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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Great name but dodgy associations?

25 replies

wook · 03/07/2009 00:01

Let's say you love a name, then find out that there is a dodgy association with it- i.e. someone called that name had possibly done something horrid. Would you carry on with that name or would the association put you off altogether? Was so convinced I had the right name for dd but now not so sure as a namesake did something very dodgy indeed.

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cheesesarnie · 03/07/2009 00:21

i think depends on who name sake is.if bad family member or once close friend then i wouldnt.i like name archie but wouldnt use it as the one i knew tried to stab my dad

but i like fred but wouldnt say i cant because of fred west.

etc etc etc

Metatron · 03/07/2009 02:24

Myra? I wouldn't.

Elizabeth? A number of dodgy Elizabeths Bathory being a fine example. Doesn't seem to stop people though.

savoycabbage · 03/07/2009 02:32

Is it Cripin because they are quite close to clearing his name so I would go for it

Ozziegirly · 03/07/2009 02:42

If it's Adolf, then yes.

MamaLazarou · 03/07/2009 09:10

It would definitely put me off. Since falling in love with Wuthering Heights at school, I have loved the name Hindley, but couldn't use it because of the evil Myra. See also Rosemary (West).

Pinkjenny · 03/07/2009 09:12

I love the name Stella, but a family member's MIL from hell was called Stella, so even though I could probably get over the association, the entire family would always think of her.

minouminou · 03/07/2009 14:27

Ahhhh.....you gotta tell us what it is, as it's impossible to say, otherwise.....like Ozziegirly said, if it's Adolf, no; but Elizabeth, yes.

Original poster

wook · 03/07/2009 21:06

Well, OK- what if you found out that the name you loved was the name of someone who had had sex with Hitler !!!!! It's most offputting, surely? So fed up- loved the name but now it feels all yukky. I have to disassociate the two in my mind.
Perhaps not quite as yukky as Adolf itself, Fred, Rosemary or Myra though! So it could be worse!

OP posts:

frisbyrat · 03/07/2009 21:08

There are thousands of Evas in the world, if that's what you mean!

choufleur · 03/07/2009 21:08

is it is Eva? i don't think that many people would make that association really

Tommy · 03/07/2009 21:11

it may be that no-one will make the connection at all!

I have a perfectly lovely friend called Mira

I wouldn't go for Adolf...but can't really think of any others that would be off limits TBH

artichokes · 03/07/2009 21:11

This was put me off the name Eva. I couldn't get the association out of my head.

pickyvic · 03/07/2009 21:23

my husband only associated it with Little Eva who did the original locomotion. i think its a lovely name.

eva cassidy?
eva longoria?

loads of very lovely evas about!

(and for the Myras of the world my lovely next door neighbour is called Myra...your name just becomes 'yours' anyway. i never think of anything nasty when i see her)

Firawla · 03/07/2009 21:34

If the name is Eva i dont think the association is that strong, it wouldn't have crossed my mind personally.

Other names where the assoc is more, like Adolf for an extreme example, are a bit more necessary to avoid

Original poster

wook · 03/07/2009 21:56

No, not Eva- have a friend called Eva and think it's a lovely name.
Name I like is Hedy. And up till now, I thought that Hedy Lamarr was a fairly decent person to have the same name as- OK, she did do a bit of shoplifting in later life apparently, but in early years was both a glamourpuss and a famous scientific inventor! But. Had sex with Hitler.

OP posts:

violethill · 03/07/2009 22:03

would put me right off tbh

MamaHobgoblin · 03/07/2009 23:03

There's no evidence she had sex with Hitler - she had to 'entertain' him at big formal parties but the sex thing seems to have surfaced with a new 'biography' about her and doesn't seem founded in fact. I think it's a lovely name and she did a lot of positive things, if you want more pleasant associations.

According to Wiki, she was married 6 times! Blimey.

AitchTwoOh · 03/07/2009 23:05

it's HEDLEY! lolololol [blazing saddles]

thisisyesterday · 03/07/2009 23:07

no, that wouldn't put me off at all.

Eva has been very popular in the last few years and I've never thought eva braun one single time

also know a Myra, and can honestly say that until reading this thread i've never thought Myra HIndley either

smallchange · 03/07/2009 23:11

Ds's middle name is dh's grandfather's full name (ie first & surname) because there was a high profile crime committed by someone with that first name and our surname. Otherwise ds would have had that name as his first name.

Sorry, how cryptic!

hester · 03/07/2009 23:12

I think Eva's a great name, and I don't think the Eva Braun connection is a turn-off. It was a very, very popular name in Germany at the time - there were plenty of victims of Hitler also called Eva.

smallchange · 03/07/2009 23:14

Eva?? That's fine. Absolutely would not associate it with Hitler.

Eva Peron, Eva Cassidy, Eva Marie Saint, Little Eva, quite a few little girls I know called Eva would all come into my head before I thought of Eva Braun.

Original poster

wook · 04/07/2009 19:46

smallchange that is very cryptic indeed! Ronnie Biggs?? the other train robber one?

OP posts:

skihorse · 04/07/2009 19:47

ROFL@Adolf

tearinghairout · 04/07/2009 19:59

I know an Adolf. He's German, and he's lovely. Was difficult at first but I've got over the association now that I know him better.

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