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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

you will all be relieved to know that i am going to stick with bracken

86 replies

tinkisinthe3rdtrimester · 25/10/2008 16:06

i love the name bracken wanted something as unusual as dd1s

probably go for bracken hope willow

OP posts:
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kittywise · 26/10/2008 12:43

Why start a thread asking what people think if you don't care?

if you don't care don't ask.

it's still a daft name

unknownrebelbang · 26/10/2008 12:51

Reminds me of dogs.

SoupDragon · 26/10/2008 13:14

Bracken is horrid. I do like Willow and other "odd" names though so I'm not a averse to unusual/natural names...

Bracken's too harsh.

elsiepiddock · 26/10/2008 13:27

I agree, Bracken is a dog's name.

It also makes me think of twigs snapping underfoot!

kittywise · 26/10/2008 13:39

In Denmark, don't they have a law against giving babies silly names?

skyatnight · 26/10/2008 13:59

IMO, names can be divided into three main categories: safe/middle-class/traditional, bohemian and chav. There is not much difference between 'bohemian' names and 'chav' names, as both plump for the unusual, except that 'chav' names incoporate more unusual spellings and made-up names, and 'bohemian' names seem to look for some link to nature or culture or an historial era or another language, whether it is pseudo or not. And, yes, it is often the boring, traditional names that end up as being more unusual so looking for an unusual name is self-defeating due to the Zeitgeist phenomenon that others have spoken of.

There was another thread about 'Bracken', with lots of references to dogs and spikey things and nature. Tink has made up her mind, against lots of negative advice, which is fine. It's the child that makes the name, not the other way round.

My opinion: 'Willow' and 'Rohan' are a bit common now. 'Bracken' is more unusual and, yes, spikey sounding so supposedly less feminine. As I get a bit fed up of all the 'Isabella' and 'Hannah' names and others ending with a vowel sound to make them sound soft and feminine, I quite like 'Bracken'. Hopefully she will be a bit spikey and have a good independent career instead of just being good wife-material. I like 'Hope' too, as we all need it, and I would drop the second middle name 'Willow'.

Gosh, I don't normally indulge but it is fun to make 'judgy' pronouncements about these things!

MadamDeathstare · 26/10/2008 14:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

spottyshoes · 26/10/2008 14:13

Sorry OP - I missed the part where you were actually "asking for opinions" like some people suggested - thought that was your last thread. This one sounds more like a statement.

I'm glad you've finally decided on a name - am quite as I dont think this one will be named until s/he is 3!!!

beaniescreamyb · 26/10/2008 14:16

I like it. I grew up in the country and Bracken always reminds me of my childhood. The name has good connotations and is beautiful.

Liffey · 26/10/2008 14:59

Will your husband agree to bracken?

LaTricoteuse · 26/10/2008 15:04

I've never heard it before - wouldn't go with it being middle class or chav, I'd be more inclined to think hippy - soap dodger, hiding BO with patchouli oil.

Like Willow and Hope though.

blackhawk · 26/10/2008 16:21

Isn't Bracken a weed?

I would at least give her a more traditional middle name so that if she dislikes her first name she can be called that in future.

KerryMumchingOnEyeballs · 26/10/2008 16:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BabyBaby123 · 26/10/2008 16:26

op - you said in your other thread you were going with Scarlett, why have you changed to Bracken - Scarlett so much better! Goes better with your other dd name too.

Ok Liffey - that makes more sense trust me to not get the reverse psychology

Flum · 26/10/2008 16:32

I'm not mad about it but I don't think it is Chavvy at all. Sounds quite celebrity I would not be surprised to read about a Bracken in Hello magazine. Having said that I have never encountered it as a name before.

Spidermama · 26/10/2008 16:46

I think it's GORGEOUS! Go for it. Never mind the rude, unimaginative posts which seek to wound possibly because they're jealous of people who feel the freedom to choose a name they love and not one which has its top priority of ensuring the child never stands out at any cost and blends into the mire.

Good for you Tink. Very nice name.

kittywise · 26/10/2008 16:55

Spidermama, that's a ridiculous conclusion to draw!

I should think that the vast number of disenters here feel the way they do because they think it's plain daft to call a child such a name.

They is a vast spectrum between playing safe with a name and making one up.

I should also think most people DON"T wan their children to blend into the crowd, they want them to stand out and be special but NOT because of the name they have

BabyBaby123 · 26/10/2008 17:09

both my children have got unusual names and my new baby will have too - it's not that it's unusual it's just that it's very harsh sounding and a bit chavvy imo (sorry again) If people don't want opinions on names they shouldn't start threads asking for them! I wouldn't and won't be doing!

Nancy66 · 26/10/2008 17:14

Spidermama - nothing to do with lack of imagination, needing to conform or anything else.

Everything to do with simply not wanting to burden a poor, innocent little mite with a bloody awful name.

autumnwardrobeonthecheap · 26/10/2008 17:47

I'm Welsh and here we spell it as Brychan have a look here for the name history.

Lovely lovely name that and Rwyathllon are my favs xx

Doozie · 26/10/2008 18:36

Sounds like a name Sarah Palin would use...

If I was to guess the gender of the child, I would of thought it was a boy.

Sorry not a fan.

escape · 26/10/2008 18:41

No, sarah palin would go for 'Brickin'

SoupDragon · 26/10/2008 18:52

Spidermama, it's got nothing to so with standing out amongst the mire. Bogwoppit is also a name which stands out amongst the mire but is still a horrid name IMO.

kittywise · 26/10/2008 19:32

LOL @ bogwoppit

unknownrebelbang · 26/10/2008 20:33

Spider, I had the freedom to choose names I loved for my boys, even though they were traditional.

Rest assured, my boys can stand out in the crowd without an unusual name (and not always for the right reasons ).