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

Bob’s your uncle and Fanny’s your aunt!

I just asked my DD10 what she would do if a girl called Fanny joined her class - she said they would get used to it eventually but they would all find it very funny - she very much knows what a fanny is.

Friends called their son Nique (a relatively normal name in their native language ), and later moved to france. They moved back after 1 year as their som got bullied terribly.
Fanny isn’t quite as bad, but bad enough

I know a couple of French women named Fanny and even they are aware of its usage in English, just don’t go there.
They are both actually Stefanie in full. And I see you are considering the aunt’s middle name instead but you could also use her full version (Stefanie, Francine, etc) as your daughter’s middle name.

As long as you call your other children Noony and Minge.

@LemonZebras - Louise is a lovely name. Good choice if that's what you go with.

My dad was a Dick. He told my dc to call him Dick because he felt calling him granpa or papa made him seem too old🙄
Imagjne the sniggers in his class when secretary came in to tell him Dick was collecting him after school. He was mortified and still talks about it 20yrs on 😂

Absolutely not!! You just can’t.

Nay, Nay and thrice Nay.
Does your French husband know what it means in English slang ? And yes lots of people know it and use it.

Thank fuck!!
I don't know whether it's a dialect thing but we use "fanny on" to mean fussing around or faffing.
That's in addition to it being a name for female genitalia of course!

Fannying about and dicking about.

Glad you've got your daughter's name sorted!

The only thing worse would be naming your firstborn son this lovely Irish variant of "Connor", and then moving back to France...

www.ancestry.co.uk/last-name-meaning/connard

I'm glad you've persuaded him now OP.

Fanny is definitely on the radar of young people for a good snigger. They're familiar with American terminology like "fanny pack" which they find very amusing.

At least people still using Dick or Willie have a longer full name to use and it was rarely their given name.
(I was reminiscing on Willie Rushden recently after watching Trapdoor)

Dear god ...NO
Definitely 100% NO

😂😂😂 this thread tickled me.

At least people still using Dick or Willie have a longer full name to use and it was rarely their given name.

Fanny was usually a nickname for Frances.

And I worked with a John Thomas.
A good match ......

No you cannot call your beautiful baby Fanny in England. You are not overreacting.

Fanny would be teased relentlessly. It would be like being called something like Nick in France.

The only men called Dick and Willy I know are 60+ and presumably grew up in a time before the slang terms became common parlance.

I told my kids ages 15, 13 and 9 that a friend had called their little girl 'Fanny' each on of them burst out laughing and knew the slang meanings so it definitely still well known. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I'm pretty sure you have enough evidence now to change his mind 🤞🏻😬

No no no do not do that to your poor child and no to it being a middle name too
congratulations but absolutely No to the name

Sure. But suggest that if you have a boy next you name him Dick.

You absolutely can't call a UK child Fanny! I'd go as far as saying that it's child abuse

No no and no again - not even as a middle name!

Why not, life's a bit depressing at times, so if you want to give everyone that ever meets her reason for a good laugh, then yes go for it 👍🏻