Andromeda

[SummaLuvin]

I've loved Andromeda for a girl for a really long time but disregarded it for coming off pretentious. However, I'm growing to think it's actually useable and not that different to many names that are becoming more widely used, or is this just because it's been running through my head for a decade I'm now desensitised?

I don't think it's useable as a name.

I'd also guess it would be shortened to Andi.

Nooooooooooooo

@Partlynot Andy/Andi would be my go-to diminutive for it. I adore Andy for a girl, but knew the most infuriatingly irritating Andrea that I can't even consider that name

bit of a mouthful, bit pretentious?

Please don’t call her Andromeda, she absolutely won’t thank you for it.

fair point on thinking it's pretentious, that was the concern. Shame, because it's so pretty.

but I don't think it's that much of a mouthful, it's not any longer than Alexandra which MN seem to love

I like it; I don’t see it as vastly different from Penelope, Athena, Persephone et al.

Just make sure you’re familiar with the myth!

I've taught two children with this name it's honestly not the worst I've heard and the other kids didn't consider it unusual. However both kids were very confident children and I always wondered if it was because they had no choice because with a name like Andromeda you can't really just blend in.

I love it and find it usable. Greek names generally are rising and Penelope and Athena are both in the top hundred. There’s nicknames for it too.

There’s also no guarantee that any child will love or hate their name like a pp said. An Andromeda might love her unusual name or might want something more popular, and in the same way Grace might wish her parents has more imagination and yearn to have an unusual name like Andromeda. Changing one’s name is free and easy to do if one truly finds their name unbearable.

I love Andromeda and feel it’s similar to other 4 syllable names like Alexandra or Anastasia. I don’t understand what’s pretentious about it?!

Personally I think it’s awful. Pretentious and ugly at the same time…

yeah, so this was what I was thinking. About a decade ago then maybe it was a bit out there. But with Nova, Ophelia, and Athena all being top 100, it doesn't feel vastly different. If it helps at all, I live in a city that is multicultural so they won't in classes with only white-british children, so there is automatically a greater variety of names.

for those who think it's pretentious, what is it about it -
the length?
the fact it's from a greek myth?
it's rarity making it seem try-hard?
something else?

It’s fab I love it but then I know a boy who’s called Orion

Also I do have a Greek inspired name…

I’m not a fan. It’s such an ugly and clunky name imo.

It sounds very heavy to me, like it would suit a large battleship.

That's actually a fair point.

It's not to my taste, but that doesn't matter. Thinking about it, if my child came home from school and said they'd made friends with a girl called Andromeda, I probably wouldn't really bat an eyelid. They have plenty of friends called things like Penelope, Alethea etc etc which are a similar vibe.

I quite like it, and wish that we weren't quite so keen on shortening names in the UK!

If I met an Andie and found she was actually Andromeda I'd find it super cool.

I'd assume her parents were classics teachers.

It makes me think of My Sister's Keeper. My Sister's Keeper (novel) - Wikipedia

I prefer Ariadne.

I don't think it's awful. And some will be familiar with it from Harry Potter, surey?

I once heard an aspirational-type mum in a playground calling for her children: HECTOR! LYSANDER! ACHILLES! And even though I studied Classics at university, I thought: you plonker.

@Ellmau I was a big HP fan in my youth, and that is where I first saw the name. There are names I wouldn’t use - Hermione, Luna… - because of their connection with the series and the following presumption (given I was such a big fan) that I used the names because of the characters. I do think Andromeda is a niche enough character that wouldn’t be an issue, similar to Amos, Dolores, or Rowena (which are also on my list)