if you met someone with a baby named Bernard, what would you honestly think?

[misdee]

go on!

i can take it

I would think "why didn't she call the poor thing Kennedy instead"

I have to say my favorite Uncle in all the world is called Bernard and you could not wish to meet a kinder, gentler more charming person. So I am biased and think it is a brilliant name.

I like it!
cool name but not one of those ridiculous modern made up ones.

I'd think they were joking. Then I'd think "Not Now..."

I love names like that

I am on a one idiot woman campaign for someone to call their son Stanley, so you may consider my opinion mad void.

I would think of my little brother - it's his middle name - after a much loved uncle of my mum's who died the day before he was born.

I know of THREE Stanleys WT. All under 5. I like the name. Two are in London say no more and one is a relative.

That he was santas head elf

Is it Bernard matthews corny ads on TV? from years ago

I think it's fine. It is

a) a saint
b) quaint (like Stanley, Arthur and Archie, of which we have a lot around here)
c) not a place name
d) not a surname
e) obviously not generated by mixing syllables from your, your partner's and the goldfish's name or however it is that people create 'unique' names

If you like it, go for it!

Nursey here too, but that's not to say I'm dead against it...

like it. cool but trad. bernard from black books.

i am loving ALL of the different repsonses.

when i fell pregnant with dd1 over 8years ago now, we were going through names as you do. dh came out with bernard in a deep voice adn we all laughed. then with dd2+3 when i said 'but what about boys names' the reply was always 'bernard' as a joke.

but now i am pregnant with dc#4 the name bernard has really grown on me, as its always been suggested even in a jokey way.

but dh really wants Isaac.

But i may, if baby is a boy, call him Bernard as a nickname, and see what happens lol.

WanderingTrolley, if I have a boy next he will be called Stanley!!

I would think
Bernard Matthews
Bernard Manning
Bernard Cribbins
Bernie Winters
so 50 / 50 I suppose
Mainly think of old men tbh
Bernie better than Bernard

WT, I know a Stanley too, so obviously your campaign is working somewhere...

Next on my list is Clive.

Misdee, call him Clive. Even if it's a girl.

Bernard makes me think of:

1. not now....
2. turkey twizzlers
3. fat, northern comedians

re:Stanley -I know of 2 ( a baby and a 7 yo)

we call ds2 herbert. all the time. his name is george. i have no idea why we do this.

noooooooooo not clive. i knowa clive.

my cousin called her girl Sidney. we call her Sid.

the associations are a bit off-putting

1. bootiful
2. fat racist northerners
3. a bernard I know who is lovely but well into his seventies
4. big slobbery dogs

WT I wanted to call DS2 Stan, but DS1 is Ollie and I thought having my own comedy duo might be a bit much

lol, clive is just not a baby name is it?

Other names that are not baby names are:

Alan
Derrick
Geoff
Gordon
Basil