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.

@itssquidstella i think it’s gone now - it was one of the top threads this morning on this board about an OP whose DH wanted to call their boy Lucky, which rapidly got turned into Luckey-Buoy because the DH was saying he preferred Lucky Boy.

HuntingoftheSnark something similar happened to me (not an AA meeting but someone I would never have given my contact information to - my first name was in publicity material for an organisation I freelanced through and she started calling them asking for me, claiming to be my friend, and making a nuisance of herself).

I got a normal name with a unique spelling. I shortened it then changed it by deedpoll to the short version.

@ScreamInBlue I think you misunderstood my post. I never said unusual names would hold people back. (Glad you got the opportunity to tell us about your kids at RG university though!)

The point I'm trying to make is that parents often choose unusual names because they think it makes their amazing child stand out, and because they like the idea of them having a special name. But not all ADULTS want a special name. And these cute little "ah she's so sweet and her name really suits her" babies will become adults. And they may not want to be called Buttercup or T-Rex. If they want to be different or "out there", they can do that with their personality. Putting them in that position by virtue of their name is wrong in my opinion.

I have a first born son with a very unusual name. He is one of one or two in the UK with a variety of spellings. It is unusual in the sense that the word is a name. It is not hard to spell or hard to pronouce and I love it. Most people on hearing his name also love it (or are also being very polite!). It has not had any effect on him at all.

ps should have said it is a name that works perfectly well and a child and an adult!

love the name. your daughter sounds v cool. :)

my dds are sage and westlie. sage isn't too unusual as it's been gaining popularity recently, but ive never seen another westlie. she's 4, and she thinks having an unusual name is like a blessing from the angels, but idk how she's going to like it in the future.

I have an unusual first name and second name, as far as I know I am the only one in the UK. I'm very circumspect about what I put on social media as I'm so easily Googleable.

When I was at primary school I remember wanting to be called Sarah or Emma like everyone else, but now I'm an adult I enjoy having a more unusual name.

My DC both have less frequently used names, but pretty classic, no Lucky-boy for us... I worried when DD was a baby that I'd made the wrong choice (there's a touch of the old lady name about hers) but now at 13yrs she's completely made it her own

I absolutely love Adeline, and hate Agatha

I used the name Hunter.
Other people have commented how lovely it is.

DD2 has a very unusual name. I very occasionally see it on here but not often. It's however also a very normal name in as far as it is not one people won't be able to get their head around or gives odd associations.

She is 23 and I just asked her " do you like your name?" she replied " yes, sometimes people think it's Eloise and that I spelt it wrong but then I just correct them" she is Eloisa.

DS is Conrad that's very marmite I know he likes his name but it often gets a big no here. We have met 1 other Conrad in his lifetime.

Are you willing to share it? I'm intrigued as to what it could be!!

@clpsmum I never share it on here as it's very outing if any family/friends were on here happy to pm though

Haha. We can't win. I gave DC normal names having loved some outlandish ones. Just today at dinner they were lamenting that I hadn;t been braver and they both wish I had given them the really far-out options on my list that DH vetoed immediately.

I grew up with a very unusual name, rarely heard it, couldn't buy personalised fridge magnets etc. i hated it!
my name then became very popular a few years ago which is strange for me. I gave my daughter a very unusual name which I feel bad about knowing how much I hated having a rare name 🤣
My point is the name may be rare now but may be the top name in 10 years time!

My DD is called Taliah and I'd say about 98% of people who hear her name for the first time say something along the lines of "oh never heard that before". I usually always get compliments for it as well, but she is a very headstrong, independent, and fearless little girl just how the name sounds. She loves her name.

DS1 has a very unusual name (numbers per year given his name in England are in the single digits). He's in his 20s now and I don't think he minds either way (he's never been the type to try to fit in). In hindsight I wish I'd picked something that would blend in a bit more and give him more anonymity, as a pp mentioned it would be easy to find him on social media (especially as it's paired with a foreign surname) - luckily he is completely uninterested in using any social media.
DD1 has an old-fashioned name which is uncommon but a bit more recognised (about 60 named per year) and with DD2 I went even more mainstream and picked a name which has about 400 named per year.

My name is Genevieve. It's beginning to trend but until now has been very unusual and I never met another growing up.

I always really enjoyed having a long, posh and rare name. People praised me for it often. If I introduce myself Genevieve some people would literally like and treat me better, assuming nice things about me I suppose. I usually went by Genny though (Jenny being really commonplace) so it's not like I generally had to announce my rare/posh name or get a reaction if I didn't want to. Definitely there's some times to use Genevieve and some times to use Genny.

Never really minded not getting junk with my name stamped on it, I don't like that stuff (maybe that's subconscious sour grapes though!)

I think often people do grow to like whatever type of name they have. My parents were quite smug they thought of Genevieve and lots of grown ups liked it so I always understood it to be an asset. Perhaps if I had a bad experience with it early on, or my parents were ambivalent I too would feel differently?

@Rcnotro same for my son. Say it how you see it. Kyan. but everyone insists on calling him Kian 😠 he likes it and defo suits him to a T

I have the same name as less than 400 people world-wide. I'm 66 and I hate it, always have done. Only UK passport holder with it, only person in France with it. I'd love to be anonymous.

Not Wulph then lol

Not me, I watch the Go Jetters!

@Watchingthecloudsflyby I didn’t even know they were a thing until last year 🤣 me and dp thought we were kinda making it up, playing around with our names. Dp was on a trip while i was pregnant and got talking to an older woman and after she asked him if we had a name picked, he told her and turned out her that was her grandson's name as well lol

My DD has an unusual name (around 20 with the same name born that year) although I see it suggested frequently on Mumsnet.

There was another child with the same name in DD's class at school, we haven't met any others though.