Baby name!?

[Livvysmumhasgotitgoingon]

I need brutally honest opinions please because I feel like I could be delusional! Have been thinking of a baby girl names and came up with Valhalla Violet (violet being middle name). We would use Hallie for short as her first name, but we love the idea of a really strong badass name for her that can be shortened to a pretty "normal" name. We also have a dog who's registered kennel club name is Ash Amethyst so we feel like we'd love to stick with the purple middle name theme and the alliteration with both first and middle names starting with the same letter. I just want to get some outside opinions to make sure we're not mad and that our little girl won't be bullied for a crazy name!

To be fair, you did ask people to be brutally honest. Now you've heard the brutal honesty, you don't like it and are acting like people are being mean or unreasonable. Make up your mind what kind of feedback you'd like and, if you know brutal honesty will upset you, don't ask for it in future.

Brutally honest opinions on the names suggested yes. Brutal opinions on my character no. I don't care if people say they hate the names, that's why I asked so we could get a genuine concensus. But for people to judge me and my partner personally is just a straight up dick move.

I'm not a huge fan ... Could you swap names round and have Violet Valhalla?
Valhalla is the name of a local tattoo shop round where I live!

I'm assuming this is a joke.

Yeah, don't call your kid this. Shell get picked on!

If you want something mythical/strong sounding/Norse, how about Freyja?

Or from another mythology, something like Minerva? It's still out there but less so, it's an actual name, and she can go by Minnie.

Or Astrid?

Valhalla as a sound is nice, but I do think the vast majority of people will think she is named after Hell, whatever your personal belief regarding the name meaning is. Personally I would hate that.

Valkyrie makes me think of the Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner but also has too much of a death connection for me.

Funny enough we just discussed this as an option! I think it still works quite well and a bit more subtle. If she's older and likes it she can always swap them round or just go by her middle name. If she hates it then no one has to know 😂

I understand why you're annoyed by that comment but, you did ask for brutal honesty so you left yourself open to comments you're not going to like. That poster was being brutally honest about how choosing such a name would reflect on you as parents, in their opinion. It's a relevant comment, given that you asked for brutal honesty. Of course you don't like the insinuation... people tend not to like brutal honesty, which is why you should be careful in asking for it. You can't really ask for brutal honesty and then dictate afterwards what you wanted people to be brutally honest about.

Violet is sweet! My granny's name was Violet.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this.

Perfect! Not a bad idea 😊

I think there are lots of nice Norse names, OP, but I feel you’ve backed yourself into a corner somewhat by having too many ‘musts’: must be Norse; must be Violet (or another purple name?); must be alliterative. I’d reduce those ‘musts’ to two by choosing what most important to you - purple? Norse? Alliteration?

If it was me, I’d drop the alliteration as that’s the most limiting. I also think alliterative names kind of detract from both names whereas starting with different letters emphasises each name.

Thanks for your feed back! None of these desires are a must or set in stone, we're very much still open to exploring ideas!

If you like violet maybe you'd like colour or gemstone names.

I like indigo, opal, pearl, jade

Deary if you're so easily upset on opinions, how do you think your child will navigate life with daft names because 'we're Norse nerds' you're the nerds not your child.

Mumsmet can be extremely harsh though.

Jesus, so you wouldn't choose a name for your child that you and your partner like? Are you going to wait until your child's 18 to ask them what they want to be called? How else do you name your child? 😂

You choose a name based on things you like whether it's a family name, a name that has a special meaning to you, an association with something you love. You don't choose a name by thinking "what would my child like to be called".

I decided to have a wee google at Norse goddess names and tbh Valhalla is fairly tame (yes, I know it's not a goddess's name). I mean what about Sif or Hel or Frigg?
I quite like Valhalla and as a pp said MN hates any names they consider as vaguely odd...just ask anyone who's suggested a name for a baby with Celtic origins...

Well the go-to names around here are Balonz and his sister Beaver, or Jimberly.

@Livvysmumhasgotitgoingon "You don't choose a name by thinking "what would my child like to be called".

But you do choose a name by thinking "Will this name make my child's life even a little bit harder than it would otherwise be?" That's why we don't give them ARSE for initials.

Well of course we haven't sat and thought "let's make our kids life hell", which I think is quite clear by the fact we've put it out there for others to give honest opinions on because as previously mentioned we don't want her to be bullied for her name. We liked it but were unsure how it would be received, hence why we wanted a general concensus which is definitely appreciated! I was merely making the point that most people choose their children's names based off of things they like. It's 2024 and unusual baby names seem to be more and more accepted. Having worked in schools for a decade myself you'd be surprised how many unusual names we've seen but after the initial "oh that's different" it just becomes who they are and you don't think twice about it again. We just wanted to get a taste of how her name might be received and having seen everyone's feedback we're naturally back to the drawing board. We would never want to make her life difficult.

OP Your baby, your name, of course. But:

• you've seen the reaction here; it might be extreme, but it won't always be absent elsewhere
• Valhall really does mean 'hell' in some Swedish folklore.
• the 'Val' element of the name means not only 'dead' or 'dead warriors' but also 'blood-bath' and 'slaughter'. As you know, it's repeated in the name 'Valkyrie'. Personally speaking, I'd not like to be named after violent death.
• Odin is the patron of Valhalla. It's his home, as well as the for-the-moment home of some dead warriors. And Odin is the personification of some pretty ambiguous ideas. Yes, he's mystical/clever/wise etc but he's also the lord of battle-frenzy and bloody slaughter. These ideas may have been understood differently in a different context around 800 CE. But now - what are they saying?
• What worries me most, by far, is the link between some (no doubt simplistic/misunderstood) ideas about Viking beliefs and Nazi/ extreme right-wing politics and ideology. These peaked in the early/mid 20th cent (the Mitford sister who was a fervent supporter of Hitler was named Unity Valkyrie), but are still current, alas.

OP So sorry, just cross-posted with your ,long and thoughtful message.

Best of luck and good wishes.

I get the impression Norse mythology has been co-opted by white supremacists in recent years. I would probably wonder if the parents held those views if I met a child called Valhalla.