Unusual names

[Bibiboo]

I'm thinking of some unusual names for baby and can't decide whether it would be a blessing (being individual) or a curse (forever having to repeat it/spell it)? Any advice/experience y ou gals can give me?

My name is Welsh so isn't all that common outside Wales, but there were 3 of us in my class at Secondary school and we were referred to as name B, nameT and nameL (or Brown, Thomas and Lloyd) which wasn't all that nice.

arys is my all time fave girls welsh name - Bethan is also nice??

a blessing I think.Really wanted to call my ds Elvis but dp objected and he's called Jesse which I also like.there are no others in his school but I still think seeing how he has turned out Elvis would have suited him

Sorry Carys!!

Twinkie, Bethan is lovely, but I can hardly call my baby after myself can I? hahaha.
Carys is gorgeous too, but DH doesn't Agree

Do you have any particular names in mind?

My son's name is fairly unusual but at least it's short so when people say 'what?' it only takes 2 seconds to spell it. I'd say go for unusual if you want to. A girl ds used to go to school with was called Alessandria and her mum told me she regretted it (the girl was 5 at the time) because no-one could ever spell it or pronounce it properly first time round.

The lady who lives opposite me has a baby girl called Anya and i am seriously considering it on my list for girls! Sounds gorgeous!

My fave is a Japanese name Aiko (eye-koh) meaning "little beloved" or something similar, or Gruffydd for a boy. But there are many more ...

i like welsh names but having protested for soooooo long that despite living in wales for 10 years i'm not welsh i can't really do it!

i like Geraint for a boy (but knew a Gerant at uni who name no one could say so was called Garry) and Rhian Rhiannon or Rhianna for a girl

Quite like Aiko actually

Gruffydd - how do you pronounce that. Have to say it looks a bit like gruffalo (sorry)

Grufydd is pronounced

griff - i(as in igloo) - th (long sounding as in THis, not THink)IYKWIM

griff i th

I have an usual name (was much more unusual when I was a child, now quite trendy and climbing the name charts) and I was a bit dubious as a child but grew to love it.

Glad it's all positive so far Off home now to impart positive vibes from other Mumsnetters onto DH who is a bit sceptical.

I love Rhiannon too. But only for a girl

I have a very unusual name made up of 2 more usual names. I hated it growing up and even now hate the way people will shorten it without even asking me what I would like to be called. But I think common or unusual everyone hates their name anyway.

I think they all sound like great names. I have a normal name but with an odd spelling, and now have an italian surname to go with it so am forever spelling both... but so what. I guess in the end you can't predict how your child will react. when they're older they can change it if it really bothers them. Go with what you like. Maybe if you're worried, give them a boring middle name so they can use that instead if they want...

I have an unusual name as its italian and most people cant pronounce/spell it properly.

Add to that an italian name which also does cause problems with spelling, and you can imagine I treid to find a anme for dd, which was italian but also easy to pronounce/spell.

I think when they grow up it's not so much of a problem, but beware of bullying problems at school. I'd hate to give my children names wchich will cause them problems, even if I know it will only be for a short time in their life

An unusual name with a bit of a story to it is a nice thing - sort of an automatic ice-breaker. I suppose one could get tired of saying where your baby's name comes from, but personally (ds's name v unusual) I don't - quite enjoy it really.

Someone ought to talk to all these celeb's about the teasing thing at school.....
What are some of them thinking????

My name isn't unusual but it has several different spellings which was always an annoyance when I was growing up. Happily I can now say that this doesn't bother me much but my married surname gets mispronounced and misspelt all the time!

I think it's a blessing. People are more likely to remember you, and that could be an advantage in years to come. Mind you, unusual names have a habit of becoming popular v quickly. When we named dd1 her name was v rarely heard, and she is 12. Now it's in the top 30! Don't think dd2 will ever get there though. Ds1's name has done the same thing, but not ds2's.

Not started to seriously think about names but would like something different/unusual.

With my (married) surname it is not pronounced the way it is spelt, and not spelt the the usual way either. I am use to automatically spelling it out, but one of the advantages is that our webpage/email account has just our surname as outside the family there are very few people in the whole of the UK with the same surname.

I don't like my first name so use middle name - which I am going to ensure our child has just incase he/he does not like our first choice

I really like Welsh boy's names, much more unusual than the very few English names I like! Ds, my father and I all have Welsh names; spelling can be a pain but I'd rather have my name spelt this way than the alternative.
People always ask why our first names are Welsh and our surname Scottish, as if we are the first family with an ancestor who moved... Oh, and everyone comments on ds having my surname, not dh's, but it is quite unusual so I don't mind explaining (dh's choice).

Both my names are unusual in this country, and despite constant annoyance at people who spell them wrong, I love it really. Go for it!

I think you appreciate an unusual name more as you get older. My middle name (Gabrielle) is not exactly unusual but was rare - not now. But I got so much stick for it at school and even had teachers mispronouncing it as Gabriel (which they should have known better about since it was a Catholic school) But now I love it!