Just remember...

[overitall1]

That whatever ridiculous moniker you give your DC they will grow up. Did anyone see the 1% game show with Lee Mack? The poor guy in the audience who's parents gave him the name Attila Annus? Just remember that when you are coming up with more and more ridiculous names just so your child will be different. Children don't LIKE being different.

I always say - remember you are naming a real person, who will spend more of their life as an adult than a cute baby/toddler.

That being said, I love lee Mack - one of my favourite comedians but I felt uncomfortable for the poor guy having the Micky taken of his name, and the guy didn’t look that amused either.

I agree, kids HATE to be different! Are you reading this, mother of Atlas?

You are not naming a baby, you are naming a person.

Babies aren't babies for long, they're not toddlers for long, and usually they are adults for many, many decades.

You might change your mind about the name when it is no longer new and fresh

Yes some names are ridiculous.

However I disagree about children/teens/adults not wanting a 'different' name.

I hate having a very common 1970s name... Even in school I was envious of those girls with beautiful more unusual names.

As an adult I also wish I had a more unusual or different name, a name that's more memorable and interesting.

I have a name that was unusual when I was a child. It seemed too long and a bit old-fashioned. People tended to make assumptions about my background, that maybe I was a bit posh or that my parents might be academic or something.

My name was never on the souvenir type tat, but neither were the names of most of my friends, but I did think I might have been more confident/popular if I'd had a more usual name

On my first day at work, someone said 'We can't call you that - you can be nn' and it stuck. With hindsight, I wish I'd had a bit more say in what I get called but the names are fine.

My first name and my nn are now a bit more popular and have been described as 'gorgeous' on MN baby names once or twice. Not by me because I can't really see a name as being gorgeous

However, please keep posting your ridiculous suggestions on MN as it gives hours of pleasure to read the unique/sensitive/strong names which nobody would would inflict on a pet in real life.

I had a common name and hasted it. DBro had an unusual name and hated it. He's on introvert and I'm an extrovert.

The trick is a flexible name. Good shortened and nicknames.

So many typos.

I always envision their CV as adults.

And remember… whatever someone’s “ridiculous moniker” is doesn’t mean you should laugh or taunt them because of it. You’d never do it in real life but it is rife on these boards when people go out of their way to say the most insulting things about , unless it’s a boring as fuck name like Olivia or George or a very traditional English British name it’s mocked and laughed at. Teach your children not to be little cunts buy laughing at someone’s name and they’ll be grand

I haven't seen the show, but was the audience member British? It's just that Attila IS a normal in certain cultures (Hungarian, I believe) and I don't agree with the idea of making fun of names from other cultures. I might not like the name Attila (or Fidel or Saddam or whatever) and I don't think it would work for a British/Irish baby, but I would be polite to anyone who has that name.

Different is one thing setting a child up to be mocked all their lives is very much another

@RaspberryChouxBuns

I always envision their CV as adults.

Ugh, this old chestnut 🙄

Increasingly, recruitment is done “blind” so recruiters don’t even see the applicant’s name. And as someone who does a lot of recruitment, believe me when I say I couldn’t give two shiny shits if someone turned out to be called Adolf-Dracula if they could do the job. I’m a professional adult, not a 7yo boy taunting the new kid for his unusual name.

If you’d judge someone because of their name, that says more about you than them - or their parents.

I've worked with an Attila. Once you've raised an eyebrow at the name, realised they are from a different culture and see that they are good at what they do, then it's just a name.

I know an Attila too, popular in DH's home country and we watched last night, knowing the cultural origin of both first and last names and felt uncomfortable. DH has been mocked for his popular name which sounds rude in the UK so I found it difficult to watch tbh. We've given our kids UK sounding names for that very reason.

Well done op, I'm sure loads of expecting parents need reminding that their baby will grow up.
Obviously most parents just pick the first name that comes to mind without ever considering it again, and if you consider their choice unpleasant the only possible reason is because they didn't think about it enough.

I have a name that is firmly in its era and not used on babies now. But , we all know that names ebb and flow . When I had my daughter I wouldn't have dreamed of calling her Mabel , Elsie , or Ivy which then were firmly in the ' old lady ' category but gaining popularity now . We will in a few years be looking at Nigel , Jason , Rachel and Emma again in the pram and telling the new mum it's a lovely name.

Attila is perfectly normal in other cultures OP. It's a completely run of the mill in Hungary and Bulgaria, also popular in Turkey. Annus is also Hebrew.

Just because it isn't 'normal' for you doesn't mean it is ridiculous. Instead maybe we should teach our children to grow into adults who aren't judgy wankers.

Teach your children not to be little cunts buy laughing at someone’s name and they’ll be grand

Yes!

Some posters appear so narrow minded about anything unusual - let's all be more open minded and try not to judge others too much!

Children don't LIKE being different.

I didn't like being Toast X in every situation until I graduated university. My husband didn't enjoy being threatened with bailiffs because they traced his common name down to the wrong person. I won't give my children very popular names because I didn't my experience of that.

Naming a child is a parenting decision like any other and you have to make a decision on behalf of your child that you hope they agree with when they grow up. Names are as diverse as the world we live in and I hope any children I have won't be so small minded as to laugh at other children's names on the playground or start threads online mocking a name as ridiculous just because they aren't familiar with it. Maybe you should treat unfamiliarity with curiosity instead of derision.

Some posters appear so narrow minded about anything unusual - let's all be more open minded and try not to judge others too much

I’m always going to struggle not to judge anyone who thinks it’s ok to call their child
Abcde
Sssst (forest- if you’ve not seen it before)
La-a (La-dash-a).
Or any name that has symbols rather than actual letters in it.

Exactly. I hated having a boring 1970s name and longed to be have a 'different' more memorable and unusual name.

Give your children confidence and they'll be proud of their name, especially an unusual name.

The most teased names in my experience are not unusual ones but 'teasable' names like Willy (William) or Bendy Dick (Benedict) or even Smellie Ellie etc etc.

I’m always going to struggle not to judge anyone who thinks it’s ok to call their child
Abcde
Sssst (forest- if you’ve not seen it before)
La-a (La-dash-a).
Or any name that has symbols rather than actual letters in it.

But those examples aren't even names, their just combinations of letters...

I thought we're discussing names like Attila as in the op...

@EisforEmergency

Some posters appear so narrow minded about anything unusual - let's all be more open minded and try not to judge others too much

I’m always going to struggle not to judge anyone who thinks it’s ok to call their child
Abcde
Sssst (forest- if you’ve not seen it before)
La-a (La-dash-a).
Or any name that has symbols rather than actual letters in it.

And I struggle not to judge those who bring up urban legends based in racism.

There's a difference between choosing an unusual name and a ridiculous one.

And some names don't travel well internationally, so if a family is UK resident they might appreciate a heads up if a name which is ordinary to then is likely to be problematic here.