When you dislike 'classic' names....

[TreeofLifeM]

Is it short sighted to go with a modern/trendy name?

I am not keen on any classic names (Husband is more open to it) and i prefer what you may consider modern names. However my concern is will the name(s) we choose become dated?
If yes any suggestions on how I get round this ie won't date but not a classic?!

....Perhaps i'm over thinking it!

I love Thalia, Allegra, Saskia and Liberty. Asher is great too. Other suggestions:
Antonia
Clementine
Christobel
Tabitha
Francesca
Kezia
Meredith

Felix
Mathias
Elias
Elijah
Nathan
Dashiel
Asa

I think there is a bit of a MM obsession with naming children things that are really prim and traditional.

I have a prim and traditional name and I absolutely hate it! It sounds twee and plain. I would have preferred something a bit trendier/prettier. We are all going to age, so what's wrong with a name dating? It's not like have a timeless name will make you look any younger!

I think the names on your list are lovely, my DD has one of them choose what you like and don't worry about anything else.

I like Asher. Not as fond of Oscar (possibly because I know too many horrors) but if you love it, go with it - it's probably past its peak now.

I know a couple of Libertys and Saskias and a few Imogens. I like Elise best from your list.

I take it you don't know many 5's and under? Sienna, Imogen, Skye and Freya have all already peaked and started to decline over the last 10-5 years, so not sounding fresh and everyone getting fed up of them already. I do really like Asher and Saskia.

Absolutely loved Asher for a boy...really underrated yet cool biblical name.

From your girls list I think Sienna is the prettiest but it is incredibly overused and popular!

Freya - too popular? - Peaked, over-popular. Will be Frey.
Skye -modern? - a bit downmarket maybe. peaked
Thalia/Talia - spelling and pronunciation issues
Sienna - Modern? - downmarket and will date.
Anaya - Indian? scope for people to get it wrong spelling-wise (Aaliyah etc)
Allegra - lovely, will be Legs.
Imogen - ok, will be Immy
Saskia - the best. Will be Sass.
Elise - modern? - too close to Elsie and a bit downmarket.
Liberty - this is old fashioned one not used often - awful

For boys names:
I really like Asher which is a very old name - a bit OT, will be Ash.
Oscar - but too popular - overused.

I love Liberty! Probably my favourite on your list for a girl.

Wow oh wow!!! MikeUniformMike what do you mean by 'down market'? Please explain.

Do you mean our name choices are cheap and of lowly social status? Bet you wouldn't write that but are happy to write 'down market'.'
I can't ever imagine being so snooty than to classify names as downmarket. Snobbery is well and truly alive and to be so brazen about it!

Sure you can dislike names because you don't like the sound or because it reminds you of someone you knew etc but to categorised names as downmarket really is a reflection snobbery and a sad reality there are still people who judge a persons background on their name.

This is the kind of rubbish that ensure we still have a class system.
Unbelievable.

KatnissK than you :)

I think they’re quite conventional names, when you said you didn’t like ‘classic’ names, I thought you’d be naming your child Zippy or Orange or something

I like Saskia the best, it’s really really great! Saskia is also one of those names that a lot of people seem to love.

I don’t like Liberty at all, I don’t know what it is but to me it’s a bit downmarket/‘cheap and of lowly social status’. I think people have views of names like that because of people they know and of tv characters and all those kids of things. For example, when I was at school, the kids from poor backgrounds who were really badly behaved had names like Shane and Chardonnay and the like. Hence to me those names are ‘council estate names’ and the association is still there. Someone saying your name choice is downmarket shouldn’t be something you take too personally

For example, when I was at school, the kids from poor backgrounds who were really badly behaved
It reads as though kids from deprived backgrounds are badly behaved. I am sure you didn't mean it that way

I think MN is rife with snobbery.

Some people will judge you before they meet you, based on your name or where you are from. Of course it is unfair but that is how life is. Look at the flak that names like Gary and Nigel get on here - I know some really amazing people with those names.

Anaya, for example, would make me think of someone with at least one Indian or Indian-heritage parent. It's a pretty name but will get mixed up with similar looking or sounding names.

Sienna and Skye are nice but just slightly borderline. Sienna a bit too celebrity-associated perhaps and Skye sounds like a soap opera name. I don't think either will date well.

Wouldn't you prefer to have some random person say it than have people think it. It might not have crossed your mind that Elise might get called Elsie, or that it might get Eleece rather than Eleeze, or that the lovely name Freya will be Frey.

The main thing is do you like it and does it go with your surname? Will you still like it in 10, 20,...50 years' time.

Thing is that people's perceptions of 'unusual' names are so different. To me an unusual name is one which is not commonly used.

That will vary from names like Alistair which whilst not overused at the moment are well known - most people in the UK will know an Alistair, or be aware of the name. Then there are names like Kerenhappuch which won't be as well known. That's before you get to 'youneek' names.

However, if you asked my PIL what an unusual name is, they would say anything outside the current top 10, with the exception of a few traditional classics like Elizabeth or Katharine. They would consider more modern names like Arlo or Lyra to be incredibly unusual.

I would think that (grand)parents thinking that Arlo and Lyra are unusual or maybe a bit 'out there' will find that little Arlo or Lyra will be one of many at school.

I can think of at least 2 sets of parents who chose Noah because it was unusual.

It reads as though kids from deprived backgrounds are badly behaved
Statistically students from poorer backgrounds do behave worse than their wealthier classmates. It’s a massive issue within the education system and there’s not enough resources to cope with it. But anyway that’s a different matter.

Look, the crux of it is, people are going to judge your baby name. Too posh, too chavvy, too religious, too old, too unique, too common etc etc. Pick any name and you’ll get comments like this. I’m sure you’d have comments to make about my name and my name choices. It’s the way people are because we can’t like every name but all that matters is that you like it enough to use it. You can’t expect only nice comments though, we all have our experiences with names and yes they might be stereotypical but who cares?

I say all that as someone who has had their name choices ripped apart on these threads!

I agree with Gogo - someone, somewhere will judge your name choice.

I would bear judgement in mind to some extent, it could save your child from an embarrassing connotation you were unaware of (mass murderer, porn star, slang use of name e.g. Tuppence for female genitalia which I only learned on Mumsnet).

However, some judgement can be ignored. My parents were horrified by my sister's choice of Nathan for a boy, as they didn't like the name. I warned them to keep quiet and they did. Baby was a girl in the end.

A colleague named her daughter Hannah and her MIL hated it, said it was boring and dull and couldn't they choose something more modern.

Somewhere there will be a MIL/Mum despairing of their child's choice of Lyra or Aurora saying 'what about Hannah?'

My paternal grandmother rang my Dad when I was born to say 'what the fuck did you call that child that for' (Mam's Welsh as is my name). Dad told her to piss off. Maternal grandparents liked my name, but wanted Mam to give me a Welsh middle name of their choice. She refused. Rightly, but it's a shame as the name was Elin and it would go nicely with my name and now I'm middle nameless.

Just pick what you like, and if your name is West avoid Fred and Rose - same applies to any other name with a similar negative connotation.

I know lots of children around here called variants of Skye and Skylar, Sienna, Imogen, Elise and a few called Liberty (often Libby for short).

Oscar is quite popular around here for boys.

Have a grown up friend called Allegra. Quite a pretty name to bring back.

Imogen and Asher are my two favourites from your lists @TreeofLifeM really perfect names