Thoughts on having a really rare name?

[reeny19]

So I’ve recently found out I’m pregnant and we’ve had to seriously start deciding on names.

I’m torn between traditional, timeless ‘normal’ names but there are two very rare names that I love (one for a boy, one for a girl). I was expecting DH to veto my unusual names but he hasn’t and wants to use them!

What are your thoughts on rare names? Do you have one yourself? did you love/hate it or experience any problems with it? Did you name your own child something rare and how did you get on? What did your family think? Do you know of any children with rare names? Is it quite normal nowadays for children to have unusual names?

My issue with unusual names is that it’s does mean that the child will lose a degree of anonymity. I can also foresee my family disliking the names, people being confused when they hear it, struggling with spelling, remembering it, pronounciation etc.

Help please!

Just tell your child to never go to Starbucks .

Also, do you know anyone with an usual name? Could you ask them if they found it a bit of a hassle or if they liked it? We went for run of the mill names.

Only about 25 babies were given my name last year, I've only ever met one other. However, it's a name people have heard of and can generally spell it. I prefer rare to using a unique spelling.

I have a rare name. Only in the last year have I met someone with the same name. I LOVE having a rare name. It makes me feel unique and special. I can't imagine what it's like to have a common name where I'd know several people with the same name as me!

Is it quite normal nowadays for children to have unusual names?

It's quite funny to watch the mild indignation when the parents of two Seraphinas or two Edrics bump into each other. How rare is 'very rare' -- have you checked that your choices aren't having a moment of mad popularity?

I have a very rare name. Hate it. No one gets it right, its spelt different on every document I receive at work. Emails rarely get to me first time, as they usually spell my name wrong. Embarrassing to have to keep repeating it, spell it out etc.

If the name is an actual word (Sage, Moon etc) - still terrible but I guess at least it will be understood and spelt correctly. But if its like mine, and something like 'Linessica' (Linda and Jessica put together) or 'Vangelica' (Vanessa and Angelica) then I honestly wouldn't do it.

I love rare names. Far better than a 'unique' spelling of a normal name!

^ obviously those made up names are just examples, but the different is between it actually being a word or it being a made up name/unique spelling.

No way would I give a child a rare name.

I have a rare but very recognisable name and I love it! I never need to add my surname initial or other adjective before or after my name.

I have a name that isn't used often, and go by a nickname which is more commonly a boy's name. Pair that with an usual and never spelled correctly surname (even after marrying) and I'd do without it tbh. If I'd been called Emily Smith my life wouldn't be significantly better but my knowledge of the phonetic alphabet would be significantly worse.

Oh god Starbucks! There’s so much to consider

See, my name is uncommon. Which I love. However at school I was very shy and wanted to blend in, which isn’t easy when you’re the only one with that name. But school is a distant memory now so I’ve forgotten the trauma and may now inflict similar name problems on my future sprog!

First time I met someone with my name I was 19. But the thing is, my name isn’t that out there, so everyone’s heard of it, knows how to spell it, Starbucks employees can cope with it etc. So I never had any major problems.

I've only ever met one other person with my name in real life and it would be unusual for a baby now. As a child I was shy and hated it as nobody could pronounce it and I hated speaking out to correct them. It always brought focus on me and led to conversation.

As an adult I absolutely love it. I never use my last name, everybody remembers me, I get so many compliments on it and it is a huge part of my identity.

When we had dd1 I didn't want to give her a really unusual name but my dh has a really normal name, think like Steve, and he wanted something unusual.

We compromised on Anneka, as its known but not common but if she is a shy child and wants to blend in she can go by Annie.

Also - whenever I go to Starbucks I tell them my name is Sarah!

OK as long as it isn't too long and unpronounceable.

I prefer older, more established and ordinary names but have no objection to something unusual if it sounds good.

Wish you would tell us what names you're thinking of.

We sometimes seem to forget WHY we name a person (or thing)! The main purpose is identify that person! And that's much easier if the person doesn't share the same name as lots others.

My daughter has a very unusual name but it's a proper name, ie people know what I'm saying and how to spell it. I know of one other in real life, 1 actress and 1character in a film with her name. We LOVE the fact shes really the only one! Whether she does or not remains to be seen. She can adapt it into a more mainstream nickname quite easily if she doesn't . We got some really rude reactions when she was born tho! (From strangers, not family)

If it's a name, then there is no problem imo. You can give them a more common middle name in case they want to switch to something mor anonymous.

If it's a "thing" then it's difficult to say without knowing the name but remember you are naming an adult human, not just a baby.

I think there's rare and there's try hard. It's a fine line.

Ultimately you have to go for something that you like and you think they will like (or won't hate) when they are an adult, regardless of whether it's rare or popular.

I don't get the Starbucks issue... Just because a name is not common or popular doesn't mean that it's long or complicated?!

There are thousands of normal easy to spell names outside the top 500.

I have a pretty rare name, with a spelling that causes quite a lot of faces. Growing up, I hated it precisely because of the lack of anonymity thing. Now I love it because of that.

Once people meet me and my weirdly spelled weird name, they don’t forget me.

Our second DD is due in Feb and we've picked a name that isn't popular at all anymore! It was back in the late 1400's/ early 1500's but not so much now.

Our ds's name was used only 13 times the tea he was born, so it's rare, but at the same time it is well known and super easy to say and spell.

My name is rare, but it’s not particularly nice either. There seems to be an automatic assumption that unusual names are nice on here but not really sure where it comes from

My older daughter has a very rare name. never met another one and doesn't appear on any lists. It is a real name though, looks and sounds normal and is very lovely (imo). I gave it to her because I loved it and loved its meaning and history.

She was driven demented by people not being able to pronounce it properly - it isn't weird spelling or pronounciation just that people don't know the name so a lot of them pronounce the vowel sounds wrongly. She hated the attention it brought to her having to correct people so when she went to high school she went by a shortened version instead - which is itself a more usual name. I suspect her sister would have loved the attention so it depends on the child.

DH has a very unusual name too and he was absolutely adament that his son would have a normal name - dh's name did not help him in the schoolyard. I think unusual names are more usual now though. He grew up in a time/place where boys were John/Jim/Tom.