One very good reason why you should give your baby a really unusual name

[TheMysticMasseuse]

Because as you age people will fail to recognise your face but will alwys remember your wacky name. Just bumped into a univrrsity friend at an event, no way we would have recognised each other after all these years. But she saw my name on the list and scouted the room till she found my 20 year old self hidden behind wrinkles, grey hairs and dark circles under my eyes.

Good point .

And conversely, I have recently, through work, met about a dozen Steve's that I'm struggling to remember who is who...

exactly. even my teachers struggled to remember my name as it's so bleedin' common.

hence, the dc's have far more unusual names.

And trying to find a long lost friend on facebook whose name is very common... there are just so many....

I have a fairly unusual (but very beautiful ) and have always enjoyed it.

I was told you need to give a child a name that they can be:
as a baby
as an adult
as a granny
and one that will get them recognised on a job application form

I hope I managed it!

I get a LOT of friends requests on Facebook from people i went to school with, who I barely know/remember - Im convinced they just request me because i have an unusual name and they go 'oh yes, i remember her!'.

I dunno - I like that no-one in my class/year/school/county had my name. Not so sure I like having to spell it to everyone.

It was a bit of a burden as a child, but I'm OK with it now. I'm in London so there are "lots" of "unusual" names

Exactly OP.

That's why DD is named Candida Fortuna.

Good points, especially considering how many lovely names exist..

'Unusual' doesn't have to mean diffucult to spell or ugly, does it? It just means having a name that is as unique as possible.

The main BAD POINT is that everything about you on the internet is easily Google-able

Weirdly, I seemed to be the only person with my name on the internet until around 1999 and now I'm fairly un-traceable

Well, it's up to us how much information we share about ourselves on the web, isn't it?

I'm with morningpaper - my name is unique - as in, it's me - and me only. I don't like being so easily traceable and I have considered changing it on ocassion.

But unless you've got something to hide (), why on earth would you not want to be uniquely identifiable? That's the whole point of naming someone or something...

Um... because in the big, bad world you meet nasty men for example. Maybe you just don't want to be found. What would be wrong in my wanting to hide? What if I do have something in my past? Do you put your address and phone number on your facebook and make it visible to all users?

No one should give out their real name, address and phone number (or any other personal details) on the internet, whatever your name!

and a very good reason why not: anyone, any future employer, any authority, any company, any old boyfriends, any old enemies, will be able to find you very quickly via the net.

"Well, it's up to us how much information we share about ourselves on the web, isn't it?"

No -- as I found out recently on mn! worked out you'd have to have no landline, no gas or electric connection, no vote, no credit card etc etc.

"No one should give out their real name, address and phone number (or any other personal details) on the internet, whatever your name!"

It's there anyway, sorry to disabuse you of your misconception..

Good point- people remember you and you stand out career-wise, also unlikely to be confused with anyone famous or wannabe famous. I have a friend with a common first name who shares her whole name with a porn star..

Bad point- anything you have done or posted online even when a drunk 16 year old will be googleable forever, most sites can't be amended and you can't have it taken down... bit embarrassing when people say 'oh you said this (something about falling off tables) about this bar in (town) in (country) and posted that picture (not one youd want an employer or family member to ever see)!' meanwhile you try to protest it was not you, even when it so clearly was as you are the same age, have the same name and you used to live in the country in question.

argh

Also of course as probono states, all personal details, home address, anything is easily traceable online so it's best imo to have a name which could be you but could be at least 10 other people. Right, deed poll time

I have an unusual (but not too wacky) name and couldn't be happier with it.

People never forget me, it has indeed got me a job and weirdly I hear the following two comments a lot which always make me smile:

1. Oh, I've always wanted to meet a 'Hoping'

2. You look just like I imagined a 'Hoping' would look (but always said in a nice way )

The only bad point is the flip side of the fact that everyone remembers me; there have been drunken incidents that have become folklore - say no more.

FWIW, I have to spell my name every time I give it to anyone, but still wouldn't change it for the world.

"hidden behind wrinkles, grey hairs and dark circles under my eyes"

Just had to post that I have met MM in RL and she is gorgeous. Wrinkles? Dark circles? Where?

under all the makeup