Nevaeh as a girl's name.. Yay or nay?

[bowsandbangles]

I'm currently expecting a DD and my DP likes the name Nevaeh but I think is sounds really tacky and well...made up.
It's Heaven spelt backwards... I work at a nursery and there are 2 babies with that name!
I prefer traditional solid names with meaning and substance behind them, rather than made up sounding ones.
Imagine the poor kids having to spend their lives repeating and explaining their name, having to spelt it out endlessly when people don't "get" it?

It’s a terrible name.

Pronounced ‘Nev-ay-uuuuuhhh where we are. Loudly across the playground.

@Sexnotgender congratulations . Joy is a beautiful name, one that I would have used if only I’d thought of it at the time
Also love Gloria and truly don’t understand why it’s not more popular.

[quote RickOShay]@Sexnotgender congratulations . Joy is a beautiful name, one that I would have used if only I’d thought of it at the time
Also love Gloria and truly don’t understand why it’s not more popular.[/quote]
Thank you

Dreadful. Really awful!

@Babdoc

If you’re in the UK, OP, names come with social class baggage attached. And sadly, that particular one has a “lower class” tag. The community dentists at my hospital used to go round local schools to check the kids’ teeth, and they said they could tell from the register which kids would have tooth decay, purely from their Christian names. By all means use the name if you really like it, but be aware of how it will be perceived.

My thoughts exactly but wasn't sure how best to put it.....

It's horrendous.

And @Mymapuddlington has now ruined Lana for me forever, too.

She'll never find a purse or mug with her name on in a gift shop!

I'd personally just prefer the name Heaven rather than turning it arse to face.

A dentist choosing which children will have tooth decay based on their names is irrelevant here. If op calls her daughter Nevaeh or Charlotte the child will have the same level of tooth decay. It’s not like op will wake up one morning and be like ‘ugh I cba brushing your teeth today Beatrice Jacinta, how I wish I’d called you Nevaeh then I wouldn’t have had to bother.’

What I mean is, the dentist pp refers to is obviously picking out names he perceives to be ‘working class.’ But the name doesn’t make the child working class. Whatever their name they will still be the same child, and have their teeth brushed or not brushed, and be judged based on their clothes, their accent, their school etc. There will be plenty of Williams and Olivias with tooth decay as well.

Names very definitely indicate class. You’re not likely to find many Tyler’s and Kayden’s in the more middle class areas. Go to the less middle class areas (with all the associated social, educational and health inequalities) and you certainly will.

@MaMelon

Names very definitely indicate class. You’re not likely to find many Tyler’s and Kayden’s in the more middle class areas. Go to the less middle class areas (with all the associated social, educational and health inequalities) and you certainly will.

Yes, I'm afraid it's very disingenuous to suggest otherwise

Well the child's class won't magically change from working class to upper-middle class because their parents decide to call them Horatia or Horatio rather than Tyler or Kayden. The inequalities will remain.

Absolutely - but that’s not what the dentist means.

If it is the sound he likes how about:-

Niamh
Nia
Avery
Susannah
Savannah
Lara

If it is the “backwards” that he likes how about a palindromic name:-

Hannah
Anna
Elle

Then they are themselves forwards and backwards which I rather like.

(I am a mathematician - I would love a palindromic name. I am a bit obsessed with palindromes.)

One of my niece's best friends is called Nevaeh, both are aged ten

When I met her for the first time she actually said my names Nevaeh, it's heaven spelt backwards

I did think to myself I wonder how many times she'll say that throughout her life and then also that it would have just been better to actually name the child Heaven

If you don't like it don't give it as a name to your baby.
The class thing might be true as a perception but pp is right, your name is not what will affect your life chances.
An Oxbridge educated Nevaeh applying for grad programmes won't need to be concerned about what a community dentist thought of her parents in primary school!

@MaMelon

Names very definitely indicate class. You’re not likely to find many Tyler’s and Kayden’s in the more middle class areas. Go to the less middle class areas (with all the associated social, educational and health inequalities) and you certainly will.

True indeed!

I do agree that they would still be the child regardless of name, but that child will grow up and have to put her name on a job application one day. So IMO, we as parents need to consider this when naming our children. In other words give them a good strong name rather than a shit made up one.

But it doesn’t matter whether it indicates class. The child will suffer all those inequalities regardless of whether their name is Tyler or Kaifeng. They’re not going to be turned away from the local poorly performing school on a council estates because their name comes from a Shakespeare play.

As for job applications, if Tyler has the correct qualifications and work experience then it’s not a worry. If the employer is snobby enough to turn him away for his name they’ll find another reason to turn him away. Maybe his accent or the school he went to.

I mean, does anyone think North West or her little cousin Reign are going to struggle to get a job because of their unconventional names? I’d say not. But William and Grace down the road from me probably will because they have had less opportunities and a poorer education.

If you give your child a strange name or odd spelling, don't get all precious and entitled when people spell or say it incorrectly.

Otherwise, I'd say, its entirely up to you.

Kanaloa - you’re not getting it. The dentist - quite rightly - was simply pointing out that kids from areas with higher levels of inequalities were more likely to have certain names (and require more dental interventions). That was all.

If - as a parent - it doesn’t matter to you that certain names are more prevalent in areas of deprivation (and conversely, more prevalent amongst the upper classes) because you love the name in question then go right ahead. Why wouldn’t you? Names do link you to certain classes though, unfortunately.

I’m getting it quite perfectly. I’m very aware that some names are indicators of class. What I’m saying is that it isn’t relevant.

It is relevant - but obviously not everyone cares one way or t’other when naming their children.

@Kanaloa

I’m getting it quite perfectly. I’m very aware that some names are indicators of class. What I’m saying is that it isn’t relevant.

If it's not relevant to you, then you're obviously of the class that would use the name and think it's clever. Sorry 🤷🏻‍♀️ It's very relevant to a lot of people.

I can't stand it. The woman in the next door bed at the hospital where my daughter was born about four years ago, was using it for hers. She told the nurses in a tone that heavily suggested she thought she was the first person in the world to come up with it 🙄 I smothered a laugh when one told her she was the second one born that week. This is Margate, though, so . . .