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?

I don't personally like them very much but they're not awful. Probably would assume they were short for something. I think they're worse together than separately and OP is changing one of them now.

My (much younger) cousin is called Lola, we all disliked it when it was mooted but didn't say anything obviously. She is now 19 and hates it, it doesn't suit her at all. She's quite serious (albeit lovely!) and a bit alternative/goth. She has disliked it since senior school, has tried to go by a shortened version of her middle name (which is completely different eg Catherine) but it's quite hard when she still lives in same town so many people know her from primary & senior school and it gets a bit confusing.

It was me that said I know several Gigis - they are all abbreviations though. Genivieve and Giselle.

What qualifies you to pronounce on what makes a stupid name? Would you like to publish a list of names you approve of that everyone can choose from since you are clearly the arbiter of good taste and judgment.
I stand by my original post, you may be unaware of the motivations behind your name prejudice but you should still do something to tackle those prejudices, regardless of how much faith you have in your impeccable taste in names and analyse your need to sneer at parents whose idea of a good name differs from you.

@Everlore , are you feeling OK? People do judge names, and your reaction seems a bit extreme.

I think Gigi is a lovely name. I have a young niece called Lyla. Congratulations on your twins x

Agreed. Obviously I touched a nerve. Although they seem to have abandoned calling me racist and classist (which would be highly ironic).

Quite funny that upthread the same poster said they disliked twins with the same first letter to their name. Obviously ok for some and not others to have preferences!

Hopefully a more lighthearted post will distract from all the tension. I don’t speak French or Italian and while I have met a lot of people, with a lot of unique names, I’ve never met an Appolline.

I was reading this thread, for two days now, believing you were trying to name your child Gigi Appo-Lini (think Italian- like linguine or fettuccine) and wondering why nobody was questioning it. I just googled the name and the French pronunciation is pretty and doesn’t actually rhyme.

I thought everyone was focusing on the complete wrong problem!

Of course that is your choice. Quite unusual to be so adamant about it (no long names) but nevertheless it is your choice at the end of the day.

Oh wow, poor OP, some of these comments have been utterly awful.
I’m 30, I know sisters who must be 25 and 23 called Gigi and Tiggi, no full names. One works at a private bank the other works in publishing, I don’t think either of them have struggled with careers due to their names, they are from a lovely very wealthy family.

Ignore some of these really ignorant posters on here OP, Gigi and either Lola or Lila are gorgeous names!

I hired a Crystal recently and have worked with a Candy and not once did I give their names a thought!
Crystal is an investment analyst and Candy was head of a team of project managers...
Not lightweight roles.

Also, what's wrong with being a showgirl? As a devoted Swiftie, I am very much in my showgirl era right now and loving it!

@Everlore when people are saying “showgirl” vibes they don’t mean Vegas residency/Broadway show kind of thing, they mean like the original Moulin Rouge style cabaret shows where being a showgirl or “opera dancer” was thought of as shorthand for being a courtesan/prostitute. (Think Satine in Moulin Rouge!)

In the film/musical “Gigi” the titular character is a child being brought up specifically to be a courtesan / high class escort, and it features the famous song “Thank Heaven for Little Girls….” (this has not dated well to say the least!) Likewise, Lolita in the eponymous novel is a diminutive for Lola/Dolores, the twelve year old girl who becomes the protagonist’s mistress. (Not to mention the Manilow and Kinks songs which are still pretty well known!) I’m in my forties and I know them… And “Gigi” was last on Broadway only in 2015.

Now I don’t think that just one of the names on its own is very “showgirl” vibes at all. And I actually like “Gigi” (I’m sure I read somewhere once that it’s what her friends call Gillian Anderson). Lola on its own you can get away with also (though I must admit I’d still be thinking about the book “Lolita”). But it’s only really together that they reinforce each other. I don’t think Gigi and Lila has the same effect at all; they work well.

I’m on the fence about the nickname/long name thing. I mean I don’t honestly see why Gigi couldn’t be a diminutive for Gabrielle and Lila for Apolline, both of which I love. Apolline is so pretty!

Fwiw I agree with @Everlore.

There have been some downright sneery and rude posts on here. Some of you have really pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable to say. Easy to do online with no comeback.

Beautiful names!

@SwallowsandAmazonians I wonder whether Crystal and Candy like their names? I speak as someone who loathes mine!

I honestly think these are the most lovely sweet names for twin girls I’ve heard!

OP I’m sorry if you’re feeling hounded. I think Lila and Gigi together sound brilliant and don’t have any kind of “showgirl” as you put it feel at all. FWIW I like Gigi! I first heard it in Gilmore Girls where she is Rory’s baby half sister so I’m glad you haven’t plumped for Rory for your other daughter after all! Gigi is a perfectly good name, sounds international and interesting and I’d be perfectly charmed to be represented/operated on/judged by a Gigi. Or a Lila.

Hope you and your girls are doing well!

I think it’s just down to personal opinion if someone thinks a name is stupid, it’s not really a question of being qualified.

Well the names are a lot better than some horrors you get on MN.

I remember watching it and being very confused about all the antics, rather than seeing it as something 'sexy'.

But it's a rude fucking word to use in this context wouldn't you say?

This

I would honestly just keep both names op.

I hate my name but am personally still glad i’m not called Gigi as my full name, so if you won’t change Gigi then you’re may as well keep Lola.

I would not call either of OPs name choices stupid (even if I thought they were, which I don't). I was specifically calling "Khaleesi" a stupid name, as PP brought it up. This led to her saying I was racist and classist in a now deleted post which was...a bit much.

No idea on Crystal, but Candy I think was a Candace who went by Candy, including professionally, on LinkedIn etc. so I guess it worked for her!

Yes, imagine them as older girls/ women getting introduced at a party sorry I think the middle names are lovely but Gigi & Lola are abit, well, as the other poster pointed out.