Fanny for a girl?

[LemonZebras]

Hi everyone,

I’m expecting a baby girl. My husband is French and is insistent that he wants to name our daughter after his aunt who raised him - Fanny! It’s a common French name, but the baby will be born and raised in the UK.

Am I unreasonable to say no and to worry that she would be bullied or made fun of? My husband thinks I’m overreacting and that the slang word is barely used nowadays and that not many people know of it.

I will be showing him this thread with the different responses.

Thank you

Op's DH; non! Mon dieu, tu es devenu fou? NON!

YANBU to say no. She will 100% get made fun of on a regular basis and other than that I don’t think it’s even a particularly nice name.
In America it’s slang for buttocks so that’s combined. You wouldn’t know when that could be picked up on this side of the world either.

The early teenagers and tweens I know know that slang. I'd absolutely avoid it as the name she's known by.

Could it be a middle name? Or a first name but you call her by the middle name? It would be lovely to honour this special aunt.

I rather like the name because of the character in Mansfield Park, but I just wouldn't risk it.

I love the name, but you just can't use it in the UK.

Like others have said Frances or onr of its other variants is a good compromise.

No, no, no , NO.
She would no doubt be bullied her whole life.
It’s not a nice sounding name either.
How about Francesca, Francoise or Frances, with a nickname of Fran. Quite similar or use as a middle name. I’m guessing that his aunt was probably actually name Francoise.
Im generally not a fan of using nicknames or diminutives on birth certificates. Register the full name and the child has more options when they’re older.

Absolutely not. Ask him how he would have enjoyed school with the name 'Zizi'.

FFS do not do this 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Absolutely not…think about the teasing she will get when she is older! It could seriously affect her life mentally.

I mean they even changed the name of Fanny in the Faraway Tree books to Franny. Even they knew it was ridiculous calling a child a slang name for vulva.

Does he know that bum bags are called fanny packs in the US? Even if by some miracle someone didn’t know that fanny means vagina, they would equate it with bum.

I actually really like the name Fanny but I wouldn't use it in a million years. Her life will be made hell. Yes, the slang is probably less common these days but it hasn't disappeared. Basically, don't do it!

Balonz would be better.

Tu rigoles?

Yes I like this one. Have you considered it op?

Frances
Francesca
Myfanwy

NOT Fanny

No. You absolutely can’t. I work in the same department as a Dutch girl called fanny. She gets the piss ripped out of her daily. To her face and behind her back. It’s pretty awful

No no no no no

10x worse than Balonz.

Obviously you can’t use it as a name.
I have spent a lot of time in France and knew of a few and even I (as a grown adult) giggled a few times when introduced to a Fanny.

If I saw a child named Fanny in the UK I'd assume that the parents were very young, very immature and didn't want to become parents. There's 'not my style' and there's openly inviting ridicule and this is definitely the latter in the UK.

Stand your ground on this one. Does the aunt have a middle name that can be used?

Dear god no!

Does he know what the English (slang) translation means? He can’t possibly want to call his child this if so, it’s completely insane.

It's weird that Willies and Dicks fine, but Fanny is seen as such a big issue here.

Are you ‘rage baiting’ us, op?

hard no!

NOT Myfanwy, which just sounds like, my fanny.
I know it's a lovely Welsh name, but just no.