My friends say my husband and I have chosen 'cruel' names

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My husband and I are expecting our first child together in early June this year and we're both a mixture of nerves and excitement. We are both fans of traditional names and so have decided on Arthur for a boy or Edith for a girl (we've decided to wait until the actual birth to find out the gender). I think these names are really sweet and could work for both a child and adult. Both our families have said they love the names, however when I mentioned it to my friends they started laughing and told me it was cruel to name our child something so old fashioned as they'll be ridiculed at school. My husband and I don't see where they're coming from but I was just wondering if anyone had any opinions on this?

Your friends sound out of touch. I was at school in the early 2000's and maaaaybe a child with an old-fashioned name would have been picked on a bit for it, but it would have to be pretty olde-worlde, not Arthur or Edith I don't think. Nowadays especially, the more classic and "vintage" names are really in vogue, so your child will not be unusual in having a traditional name.

I think people forget that you are actually naming adults, they are only babies and cute little toddlers for a short amount of time and those cutesy names suddenly sound weird and look really strange when they are teenagers/adults, you also have to think about how they are going to be perceived in their professional lives and to future employers, could you take a Dr Princess Apple Williams seriously? Or take legal advice from Mr Wolf Smith? Where as Arthur and Edith won't seem odd in whatever career they choose to enter.

And really at the end of the day it's your baby and your choice what you call them, so ignore everyone and call them what you want.

Arthur King of the Britains is great. When I think of Edith, I think of Edith Cavell, the WW1 nurse who smuggled out Allied soldiers. A generation of little French girls were named Edith after her, including Edith Piaf. Your 'friends' are tossers. If you were calling your children Mango, Ptolemy or ZigZag I might understand.

Arthur yes... Edith? Not so sure. Saying it's cruel is daft though.

I LOLd at a woman I know who called her daughter Hilda, but now - 3 years on I think it's a cute name.

Both beautiful names, ignore your "friends".

It’s weird how some old fashioned names sound fine and some just still sound awful. No one is surely ever going to call their child Mildred or Doreen. For me Edith still remains in the frumpy category with Hilda or Enid and the like.

I like both names - my only concern would be that they would end up being pronounced Arfur and Edif, however.

@Saggingninja

At least you didn't call them Mango, Ptolemy or ZigZag...

Awwww, what??? Those are lovely names. 😂😁

Love these names OP. I have an Arthur and my other DC's have old fashion names. My DF and DM said the same to me with my DC's names.
Ignore your friends OP. They are prefect.

Depends if yer from that there London! (Or anywhere dahn sarf east.....)

My sister was all over my kids more unusual names, and chose to give her children very classic names for the exact same reason.

I told her no kid cares what other kids are called. Names come from all over, and the only people who might pull faces are adults, who should have better manners. And it's true. neither of my kids have had hassle for their unusual names, any more than hers have for their conventional ones.

Edith is pretty stylish to me - beautiful Edith in The Last Kingdom, Edith Piaf the iconic singer, Edith Bowman the DJ.

I love both names. Maybe your friends prefer modern names. Personally I was put off a few names when I suggested them to friends and family. If I had another child I wouldn’t tell anyone my choices.

Nothing wrong with those names at all! I much prefer them to the fashion for made up or misspelt "trendy" names.
I had a lovely aunt called Edith.

nothing weird about them at all, just normal if not trendy names.

I meant to add, I know a young Hilda and a young Enid.

Not a fan of either name because I've always worked with the elderly untill recent years and so it reminds me of old people. However I now work with kids, and old fashioned names are indeed making a big come back, so they're not cruel, your dc will be one of many from this new generation with those names. Your mates are rude.

Personally I'm not keen on Arthur. Love Edith. But I'd never laugh at a friend for what they were calling their child Are you sure these are real friends?
Plus 'old-fashioned' names like this are very current. I'd imagine they wouldn't be the only Arthur or Edith in the playground by a long way.

Basically, fuck em, call your child what you want. Best of luck and happiness!

Your friend probably thinks everyone is still called Daniel and Sarah at school. I'm a secondary teacher and there are plenty of Ediths and Arthurs so they've been popular for a good few years now! Absolutely no one will bat an eyelid at those names. In fact, they will probably encounter others with the same name in their year / school.

Do your friends have children with -Mae or -Rae tacked on to the ends of their names...or in the Kai and Jaxxon mould...?

Love both the names.
Ignore.
My MIL hated our son's name and said it wrong for the first 2 months.
I ignored her too😊

There's loads of "old fashioned" names in my daughter's class - in fact there's more "old names" than "new names"!

It could be you’re choosing them mainly because they’re trendy? Those two names do not appeal to me, traditional or not. I love tradition but that doesn’t mean I love every single ‘traditional’ name. As pp said, those names are trendy right now so you’re not exactly being unique or simply traditional but following a popular trend that celebrities start by picking what have been thought of as dowdy names (because of their sounds and connotations so there is a reason for this) and voila the celebrities have made them coveted by the masses.

Your friends are just acknowledging that fact but it’s not their call and not our call. It’s yours and if you love those names regardless of the trend then the above doesn’t apply to you and I say pick what you want. And congratulations!!

I love both those names and your friends are rude people who presumably have called their children a modern made up name or have no children. Very rude indeed.

These are disappointingly normal names, when I saw the thread title I expected something like Balonz or Khaleesi 😂😂😂