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Baby names

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

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Original poster

What is wrong with made up names?

49 replies

peanutbutterkid · 20/08/2009 19:09

Just that, really.

OP posts:

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thisisyesterday · 20/08/2009 19:10

nothing,. imo.
they must all have been made up originally after all.

i much prefer a made-up name to a regular name with a ridiculous spelling

Tidey · 20/08/2009 19:19

Well. A very shallow and trivial thing I always think of is that the child will never be able to buy a door sign for their room, or a piggy bank with their name on it. They'd have to order one because shops just don't stock names like Medoraniqua.

duchesse · 20/08/2009 19:24

It depends how much of the parents' egos are expressed in the name to my mind. I mean, a name that is a fusion of the two parents' names is just crass to my mind. Any child with a shred of gumption would change as soon as possible.

Naming them after your favourite brand of trainers or outerwear- far too ephemeral and potentially embarrassing and limiting later for the child.

Naming children after previously unused abstract concepts (hippy style) on the other is rather touching and potentially lovely.

magbags · 20/08/2009 19:25

It depends on the individual name but they usually just sound a bit naff imho. A bit try hard.

Scorpette · 20/08/2009 20:57

@Tidey - I have a completely unmade-up name that you will have heard of and I've never been able to get anything with my name on it because it's just not a popular name. Despite this trauma, I have somehow struggled on with my life...

Tidey · 20/08/2009 20:59

lol Scorpette. I wasn't using that as a good reason not to like made up names, it's what always pops into my head. Very pointless but there you go

cookielove · 20/08/2009 21:01

Tidey - My sister has an unusual name (a family name used over several generations) but not made up, and has never been able to buy anything with her name on, as they just don't make it, however i have a very popular name and can never buy things with my name on as they are always sold out

cookielove · 20/08/2009 21:01

oh i see that has been said

Nighbynight · 20/08/2009 21:47

There is nothign wrong with making up names per se, but many people do it very badly, so the names sound crap.
if you make up a good name, people wont guess that you just made it up.

choufleur · 20/08/2009 21:50

possibly better than naming a child after a bottle of plonk, e.g chardonnay or a state, e.g brooklyn or similar

choufleur · 20/08/2009 21:50

yes just realise brooklyn isn't a state but you know what i mean (i drunk too much chardonnay)

Wonderstuff · 20/08/2009 22:00

The child will spend their whole life telling people how to spell/pronounce it. I have an unusual (but not made up) name and people always mishear it and substitue it with a more familiar name so I have to correct them all the time.
'That's unusual how did your parents choose that?'
'They just made it up'
'oh'
Made up spellings must get annoying, 'no actually I spell my name like this' thing.

Scorpette · 21/08/2009 00:37

I genuinely heard a woman shouting 'Chardonnay! Come here, Chardonnay' to her DD in a bookshop last year. Nice.

My brother has a Dutch friend with a made-up name that basically means 'Yahoo' in Dutch. She loves it, so who knows what the kid will think. Finty is far nicer than Chardonnay, Brooklyn or Yahoo!

lljkk · 21/08/2009 09:46

But is Chardonnay made up? I mean, it's not that original to call your child after a bottle of wine, is it?
I agree in disliking made-up names that just plain sound awful (like Loutom for the child of Louise and Tom, or Nippetydoodah just because parents like it). However, some names sound very 'made-up' but are still nice to hear, I reckon.

TheLadyEvenstar · 21/08/2009 10:08

I know someone who called their son Bailey....because it is her favourite drink

Nancy66 · 21/08/2009 10:11

People can call their kids what they like but made up names tend to be naff and, yep that word again, a bit 'chavvy.'

I think (unfairly or not) they brand children from the off.

MamaLazarou · 21/08/2009 18:13

I never had things with my name on, either. it is not an unusual name, just not the most popular spelling. Who cares? It never bothered me.

Nice made-up names are hard to come by, IMO. They are usually very stupid-sounding.

slowreadingprogress · 21/08/2009 18:23

agree with MamaL - my dislike of them is always based on two things 1) never come across a made up name that was actually pretty or attractive and 2) the only people locally to me who do this are the chavvy ones so it becomes an association.

MaggieBeauLeo · 21/08/2009 18:23

It depends what you're after I guess... an underused but well established name was what I was after. I thought it was the sensible way to name a child. Not that there's an absolute set of rules.

You can call your child westcoastcooler-rosé and they might end up being president. I mean barack obama's name is quite strange....

abra1d · 21/08/2009 18:25

Made-up names have no meaning, no link with anything. They seem a bit vacuous.

MaggieBeauLeo · 21/08/2009 18:26

I never had stuff with my name on it when I was a child either, as my name is popular amongst an older demographic. Although when I go to places like Winchester Cathedral (rare tbh) suddenly I can get pens and mugs and tea towels (oh phew with my name)

thatsnotmybelly · 21/08/2009 18:30

My daughter's name is not a made up word, but it's not usually used as a name. We are shameless old hippies and it suits our family and more importantly her. It is a beautiful name and she can carry it off, and if she decides to change it that will be absolutely fine. Lots of cultures have individuals change names at various points in their lives.

I, on the other hand, am called something like Emma or Sara. I find it a pain to have to explain who I am all the time. Everyone knows at least twelvty thousand people with my name so whenever I phone anyone I have to be "Emma, DH's wife" or "Emma, DD's mum" or "Emma, X's secretary" even when speaking to people I call all the time. I am "Emma, DH's wife" when I call my inlaws fgs!

DD, on the other hand will be "Hello, it's Magenta-Pythonella here" and EVERYONE will know who they are talking to .

thatsnotmybelly · 21/08/2009 18:32

Condaleeza Rice. Made up name. Never held her back.

abra1d · 21/08/2009 23:12

I don't like Condie's name. I think it's a 'version' of a musical name (she is a good pianist) but I still raise my eyebrows at it. Actually, I do like her, though.

edam · 21/08/2009 23:17

C Rice is an exception to pretty much everything, though. Name another person with a made-up name who holds a position of real power! (As opposed to being a Z-list celebrity or offspring of celebrity.)

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