Poem

[fairycupcakes]

Am I crazy to think this would actually make a beautiful name? (Not pregnant but adore names and name-meanings and adding to my list for when that day finally comes)

ChatGPT says fewer than 5 babies were named it last year in the UK so I’m not the first to have the thought!

How about Prose? Or Essay?

You need to think of the person you are saddling with a name like this. I always think if someone likes a really out there name they should just change theirs not give it to their child (who may end up changing it when old enough)

A lot of Scots pronounce it poy-em but I also prefer poem!

Wouldn’t choose it myself but I do think it’s a pretty middle name.

I quite like it but it would be shortened to Po which is not so nice.

TeaRoseTallulah has hit the nail on the head - when she gets to school people will just call her Po. Which I’ve heard as an old fashioned word for toilet, so no!

Agree with MsMarple - DF used to call the training potty the po.

OP - you are not crazy, but you are certainly not a mother.
You are thinking of picking a name that signals the world that you are quirky, etc, etc. But part of becoming a parent is learning to think about the child and putting yourself and your need to use your child's name as some sort of reflection of your perceived coolness.

Poet is a horrible name as it tries too hard to be unique. It's not a real name - it's totally made up by people who want to create a certain image of themselves.
And - of course - it opens the poor kid to bullying, and most likely will ensure he hates poerty

The Australian actor who took the female lead in Discovery of Witches named one of her DDs Poet. However, I wouldn’t be happy if I were DD to having it shortened to Po. Her latest DD is named Lotus Bloom.

If you have twins you could call the other Prose

I actually quite like it

I’m not sure if I agree with the argument that kids will be bullied for unusual names, maybe it depends on your location. I am in London and have a very unusual name, (I’ve only heard one famous person with the same name) but I was never bullied. In fact, when I started secondary school in the mid 90s, there were many unusual names because many of the children had parents who were born in other parts of the world. I can remember a Clovis, India (not too unusual now but was at the time) Kofi, Osiris.
Obviously kids with names like that are in a minority, but I don’t think my experience was particularly unique. Most people are decent, even as kids.

also I know an Icelandic girl called Saga, I think it’s a beautiful name.

There is unusual and using a common word as an unusual name. English lessons will be full of kids sniggering each time they do poetry. If you are still wedded to it when the time comes consider a more usual name for a middle one - if she finds Poem too stressful then she can use the middle one. It gives her a usable option if she wants it, not influenced by her parents desire to appear artsy or different.

My parents gave me an unusual name to fit their hippy view of themselves that is more usually used as a nickname. I use my middle name for everyday use.

Definitely one of the worst names ever.

Limerick. For a boy, obviously.

Sonnet

I’m not so sure on Poem. Or story for that matter. I think if you’re going for a bit more of an ‘out there’ name, it’s good to have one with a more mainstream nickname possibility the child could use if they wanted to. Like Fable above, could be shortened to Fay.

I quite like it. And kids today are so used to their friends having names that are less traditional, i don’t think the “they’ll get teased” argument holds much water any more. There are children in my son’s year named after colours, virtues, times of year, flora and fauna- I’m not sure why artforms should be any different?

FWIW my son has a reasonably unusual name, but it’s very traditional - he’s never once been teased about it.

Just to add also to the poster upthread with the horrible “you’re not a mother” snipe-

Parents have used their children’s names to signal their own identities for time immemorial. Whether that’s passing on family names, honoring cultural norms or religious beliefs, signaling class (you see a lot of that on here, inc on this thread) or going back to the 1600s if you look at the names given to children by Puritans, Poem will seem ENTIRELY unremarkable.

I absolutely love it. Yes it’s different but not offensive, or silly (we met a girl called Banana once 😳).

@TiredofLDN , i don’t think the “they’ll get teased” argument holds much water any more. I think it does but it depends on the name.

I quite agree re the bullying! If kids are going to pick on another child it could be for all manner of things. I, for example, was bullied at school for having pale skin whilst being in a sunny country (how dare my parents try to keep me safe with factor 50! 🙄) I mainly think parents should teach their kids not to be horrid little brats/bullies but hey, that’s for another thread! And yes, we’re currently London-based and children have all kinds of names near us being very multi-cultural etc so I do not think a name like Poem would stand out as odd in any way so I don’t think it would be at all out of place in a decades time in the classrooms! Perhaps a bit “out there” for people living in small villages or remote parts of this country so I understand some perspectives that have been shared here.

I grew up in another country and went to an international school so children from all over the world with lots of different names, cultures, religions etc and not one child with an “unusual” name was picked on for it and there were plenty I am sure mumsnet would screw their faces up at 😂

FWIW for other PPs I actually think Po is a darling nn - reminds me of Po from the Teletubbies which brings back such happy memories of childhood.
You must be older than I, or from different backgrounds etc as I’ve never heard Po be used for a toilet.

All those saying it’s nice as a middle the middle names have been chosen for as long as I can remember as they are to honour family. Exactly what I believe a middle name, if you’re going to give one, should be for 🫶🏻

With any names on my list I make sure that, as a grown adult myself, I would be happy/comfortable with having that name myself. And I would love to be called Poem. I just think it has a lovely sound, beautiful personal meaning and likely there wouldn’t be another as I’d hate for my child to be referred to as firstname-first initial-of-surname at school as that feels so impersonal. Another name high on my list is Wren which is literally a little bird, very much a nature name which seems loved on here! And yet it’s been so interesting seeing the reaction to Poem. Wren too existed before it became a name parents used for their children. I’m sure at one point that was seen as unusual too.

I’d much rather be called something some people find different or unusual like Poem than something like Lexi-Mae, Daisy-Grace, Isla-Rose etc etc (sorry!)

Interesting views though! And yes, Saga is beautiful. I wouldn’t use it for the reasons I’ve mentioned on the thread already but very lovely nonetheless!

Not Banana! Oh wow, now THAT is different 😂

Thank you. Yes, I’ve chosen to ignore that posters comment!

@fairycupcakes , I mainly think parents should teach their kids not to be horrid little brats/bullies but hey, that’s for another thread!
I don't recall my parents teaching me to not being a bully or to be resilient to bullying, but when I was teased about my name I knew not to rise to it.
They are useful life skills.

Names like Wren, Rae and Eden were surnames.

Exactly this. I have young nieces and nephews some with more “unusual” names than others and some in school and nursery where, as you’ve said, their friends have all kinds of names and they don’t bat an eye at what their friends are called. I think it’s quite an old-fashioned view to think children still pick on others for their names.

It’s cute for a little girl, but can you picture a grown woman called Poem? I think it’s unfair to foist that on another person for life.