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'm not the world's most physical guy but when she held me tight she almost broke my spine l l l Lola

I'm not a dumb man but I can't understand why she talked like a woman but walked like a man l l l lol

I'm not the world's most passionate man but I know what I am and I am a man and so is lola l l l lol

It's about him being with a cross dresser, first off he's confused and then he quite likes it

They must sing the name songs 100 times in the song

It's the kinks song that I know

I really like the name Crystal, probably because I like sparkly things. I would never shorten that name.

Isn’t that Layla? Oh no, I got that muddled up with Eric Clapton 😁

Well GiGi and Lola aren’t stupid names (Moon Unit is though or Sir or North). 😬

I think Gigi and Lila is perfect OP (and I'm still in love with their middle names too). Funny how this small change has made all the difference. I feel bad that this thread upset you and you shouldn't change from Lola just based on what strangers on the internet said, but I think enough people in RL would have made the showgirl connection that it might have grated after a while, so I hope you can forgive us for pointing this out. Congratulations on your twins!

Are you pronouncing Lila like ly-la or lee-la?

What about Giselle or similar?

We always used to get that song played at school discos and similar when I was growing up. Quite odd really but I know it very well considering I grew up in the 90s and it's a 70s song. My friends at uni knew it well, one of them named their car lola after the song

I LOVE both the names you chose.
Gigi Apolline and Lola Gabrielle are gorgeous for twins.

I read now that you have changed to Lila Gabrielle.
That is also beautiful.

Your names are refreshing and womanly unlike names that can sound more childish like Poppy, Minnie, Evie or Mopsy.

Other lovely names that give me a similar grown up vibe are ..
Cleo
Tess
Chloe
Mimi
Vera
Ida
Rose

They are both fabulous names

To me, these are nicknames.

Gigi for Georgiana / Georgina / Georgia / …
Lola for Charlotte / Louisa / Delores / …

I think it’s important that children are given names that can be serious as well as fun. You could still calm them Gigi and Lola, but their legal names would be Georgina and Charlotte or something of that sort.

Dear oh Lordie the OP is getting a bit of a battering!

Both names are lovely, and perfectly normal. I am a name etymologist, and Gigi, Lola and Lila are fairly standard names that aren't going to stand out in anyway in the future. In fact, I would say Lola has peaked and may end up being fairly dated. Lila (and its various spellings) is everywhere right now and, looking at the upward trend it is experiencing in the UK and the fact it is hitting the top 100 names in several European countries, Gigi is about to be big.

Naming trends have changed hugely in the last 30 years or so. There is more variation now, literally hundreds more names being given. The number one girls name in 1996 was Sophie with 7087 girls being named that (10.54% of all baby girls named that year). In 2024 the number one girls name was Olivia with 2761 babies named that, 0.95% of all baby girls. The equivalent in 1996 was Jade with 2750 entries, at number 19. In 1996 the top 5 names made up 10.54% of all baby girls born, in 2024 it was 3.94%.

Having a solicitor called Gigi Anderson or a surgeon called Gigi Thompson isn't going to be unusual in 30 years. In my daughter's school there are girls called Purdie, Piper, Bluebell, Flossie, Star, Winnie, Miley, Sullivan and Kiki - all of them their full, registered names. And this is an oversubscribed primary in a leafy middleclass village not far from York.

@Fritesky - if you love them then use them for your beautiful daughters and know that you are just a few years ahead of the curve with Gigi! Will they love their names? No idea! But, as you said, Olivia, Isla, Ava and Freya may not like their names either!

Thanks for posting @marshallzumarubble . Interesting but not surprising.

The OP has taken a thorough battering over this. I don't think her chosen names are outlandish or unsuitable at all. They're nice. Lila is good too.

Having a solicitor called Gigi Anderson or a surgeon called Gigi Thompson isn't going to be unusual in 30 years.
It will be because only a few babies have been named Gigi in the past few years.
The name probably doesn't appeal to the sort of parent who would have a baby who would become a surgeon or solicitor.

I don’t think you understand the group of people using the name Gigi right now. The Gigi I know works for a private bank, another poster mentioned knowing a lawyer called Gigi.
Also what do you even mean the type of people to have children go on to be solicitors? Names aren’t associated to success or intelligence!

@Releese , they are linked to many things - age of mother, where you live etc.
Also what do you even mean the type of people to have children go on to be solicitors?
Someone who has excelled academically or who is intelligent and ambitious for their child.

The Gigi I know has one parent as an architect the other a gallery curator, west London had their children in their late 30s? Their daughters are now in very respectable jobs, named Gigi and Tiggi.

Why do you think educated people with aspirations for their children wouldn’t name them Gigi?

Don’t be so ridiculous or classist!

I know multiple Gigi’s under 5 it’s growing in popularity, I live in south west London. One of them goes to pre-school with my son, I can’t say what her parents do but it’s a generally expensive area to live.
One a relative is the nanny for the family, the parents work at a magic circle law firm and a think tank. Would you say they aren’t educated or aspirational?
The other I went to university with, she did her undergraduate at Sorbonne in Paris and postgrad at UCL. Again I’d argue very intelligent and likely to encourage her child to be successful!

Beautiful names.

To all those dissing these names - a post popped up on my LinkedIn from a woman called Lola that I worked on a project with - a professional, well-regarded woman in her field.

And never once did I think (as so many on this ludicrous and frankly stupid thread seem to think), “God, I bet she’s not much cop with her stripper name.”

Because I’m not a moron.

You are wrong. Hugely so. Firstly, it wasn't given to a handful of babies. The upsurge is big, as per my picture attached here. Secondly, a lot of the surgeons and solicitors we will have in 30 years haven't been born yet! Names come into fashion and grow, sometimes they explode and then fade.

And, as I said, I know so many children (born to educated, professional parents just to reassure you following your other, incredibly classist and snobby response) with names like Hallie, Dorie, Lulu, Ria, Jojo and Vivi. Why on earth would Gigi stand out?

Sense and data, excellent.

Apolline , I've never heard this name but I love it.

Sounds Roman to me,