Are there any "normal" names that feel forced for contrived to you?

[hcarter8]

I know this isn't logical, but some arguably "normal" perfectly fine names just sound slightly awkward to me because they sound abit contrived. I don't mean names that are creative or modern in origin (e.g Everleigh, Jayden). I'm talking about names that feel reserved for fictional characters or historical figures, or feel as if the parents got the idea from a "100 unique baby names for your new addition" list.
Examples for me would be Calliope, Octavia, Cordelia and Prudence.

I just cringe a little inside when I hear those names on a real living person. I'm fully aware that i need to touch grass but am I alone in this weirdness?

We call her Aga for short...

So all the parents that love these names and call their children Ophelia or Ottilie are all "attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed"?

And what does that mean in lay mans or simple terms??

And more importantly, what's wrong with that?

I’m not sure how else to explain it to you if you’re really not getting it, but lots of other posters on this thread (including the op) clearly feel the same.

Standing out in the crowd was a whole
different ballgame in the pre-internet era. If I’d been naming my kids 50 years ago I’d have felt a bit more free to give a wacky name but now a unique name = zero internet privacy for life.

Standing out in the crowd was a whole
different ballgame in the pre-internet era. If I’d been naming my kids 50 years ago I’d have felt a bit more free to give a wacky name but now a unique name = zero internet privacy for life.

I think the opposite is true.

With an unusual name you're more likely to own your name online. It's very hard to find a Steve Smith but a less common name is much easier to find. When working or setting up your own business it's important to be found easily!

As people with unique names get older and begin maintaining personal finances and pursuing professional careers, their unusual names also make it easier to monitor their online identities and quickly become aware of any attempted identity theft

@Alldoke I was genuinely asking if that would be something you'd prefer to see in this country 😅 Sorry if it came off as sarcasm!

@Alldoke Also, I actually know a Persephone. She's 10 and goes by Sephy.

Haha that's great to hear! Fingers crossed for mine then!

If you want to set up a business you choose an easy to find business name. Making it the personal name that’s easy to find means teenage mistakes can haunt you forever, stalkers/abusers can find you, etc.

As a person who grew up absolutely hating being the only one with my name, I don't understand the eagerness for an unusual name. There is such a variety of names around now that it's unlikely you'll meet lots of people with the same name as your child.

I deliberately gave my DC popular names and it's turned out to be a good thing as my teenage DD suffers from terrible social anxiety and a "unique" name would be unbearable for her.

Oh sorry I did think you were being sarcastic, it’s hard to read over text! No though, I don’t think there should be a list.

I think that when I hear Ottilie.

It's such a clumsy, awkward name. And it just erupted into popularity, and each parent I've come across seem so smug to have chosen such a "unique" name.

I love it! It’s funny which names sound ok to different people and I think it often depends on who you know with that name. I actually think of Sephy from naughts and crosses.

@Newsenmum Yes me too :) I always liked the name Sephy after reading those books as a teen.

I have an unusual and uncommon name. More posh than contrived. It has invited comment for 63 years and I had a Drusilla and an Araminta in my class. I detest it and always wished I'd been called Susan.

Hence our DC have very simple, traditional classic names. Think Anna and William genre. They detest their names and would ha e preferred something more unusual.

There are no winners.

If I were having DC now I'd quite fancy Magnus and Isolde though :)

Arabella is one

I actually love the name Peregrine but my DP looks at me like I've gone mad whenever I say that 😂😭

My middle name is one that has been mentioned in this thread, and I got picked on at school about it. However my first name is ten a penny, so mundane it's not even funny. There must be a happy medium somewhere!

Ha actually thats exactly the first thing that springs to mind when I hear the name Ottilie. I know two now ( both under three) and the smugness of the parents was palpable. In fact both mums told me how much they loved the name and how they had never heard anyone child called that ..until just the other day. Yeah funny that.

I don't know why some posters on here argue all names are equal though. Take flower names which are essentially no different in origin: Lily, Rose, Daisy and then Marigold, Margarite, Hyacinth. You might prefer one from either group but one group is recently popular and one popular a generation or three before that.

Calliope sounds like a horse.

My children have names exactly like you and some people describe as 'try hard'. I just genuinely love the sound of them, and as someone with a number 1 name I absolutely despised being a number or surname only on the register as there were four others in my class. Then there are always colleagues with the same name now, and the stupid nicknames and confusion it causes where messages get sent to the wrong person. Additionally my name dates me. I didn't want that for my children. I love names, I love language. I feel the same way as you about plain/common use or very current names. I don't understand why Henry is acceptable but not Ophelia? You can't use Shakespeare as a reference of a name not to choose.

Isn't that the name of Oti from Strictly/Dancing on Ice?