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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Names which are unpopular and you don't understand why

126 replies

detachablehoof · 06/02/2019 20:25

I wondered about calling my PFB Topsy. 99.9% of responses were utter horror. Olive was another on my list which people were horrified by. I don't understand why?! It's not weird, it's easy to spell, it's a proper name, ...

And now I'm wondering about Beryl. A quick search of this forum tells me that I'd get a similar reaction so I'll not ask for opinions

If it was a boy I liked Leonard ... which elicited horror from my family!

Do I just have terrible taste or does anyone else find the general consensus really odd sometimes? Like why is Olive considered terrible and frumpy when Olivia is so popular?

Would love to hear which other names you wonder why they aren't used more!

OP posts:

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Bubastes · 07/02/2019 16:36

Deirdre is okay if it's pronounced deer-dra (she's a heroine from Irish mythology) but in the UK they pronounce it dear-dree and it's forever associated with Deirdre Barlow of Corrie fame.

Billydessert · 07/02/2019 16:46

Ooh I like the names Emmanuel and Adonis but probably a little too much pressure to put on a person!
Also love the name Dawn but it doesn't seem to have had a second wind at all.

Zampa · 07/02/2019 17:01

Another George hater here. A definite future red trouser wearer.

Contrary to a PP, I really dislike Emily and would choose Emma a hundred times over.

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 07/02/2019 17:06

Ebeneezer.

Banging name. Awesome.

I know he was a bit of dick at the beginning of the book but he turns it around...

Why didn't it catch on?

MelinaM · 09/02/2019 09:13

Olive is beautiful.

Topsy ..my grandmas cat was called this! Plus it’s also reminding me of Topps Tiles

daisypond · 09/02/2019 09:43

I like Beryl, Dorothy and Olive - all are fine by me.
With Topsy, its associations are entirely from Uncle Tom's Cabin -she's a slave girl. I wouldn't think jolly hockey sticks in the slightest - quite the opposite.

ememem84 · 09/02/2019 09:55

I love Dorothy. It’s on my baby girl list for dc2. Also love Alfie but our surname begins with A so not good for an “a” first name too.

I’m in two minds about topsy. I like it I think. But then topsy and Tim...

I do know a Popsy though. She’s in her 50’s and I think her real name is Anna-Maria.

I had a great auntie bunny. Which I assume was a nickname. No actual idea what her “real” name was.

I like Agatha (n. Taggie) totally because of jilly cooper!! And Rupert. I don’t think dh would go for Rupert though...

thatsmyspace · 09/02/2019 10:09

I love Mavis, you don't see any of them now.

JenniferJareau · 09/02/2019 10:11

I really like the name Leonard.

GiveMyHeadPeaceffs · 09/02/2019 10:18

I really like the name Norah but got a resounding no from family.

redexpat · 09/02/2019 10:32

The following struck me:

Topsy (and Tim)
Olive (and popeye)
Beryl (the peril)

Are there any names you like that arent from childrens literature or cartoons?

daisypond · 09/02/2019 10:33

I think Sheila is lovely - an amazing, musical sound. Or Shelagh for the Scottish version. Anglicised from the Irish Síle.

TeaAddict235 · 09/02/2019 10:34

Another Emily and George, Jack hater here, they just sound clunky. George is definitely Piggy in the Lord of the Flies imo.

I really like Safron /Saffron and Soyria, but I get a 'you what!' look from DM. I love Zelie and Zadie /Sadie too. I find Nevaeh sweet and gentle. Maybe a Councillor / therapist would be named Nevaeh.

EntirelyAnonymised · 09/02/2019 10:39

Topsy is a rabbit’s name.

Olive is nice

Beryl needs more time. It still sounds dated.

AndItStillSaidFourOfTwo · 09/02/2019 10:42

I like Beryl and Leonard, albeit they're a bit hipster IMO. No reason at all why Beryl shouldn't make a comeback. And for Leonard there's Leonard Cohen, of course.

Topsy - no, honestly, proper name or no, it just has far too much of a 'nickname' ring. There's a reason why the upper classes had/have these kinds of (nick)names. They're the only ones who can get away with it. And they still have proper names on their birth certs.

AndItStillSaidFourOfTwo · 09/02/2019 10:45

Dorothy is very sweet. Like it. (Prefer Dorothea, though).

As for Deirdre, odd how perceptions change. Anyone remember in the St Clare's series, the dramatic brooding poet of an English teacher who Alison has a crush on? How she said her name was Deirdre and Alison was in raptures about how dramatic and wonderful a name it was? And then it turned out she was actually 'Doris, just plain Doris'!

MikeUniformMike · 09/02/2019 14:47

I like Dorothy but not Doris, Beryl, Norah and Ethel.
Olive just makes me think of the fruit.
Topsy makes me think of Uncle Tom's Cabin and is a bit too nicknamey.

Bubastes · 09/02/2019 14:55

'I really like the name Norah but got a resounding no from family.'

Reading James Joyce's love letters to Nora Barnacle really changed my image of Nora(h)s!

woollyheart · 09/02/2019 15:13

As someone has already said, these seem like names from comics. And your child may not be taken seriously.

Also, Topsy has slave connotations from Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Also, Olive would always remind me of the unfortunate Olive from that misogynous television programme On the Buses.

yikesanotherbooboo · 09/02/2019 15:27

Olive is very popular around here, it was slow on the up take which I blame on 'on the buses' but currently there are lots.
I don't understand why Beryl is not more popular as it would seem to fit with current trends I like the sound and look of it. Beryl the Peril may have been a negative association but now seems acceptably retro.
I love Dorothy as a name and Frances.

yikesanotherbooboo · 09/02/2019 15:29

Btw Topsy is a character in Uncle Tom's Cabin and as such causes discomfort.

JennyHolzersGhost · 09/02/2019 15:37

I know a woman called Tansy which I thought was pretty original. I quite like it.

n0ne · 09/02/2019 15:58

Can't get onboard with Topsy, sorry, but Beryl, Leonard and Dorothy are fine by me!

But then I was the one floating Brunhild on here as a middle name for DD2 so I guess I have questionable taste too. (We went with Bernice in the end )

toffee1000 · 09/02/2019 16:05

Olive just doesn’t sound nice to me. It just makes me think of the food, and I don’t like olives.
Beryl sounds ok, but it’s just a bit old-fashioned.
Topsy is just ridiculous. Nevaeh also sounds a bit ridiculous, but doesn’t have the same nickname connotation that Topsy has.

Emily, Jack, Olivia etc are fine, just very popular which kind of puts me off.

dolphin50 · 09/02/2019 16:26

my husband is called Jem, short for james and i love it. i find it sexy and gentle but i have never heard of a male jem apart from in books before

i always wonder why some names aren't more popular

my daughters middle name is cozette which isn't popular at all but i knew a cozette who was called cozi for short and sometimes coco which are names i love. i think cozi is sweet.
go for what you like. there are too many olivers and olivias, names which both come from olive originally. its your baby, people will come round to the name when they know your child with that name

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