Do you say something if you don't like a person's proposed baby name?

[Buddleja]

If an expectant friend or family member or even a random stranger told you the name they were planning on giving their future off spring and you thought would you say anything or would you simply nod and say 'oh that's nice' disingenuous as that might be?

I would never comment negatively. Tact is in order.

I say "oh really, is there a story behind that?" and make interested noises. I would never ever say I disliked a name, even if I hated it. Otoh, if I do like or really love a name I am usually completely ott enthusiastic about it.

Depends on the relationship.
For a close relative who had chosen a truely awful name or a name that might cause ridicule I probably would tactfully say something. My relatives certainly expressed themselves on the subject of my LOs names.

Everyone else - no. It is a highly personal thing I would butt out.

I would scream, vomit and faint. Just to make it clear.

Stranger- yes, say "how lovely" (who cares really? and its just plain rude to say, God thats GROSS!)

Friend- if they are dead set, then, as above. If wavering, then say "do you have any alternatives in mind"? and pick the best.

Family- think its better to say "hmmm not sure" if its in a llist of possibilies or suggestons, but if very keen on the name and its a definite, then as above again. Its not gong to be your child, each to their own and best to avoid resentments.

no! never ever! unless it's something like the John Doe one the other day.
and i wouldn't say i didn't like it, jsut something like "oh, i;'m sure that's what they call unidentified people isn't it?"

but no, just because something isn't to your taste doesn't give you the right to say anything mean about it.

jsut smile and say "how lovely"

Well, I haven't really come across this in RL. I think most people don't like to spoil the surprise. If it was a matter of a connotation they might not have thought of (eg Peter Sutcliffe), I might say something.

If it was just a matter of taste eg Barnaby, I wouldn't.

That is what MN is for

I would keep quiet and make faint gagging noises and gesticulate with my fingers down their throat when their back is turned.

You are clearly me thisisyesterday

Hiya Hully - left Mr Rochester twirling have ya ?

I think it's none of your business unless there are very good reasons - see recent thread about couple wanting to call their baby John Doe.

It's the reason we always kept quiet about baby names. I didn't want to hear people's opinions.

I wouldn't be overtly critical. I would avoid giving an opinion if I didn't like the name.

I wouldn't want to hurt their feelings. I might just make some other suggestions with the wording of, "Oh, I've always loved Kit. Have you thought of that?"

jamie - Mr Rochester is having a sit down.

No never ever.

Not even if it was Princess Tammani herself.

People dont tell you for a negative opinion. If they have chosen it they already like it.

I have had a fair bit of and at my DC's names. Do complete strangers honestly think I am going to change my child's name because they dont like it?

I suppose the only exception would be if there was a really obvious that they hadnt noticed. Like if someone was married to a Mr King and they wanted to call their PFB Wayne.

I would probably feel duty bound to point that out.

Yep I think something like Wayne King is resonable

For the record I don't and my nephew's name still make ms 8 years on!!

A woman I know had a baby last week and told me the name when I saw her on Tuesday.

It is, in my opinion, cheesy given how close were are to Christmas, boring and old lady-ish too.

But I said " Oh, how lovely" - cause it's none of my business. She obviously likes it and it leaves the good names for my daughter

A couple of my friends were openly critical of DS name, one thinking I was joking to put them off the scent of what we were really going to choose cause we had DS due at the same time. Another friend who is usually very lovely and tactful snorted with laughter when I told her the boys name we liked when DD was due, then thought it was hilarious when I found out DS was a boy. 'Oh great! You can call him ' Which we did. I tease her about it now. And she says she's got used to it but I think she always says it with a snigger in her head!!

I wouldn't because everyone's taste is different. It's got nothing to do with me what someone calls their child.

I would gently point it out though if it was someone I was close to and I felt there was something really bad they might have missed (like the John Doe thing.)

Although...
I did almost get punched when I was 18 and in a nightclub cos this woman was shouting in the toilets about her new baby who was called Jack with the surname Daniels. And me and my friend sniggered

In real life? God no.

In real life - certainly not. I would smile politely and nod and say 'how lovely'.

My colleagues, OTOH, screeched with laughter when I told them some of my baby name ideas, and said, "You can't call a kid that! Poor child!".

(I don't care - they say things like 'coloured' and 'spastic' and laugh at disabled people, so I am glad not to have their approval)

no, unless it's a close friend and they ask your honest opinion on a few names BEFORE they've decided, and even then, I would say I wasn't keen and not 'oh my god no that's hideous'

No, unless it was really dreadful (such as John Doe) and only if a good friend.

MamaL
I would go out of my way to find a name that your colleagues hate if I were you. They sound horrible.

I'd never say anything unless I thought there was something about the name they didn't realise - like the John Doe thing a couple of days ago.

Sometimes I have felt like saying something- and then changed my mind completely once the child was born and we all started getting used to the name. I nearly fainted the first time I saw an Oscar announced in the birth columns- and now they're all over the place. Still not my favourite name, but you can hardly say that it's a name that would ruin somebody's life.