Wished we had used 'poncier' names

[HereWeGoRoundTheMulberryBag]

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none of those things but i am impressed with successful 'poncy' name.

Humdrum or safe could also mean "has stood the test of time". We are expecting number one and the name(first names and two middles) we have chosen is far from "out there" , very traditional, biblical names (all three) which are well known, spellable, unremarkable, work well with our traditional English surname and won't ever raise any eyebrows. They also all mean something to us former and I can hear them being yelled across the school playground in our former Yorkshire pit-village in a few years time. Without cringing!

I have an unusual first name for my age (although very common now) and a very unusual middle name, and it took me many many years to feel comfortable with them. I still have a lot of explaining to do.

Poncey will become usual or bullied child.

My three have normal names, DD's name hasn't been in the top 100 for a while I don't think but the shortened version is everywhere, so I'm glad I gave her a long version, DS1 is s shortened version but I don't like the long name, DS2's name has about ten different possible nicknames from and is a classic.

All chosen for different reasons.

We wanted a slightly unusual name but it also had to be one that couldn't be shortened or misspelt.

I absolutely love DS's name - it really suits him and everyone always remarks on what a great name it is. It certainly isn't in the top 100, although his middle name is (same middle name as DH, which was also DH's great-grandfather's name).

The only difficulty will be finding another name we like as much if we decide to have a second child!

we played safe as well.

DD has a solid and traditional name. It dates back from Shakespeare, but was more popular in Victorian times, and I think is in the top 50 today.

I flirted with more unusual Shakespearean names, but wanted to make sure DD could carry off her name. I have met the odd person for whom there name seems too much in some way. Not explaining that very well, but I know what I mean .

Actually, I think it's more "daring" to go for a solid, traditinal name. So many people bust a gut trying to find that elusive (inevitably poncy) name that no one else has.

I always breathe a sigh of relief when I meet children with nice, normal names rather than being called Englebert or Waterlily.

Please give your children names that are easy to pronounce and spell.

I have spent my whole adult life repeating my name, spelling it and watching people's eyes roll when I corrct them (their look says - "check you with your fancy dan name!") I didn't choose it!!!

I read a great bit about names in 'Freakenomics' a book my dh was reading on how names start off as elite, catch on, become used more and more and are finally rejected because everyone is sick of them.

There was/is the recent trend for 'victorian parlour girls' names - Daisy, Ruby, Poppy, Evie etc. which are only a step away from what I class as grannie names - Ethel, Betty, Mabel etc.

What goes around comes around but please make it easy to pronounce and spell

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'No-one calls their children Susan or David or Jane or John now do they?'

Hmmm. I walked down the corridor of a local school the other day and wondered if I'd stepped into a 70s timewarp. The coat pegs were all things like David, John, Jason (twice!), Helen, Sarah, Mark, Emma, Katie, Simon, Rebecca, Paul...
There was the occasional mad break out into something racy, like Sasha or Josh, but I suspect they were discussed in hushed tones.

misdee ooooh you have taste

Bernard ROCKS

Expat - i love Graciela, but DH didn't want it. I was thinking of the spelling Graziella.

My boys both have names that are sometimes considered a bit poncey or "artistic".

They are biblical names, but ones that for unknown reasons are almost never used in the UK. Latin or jewish people know how to write them.

I quite like them having unusual names that are not some flight of fancy, but actual bona fide names that just no one else has thought of! If people roll their eyes, I always think it says more about them than about me.

i have always wanted 'different' names for my children. however cyrus and xanthe did not go down well with my dh so we have chosen traditional names for no 1 due in dec. however, they can both be shortened to fun nick names. however, middle names are another debate we haven't had!! oops, he's just read this thread!!
however as a teacher, some of the names children are landed with these days make looking over new class lists fascinating, especially the unusual spellings of certain names.

Not at all.

Our dds (first and third dcs) have very 'boring' names if you go byt he sort of thing that is posted here, but we think Katherine and Rachel are lovely, and we chose them both for very special reasons.

ds (dc2) is Aidan - more unusual, but reflecting a lot of stuff dh and I are interested in as well as dh's irish heritage.

They are not 'interesting' names. But we love them, adn are happy we gave them!!

Weegiemum

My DC also have beautiful, but not interesting names.

And there are good reasons why we loved them, and still do.

Weegiemum I think your daughters names are beautiful.

Thankyou, I think so! They are Katherine Morna and Rachel Jessie. We really like them!

I like classic, traditional, beautiful names too. Like you I have saved the more unusual names for middle names. My DS1 is James Baden. Although my daughter is Laura Elizabeth (both traditional, but I think v pretty)

Think about what your child's name will sound like when calling it loudly across a park. "Cardamon, stop hitting Flavian!", "Cyrus, put down the brick!". If it will make you cringe or worry what other people think, then maybe have a rethink.

I went to a London comprehensive which was very multicultural. In that environment, to some extent it doesn't matter what you call your child as some of the names you hear are just plain odd.

We had one girl called Barbie, and one called Abimbola (Bimbo for short). Neither were bullied. We had a boy called Maiurin (pronounced 'my urine' - really, that is the genuine pronunciation). He wasn't bullied either. And a reasonably normal name (at least in Wales) - Myfanwy - was often mispronounced by teachers as Myfanny, much to the amusement of the other children.

Even if you come up with a relatively normal name, what if your kid goes and lives abroad in later life where their name suddenly becomes slightly ridiculous?

I worked in a university in London which had a lot of international students. Among my favourite names were Jesus Ponce-Bravo, and Berndt Berger.... I'm sure in their country of origin, no one batted an eyelid...

On our boy names shortlist: Inigo, Fabian, Ludovic, Milo, Luka, Linus, Ptolemy

We called him Edward. It really suits him, though I still slightly regret some of the above.

I love my kids names, they are not 'strange' but dd's is certainly unusual (miriam). I particularly love ds2's middle name of aidan, as it has a lovely meaning (little fire), and aidan worked his ministry on lindisfarne, which is where st cuthbert lived - as I'm from the northeast, this felt a really nice name to use!

Yes, we chose Aidan (its his first name) for the same reason, dh and I had been to Lindisfarne, and also Iona, where Aidan came from, We are very interested in Celtic Christianity as well, so it all fits nicely.