Does my son have an awful name?

[tabithamay]

I’ve done a similar thread on Nameberry but wanted other people’s opinions. I have a 17-year-old DS who’s started his second year at college, and we chose Ernest Leopold as a first and middle, after my DH’s great-grandfather. Recently, he’s become very aware of it as people are telling him how ugly/old-fashioned/frumpy/strange it is. What do you think?

*I think he should totally “own” his name.

This is a good lesson in resilience and respect. He needs to own his name and the people who are teasing him will see there is no mileage in it and drop it pretty fast.*

I agree! He's called Ernest, not Poopoohead or Willy. Ernest is a perfectly normal name, I like it.

Does everyone have their middle name on their name card, what happens if you have several names, would they fit on.

Sorry I think it's fairly dreadful too, why name him after someone long dead?? It's the poor person who has to cope with the name forever after that I feel sorry for.

I'd change my identity card to 'Tim Black' if I were him.

Btw this thread is obviously unbelievably identifying as if he isn't having a hard enough time of it as it is

I like Ernest/Ernie a lot - the Leopold isn't something i would have chosen, but it's a middle name, so he doesn't need to mention it.

And actually, if he isn't keen on Ernie, Leo is lovely alternative.

Yes - Leo is really, really good - stands out without being so unusual that it's silly (like Tiger

It's an awesome name.

I can just imagine the following conversation:
Mum " Didn't you say your at college with Ernest Leopoldo?"
DC " Yes, why?"
Mum " Well his mum has started a thread on MN about his name"

A lot of people have strange middle names, DF had his mothers maiden name

Do all kids have all their middle names listed on their name cards?

What would your DS like to do about it, if anything OP ?
I think Ernest Leopold is a very cool name, but Leo is great for an every day name.

I also think it's an awesome name.

I find it odd the middle name is on the name card unless it is a hyphenated one like Ernest-Leopold

I think that if you are going to use family names it is often kinder to do so purely as middle names and let your child own their own first name.

Ernest might be soon to come back into vogue but it won’t be considered at all fashionable at your son’s age. It’s a shame he is bullied for it but unfortunately bullies will always find something to use to pick on somebody about and for it to work, it needs to be something they are already self conscious about which says to me that your son dislikes his name. In giving him that name I think you’ve made it easy for the bullies. Too late now but this is why people should look at what they call their children very carefully.

For those asking about the Leopold, of course he wasn’t named after King Leopold, and I hadn’t even heard about him until recently. But as for Ernest, I was thinking more along the lines of Ernest Hemingway (he loves to read) and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

It's very Queen Victoria style, but I think it's ace. He will probably hate it as a teen, but come to love it as he grows up.

And as for the ID badge, nobody else does, so I think it was a misprint, but I’m organising for it to be changed.

I could never imagine a rock star or actor being called Ernest. It's a very heavy name for a teenager

Yes he should get the name card changed, that is why people probably think it's odd and it drew attention to it.

Why are you arranging for his name badge to be changed? Surely at 17, if he's not happy then he should be the one to change it

I think it’s the fact that both names are old-fashioned. I quite like old fashioned names but I think it should be one old fashioned name at most, paired with a more modern name, then it often works better; otherwise it can be a bit overwhelming.

It's the combination that makes people notice it, very Prussian royalty indeed.

And he should get it changed, not you, he is in college not primary school.

Good solid classic name! He'll thank you for it later!

People shouldn’t be being rude to him but I’m afraid I think it’s bloody awful. I think he’s probably quite lucky to have got to 17 without having the piss ripped out of his name tbh!

OP, on the subject of owning the name, I did our family tree recently for my Mum.
Hours of research but it was absolutely incredible what I was able to find out about people we'd been named after. I felt a real connection to some of my ballsy ancestors (like my GGG grandmother, the travelling Carpenter, on the 1871 census as still working at 75!) and suddenly my old-fashioned name meant a lot more - I actually like it now, didn't before!
Maybe you could do the same for your son - if he's a history buff he might even like to do it with you.
Just a thought

Atalane
I think he should totally “own” his name. This is a good lesson in resilience and respect. This a hundred times.

My name is old fashioned (only 5 babies were given it last year) and I've always hated it and got teased when I was younger. Its quite regional (UK), so where I was born its relatively common as an adult, but I've never met another one where I live now who isn't at least 60. Its my name though. I would never change it.

At least its a proper name and not a group of letters strung together by some hipster parents to create something yooo-neek, that no-one can ever pronounce or spell.

It is old-fashioned and strange simply because it was last popular in Prussia in the 19th century. Whether it is ugly and frumpy is a personal matter.

If your DS likes it and has the confidence to carry it off then fine. If he doesn't like it then he should change it.