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.

she is red

I like Iris too

I LOVE Stanley, Twinkie - has nice family links for me too. Gran's brother was caled Stanley and although he died decades beofre I was born, I heard millions of stories about "our Stan" when growing up and they were all good, so it's a winner in my book! And thank you for being the only other person who think Boo is a great name (although can see SpaceMonkeys point about their career when older).
Dinny, Bibi is a wonderful choice, love it myself, obviously!

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I used to have a friend called Stella and she was stunning...sigh

ggglimpopo, PMSL at the names of your BCBG family, I can't believe there are still people like that in France !!!

hi bibiboo; we're nowhere near to deciding on names this time around.

Angus, Archie, Oscar feature quite high. I love Stella, but DH won't have it because of the beer thing... finding girls names much harder to choose.

Stella reminds me of that famous stella and I can;t stand her - have friends in entertainment industry and they organised a party and alledgedly she was found in a compromising position in the loo with a large man!!

Oscar is a fave of mine but I know a little darling called Oscar and so couldn't use it!!

Mmmm...
I think that I may swing towards Iolo now after reading your reactions.
I like the way it looks written down, too.'Yollo' is the correct pronunciation, it isn't all that unusual in Welsh-speaking circles by the way.
There have been a few Iolos throughout Welsh history, incl. Iologoch, who waged war against the English alongside Owain Glyndwr in the 14th century, and Iolo Morgannwg, opium-fiend who established the Welsh Gorsedd.
illustruous!

My fave 'unusual' names...

Orla - I love this Irish name but our DD is called Ella so it's unlikely that we'll ever use it

Niamh - DH isn't so keen as he's convinced that the spelling/pronounciation will become a bind.

Nikita - Always liked it, although not keen on the shortening Nikki, I quite like 'kit' though.

Lola - Seems to be gaining in popularity, but DH doesn't like it.

Luca - Just love the way it sounds

A friend of mine recently had a baby and Ivor was on her list of names, it's a family name for them but for me it was a case of 'Oh right.... it's...um...unusual'. Friend ended up having a girl so Ivor got put back in the mix for the next baby (poor bugger!)

My personal favourite for a girl is Elsie - almost called dd that but 7 years ago it would have been really unusual - she is an Amelia which again was quite unusual then. She would have been Oscar is she was a boy. I have a friend with a Stanley and a Mabel. I also realy like Saul - toyed with that for ds but got talked out of it.

Just heard of a birth of a baby boy who is to be named Harland.

I worked with very beautiful and cool fashion editor called Byrony. Thing it's a pretty name.
Stanley is awfully trendy, so is Oscar.
Jamie Oliver's daughter is called Daisy Boo, and Shireen is Madonna's MIL's name. It's Persian, isn't it?
I think if you like a name and think it sounds pretty then it won't be unusual! It's just the way it goes. You can't help being affected by fashion. But if you think a name is hideous, it's usually just because it's out of fashion and hence unusual (Maureen, Trevor, Wilfred, Madge, Gladys)

I mean I think Bryony is a pretty name. I think the vast majority of people do. Amazed you hate it so much!

I always think of Shireen as rhyming slang for a part of the female anatomy as one of our local newsreaders is called Shereen Nanjiani. The rest of the team who used to be on the same programme could also be contenders ..

Gerry McNee
Jim White
Jim Delahunt (very rude)

its a pretty name if you are a girly girl i suppose but im not!!! the last time i wore a dress was on my wedding day 5 years ago!!!

I don't get that Pagan. Am I being stupid. It's Nickola's daughter's name because she is half Asian, I think.

I don't get it either!

Oh dear I'm going to have to spell it out now ....

Shereen Nanjiani - fa**y
Gerry McNee - pee
Jim Delahunt - that rude 'c'word
Jim White - sh*te

It's just what springs into my head when I hear the name Shereen even though I think it's a nice name

oh I see, I thought you meant something that rhymes with shireen

I went to school with a girl called Shireen, it's a pretty name

my little boy is called Eoin (pronounced owen) he gets called allsorts like ian and iron but i love it its apparently Irish for John if any irish folk can let me know it would be fab!!!!!!

I'd heard ofa lovely male Irish name (or Celtic) Oisin, pronounced ocean.

I have a name that is virtually unheard-of outside its country of origin. All my life people couldn't pronounce it, assumed it was a nickname, assumed it was a shortening of some other name (always boy's names, too). I have to spell it and they can't get that right either. I remember sitting on the loo at primary school, kicking the door in frustration and wishing I was called Jane.

That's the curse.

On the other hand, people always remember my name and I like being different (now!).

That's the blessing.

When balancing the blessing against the curse, I decided that my children would have fairly ordinary names!