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Baby names

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

my mum doesn't like my choice of name

56 replies

dustyteddy · 12/03/2008 16:19

We had a baby girl nine weeks ago and picked me and my husband both liked. Her name is Leila Grace. My mum doesn't like it and I don't know why but I feel really sad about it.

I just wondered what you people think of her name?

OP posts:
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belgo · 12/03/2008 16:59

lol at payback time

landj · 12/03/2008 17:27

Oh my God, so bizare. We called our DD Leila May, and my dad doesn't like it! We pronounce it "Layla" and my dad argues that it should be "Leela". Its so upsetting. But I posted a similar thread on here a few months ago about this name. Parents really know how to hurt you. Try to ignore her x

VeniVidiVickiQV · 12/03/2008 17:30

Stuff her. It's a lovely name. But, as an aside, we called our DD little lady all the time. It certainly wasnt because we didnt like her name

pruners · 12/03/2008 17:30

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smallwhitecat · 12/03/2008 17:33

This reply has been deleted

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procrastinatingparent · 12/03/2008 17:37

MIL not only doesn't like any of the names we have chosen but insisted on telling us to change the name to something she has suggested. Her suggestions are always horrendous, and in the case of our daughter she got all sorrowful because she wanted us to name DD after her! And her name is horrible.

I don't think my mother has liked any of our names but she is too polite to comment, and they have all grown on her.

kerala · 12/03/2008 17:40

A friend of a friend told me that her mother said "I hope one day I can forgive you" when she heard what her dd was to be called. It was a pretty dire name but still - the child was about 5 and she was still smarting about it

ProfYaffle · 12/03/2008 17:40

pil were really rude about dd2's name and it's beautiful (even if I say so myself!). There was stoney silence around the dinner table when we announced it while i was pg, bil said "you've got time to change your mind", pil couldn't even bring themselves to say her name, kept saying "are you still calling her that".

T'was difference once she arrived though, they mellowed and it grew on them.

stleger · 12/03/2008 17:42

My dd1 has a similar name. She is 14 and now uses both forenames. Her cousins' granny (not MIL!) said dd's name is the lovliest she has ever heard...can't please everyone. Have fun with her.

cheesesarnie · 12/03/2008 17:48

its beutiful tell her shes risking your hormones being let lose on her.

cheesesarnie · 12/03/2008 17:49

ProfYaffle- please tell us what it is!

chipmonkey · 12/03/2008 17:57

When I told my Mum we were thinking of calling the baby Sam, she said, "I don't really like that name!" Then she laughed and said, "But I suppose it's not up to me!"
My aunt was going to call her dd Meg years ago but my Granny made a face and said "Meg the Peg Leg!" My cousin ended up being called Nadine!

FrannyandZooey · 12/03/2008 17:59

it's beautiful, really beautiful

it is very feminine and the two names sound lovely together
I am sorry your mother is being hurtful about it

Buddhamummy · 12/03/2008 18:01

that is such a pretty name. why do some mums or mother in laws behave soooo oddly about the name choice?
driving home with our newborn bundle of joy i phoned my m.i.l to tell her we had chosen sonny for our ds she told me it was odd and upsetting!!!! and then went silent......i unfortunatley didnt and exploded into a full on swearing offensive (v.v.v unlike me)which i later blamed on the pethidine

BibiThree · 12/03/2008 18:08

Our twins middle names are the middle names of our grandmothers iykwim. Both old fashioned, very traditional Welsh names, which we love and thought it was a nice idea.

When we told MIL dt2's name we got "oh but she HATED her middle name! Why don't you use Sarah instead?" (which was the grandmother's first name). To which I have replied on many, many occasions, because we DON'T LIKE the name Sarah, that's why!

Now it's too late to change it, we get childish digs about it instead. Dt2 is the bigger twin, and from what i've heard dh's gran was a plump lady, so now we get "oh well you gave this one the right name, she's going to be a fatty like her great Gran"

People can be SO rude, ignore them, it's a beautiful name.

sweetkitty · 12/03/2008 18:11

Lovely name I don't tell anyone our final choice of name (well apart from the 100 or so people on here that are helping me chose it ) on hearing DD2's name when she was born my Mum said "oh I will have to write that down" like you would forget your GDs name! MIL said "oh well as long as she's healthy"

This time I REALLY want a name they hate!

Alishanty · 13/03/2008 08:36

I used to have a friend Leila who spelt it this way aswell. A really lovely name.

seeker · 13/03/2008 08:47

Isn't Leila the"proper" spelling? By which I mean traditional - rather that Leyla which is the modern version?

jumpingbeans · 13/03/2008 08:48

Lovely name,I can't understand why your mum would want to upset you over this, regardless of what name you chose, your baby, your choice of name.she will love it soon, and everytime she hears it she will smile.

Bluestocking · 13/03/2008 09:05

Leila is the traditional spelling but it is a transliteration from Arabic. It is a beautiful name - it means "night" in Arabic and Hebrew but it has connotations of brunette beauty. Dare I say that I think your mum is being rude and silly?

colander · 13/03/2008 09:17

It's a lovely name, I'm sure it will grow on her, but it is a shame she has to voice her feelings instead of keeping her trap shut. I find whenever my mother feels the need to intervene I just say "you had your chance with me, now it's my turn" and, when I'm really exasperated, "FGS they are not your children, they are mine"

dizzydixies · 13/03/2008 10:54

its lovely, my mum hates our dd's names and i think they are pretty ordinary - no pleasing some people, please don't let her put you off it

mummytowillow · 14/03/2008 22:36

Its a beautiful name, ignore her, your baby, your choice!

I called my daughter Cerys Amelia (she's 7 months so before I'm a Celebrity)!! my mum's comment 'I prefer the Amelia'!

I chose to ignore her!

LolaLadybird · 15/03/2008 08:30

I think Leila is a lovely name - if DC2 had been a girl, that's the name we had in mind (and with that spelling).

As it was, we had a boy and we called him Evan. I told my mum when I was pregnant that's the name we were planning for a boy and she said she didn't like it. Like you, made me a little sad to start with but he's now 3 months old and Evan is just who he is (iyswim) so I don't worry about it any more.

It helped that lots of people (including my dad) said how much they liked it. I've also got friends who said their mums didn't like their name choices.

If it was me, if I couldn't say anything good, I'd keep quiet but I guess that's mothers for you (maybe we'll be saying the same thing about our grandchildren in 30 years time!!)

Beauregard · 15/03/2008 08:45

nice name

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