Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

Am I definitely being stupid?

57 replies

FF1 · 30/08/2023 20:54

Going round and round in circles. Feeling quite rubbish about having called my baby Lucy like (to quote) the most prolific child / baby killer in modern British history (BBC website). I don't feel like I'm seeking this out, it's on the front pages of all the news papers. When will this go away so that I don't think about my baby and the nurse Lucy at the same time? I'm sure others have bigger problems but I'm finding this more and more upsetting. Can anyone make me feel better?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Lou670 · 30/08/2023 20:57

I know a lot of people called Lucy and I don't make the connection to the serial killer nurse at all. I hadn't thought about that at all. She was 'one' Lucy. Try not to let it spoil your baby's name xxx

FayCarew · 30/08/2023 20:57

It's a lovely name @FF1 , and it's popular.
Have you started more than one thread about the name?

CocoPlum · 30/08/2023 20:57

How old is your baby? It will fade as the coverage does, and as your Lucy becomes more of a little person. I know several, it's a lovely classic name, and I don't associate them with that Lucy, because they are their own people, if that makes sense.

FayCarew · 30/08/2023 20:58

How old is your baby?

Gothambutnotahamster · 30/08/2023 20:58

It's a lovely name - no one is going to think of LL in relation to your gorgeous baby girl.

RavingStyle · 30/08/2023 21:00

It's a very common (and lovely) name.
This story will fade in time, and there are lots of other Lucys (Lucies?), famous and otherwise.
It'll be fine.

KateyCuckoo · 30/08/2023 21:01

Unless your surname is Letby then no one is going to think of her when they meet your baby.

BoleynMemories13 · 30/08/2023 21:02

Lucy is a gorgeous classic name. Yes Lucy Letsby's crimes are truly awful and will always be remembered but she will definitely never be most people's first thought upon hearing the name as I can guarantee you that everyone will know of other Lucys.

Whilst it may feel like it's everyone's first thought right now, while the news is very current, the media frenzy won't last forever.

Everyone who knows your Lucy will associate it with her. Far better to give your daughter a gorgeous classic rather than a faddy of the moment name which will forever date her (imo).

Comedycook · 30/08/2023 21:04

Lucy is a really nice name and common enough that it won't be associated with LL. Like Rose West...no one associates the name Rose with her. But if you named your baby Myra, everyone would think Hindley. Really depends on the name .. Lucy is fine

pictoosh · 30/08/2023 21:05

I definitely think it's ubiquitous enough to escape the connection. Everyone knows a different Lucy much better. It's a nice name.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 30/08/2023 21:05

Lucy is such a common name no one make that connection.

FayCarew · 30/08/2023 21:06

@FF1 , there are thousands of Lucys in the UK. The nurse was just one. I don't think of my friend Lucy or my neighbour's daughter Lucy and think bad things.

Are you ok other than this concern about the name, and is there someone in real life you have spoken to about this?

It might be worth you having a chat with your GP or practice nurse about your going round in circles if you feel that our reassurances aren't enough, just in case you are focussing on the name is a symptom of something else.

It's a lovely name, but if it's not working for you and your beautiful baby, you can change it fairly easily.

RaininSummer · 30/08/2023 21:06

That evil woman will soon just be referred to as Letby just like Hindley, Sutcliffe and other monsters. Enjoy your lovely baby with her beautiful name

Tiespin · 30/08/2023 21:06

It's a lovely name. I know lots of excellent adults called Lucy

Aquamarine1029 · 30/08/2023 21:07

There are loads of Lucy's everywhere. Honestly, don't give this another second of emotional energy.

FlorenceTheFerocious · 30/08/2023 21:07

Lucy has so many connotations other than Letby. It's fine (and I love the name)

BiscuitsandPuffin · 30/08/2023 21:08

Put on some classic I Love Lucy or The Lucy Show with Lucille Ball and see the best Lucy ever! Two of my cousins are Rose and Myra. No one associates them with Rose West or Myra Hindley.

Original poster

FF1 · 30/08/2023 21:09

Thank you. I did start another thread about this because I was seriously thinking of changing her name. I managed to tell myself this was ridiculous and that it will raise more questions in the long run. I though about all the reasons that I liked the name. For example, there is a Saint Lucy who is celebrated once a year as being a bearer of light in the winter.
Don't get me wrong, if she wasn't a baby I wouldn't blink an eyelid. But she is a baby, she is 15 months which is too old to actually change her birth certificate. I'm just feeling crap about calling my child a name that is associated with such horror at the moment. I know it's not the worst thing in the world but I'm just feeling like I've failed her already and it is a really crap feeling.

OP posts:

Mixu · 30/08/2023 21:10

You’re definitely overthinking it 😊 It won’t have crossed anyone else’s mind at all. There were people on here wanting to use the name Reeva once (which I think is beautiful) but obviously the instant connotation is with the murder case because it’s a very rare name. Its completely different with a popular name

Comedycook · 30/08/2023 21:11

Honestly if someone I knew had a baby tomorrow and told me they'd called her Lucy, I wouldn't have even thought of LL.

Original poster

FF1 · 30/08/2023 21:15

I don't want to let one evil person ruin a perfectly good name for my child and have her ask questions about why her name was changed. The name itself I actually really love. And in time hopefully the nurse will not be notorious because troublingly she may actually want notoriety and the media are giving it to her in spades. But I have been really upset about this story. Maybe hormones still playing up and I should speak to a GP.

OP posts:

Brightandshining · 30/08/2023 21:17

Lucy is a beautiful name. Its also in common usage and a traditional name. There are so many Lucy's out there. No one will remember the name Lucy and always think of Letby. Especially when your child is older and this is no longer in the news.
There's loads of boys called Peter arent there? No one immediately thinks of Peter Sutcliffe!! Because its a commonly used traditional name.

Wolfpa · 30/08/2023 21:20

Do you think this way about other serial killers names? When you hear the name Harold do you think killer or king? If you aren’t thinking killer why would anyone else think that of someone called Lucy. You are massively over thinking this.

PassMeTheCookies · 30/08/2023 21:21

When I think of the name Lucy, I think "what a lovely name". The awful person you mention doesn't even enter my head. I suppose it will for you, because it's your baby's name, but I don't think your baby will ever be associated with her. It's a beautiful name.

Brightandshining · 30/08/2023 21:21

Oh its definitely hormones. In the first year of having my babies if anything came on TV with a child in any type of peril I just could not watch it at all. You are feeling super protective when you have a small baby, very sensitive. Of course this news story would really effect you. But do remember that altho im sure everyone thinks its horrific, people who do not currently have newborn babies probably aren't going to have the visceral reaction to it you are and think about it constantly... theres no reason for most people why 'Lucy' would be forever associated with this story.

Flip

1 2 3