Is Nimrod really that bad?

[lrpe]

We are from Hungary where Nimród is a popular boy's name and we'd like to call our child Nimród. However, I've just learnt that in American slang "nimrod" means idiot, dimwit, stupid, etc. But I've never heard this in the UK.

I wonder how bad Nimrod sounds for a native English speaker in the UK. (We have no connections with the US and our son would grow up in the UK.)

Possible alternatives would be:

László
Zoltán
Vajk (pronounced: voyk)

Are they any better?

Thanks a lot.

@MrsCremuel

I associate it with Elgar and the Bible and I’m from the UK. Never heard of it as an insult?

Likewise.

Zoltán would make me think of Kodály, which is no bad thing.

László would make me wish my surname were Moholy-Nagy (though maybe yours is). Again, no bad thing.

OP, whatever you call your child, someone will shorten their name!

One of mine is known as Bobble, which bears no relation to her very long and beautiful and carefully chosen name at all .

Nimrod is an aeroplane to me, and part of Elgar's enigma variations. No not a name, but laszlo is better

Nimrod reminds me of Elgar too-beautiful music-and the aircraft Nimrod
However I love Laszlo!

@ChequerBoard

I've also never heard of a nimrod used as an insult.

To me though it's an aircraft so it would be like calling a child Spitfire, Hurricane or DC10.

Love some of your other options though.

This.

I know a Nimrod. He is a vastly ambitious and successful (yet generally lovely) person who certainly carries off the name. He's even in a profession where having a name like that is an asset.

Having said that, even his own parents (who are not English) are not sure why they named him after a baddie. I think it might be a bit hard to use it for a child in the UK (although I've never heard it used as an insult).

Personally, I'd go with Zoltán. I think it's a great name.

Yes. The others are all completely fine.

Never heard Nimrod as a name and certainly not as an insult - to me it's Elgar and sounds a bit nautical.

Wasn't Laszlo the name of the bear in Toy Story 3?

I'm in New Zealand and nimrod is absolutely an insult. I never knew it was an actual name. It does sound bad in English, for sure.

I’ve only ever heard the name/word Nimrod from Peep Show, when Mark and Sophie are discussing baby names:

Sophie: I was thinking Tarquin Oliver Nimrod
[Mark bursts out laughing]
Mark: I… like it
Sophie: Why did you laugh?
Mark: I thought it was a joke
Sophie: You thought it was a joke but you like it?
Mark: Tarquin Oliver Nimrod? Come on, give the little bugger a chance.

In England, in my brain at least, it's either

1) A piece of patriotic music by Edward Elgar, used at royal funerals and played at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday.
2) A large military aircraft

This ^

I have never heard of it as an insult, however as this thread shows, a lot of people have, so I'd avoid it.

Zoltan sounds great in English though

Nimrod is used as an insult meaning idiot.

László and Zoltán are great.
I wouldn't worry about Hungarian friends and family using diminutives - you are more likely to get Laz and Zoz in the UK.

Vajk would be mispronounced. There is also the term 'vaj' in there, ripe for exploitation.

Never heard Nimrod as an insult....but it's a beautiful piece of music by Elgar, and an RAF plane!

OMG, def not Nimrod!

I love László, I associate Nimrod with sadness from associating it with the Elgar music with the same name played at the ceremony of remembrance.

The sounds of Nymrod don’t work very harmoniously to me in English.

I had no idea it was an insult (is that just the US), but to me it is the name of a military plane (or to a lesser extent a piece of classical music).

I've never heard of Nimrod as an insult either. As others have said it reminds me of Elgar and planes.

Years ago I knew a Hungarian woman whose young son was Zoltan. I love the name but she hated the way his English schoolmates tended to pronounce it - more like 'Zoll Un', so that might be an issue for you too. I guess it would depend on the local accent in your area though.

When I read the name I instantly thought of Wally, nimwit, plonker, doughnut. That sort of insult. A soft way of calling someone an idiot.

Isn't Zoltan the fortune teller machine. Like the one in the movie 'big'

The movie one is a custom machine called Zoltar, but there was a real fortune teller machine called Zoltan.

Nimrod- solemn Royal correspondent doing the commentary as coffin unloaded from hearse and carried into Westminster Abbey m.youtube.com/watch?v=NhnMd1Jl7SA
Or big lump of an old plane

Laszlo- Victor, resistance hero guy out of Casablanca. Good choice.

Zoltan- ripped East European special forces type capable of singlehandedly storming enemy compound and emerging with all the buildings and enemy vehicles and planes blazing behind him, carrying damsel in his manly arms. Great name and easy to spell. Would definitely use unless child likely to be very weedy looking.

Vajk- no connotations really. Will be mispronounced and probably misspelt.

I think of it as an insult

I winced when I saw it! Definitely not Nimrod 😬

I think Zoltan is the name of a battery brand

Yeh. Insult meaning idiot.

László or Zoltán. The other one nobody would know how to say/spell.

Zoltán sounds very cool.

I didn't know Nimrod was a name I thought it was an insult