What happened to normal conventional names?

[VelvetLace]

An acquaintance who is due slightly after me has just announced on Facebook that she will be naming her baby girl Charm. I originally thought it was short for something else but no. It's just the word Charm. I'm not saying that everyone should name their baby something incredibly dull, but why have full-blown dog names become so common for human beings? Has naming babies just become a creativity contest? I see a lot of conventional names being asked about and considered on MN, but I'm seeing the opposite with people that I know offline. DH and I were discussing this last night.

I think it depends on the reason for the name. Have you heard of Loise Joy Brown? She was the first IVF baby. The parents asked the team working on IVF process for a middle name.

I think for all the parents who have had IVF babies 'Joy' is a great name.

Surely no parent would call their son Teddy-Bear 🧸?!

@sashh most parents are overjoyed to have their baby but it still makes it awkward if they then grow up to be depressed or a grumpy person.

@Bellybellas alas the ONS statistics say they do. I can’t imagine the embarrassment of a grown man having to say his full name to get married, testify in court etc when it’s Teddy-Bear!

He is my favourite poker on but I would not call my child that.
Charm is ok, I have heard worse but with names I always consider if it would be taken seriously in adulthood.

There's a detective called Dandelion Gilver in a series of books by Catriona McPherson. I thought her sister had some equally odd flower name but Google tells me she doesn't have a sister so I may be misremembering.

As long as the name is easy to spell and pronounce

Every other culture must conform to English pronunciation and awareness of names 🤦‍♀️

Yes, Little Englanderism raises its head freakishly often on the baby names board. They would clearly like registrars to impose a choice of George, Edward, Sophie and Ella on all parents.

Fun Fact: we have no idea if her name was Boudicca because it just means ‘Victory or Victorious woman’. It’s more likely the title she was given as a war leader. And that’s how the Romans referred to her. We obviously have no Iceni text to find her actual name.

I have been so convinced by the Manda Scott Dreaming serise I think of her as Breaca!

Ooh I love a historical fun fact, thank you! I will admit that a lot of what I know about her is from horrible histories 😁.

Some people think they are the first to ever have had a baby. Their baby is more special than any other baby could possibly be. They can’t bear to name them with a name another child might have.

Whereas right-minded parents just call their children Boy#124577 to bring home their own insignificance to them?

Oddly it’s the posters preferring ‘traditional’ names that seem to think their child is so much better than any other child.

So true

Better Charm than yet another Eve/Eva/Evie though right? (oh, Eevee is a Pokemon too!)

I agree, you'd need to clarify the parameters for this to work, and I don't think there are any universal ones.

I dunno, I love mad Catholic names like Assumpta and Dolores

Concepta. My lovely friend Connie allows people to think her full name is Constance, but she was born on the 8th of December...

That's a good one!

😂

I met an Inma once.

Inmaculata conceptione!

Amelia and Olivia have been the top 2 girls' names for over 10 years now, so I don't think you've got much to worry about. I currently teach a Yr 7 class with 4 of each. I get depressed just thinking about how it will still be the same in 11 years time! There are so many wonderful names but everyone seems to be totally fixated on those 2; I'd happily exchange a few for the odd Charm!

There is currently a thread running by someone who wants to name her son Knowledge Jamie Smith. That's a head
scratcher.

Edited to say the surname isn't Smith but something of that ilk (according to Knowledge's mum)

I met a teenaged Havvanah last week. Perfectly nice girl but I did call her Savannah twice as I am hard of hearing these days. She's must be used to it as she said something like it's spelled like Savannah but with an H. Like Cuba". Poor kid is in for a life time of that. Charm is quite nice. I've met a couple of kids called Charming from Nigeria families. I love Nigerian naming conventions (specifically Igbo and Yoruba), a lot of consideration goes into the naming

I teach a lot of girls of African heritage with names like Pride, Precious, Glory, Gift, Blessing, Comfort, which are no different in concept to Grace, Hope and Faith, just less used by white British people. Charm fits in that category quite nicely.