Our name choices don’t seem very liked

[Fritesky]

DH and I have just had our twin baby girls, they are 3 weeks old and we have named them Gigi and Lola. We love their names and put a lot of time into picking them. We are a Anglo-Franco-Italian family so tried really hard to pick names that everyone would be a fan of.
Since then we’ve told family, friends etc. our babies names and got lots of “oh are the nicknames” and “oh that’s interesting”, which I guess just makes me feel really crappy. We haven’t registered the girls yet so we could change the names, but I’m not sure if I want to. Their full names are Gigi Apolline and Lola Gabrielle.

What are your thoughts?

My mother's name was Flora. A beautiful Scottish name that she enjoyed having.
Of course, some basic twats associated it with the margarine, showing their lack of imagination and bad manners.
She ignored them.

Mimi?

People may not say out loud what we are able to say over an an anonymous forum, but it will be in people’s minds.
School children have parents and grandparents and I know that my reaction to being told about my grandchild’s new friends Gigi and Lola would be to burst into song. LOLA Lola, or she was a showgirl.
And I’d be singing in a very bad French accent, leetle girls grow up to be…..
And that would be too late as my grandkids would sing it to yours at school on Monday.

And. So. What?

With respect, I think your references are very outdated. those are not the first things that came to mind when I heard those names, though I have seen the film Gigi and read Lolita, they are hardly very contemporary references!
I feel most younger people, or, indeed, most people under fifty, hearing those names wouldn't think of either of those things, much more likely to bring to mind the fashion model Gigi Hadid or the singer Lola Young.
I love both names, not that my opinion or anyone else's apart from yours and your husband's should count for anything.

That's even more of a "feels like it should be short for something" name.

Lovely names OP.

The 'would a doctor / lawyer be called this' gibes are so dated, classist and, yes, xenophobic. We currently have MPs called Lola, Layla, Tulip, Kemi, Daisy, Mims, Cat, Priti, Bell and Zarah. I think the time has past when you had to be called Margaret, Elizabeth or Helen to be taken seriously.

Do you think most of your grandchildren's friends, or even their parents, are honestly going to find their minds jumping straight to an old musical from 1958 or a Barry Mannilow song from the 1970s? If so, I think you may be quite mistaken! Perhaps you might wish to update your references, at least to something released in the last fifty years!

I still don't see the "showgirl" connections.
This is what I think of with the two names.
Cute kid and a talking cat (ok.... he's JiJi rather than GiGi)
(pictures incoming)

Sorry.... picture missing.
Jiji the talking cat.

For what it’s worth I think Gigi and Lila are lovely and Lila feels a better fit than Lola with Gigi. It’s just a bit more special than Lola.

The OP asked us why she was getting bad vibes from people she had told what she was calling her babies. We are explaining this to her.

I agree, call your babies what ever you want to. But if you don’t understand why some people do a double take and give off a bad vibe, then dont change a thing.
Some people love the names.
Some of us are saying that they cause us to think of showgirls and very old songs.

The OP can do what she likes, they are her children to name. But then why is she asking us why she is getting a bad reaction to their names.

her daughter is called Lola though, not Lolita.

I like Lola but not sure of Gigi, it made me think of horses (geegees) tbh

GeeGee doesn’t sound very nice and too much like GeeGees (horses). Zhi Zhi (like a sheeshee but more of zh than s sound) is much nicer.

Gigi and Romy or Gigi and Lena both sound lovely.

The horror being displayed on this thread at two very nice and not at all strange or even unusual names is just precious! I have a nine month old, won't give her name as it might cause some on here to faint as it is a little more exotic than Sarah or Jane, and I attend lots of baby groups where names like Gigi or Lola wouldn't cause so much as a raised eyebrow. Yet one would think, from the dismayed pearl-clutching on display on this thread that these posters haven't had contact with any children since the early 70s if they think these names are in anyway outrageous!
As for the suggestion that small children, and their parents, are all going to be so familiar with 1950s musical movies, and pop songs from the 1970s, that that will be their primary association when hearing these names, I really would recommend investigating some cultural artefacts produced after 1980 since, surprisingly, things have moved on a bit since Barry Mannilow and The Kinks and you are really missing out!
One last remark, OP, this is why, as a wise friend once advised us, you should never consult anyone else on your baby's putative names, that advice holds whether its grandparents or random strangers idly throwing in their tuppence-worth on an anonymous internet forum. Just pick names you and your husband like, tell everyone those are your children's names and ignore any negative or passive agressive comments you receive, nobody else should have a say in this important decision apart from the two of you. You will regret it if you allow yourselves to be talked out of lovely names you have taken time choosing with care and love for your beautiful girls. Sending warmest wishes and congratulations to your lovely new family!

Stick to what you want. You’ll regret more changing the names because of an anonymous forum than you would keeping them. The thing about names is, despite other people’s negative opinions, it’s surprisingly easy for them to get used to a name.

I think Gigi (in itself) is a lovely name. Stick with it. If I were to change one it would be Lola. Which is also a nice name, but I do understand what people are saying about the two names together sounding a bit “lady of the night”. So yes, I’d pick Lola as the name to change.

With respect, the in-person comments have been more tame because those people know you and don’t want to hurt your feelings. I can guarantee they’re thinking the same things.

Well said @Everlorethey’re not made up names, they’re genuine names. You'll always find someone who has negative associations with a specific name.

I don’t like the names myself but that’s a ridiculous comment.

I came across a Gigi in France but her name was actually Giselle. It seems to be a common thing in France to repeat the first syllable as a nickname. I think that is why there are suggestions to give a more formal name and then use the nickname. A 'surgeon' would probably be taken more seriously as Colette or Coline rather than Coco.

This is exactly the reason the OP shouldn't be listening to any of us. I'd say I prefer Lola as I think it has a nicer, softer sound and feels more classic, the only Lila I knew was the one from the trashy Sweet Valley books I sadly devoured as a small child! The fact that was my first thought on hearing the name should not prejudice anyone against it since I'm not self-involved enough to imagine that everyone else's brain is jumping to the same esoteric dumb reference as mine did!
Everybody has certain baggage connected to particular names, either because we knew someone with said name that we really liked or disliked because it's the name of an actor or pop star we love or hate or for any of a million other causes. People can be just as triggered by the most basic of names. Our own personal reaction to names should have no bearing on other people choosing them for their kids!

If you like them then go for it.
Neither would be my choice but they aren’t my children!