Mumsnet's most loved baby names

[SmeleanorSmellstrop]

I feel like there are a bunch of names that Mumsnet posters unanimously adore. I have never seen Josephine or Rosa get a negative comment, for example. As for boy names, I think Edward seems really well-loved. What do you think?

Arlo seems very popular - I've never met one 'in the wild', though I did hear it used in a radio advert recently...

Any "royal family" name (from the main branches obvs not the outposts where they Marry Foreigners) will be considered "classic" because that's how social hierarchies work.

Olivia, Oscar and Margot always gets a lot of praise. Very white very middle class names get a round of applause.

Rowan always looks very feminine to me. I don’t see it as a boys name at all (although I know it is.)

@SplendidSuns1000

Stalin and Adolf always get hyped on here

I saw someone musing over the name Franco a while ago, and other posters said they liked it.

Brother for Mussolini...

@Watercoloursky

Arlo seems very popular - I've never met one 'in the wild', though I did hear it used in a radio advert recently...

I know one. Admittedly it’s a dog but still!

@Wondermule I think people are more snobby towards the classic/popular names actually. Far more horrible comments about ‘beige’, boring, overused names etc etc. People get very superior about using unusual names and while I would have loved to have used super uncommon names for my children (Dh wouldn’t agree ) I’d have accepted that being so unusual means not everyone would like them, that’s surely expected or they’d be popular as well!? It’s like some people want a huge round of applause about how original and clever they have been choosing a name then when someone suggests they don’t love it, they are outraged and label everyone a sheep! There was a thread about the name Emerald recently and everyone was loving it, wouldn’t call that particularly classic or traditional!

[quote Starsandglitter]@Wondermule I think people are more snobby towards the classic/popular names actually. Far more horrible comments about ‘beige’, boring, overused names etc etc. People get very superior about using unusual names and while I would have loved to have used super uncommon names for my children (Dh wouldn’t agree ) I’d have accepted that being so unusual means not everyone would like them, that’s surely expected or they’d be popular as well!? It’s like some people want a huge round of applause about how original and clever they have been choosing a name then when someone suggests they don’t love it, they are outraged and label everyone a sheep! There was a thread about the name Emerald recently and everyone was loving it, wouldn’t call that particularly classic or traditional![/quote]
I agree. I’m more talking about snobbery toward names in the top 20 (so not weird/unusual).

In my experience the name snobs either go for the beige ones (Catherine, Elizabeth, Charlotte) or the super weird child-of-academics type names, like Ptolemy or Ottilie.

My point is simply that any social standing they think they are creating for their child is imaginary, because names are not the big deal they once were.

I love the name Ottilie, I think it's very pretty and classically English.

I didn't mean To put the English bit on the end there

@Habbyhadno

I love the name Ottilie, I think it's very pretty and classically English.

It’s French.

That's why I said I hadn't meant to put that at the end

Esme, which I personally think just sounds so ugly

Samuel.

Sylvie

Someone always pops up to suggest Claudia

Also Marianne. I just don't get it

@FlashBathroom

Someone always pops up to suggest Claudia

Also Marianne. I just don't get it

I like both those names and know people with them 🤷‍♀️

Benjamin always gets lots of love on threads

Choosing names is usually a compromise between two people. I love a lot of these names, but my DP preferred more traditional names, so the actual names we used for our children were more common names that we both liked.

I wonder if a lot of the mumsnetters suggesting names like Otillie and Clementine or Atticus and Reuben would have liked to use these names but couldn't persuade their partners?

@RedLlama

Esme, which I personally think just sounds so ugly

In My Girl 2, Jamie Lee Curtis suggests Esme for a girl and her husband says "it sounds like a noise your nose makes" and then says it in a really nasally manner. That has always stuck with me and put me off.

Marianne is a good one. Everyone on Mumsnet loves Marianne. I think it's because it hits that sweet spot of classic, uncommon and has never been trendy so not dated. I love it.

I don't love Marianne. I don't hate it but Anne seemed to be every other girl's middle name when I was at school, so it seems dull and like all the Julie Annes, Karen Annes and Kerry Annes, etc

Anne-Marie was quite popular in my age group, and despite it being hyphenated I don't think it's too bad, but the names run into each other a bit so it sounds like Amery.

Reading through the posts, it's true that it's white middle class names that get a lot of applause.
When we say 'classic' what we really mean, is used historically by the white middle class and fit for a king or queen (Charlotte/Katherine/Alexander etc)
It's actually quite sickening to think of the level of unconscious racism and classism that occurs. It isn't intentional necessarily.

I saw the name Kobe torn to shreds once. A name with a lot of history in other cultures. Same goes for lots of names traditionally used by ethnic minorities.
My DH is Irish and really dislikes the English obsession with class, he wouldn't entertain a typical English middle class name, worse still if it was a royal type name (Henry/William etc) or a 'posh' name (Barnaby, Monty etc)
It was very difficult for us to find names that we both liked actually! Names can mean very different things to different people.

But it's white middle class names that get a lot of stick too. Beige, boring, dull, bland etc.

Irish and Welsh names get love because of the need to give a nod to the child's heritage, then you get the arguments about spellings and pronunciations.

I've never met a real life Quentin of any age!

Really? I know three under age 12. And most people know of the illustrator Quentin Blake or film director Quentin Tarantino.

I, on the other hand, have never met a real life Wren, which is often suggested here.

Must be very regional!