Why do people give such basic names that will be an administrative nightmare?

[ThatFraggle]

If you have a 'bog standard' surname, why would you give your child a bog standard first AND middle name?

I'm not saying you have to call them Fifi-Tinkerbelle, but why put the person in a position that there will be dozens of people with the same name and date of birth. E.g. A name from the most popular names, (Chloe, Liam, Jack, etc.) plus common surnames (Smith etc.)

At least go for a middle name like Esmeralda, or Phoenix or whatever you feel like. You can have two middle names if you really want granddad Henry to be honoured in the name.

I once taught 2 girls, called (eg - not these exact names) Isla Thomas and Isla Thomson. With the same date of birth, born in the same hospital, same class at school. I discovered some paperwork in rhe SEN file, and a teacher had actually filled out the form based on the wrong child. They were handed it and asked to complete it for the Isla in their class, didn’t notice 3 letters of the surname were different (and they only taught one of them), completed it slightly confused as that Isla had none of the symptoms being asked about and sent it off. The receptionist (in a school with over 300 kids) had simply misread the name and handed it to the wrong teacher and the names were so similar no one noticed…I think OP has a point.

I have a name like this. Always at least one the same in my school year, my degree course, etc. I got sent someone else's financial information for student loans, and got some of my uni exam results mixed up with another person on the same course. I now work in a field where your individual reputation matters and use a variant because of potential confusion with someone who was already working on the same niche area before I started. Have mentioned to my parents that they could have been a bit more original.

I understand what you mean OP. Someone I know has issues getting work emails to the wrong John Smith and has to have extra numbers added to his work emails and log ins so has to remember whether it's JohnSmith for one system, JohnSmith81 for the other, J.A.Smith for another.

Him and his wife both chose their children's names with this in mind so they all have fairly standard first names and middle names, but they've purposefully avoided Sarah Jane Smith, John Smith sort of names.

I don't really understand it either, @ThatFraggle .
Naming your children something like Archie James Smith and Lily Rose Smith seem like zero imagination.

But made up ridiculous names are an administrative nightmare too, just in a different way. People at call centres can't spell names like Szyszka and nor can doctor's receptionists or pharmacists so you end up constantly having to spell the name and even when you spell it they write the letters wrong or try to correct you. I once had an argument in A and E while my child was there for a severe asthma attack because the stupid woman wouldn't stop trying to spell my DC's name long enough to shut up and listen to how it was actually spelled. That's a life-threatening problem. So no name is without its problems.

There will always be odd and unusual things that happen. It really is a bit bonkers to make big life decisions on the basis of events where the likelihood of occurrence is miniscule.

For example, I know of a case where a man died from drinking a fizzy drink, turns out he had an undiagnosed bacterial infection in his gut and the fizzy drink caused a fatal chain of events.

I still drink fizzy drinks.

I mean this kindly, but you really are overthinking this issue.

*Made up ridiculous names and complicated names, that should say. Szyszka is a real family name that lots of people have.

Have you read the thread? It's not a magical one in a billion thing.

Not sure if my name is ridiculous but I've had people interrupt me when I've said 'Ess zed wye ...' with 'I know how to spell it' then they can't find my name.

My husband has a unique name. Old name for his age and rare surname. If you Google him, he pops up straight away, you would know where he went to high school due to an old news clipping, where he works, where he lives, what his parents do for hobbies as again he pops up in an old article about it

tbf he needs to update some of his privacy settings!

I actually agree to some extent. There's another woman at my dentist with the same name as me, but different date of birth. They still mix us up, it's caused problems with appointments before.

Me and dp both have very drab, 4 per class with same first names, names. Our kids don't have insane names, but unusual enough for them not to have the same issue!

I was at secondary school with a girl who had EXACTLY the same bane as me; first name AND surname. We were great friends and it never caused any 'administrative problems'. That's precisely what exam board candidate numbers/Government national insurance numbers etc are FOR!!

@troubg , there's a limit to what you can keep private

Surely unusual names are worse 'administratively' for spelling reasons?!

Very strange post😅

The alternative to 'bog-standard' isn't 'made up and ridiculous' there's a middle ground.

You look at the top 20 names for the year before, and avoid those.

See pp's post...

I get your point but.... dd has an unusual first name. Same name/surname combo as a girl 2 yrs older at her sports club.
Lots of confusion.

Because it sucks having an unusual name that no one can spell/pronounce.

I have two friends with very common names in two UK countries but not in England.

Both while they happen to live in a northern English city had pay from their first jobs go to another person with their name.

I’d hazard a guess that my full name is one of the top 10 most common names in the country. I’ve never had any administrative issues, apart from having to have a number after my name in corporate email addresses.

Because they're not stupid enough to give their child a super identifiable name where they can be found easily on the internet or whatever in the future? No one in the UK(apart from dh and my kids) has my full last married name so I deliberately go by the plain English part of it precisely because I don't want to be easily found.

Yes, give them middle names like Esmeralda or Phoenix to give the person a laugh, rather than an administrative nightmare.

Would be a major problem if they were all born in the same day, month and year to be fair😊

I am apparently the only person in the world with my name. I’ve got a first name that is an abbreviation and can be spelled at least three different ways (and pronounced differently), and a surname that people mishear as there is a similar one that is more common. It’s a pain.

Also, the administrator may not know whether to use a F or a Ph for Phoenix, hence causing a nightmare.