Do you think about the ‘area’ that your child is growing up in when naming them?

[SecondBabyGirl]

Just that really. Obviously there’s certain things to take into account like accents. But also just the general area and what sort of name you can get away with. Eg my friend lives in Brighton and called her daughter a very hippy/earthy name and I don’t think anyone bats an eyelid. But people would probably spit out their tea where I live if I said I called me daughter that name. Some areas are more hippy, some more posh/traditional, some much less so. Where I live isn’t particularly ‘out there’ and most of the girls names I hear at the park at Lily, Emily, Olivia etc and it makes me wonder if I can get away with a more unusual name or not?

A bit. I suspect if I lived in Brighton (I know nothing about Brighton but it sounds like they’re all hippies ) I’d be a bit more adventurous with names, if everyone else was.

I’m also , especially as a foreigner, very tuned in to local pronunciation issues - so I wouldn’t name a child Arthur somewhere where it’d be Aaa-Fa.

But it’s just one of many slightly random considerations - family history, naming traditions, “I’d like to use X but X’s ex was an X and he was an asshole” etc.

I come across a lot of children’s names in my line of work . I don’t like to generalise but many of the children whose name has an “alternative” spelling are from more deprived areas ( I live in one myself) . I am never sure if it’s deliberate or the parents simply cannot spell. There is also a high proportion of celeb and TV names.

I have done a lot of family history research, looking through old census records, baptisms etc. It has confirmed that both sides of our family were very lower class indeed! Think labourers and servants.

English records going back to the 18th century show some extremely fanciful names for people who were mostly illiterate. There were millions of George, Joseph, Henry etc, but people often let rip with a made-up pretty name for girls, very flowery, think Daffodilia or Jonquiletta. Not actual examples, but you see what I mean! I wish I'd noted down some of the better ones, but they are definitely in Chardonnay territory!

My Irish family were incredibly boring, seemed to be about 7 saints repeated endlessly

I live in a foreign English speaking country so I did think of names that fit in here and in England. I like classic easy to spell names so it wasn't that hard really!!

I think the area can play a role and even wider looking at the different countries in the UK there are similarities but there are also differences. Like George is an uncommon name in Scotland but not in England.

In London, even the most out-there names barely raise an eyebrow.

Agree with others that spelling is important internationally. I spent my life living in countries where people consistently got my name wrong and couldn't pronounce it. My DDs have both got names that are easy to spell and pronounce although not mega popular, so hopefully they'll never have the same issues.

I don't know how much the area we live in did influence our name choices tbh. We wanted names which reflected our heritage and also travelled well. That said, we live in a commuter town near London, so we hear everything from Noah and William, to Aoife, Oisín, Lorenzo, Rachelle, (families from Ireland and Italy), to Star, Ziggy and Sherlock!

We ended up with one German name, one Irish, but both travel well, or have shortenings that travel well.

Yes, when I was a child you would have been ripped to bits for certain names. My DH has a popular name for his age. I can name about 8 people called this in the SE of England. However, back in my northern town, this name is very rare. When I first told my dad his name he did spit his tea out.

I won't out myself on here but his name is something along the lines of Giles, Rupert.

@SecondBabyGirl

Haha I grew up in Hull and loads of kids had 'out there' names that could be considered hippy! Names just become names, especially to other kids! No one ever batted an eye kid

We live in London and that definitely made me feel we could choose a more ‘out there’ name if we wanted. We didn’t in the end, but we did rule out names that made somebody’s class glaringly obvious - we wanted a name that worked for all social classes and race.

I think the area you live in, your social class etc, do make a difference in the sort of name you give your child, even though in principle we want to resist it or deny it.

It's human nature for the people you are surrounded by to influence you as person and I think most people do try to question "would I be happy to introduce myself as NAME?" (baring in mind you don't know how confident your child will be or what profession they'll go into). And if you think you could feel even slightly uncomfortable, the name is relegated to possible middle name options or even a name for the new pet.

Which is a shame as personally there are so many cool, unusual names I like - I'd love to meet a Cassiopeia or a Wolfric for example, but I don't run in the circles where those type of names are more commonplace so I guess I need to get more pets and have fun naming!

My children's names are very normal but not in the top 100.

wrt socio economic marker names, I do sometimes think people are trying to send the message ''we're dead posh and dead rich like'' with some of the names you see suggested here. Percy, Ptolemy, Araminta. I refuse to believe that people like those names. They are trying to put their child's foot in an upper middle class camp.

@BigBamboo

Yes, when I was a child you would have been ripped to bits for certain names. My DH has a popular name for his age. I can name about 8 people called this in the SE of England. However, back in my northern town, this name is very rare. When I first told my dad his name he did spit his tea out.

I won't out myself on here but his name is something along the lines of Giles, Rupert.

Nigel! It has to be Nigel!

Nigel! It has to be Nigel!

I was thinking Jeremy, or possibly Simon.

I was going to say no but then I thought of some very specific exceptions

-I wouldn’t name my baby something like Tarquin because it’s too posh
-I wouldn’t name my baby something like Kaiden-Jay because it’s not posh enough

But those exceptions seem to be more based on socio-economic factors and links rather than necessarily geographical location.
In terms of common vs unusual names though, no I would just go for whatever I wanted regardless! If I wanted a baby called Rainbow, I’d give them that name whether I lived in The Cotswolds or Tower Hamlets

I never understood why the names Tarquin and Percy are considered posh.

It's none of them, but it is along those lines.