be time-consuming. At one time I had this fear that if I continued to give an explanation to everyone who asked, I would look back on my life as an old man and realize I’d spent 1/3 of it explaining my name

So to make things easier on myself, I occasionally adopt “Dean” as my first name to avoid having to provide an explanation

In other words, it sucks for him.

I suggest if your DH likes the name so much that he changes his own name to Zero and then give your DS a better name.

I actually do like it but I definitely think you will get negative feedback on it in the UK.

Why not go Zeno instea did you really like the sound of zero as it sounds similar but with a much nicer meaning.

instead if you *

What about Jane or Emma?

I would worry that it would encourage him to be noughty.

TeaAddict235 The name is for a boy

That's just a bit silly, in my opinion. I wouldn't do it. Poor child, having to live with that!

Seriously?!

No. Just no.

I am torn between thinking you cannot be serious and a concern that you might be. There are no positive cultural connotations to being called zero.

No. Poor child.
What's wrong with normal names? Why does everyone need to be youneek?

Poor child. Long life of misery ahead

Absolutely, emphatically NO! Please give your child a name that won't trigger ridicule wherever he goes.

Calling someone a zero isn't a compliment!

whom I had never heard off prior to a quick google, probably because he died in 1977

So you've also not heard of Marilyn Monroe, john Wayne, Fred astaire, judy garland, groucho Marx, James Dean, or elvis Presley?

Not a real name, it was a nickname. It’s awful.

Will his nickname be 0 ?

No. Just no. How damaging for a child to go through life effectively saying 'I am nothing' every time they give their name.

It would mean nothing to me.

No. Just no. How damaging for a child to go through life effectively saying 'I am nothing' every time they give their name.

I’m sure there was a story like this in Freakonomics. A man named his sons Winner and Loser. Loser did well by rebelling against his name. Winner struggled with the pressure and didn’t do so well.

I think I’ve remembered that right.

My children all have pretty unusual names - I found it was often the vowel sounds that just seemed to stick in my head while I was deciding and so felt ‘right’ to me.
So as previously suggested I would consider some alternatives with a similar sound or pattern - try them out for a while and see if they might fit for you.

Hero (really cool)
Zeno / Xeno
Zeelo
Zylo / Xylo
Zorro
Nero
Dino
Nino