Middle name Beryl

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We have just found out we are having a girl!! Due in March.

Now we have the first name sorted. I would really love to have my Grandmothers name as her middle name, however the Name is Beryl. Very old lady and not quite chic.

Any ideas I can get around this as alternative or something that makes it more current like Beryl - rose or grey. Well I dunno, I'm stuck!

Thanks for any input!!

I LOVE the name Beryl. I so wanted to name my daughter that but my husband was having none of it sadly

I loved Beryl on the Magic Roundabout

I like Beryl. It’s a gemstone and it has a nice sound. Don’t change it into something else.

I had a darling next door neighbour called Beryl growing up. She was a lovely woman to the core, and for that reason I associate the name with a quiet, poised kindness. My vote is to keep it as Beryl.

No just no

If you have a first name sorted. I dont see what is wrong with having Beryl as a middle name. I do agree it is a bit old fashioned, and I wouldn't choose it personally. But you want to honour a person who you loved and treasured and I think that that is the important thing and a beautiful thing to do.

Saying 'use Bea' for Beryl, is like saying to use Katie for Laura. It's a completely different name as the name Beryl can't be shortened to a different name in any way.

I wouldn't choose Beryl just because a family member was called that.

Beryl will have a totally different 'feel' by the time she's grown up - and she'll have a signature gemstone!

Our next door neighbour is Beryl too!!

Beryl is a gemstone and is actually quite nice. It goes with a lot of old-fashioned names these days (Edith, Mabel, Ruby etc.)

Also, your daughter won't have the same associations as you. She won't know any 'old lady' Beryls because there won't be many alive by then. To your daughter's generation 'Beryl' will sound quite fresh and unusual. In your daughter's eyes, 'old lady' names will be names like Linda, Susan, Carol, Debbie etc.

Finally, I agree with PPs who say you can't give your child a name like 'Bea' and say it's in honour of Beryl. They're two different names. I think you either need to go with Beryl or choose something else entirely.

My DD has my (now deceased) Nan's name as her middle name. It's VERY old fashioned....and I doubt will ever come back into fashion. But I used the name for my Nan, and I love the connection now she's gone.

Just use beryl!

I would agree that Beryl is a lot nicer than Mabel or Elsie. Maybe give her two middle names?

You're slightly ahead of the curve - I bet Beryl will be chic in sbout 10 years.

I'd just use it and pick a first name that is more current. If you really hate it, you could modify it slightly - Bea as someone else said or Berry?

Beryl means ‘the colour of the sea’ too, so that’s nice.

But perhaps ask the person you are thinking of honouring if she likes her name? She might hate it. I was going to call my son after a relative and I asked him first and he said ‘‘good god, don’t do that. I hate my name.’’ My grandmother hated her name too, but I only found out very late in her life.

no Dandy readers here today then ?

or Dave, for Rodney

I know other people feel differently but for me our babies are not like park benches, to carry a plaque so that we remember someone.

They deserve their own names. Not carry all their lives a name that even their mum doesn’t like to remember someone they never knew.

My own mum hated her ‘to honour a deceased relative’ middle name her whole life, and was embarrassed by it. Not sure why she didn’t change it by Deed Poll, really.

My cousin got rid of her ‘honour a relative’ middle name the day she was legally old enough to do deed poll.

I think Beryl as a middle name is beautiful. No need to change it at all

It won't really matter, as hardly anyone ever uses their middle name.

Not keen on beryl

If you got bullied for Margaret, then you were just on the bullies radar. It's a normal name.

Exactly. Only parents and grandparents care about someone's middle name.

It's a middle name. Your DD will hardly ever use it. If it's to remember your Grandma I think that's a lovely thing to do.

Beryl is sweet and you should inform your little Beryl of the wonderful qualities of her great grandmother.
I would embrace Beryl unless you use her surname as a second name instead.