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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Should I change it?

65 replies

RandDandC · 30/12/2019 22:44

Hi, my baby is nearly 2 weeks old and after much deliberation (and a previous thread) we decided to name her Briar, however, as much as I love the name something doesn’t feel right. We have had 2 negative comments but I have tried not to let it bother me, we go comments that out first daughters name was too ‘nicknamey’. Should I change it and if yes does anyone have any suggestions?

Surname begins with a D and is 2 syllables, dd1 is called Callie.

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MikeUniformMike · 31/12/2019 11:25

Briar is lovely.

FleetwoodMacMummy · 31/12/2019 11:28

I think Briar is so pretty and goes really well with callie

LittleBearPad · 31/12/2019 11:30

Tara is lovely. Could Briar be a middle name?

TatianaLarina · 31/12/2019 12:53

Briar is great, so much nicer than your other suggestions.

Briars are rambling shrubs including wild rose, blackberries, raspberries etc. Not sure why people are so preoccupied with the thorn aspect - it doesn’t put people off using Rose.

Biscuitsandteaplease · 31/12/2019 12:58

I love Briar! I wouldn't change it & think it goes perfectly with Callie. Gorgeous names

Grufallisfriend · 31/12/2019 13:04

Don't change it! I think Briar is very pretty and goes really well with Callie.

sandyfoot · 31/12/2019 13:04

Tara and Vivienne both beautiful and Briar a lovely middle name. I don't think it's too late to change.

Emmapeeler1 · 31/12/2019 13:15

I think Briar is lovely.

Google says it means: “any of a number of prickly scrambling shrubs, especially a wild rose.”

I wouldn’t mind a name meaning a wild rose. Anyway who cares what a name means? Associations are what matters most. For me it conjures up Briar Rose and magical fairytales. For everyone you know will just think of your lovely little girl.

I doubted my name choice for ages as I had comments implying it wasn’t as pretty or ‘now’ as some others I had in mind. I’m glad we stuck to our initial decision, DD loves her name.

Having said that it is of course not too late if you really decide it’s not for you. I would personally stick to your guns.

Sweetpeach3 · 31/12/2019 13:35

Never heard of this name but it is lovely. Don't change it because of a negative comment. Jesus everyone called both my previous 2 names and I didn't change it. They've all took the utter puss out of me new DS called reggie but I don't care he suits it and it's my baby and I love it so whatever arseholes 😁 Xxx

Riv12345 · 31/12/2019 14:05

Hi op
Am I correct in thinking you liked the name raine but your hubby didn't?
If you're really not happy with briar I would change it, you have got to be 100 % sure but I know that it's when you can't find a name that sticks,
You will know when you find it

Riv12345 · 31/12/2019 14:07

I also think Briar is very beautiful.

BabloHoney · 31/12/2019 14:22

Don’t change it based on other people’s comments. I had a baby in September, we had a few negative reactions to our chosen name (and the spelling of our chosen name!) in my hormonal post baby state I thought about changing it as some family members didn’t like it.. 3 months on I’m so glad we didn’t, I love my little boy’s name and it suits him. If you love the name that’s all that matters (and I think Callie and Briar are nigh lovely names)
Congratulations on your baby x

vanillay · 31/12/2019 14:28

Briar is lovely. Miles better than your other choices imo and it goes great with Callie

The people who made negative commentS are just rude buggers who probably would have had nothing positive to say no matter what name you chose.

IVflytrap · 31/12/2019 14:31

Unless you choose something really bland, people are always going to have an opinion.

I think Briar is really nice, much lovelier than your potential alternatives. It goes well with Callie (not that sibling names need to "go", but still).

Lots of English language botanical names are of plants that aren't particularly flowery - Fern, Ivy, Rowan, Bryony, even Heather as a plant isn't particularly showy. Bryony and ivy plants are often considered weeds. So it wouldn't bother me that a briar is a thorny wild rose (I think it's quite cool actually) and it doesn't have the meaning where I am that it does in Ireland, so that wouldn't be an issue for me, personally. Ultimately it's up to you, but I wouldn't change it.

donquixotedelamancha · 31/12/2019 14:39

I think it's great. I don't see why girls have to have 'nice' names. Prickly and wild seems fab to me.

onedayallthiswillbeyours · 31/12/2019 14:42

I absolutely love it but then I like Nettle as a name too . Don't change it unless YOU want to. Alternative could be Rowan - I know both male and female Rowans and it is another name I love.

ParadiseLaundry · 31/12/2019 14:50

I absolutely love the name Briar, it's beautiful. It's such a shame people are so rude.

BigusBumus · 31/12/2019 15:02

I don't think of thorns with the name Briar. What about Holly for goodness sake!?

I know a Bryher, named after the Cornish Island and always thought how pretty it was.

BigusBumus · 31/12/2019 15:02

Although i love the name Tara too!

TatianaLarina · 31/12/2019 15:21

What about Holly for goodness sake!?

Good point!

FeigningHorror · 31/12/2019 15:46

a briar is a thorny wild rose

I think we're coming at this from different perspectives, then, because a briar for me isn't a thorny wild rose, it's one of a whole range of thorny or prickly, woody-stemmed plants, which could include briar roses, but also blackberry bushes etc, as this.

From the online Merriam Webster:

Definition of briar

(Entry 1 of 2)
botany : a plant (such as a rose, blackberry, or greenbrier) having a usually woody and thorny or prickly stem a thicket of briars a briar patch also : a mass or twig of these

If I was talking specifically about a briar rose, I'd specify.

I entirely agree, incidentally about girls not having to have sweet, gentle names my DS, if he'd been a girl, was going to have the name of a warrior queen notorious for cunning and starting wars but it is like naming a child Nettle. Which I kind of like, too, but the only Nettle I know is a long-dead (and vicious) Jack Russell.

TatianaLarina · 31/12/2019 16:11

So how come naming a child Rose or Holly isn’t like calling her Nettle?

What could be more of a sweet gentle girly name than Rose? And yet Roses have thorns. (And incidentally can also have cyanide compounds in the leaves and fruit).

I love wild roses and blackberries in early Autumn. And Briar, while it does not exclusively refer to roses has a strong connection to them - Sweetbriar/Briar Rose. So Briar has positive connotations to me. It’s odd that people are fixating on the thorns.

IVflytrap · 31/12/2019 16:51

@FeigningHorror Maybe it's regional differences? A blackberry bush where I am is a bramble, not a briar. A briar is a wild rose or dog rose. I don't think I'd use the word briar otherwise - a patch of unidentified thorny shrubs would probably just be "that thorny bastard over there"

Either way, I don't think it's an issue, when as a pp pointed out, we call girls Holly!

Cornishmumofone · 31/12/2019 16:52

Do you have any link with the Isles of Scilly? One of the islands is called Bryher (pronounced the same as Briar) and I know a couple of girls called that.

Anoisagusaris · 31/12/2019 16:58

Tara is a beautiful name.

I’m Irish and I would describe someone as being ‘like a briar’ if they were in bad humour, grumpy etc.

And briars would be thorny, scrubby hedges/bushes

So to me it’s not a name I would use. But I’m not British and it may have different meaning there.

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