Do you think that you can get used to almost any name?

[Sparring]

No matter how strange it may appear at first?

Just thinking of people I've known with unusual names. It didn't take more than a day or two to get used to them.

Examples being a man called Fudge. Another called Elton. (I thought of Elton John for a day or two then it was just his name.) A girl called Sunday. One called London.

Does it take you long to get used to unusual names?

I have worked with a Darling, a Gay and a Spike. They just become normal very quickly.

@BarberQueue

I have worked with a Darling, a Gay and a Spike. They just become normal very quickly.

I'm not sure Darling would.

I know a Bliss and a Pepsi (both girls). Oddly Pepsi I am used to, but Bliss still surprises me after 5 plus years. Might be because I used to have a pony called Pepsi though.

Names are usually culturally specific. I've been in countries where I've met people called Telephone and Mortgage, because those things are associated with being wealthy. I've worked with colleagues called Pretty and Precious. One of my friends has a son called Prosper. They might sound odd at first but then you get used to them

I listened to a show on the radio about the Arab Spring and they mentioned the baby born in Egypt called "Facebook" and the Israeli baby named "Like". They were named at a time of great hope for a lot of people.

Ok…I think calling your child Gay is just cruel

Gay is short for Gabriel. It used to be very popular in Ireland but not any more, for obvious reasons.

@DoAsYouWouldBeMumBy - does your Spike have a sibling?!

@GreyhoundG1rl

Gay is short for Gabriel. It used to be very popular in Ireland but not any more, for obvious reasons.

I can honk of several young Gabriels, though, but they go by Gabe if not the whole thing.

I meant the shortening, not the name itself.

[quote MaMelon]@DoAsYouWouldBeMumBy - does your Spike have a sibling?![/quote]
Yes! The sibling's name is a little fruity

No you just get used to it quickly. I know a Boudicca, a Plum, a Freedom. It morphs into a name quickly.

Yes! The sibling's name is a little fruity

Yes!!!!! We know the same family

The fruit begins with c

I know a woman called Bubbles. I’ll never get used to it

@MaMelon

Yes! The sibling's name is a little fruity

Yes!!!!! We know the same family

@MaMelon

The fruit begins with c

It does indeed

Oh my goodness! It’s a small world

* Nope to me if a names ridiculous it always will be*

^This

As has already been said, you might get used to it, but the poor sod that has to carry that name for 90 odd years has to put up with people's reactions EVERY SINGLE TIME someone hears their name for the first time.

Mostly, but sometimes it so awful that you just cringe when saying it. I know a few people with names like that and they are so proud of their creative naming.

I think any one person will get used to someone’s name when they’ve known them for a while; the name just becomes “them”. The reason I think it’s dreadful to give a child a bizarre (“you what?”) sort of name is that they will have to go through that process with every single person they meet. All their lives. Must be awful. “hi, I’m Feral.” “What, Beryl?”. “No, Feral. F..E..R..A..L”…as the person in front of you titters….

Obviously names from different cultures are entirely different, but it’s also usually pretty obvious that that’s what it is, so I think people see that differently (as in “that’s a Dutch name and I need to learn to pronounce it correctly” rather than “how odd…”)

No you never get used to it because they are ridiculous. Some people take more thought naming their pets than their children

A "normal" name might not be normal in years to come and vice versa. As I said above, my name was very common in the early 70s but isn't uses at all now.

22 years ago when pregnant with ds2 I thought about naming him Noah. My mother, a primary school head teacher, said it would be cruel as he would be teased horribly. Several other people told me it was a ridiculous name, so we called him something else. Within a few years it suddenly became a popular name and now no one bats an eyelid when coming across a child named Noah.

I had a colleague called Paqui, a common diminutive in Spanish for Francisca, pronounced like the racist term. Took me a while to be able to say it without feeling bad. Has absolutely no offensive connotations here.

@LaMadrilena

I had a colleague called Paqui, a common diminutive in Spanish for Francisca, pronounced like the racist term. Took me a while to be able to say it without feeling bad. Has absolutely no offensive connotations here.

Packy is a common shortening for Patrick in Ireland.