If you named your baby an unusual name

[GorgeousLadyofWrestling]

And they’re now older, how is it?

Just curious really. I was idly reading through some of the posts on here and for anyone asking about an unusual name, there’s a lot of posts warning the child will hate it/ they’ll be teased etc etc. So just curious about how it worked out for you. My DD has an unusual name and it’s very polarising on MN but she’s now 7 and suits it down to the ground.

DD (9) has an unusual name (not made up!) and she likes it. She enjoys being unique and so she says this name is perfect for her. When we told everyone her name to begin with some people (older generation) were a bit taken aback but now they say it's a lovely name and really suits her. DD gets annoyed sometimes that she can't find things with her name on but nowadays you can pay to have anything personalised so it's not really a big deal!

In my family there was a name used historically that I wish my parents had used for me! I don't know any other family who used it so won't say what it was. They didn't, my name is neither very popular but still fairly common. I don't actually use it, but go by another name. They gave me a name that was popular in my family and it just doesn't seem to be me. So, we are never happy are we?

I have a name that is unusual in the UK but is part of my cultural heritage. I have always liked it. We have given our child a similarly unusual name with cultural links and will see how they feel about it when they are older.

How do you find out information such as that? I would love to see a list of which baby names were popular in the 1700s but wouldn’t have a clue where to start looking, the only site I know for looking at baby name registrations is names.darkgreener.com/ which is only from 1996 and only includes names with 3+ registrations!

My dd is 24 and loves her unusual name, but it's an old rarely used irish name, rather than anything wacky. I did regret it a few tines when she was younger, constantly having to spell it and explain its origin because people weren't familiar with it would dispute it was a real name. Nowadays anything goes with names so it no longer stands out.

@Purplemagnolias how do I find out that info? Can you point me to a good website? I've tried googling but it seems to come up with US websites mainly.

I named by dd an unusual name 26 years ago. Everyone commented on how unusual it was and how different. It wasn't in the too 100

It's in the top ten now. She's always liked it.

Both my dd’s have unusual names. The oldest ones is more common now than the youngest’s. When my oldest was born nobody had really heard of her name. She does like her name but there are various spellings so she sometimes gets cards with the wrong spelling but she’s fine with it now. We’re in Scotland and according to Scotlands people which is the general registers website there were 30 girls with her name born the year she was born, 3 of them in our city.

My youngest dd has a slightly more unusual name. It’s easy to pronounce as it’s pronounced the way it’s spelt and it’s not hard to spell either. People do ask or she’ll spell it out for them before they ask and it can be shortened to a few different names which she doesn’t mind.sometimes she’ll introduce herself as the shortened version. She does sometimes ask why we gave her that name and not something more normal, but it’s not that unusual a name it’s just not very common. There were only 2 girls with her name born the year she was born. There are only 14 altogether registered in the whole of Scotland the first one was registered back in 1893. Oddly her name is one that sometimes gets suggested on baby name threads, so I’m guessing it’s getting more popular now.

🤣🤣🤣

I already had the name in mind from a random obscure antique book I’d found in a charity shop lol. Looked it up on genealogy websites and a baby naming website.

It's published annually by the ONS. It's a list of all baby names given in a year (with 3 or more babies given the name). Unfortunately I don't have a link...

My grandmother chose my name when I was born and it was definitely unusual at the time, there was only ever me and one other girl in my schools who shared it, during my entire schooldays.
Then it had a burst of popularity, not massive, but it became a lot more well known, after which it fell from grace with a loud thud.
It's a name which is highly unpopular on here. I've never been keen on it.

My daughter has an obscure but very pretty (and pronounceable by English speakers) Welsh name.

She loves it and always has.

"Ultimately they are individuals" oh the irony when you're naming them the same name as 7 other kids in their class 😆

OP, my DD has an unusual name, it hasn't held her back, she's in the 3rd year of a top (MN favourite RG) uni and doing really well, it hasn't hindered her in any way. My DS also with an unusual name has just had a maths interview for Cambridge uni. It's nonsense to think a name can influence your DC's future.

As a PP said we are a very multicultural country now and unusual names are, well, not that unusual anymore.

