my child's name

[Lilyannarose]

He's eight now and loves his name. I do too.
However I still get lots of negative comments about it.
It's nothing too out there (I know a few boys with the same name of varying ages), but it is (so I have been told) a classic "chav" name (I wasn't aware of this when I named him as never entered on to these forums at that time).
My older 3 children all have very traditional old English names, but with my 4th I just fell in love with this particular name (and still love it now).
I had so many negative responses that I was on the verge of changing it when he was a baby to something more traditional (I'm glad I didn't as he would have been one of four in his class!).
Even now I have a slight wavery moment when telling someone his name. I think because I had so many negative responses when I told people his name as a baby. Some (mostly older generation) would openly scoff and say "What sort of a name is that?"
One even said it sounded like a take-away dish which had never occurred to me before.
The main thing is that my son loves it. It suits him perfectly.
He has SEN (non verbal) and the bonus is that he learnt his name very quickly as it's a short name.
Did I do the right thing in not changing it? I do still like it despite the negativity and couldn't imagine him being called anything else.

Come to my side of the world where Kai is perceived as a really cool, surf name and nobody here perceives names as chavvy!

I've got two boys with surnames for first names, couldn't care less if people don't like it!

Don't regret his name, it's fantastic!

Kai is a gorgeous name! Ignore those silly people they are just rude.

I know a little Kai and he’s a lovely boy, only has good connotations for me.

Kai is a beautiful name ❤️

Well being honest it is - but I’m sure he’ll do absolutely fine anyway. My Dad got given a name with some pretty strong associations & my Grandma was quite upset later down the line but he’s still a successful businessman.
Plus it matters less today as there are literally thousands more baby names used plus all the immigration diversity on top - no one is likely to bat an eyelid at Kai

Kai's a good name. Scandinavian.

I like it. I don’t know any Kai’s, however I know several Cai’s here in wales, where the name means rejoice, I think Kai is Basque if I remember rightly, so same sound just different spelling and meaning. Ignore everyone.

I love that he loves his name. That's all that matters. Ignore the opinionated rude people, they are sent to try us.

It's a real name with many different origins.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kai_(name)

If people have a problem with it, remember it is their problem, not yours or your son's.

I think it's great you went with a name you love and glad he loves it too! I think you wouldn't have regretted changing it if you had. Life would be so boring if everyone used the same few names as each other.

I knew it would be Kai from your description! I don't think it's chavvy at all (and I hate describing names like that). The only Kai I've come across in real life has bohemian musician parents so that's the kind of vibe I associate it with. Ignore the naysayers, it's a great name.

The name is fine. No need to be embarrassed or to change it.

I know two grown up Kai’s. Never thought anything of their names!

As I was reading your OP I wondered if it was Kyle or Kai, just because these are names I see come in for a bashing here. I think Kai is fine and I'm sad that you have misgivings about the name after all this time because of some nonsense you've read on MN. You love it, your son loves it and that's really all that matters. You need to make up your mind to not give the idea anymore headspace.

For what it's worth the only Kai I know is a middle aged German man who's very serious and very intellectual.

Do not listen! My 3 have nice, fairly neutral names and they have all been slagged off as boring, wet or horrible on here.

I would not tolerate people being rude about my child's name. Who are these people anyway? Are they family or friends?

And Kai is a lovely name. As PP said, it's Hawaiian for 'the sea'. Maybe you could get a nice picture of a beach in Hawaii and put it up in your house? It's nice for children to have positive reinforcements of their name.