why unusual names??

[ajs86]

Not being funny here mums but dont you realise your kids have to grow up with these names and endure the playground!!! also what if your child becomes a judge or something? who on earth is going to take them seriously?? i mean really "all rise for the honorable Apple Blaise"
it seems to me that since all these celebrities started giving their kids daft names everybody has jumped on the band wagon!
i know at the end of the day it is up to you what you call your child, but i think that you do have to think about their names and what its going to be like for them years down the line.
i had a girl in my year at school called pepper marie rosemary sherrie and she got teased somthing chronic! ( her sisters where called Atlantic and Oceana these are twins, Savannah Raye, Sienna Skye and their younger brother Bobby Blue) i know its different and they'll stand out but i think sometimes for the wrong reason!!

I like unusual names. I think if you have a very common surname, it's nice not to be the thousandth Susan Jones in your town for eg.

I think the attraction for me is that when someone says your name- it is actually you, rather than a name IYSWIM. Whenever DH hears his name, he thinks- oh someone has the same name as me, or doesn't even notice tbh... whenever I hear my name- it is always in reference to me!

That is rather special I feel.

I don't think seeking an unusual name is anything new, eg: Branwell Bronte, Wilkie Collins ... and isn't Shakespeare credited with inventing the name 'Miranda'?

I have an unusual name, which I always end up spelling to people, but I've never wanted to change it.

In answer to the OP:

I choose unusual names for two reasons. Firstly DH and I both have reasonably unusual first names and very, very normal middle names (John & Louise!). So I like to follow the same pattern with naming children.

Secondly our surname is very, very ugly. So I would ideally prefer our child to be the only one in her class with her Christian name. Otherwise she would always be Jane ReallyReallyUglySurname to differentiate her from Jane LovelyName who she sits next to in class.

Thats why I prefer unusual names. That said, I don't go down the Apple, Bluebell, Fifi Trixibelle, Princess Thi''ng route. DDs name is a known name, just not one many people pick.

"your kids have to grow up with these names and endure the playground" I really hate this argument. You may as well say why do kids wear glasses - they will have to endure the playground taunts, or why are some children really ugly, they have to endure the playground taunts.

It's not the parents nor teh childs fault if they have unusual names and get bullied - it's 100% the fault of teh stupid ignorant bullies who I am guessing are largely the offspring of people who encourage this rediculous idea that people are somehow deserving of being bullied because there is something different about them.

Sort it out, you have a bad attitude.

Just started reading this thread - my dog is called Pepper. I wouldn't see it as a child's name. I bet Rex Harrison's parents ended up feeling pretty daft...

Blaise is lovely! Leave it alone!

How can Stanley and Elsie be called a fad? They are tradtional English names and like all names they have had cycles of popularity. It is completley wrong to compare these traditional names that run in families to a name the Beckham's made up to commemorate where they had sex.

I try to avoid the top 100, other that I don't mind.

I fall between the two camps - when I hear of yet another: Jack, Ellie, Jessica or Tom I think 'how could you lack such imagination?'

However when I hear about: Redstar, Tarantino and Wikkid (yep all genuine names round my way) I just think 'how could you?'

I like less popular names but I like them to actually BE a name and not just made up by some desperate, wannabe parent.

I think people - I mean teenage to grown up - quite like having unusual names. You're going to be teased about something when you're a little kid and the name is likely to be the least bad thing, especially if it's carefully chosen by your loving parents. And then later, chances are you'll love your different name.

I agree with Nancy66, I really don;t like "made up names" if that is the correct term as generally someone else uses it pretty soon and then the name becomes "common" and not "unusual".

But a lot of so called common names are not so common as they are not in the top 100 most popular names.

rambling as very tired!!!!

I don't mind unusual names or more oft-used ones.

But what grates a bit is people who won't use a name they love because it's "too common" - stop searching for a name to use solely on the grounds it's unusual and use the one you like, fgs.

i go off names that are too popular

i used to love Ruby but now it is just not the same for me

that is one reason why i tend not to use popular nemaes

It's an interesting argument really - I think I'm closest to Nancy inopinion (love 'Nancy' too btw!).
I like unusual uncommon names, rather than crazy or wacky, and so was surprised to find how different my taste was to my DH's. He prefers very classic names like Sarah and Peter, possibly because his is in the same vein and helped him remain fairly anonymous at school, which he preferred. My name is generally not that common, although it is a well-known name, but through a twist of fate I ended up with another one in my class at primary school! I hated having to have an initial tagged on the end of my first name, and wished for something a bit more different.

It can be so tricky to find a name that both parents like. My DD's name was my first choice, and we get compliments from people - if we ever come across an adult with her name they are always delighted! but I sometimes feel quite jealous of other parents who've been that shade braver.

I think it's lovely that people are being more imaginative with names (I didn't like Brooklyn at first but it's grown on me)and the mix of cultures and traditions in our society means it's not just acceptable but cool to have a non-standard name, but I do think it's trashy to think up weirder and weirder and longer names just to make your child stand out.

Whilst I'm not keen on many unusual names, I can't abide many of the arguments against them. That being said, what I can't abide considerably more is the "you have no imagination" argument churned out from parents who give their kids wacky names to the parents of the Toms, Nicks, Joshuas, Mollys, Sarahs and Charlottes. It's not about imagination, not everybody's trying to craft their own pretentious creation for their child. People want a name that they love and that fits their baby and that they can imagine said baby growing old with. Who gives a damn if there are 4 others in his/her class? One of the most common preconceptions around seems to be that by giving a child a unique name you're making them a more unique entity. The class character when I was growing up, with one hell of a crazy (in a good way) personality who I'm sure none of his classmates will ever forget was a Jack. Equally, there was a girl in my class with a breathtakingly insane, double-barrelled, almost hallucinogenic fluff-fest of a name and as cruel as it is to actually say, she was quite possibly the most boring girl alive. The extent of her identity in my memory is that name. That's it. She didn't - as is always a possibility - have that "something" to pull off the name and as such she became the name.

It's not about imagination. If you want to call a kid Angelica-Hortensia, I say go for it, but don't assume she'll be any more likely to become a shining presence than her classmate Molly. I say within reason (some names, even a couple I've seen on Mumsnet, really are bordering on being child cruelty) then if you like a name, go for it. Has a so-called boring name held back the likes of Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, all the other Johns, Jacks, Toms, Jameses etc out there?

I have an unusual name (well it was unusual when I was little, now it is in the top 50 ).
I love having an unusual name, my name isnt odd in any way, just when I was growing up I didnt know any others.

I love that when people say my name it is me they are talking about, and I only have to use my first name for people to know who it is.

My children have vaguely unusual names, again not odd, they are all classic, real names, but fairly uncommon. They are the only children in their school/nursery with that name, and I'm pleased about that.

My name was very unusual for my age when growing up, my middle name is a small, hard to spell/pronounce place in Jamaica that nobody has heard of (at least not then) and my maiden name is a fairly common name, with a difficult spelling. I have probably spent YEARS of my life spelling my name out or saying "no it's pronounced ....". I hated my name for a long time.

Consequently I wanted DS to avoid all these problems. He is "Well used English of Old Testament origin first name" "Traditional English Surname". Despiet this I suspect he will be the only one at school, since the village school currently only has 4 children in the recetion class.

What I dislike are those parents who think they are so smug choosing an "unusual" name and that they are somehow better than parents who choose more traditional/common names.

Get over yourself!!!!

Remember lots of famous people with unusual/wacky names are made up! They actually went through childhood with more "normal" names and survived pretty well.