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!

I had a very uncommon name (at least in the UK) and really like it. It's a 'proper' name. I actually get upset when I hear of other people with my name! It feels like my name only haha

I could never get the tacky pens/magnets etc. with my name on like you see on stands in shops, but I didn't care too much about it. My parents did get me personalised things ordered in though every now and then.

You'd have to talk about online anonymity though, as I used to stupidly but my full name on forums etc as a teen and I'm pretty sure there weren't any other people with my full name...

Ive just looked and it says it’s a German name which means famous ruler (I wonder if the Star Wars writers were influenced by that when naming darth Vader)

My mum watched my girl when she was pregnant with me and it was the little girls name in that and she fell in love with it.

Slightly different but I have an Irish name with Irish spellings and it's a nightmare having to spell it or repeat it any time I'm anywhere abroad. When I lived abroad it drove me nuts and I didn't give my children Irish names because of this. I like rarer but heard of names of that makes sense. My eldest has a name everyone has heard but there aren't loads of them around.

*have, I haven't changed it!

An I the only person old enough to be thinking "Lovely to vada your jolly old eek!"?

Probably.......

I have a really common name, it was in the Top 20 for all the 80s and 90s and appears on name lists here still! I avoided giving my children top 50 names but they do have top 100 ones because those were what we liked (& one of those is now top 20, oh well!).

I think unusual is nice as long as it's actually a name. I know a few kids with very unusual names (think along the lines of, I dunno, Cloud or Mushroom, or Whimsy) and it just seems like the parents think that they and their children are more special/unique/better than everyone else (obviously everyone loves their own kids the most, but you know what I mean).

Hmm, I’m so torn now. Some of you guys have swayed me towards using a rare name, others have highlighted to me just how important it is to have anonymity and a name that is understood by the general population.

I don’t think I’m anymore decided than I was earlier, expect another thread from me later with a shortlist!

I don’t think I could use Ariadne, even though it is my fav girls name. I think I could use Olan.

At least I’ve got a few months to think about it..... but DH certainly cannot be trusted to help me decide, the amount of shite names he’s suggested....!

Personally I think Ariadne will be tough for her, as its not obvious how to pronounce or spell. Olan is ok, as it is pretty self explanatory how to say/spell. Plus if he did have to spell it out, o-l-a-n is much quicker and easier than a-r-i-a-d-n-e.

Ariadne is very rare with 28 registered births last year.

That's not that rare! My ds was one of 13 things n his year.

Ariadne is beautiful!

Sorry births (stupid autocorrect)

My daughter has a very rare name. Only 5 born last year for instance and it was the first time the name had been recorded. (names only get recorded/relased on the ons data when there are more than 2 born a year).

So far we have had a wonderful response. It's not a 'yoonique' name and has a similar sound to lots of more common names so it works really well. People always think it's quite refreshing and point out that it's unusual but (as one lady said) "not like sky, or blue or purple 😂"

Love Ariadne! It was on our list but we had s boy.

I think it’s fone to pronounce and spell - known enough just uncommon. Go for it!

My name is rare for girls in UK (and spelt differently) but a common US 80s girls name and I always liked not having to qualify with a surname and being the only one

Ok so I'm totally showing my ignorance here but how do you pronounce Ariadne? In my head it's Arry Add Nee

Fine not fone!

My son has a name that is unheard of in this country but well known in his father’s home Northern European country. Coupled with his unusual surname, everyone comments that it’s sounds cool so he loves it! He does always have to spell it out though.

Depends on what you mean by 'rare'. There was no other registered births with my sons name in his birth year or the year before so it really is rare although it's not 'weird' as such and it's easy to spell.
I always wished I had a rarer name in school, I envied the other people with more unique names, when there was 4 with my name in the year.

Ninja - that’s correct!

I’ve loved the name since I was a child, I think from about 6-7 years old. No idea where I first heard it. It makes me think of spiders.

Hasn’t put me off though....

OP we didn’t use Ariadne in the end, simply because it wasn’t both of our favourite from the shortlist. It made it to our top 5, both times.
We like Greek myth names though and had Antigone on the list too.

I'm actually surprised why anyone would not want a rare name? Rare defined as not widely used but easy to spell and say, and beautiful .

The names we used are about the same level of unusualness as Ariadne though.

DD1 (10) had an Ariadne (pr arry-ad-knee) in her nursery class.

I like it, it's not unheard of but rare. And pretty.

I think Ariadne is absolutely fine! If she wants she can nick-name it easily enough, and there are options. I've a "proper" name but never met another until 4/5 years ago, and that was only through work. However I'm quite confident and loved being the only one, even through school, amongst all of the Sarahs and Beckys.

Ariadne is not a 'really rare' name!

Haha it feels rare to me, I’ve never met one and most people I mention it to have never hear of it. I know my family will be “wtf” if I mention it to them.

I think Ariadne is unusual these days but not odd. I suspect you will find a lot of people calling her Adrienne.

I worked with an Olan - he seemed to handle it just fine.