Whay do peopel give their children 'unusual" names?

[seeker]

I am prepared to bet (unfortunately there is no way of testing my theory so I am on pretty safe ground) that the vast majority of children would much rather be one of 2 Toms or 3 Emilys in their year at school than the only Halcyon or Sequoia.

I also think that people are very disingenuous when they insist that they are choosing made up or off the wall names so that their children are the only one in their year. I have a Grace, who is one of 2 in a school of 1420 girls,and a Patrick, who is the only one in a school of 430 children. I don't know why people choose off the wall names, but uniqueness can't be the real reason.

cinnamon??? barley???

that is a step too far for me!

My DH has a unique name. He loves it because he says people always remember him.

i dont agree with the op at all

maybe up to the age of 7 that is the case but NOOOOO

my kid bemoan their ordinary names as their younger siblings have odder ones

vive la difference

I know a woman called Cinnamen. I could forgive Cinnamon, just, but when you can't even spell it correctly....

I did want to call a DS Meteor or if it was a girl, Rainbow.

DP put his foot down .

artichokes Montefiore is part of Santa's married name, her full married moniker is Santa Sebag Montefiore

Santa, well there is Mr Claus, a fine upstanding member of the community, presumably the parents had him in mind when they named her [tongue in cheek emoticon].

i like rainbow!!

33jks

oh how sad for the one-armed girl

I come over madly peculiar on the rare occasions I meet someone else with the same name as me.

MI - you are madly peculiar anyway....

when i was 5 i called my first pets, cats, tabitha and cinammon. ouch, poor girl. short version, cin?

My two have unusual names but not too far out, they just aren't common and that is the reason we chose them. I have a name that you don't come across every day, but again its not Pixie or Peaches, and I love the fact its not common, probably why I have done the same thing. They can always change in later life.
Why do you ask anyway?
Ps expat can I ask where in Scotland you live? Those names are lovely but being a Highlander with fluent Gaelic I have heard before

I have never met another person with my name. I know they exist - I just haven't met one!!!!

ds1's name is very popular in the UK, much more unusual - but now gradually getting more popular - in Germany, and ds2's is very unusual in both countries (more so in the UK than in D). They are both easy (intuitive) to pronounce/spell and, as Blu says, recognisable as names.
If I had known when we named ds1 how popular it was in the UK (I think it was no. 6 in his year of birth), we might not have named him it, because it really does suit him incredibly perfectly.

should have said ...we might not hve named him it, which would have been a shame because it really does suit him etc.

I hate even hearing about other people with my name. Not sure how I would react if I met one!

I watched a programme last night and there was a Apricot on there. I think that was of the "we are very posh and can get away with anything, even ... off the top of my head ... apricot. See??"

oh dear. apricot, apple whatever next! cherry i can just about handle cos i think that is a proper name derived from something else.

I like names that stand the test of time, some of the threads on here have been horrible. If it was me then I wouldn't ask for an opinion, if you are going to post you have to be prepared for the negative reaction.

Seeker, I have a Patrick too. Great taste! I have a very unusual (Icelandic) name, and like it now, but felt a weirdo at school, so preferred to give dc normal, if not Top 100, names.

I'm thinking of the name Kaylzhaigh for my next daughter.

I was always one of many at school, always had a number next to my name. I would rather be one of a normal name. My sister is called Ruth, it's pretty, not old fashioned but not so common that you meet loads at school. I had hoped that for Tink but alas it is a lot more popular than I thought.

expat - Aren't you American?

i think unusual names but not so unusual people would think it funny are lovely.