Anyone else think in the pursuit for a ‘unique’ name children are getting called more and more ridiculous things?

[Anotherdayanotheropinon]

and what is behind this desire for a unique name! I feel sorry for all the children whose parents seem to want a unique name to satisfy something in themselves without any regard for the poor child saddled with the name.

This also seems to be a new thing in the last 20 or so years - leading to so many made up names.

I tnink those countries that have a register of names are doing the right thing.

See thread on wanting to name child ‘Falcon’ or the ever popular Neveah (it’s heaven backwards) 🙄 and so many other terrible names.

I am a massive name snob but I wouldn't dream of telling a parent or the child that I find their name horrendous. Unless it's a person specifically asking for opinions on that name. If a person asks for opinions, whether it's on mumsnet or in person, they should expect to hear an honest opinion.

I can't help but internally judge parents for the name choices. I try hard not to and think "perhaps there's something really sentimental attached to why they chose this God awful name"

Also a Londoner who works with children and I don’t bat an eyelid at any name. It’s so personal to taste, culture and many other factors.

I do get that you can’t always stop your own gut reactions to names, based on your own experiences. When I heard ‘Anders’ earlier in the thread, I thought ‘porn star’. But that’s my own (very unfair!) connotations with Sweden and dodgy 70s porn .

We all have reactions and our own connotations with certain names, but it edges into nasty snobbery when we pour scorn on other peoples tastes.

@whywouldntyou

I came across an (older ) woman the other day called Julie. Well her parents obviously wanted to be youneek so she spells it Jewlee. Really?? I wonder how many times (a day) she had to spell that? She was in her 60s.

Given the era in which her birth was registered could it not have been lack of education of her parents who spelled it as they thought it sounded? Having heard the name but not seen it written down.

Not sure why people being the name Nevaeh up on these threads still . It's so mainstream now - and I suspect the name was in common use in some areas well before someone noticed that the letters spelled heaven backwards .

I always imagine that people who start these sort of threads live in a very middle class English village and never come across anyone from a class or cultural heritage different from their own .

@shinynewapple22

Not sure why people being the name Nevaeh up on these threads still . It's so mainstream now - and I suspect the name was in common use in some areas well before someone noticed that the letters spelled heaven backwards .

I always imagine that people who start these sort of threads live in a very middle class English village and never come across anyone from a class or cultural heritage different from their own .

But it wasn’t a name and then someone noticed it spelled heaven backwards, it was literally used because it spells heaven backwards: nameberry.com/babyname/Nevaeh I agree it is getting more mainstream now, but it’s still a fairly recently made up name.

Germany doesn't actually have a list of approved names, but registrars can refuse to register a name if they believe it would not be in the child's best interests to have that name. Common nouns (so sieve, airfryer etc as above), company names and insults are not allowed, neither are names whose purpose would be to 'mock and humiliate' the child. Names are also supposed to unambiguously identify the child's sex - you can give them a unisex name but you're supposed to then also give them a more unambiguously masculine or feminine middle name.

A name coming from a different culture is not, on its own, sufficient grounds to refuse to register a name. if you can provide evidence that the name is in use as a name somewhere in the world, you're good to go.

I think it's a perfectly sensible policy.

(Perfectly sensible, that is, apart from the unambiguously identifying the sex thing, which I think is a bit OTT and I expect will fall by the wayside soon)

I don't agree with forcing parents to give their child a typically masculine or feminine name. We can all see how that would lead to problems.
Personally I don't like 'unique' names which quite often become common. Such as Jaxon , Jaxx, Hunter etc. Parents think their child will be the only one with that name and they are wrong.
I also think calling your child a name such as Hunter is incredibly short sighted. It conjures up a specific image because it is a description. It began as a nickname and the nickname suited the kid. It's like calling a baby Blondie when they grow up to have brown hair.