Our children don't belong to us. We create them and look after them until they are old enough to be independent, but ultimately they are individuals

So give them a name that identifies them as an individual!

Don't call them a name with 3 others in their class !

🤣 exactly this!

On a side note my child has the option 2 name you described - a name from a different culture. I'm not going to deny his heritage because people are too lazy to learn a new name.

My own name is relatively unusual and growing up I did occasionally get nasty comments ("there's always one" when I introduced myself at a party in my mid teens, and people making up slightly embarrassing nicknames when I started sixth form, though I don't remember anything before my teens nor actually at school).

I remember being pleased when people called me by a more common name which I happened to like, having been introduced incorrectly by a supervisor who'd misheard my name at a summer job when I was 17 🤣)

I moved to a non English speaking country as an adult and nobody can pronounce my name and that doesn't bother me - as long as they're not taking the p I'm happy to answer to a range of names tbh - I don't have any particular attachment to my name and am not precious about it and only correct it written down if it's going to be on a printed list or certificate or similar.

For our own children we tried to choose "classic" but not top 20 type names - it's hard to get the balance right but you can usually avoid extremes...

My husband has an unusual name. His parents are not native English speakers but English is their common language as they are from different countries. My husband never had an issue and loves his name.

My name is super common and I hated never being the only one in my class growing up.

I am having a boy in January and we struggled with names because we are mixing three cultures so we decided on an unusual name because it’s culturally neutral (not for selfish attention seeking purposes as I saw one poster suggest).

Those who say it’s cruel to pick an unusual name, I wonder if it’s because they themselves are judgemental of things that are different. As a child I never teased anyone for their name. As an adult, I see many people with unusual names thrive in professional settings. I really feel it’s a non issue.

My DM has an unusual name. She is shy, and her name was the cause of much embarrassment and discomfort as she grew up, although she was never teased for it. She just disliked the attention it drew. In fact, the attention has always been positive, with people commenting on how lovely a name it is, but my mother would prefer simply not to be noticed.

My DD also has an unusual name. But she is a confident and outgoing child, who enjoys talking to people, and is pleased that her name has led to many conversations. She loves her name.

So I’d say the name is almost irrelevant. It is the nature of the child which dictates the feelings towards any name. Unfortunately, we are unable to predict that nature, and so it remains a risk to choose something unusual. An unusual name with a shy personality is more of a burden than an ordinary name with an outgoing nature. You have to just choose something you truly love, whether it’s unusual or not, I suppose.

DS has an unusual name insofar as it is not and never has been common anywhere. People have often never heard it before.

But it’s a pretty simple name that doesn’t sound ‘out there’, even if it’s not common (it’s easy to spell too). People often comment very positively. It’s a skewed sample obviously because no one is going to tell me they hate it. 🤣 Nonetheless, the woman who works in a cafe we go to regularly told me she loves it and wishes she had known about it when she was naming her children. And I get similarly positive comments.

@Phineyj am I your friend? Could have written this myself. English mum, Egyptian dad. I have a name which people struggle with, and also assume I'm Muslim. My parents have often told me to shorten it and go by a nickname if it troubles me, however I hate all shortened variations. And from my early 20s I started liking it. Now I have the confidence to carry it I'm glad I don't have a more 'typical' name.

Adult DD has a common first name (although we didn't realise that at the time) but she has an unusual middle name and she hates it - never uses it.

DS (15) has an unusual first and middle name - the middle name is the same source as DDs (both named after people in DH's favourite band). His first name is a strong one, known in some areas but not others - it is a Welsh name - we love it, he loves it, it suits him.

I have an unusual name. I generally like being different but once, many years ago, I realised that this could be a disadvantage when someone in an AA meeting googled me and (on the basis of my Christian name and town) was able to find out my surname and address and write to me (I'd had a company registered under my address).

Obviously not something anyone considers when selecting names.

Does anyone have a link to the "Lucky-Girl" thread?

@Sarahcoggles
I agree, and also with a pp, it all depends on the reason for the unusual name, if it is for cultural reasons then no one would think it ridiculous or an ancient name, why not?
But an animals name, just why?
Imagine 'Wolf' being thin and little for his age and possibly shy and having to introduce himself in a room full of people.