Baby Name ? Controversial

[2021Mum]

I’ve just found out I’m expecting a baby girl. My partner and I plan on calling our little girl Rebel with the intention she will be Rebby for short after a very close friend. My family love the name and I was going to keep it a secret but my MIL found out my mum knew and pestered me to tell her. She hates the name (part of the reason I kind of didn’t want to tell her) and now I’m having second thoughts on a name we have loved for a long time. Is it such a bad name? She says people will just automatically assume ‘rebel’ as in troublemaker :(

A name does not change what occupation you will have in life
Interestingly it does seem to, look up nominative determinism.
I know a Rebecca who is Rebs, Rebby and Rebel to different people. Rebecca is a lovely name and would be striking and unusual these days, and is the actual name of the person you want to commemorate.
I don’t think Rebel is in the same class as Storm, though. Sonnet would be, for example.

People are saying, what if she’s quiet and shy, but what if she’s an argumentative, oppositional child?

I’m imagining it as my name, OP, and I’m not enjoying having to explain that, yes, I do have a cause...

Rebekah is a strong, and (these days) more unusual name.

@2bazookas

"Rebel" is a social label that a child or woman might find hard to live with. The fact is, you might call her REB but she'll be Rebel at school, on job applications, on every formal record. Endlessly having to explain it, hearing the same jokes a million times, being teased because either she is an unruly pain in the arse , or she's a shy pacifist who wants to run a yoga retreat.

     Don't lumber her.  If you want to call her Reb  or Rebby, make it short for Rebecca.</div></div>

Completely agree with this.

@2021Mum I don't think anyone should be telling you they hate the name, especially on here where we are strangers, a much nicer way of giving an opinion is to say I'm not a fan, I wouldn't use it, hate is a strong word and the equivalent of the question do I look fat being answered with yes you look like an overweight pig. I don't think some of these rude responses are justified.

I have an unusual name, everyone I meet says I've never met another person with that name, I love your name.

Its personal preference, there is a celebrity Rebel, Rebel Wilson, there are also lots of names where people only use the abbreviated version, Maximilian (Max) Tobias (Toby) Katherine (Kate) Izabella (Izzy), lots of these people are never called their full name, just the abbreviated version. So I would say if you really like Rebel, use it, she can/you can always just introduce her as Rebby.

@NameChange84

Better to be a rebel than a docile conformist.

But that’s the point isn’t it?

What if the child IS a docile conformist? Giving a child a name doesn’t dictate what the child is going to become.

An acquaintance of mine gave her daughter a very goth “alternative” name. She’s one right now and does not suit her name. Imagine that she’s called “Darkness” (that’s not far off, in fairness) but she’s got white blonde curls, huge blue eyes, rosy cheeks and the sunniest, sweetest, angelic and gentle little personality. But her Mum is determined she’s going to be an alternative, risqué, bolshy, loud mouth so as well as giving her an awful name, she’s dressing her baby in all dark clothing with satanic motifs, skull and crossbones on everything, edgy slogans etc. It’s really sickening to see. This poor child is never going to be allowed to be herself. And I’m not against alternative/goth culture - I was a goth. But it was my choice. Not my mother’s.

A child is not a statement. They are a person. And they have every right to be whoever they want to be. Rebel OR docile conformist. It’s better to allow the child’s personality to shine through before giving them adjectives as names. Why can’t rebel be a nickname IF the child is a rebel?

This. I know a Maverick who’s around nine now and was at DS’s old school. It was a pretty international, ethnically-diverse environment, so it wasn’t that his classmates were all called Harry, Oliver and Amelia, but Maverick was a meek, retiring little kid with a musician father who used to do the school run in eyeliner and a leopard skin coat. He was a nice man, but it was pretty plain he wanted to ‘style’ his child in a particular way, and wanted him to be an extrovert outlier (his World Book Day costumes were always wild — he was Cruella de Vil one year) when everything suggested little Maverick wanted nothing more than to blend into the crowd and disappear in the same Harry Potter costume seven other people were wearing.

I figured that as soon as he could he would do a Zowie Bowie.

I wouldn't want to nag I've my child a label. Being a rebel can be a giid or bad thing depending on the situation. And maybe she won't be a rebel. It's like calling your child Shy or Happy or something.

Rebecca / Rebekah Isabel is a clever suggestion.

Reba (ree-ba) would be an unusual alternative.

Nag?! I mean give. Darned thumbs

Rebecca is the way to go. I have an unusual name and do like it but it isnt such a weighted name.
One of my kids would love a name like rebel and pull it off the other one who is much moreof an introvert would hate it

@scissorspaperrock

I just thought I would point out that Rebel Wilson has a law degree....

Rebel Wilson's real first name is Melanie though. Like many actors she has a stage name.

I figured that as soon as he could he would do a Zowie Bowie

His name was always Duncan Zowie Jones.

@sherrystrull

Rebecca Isabel (rebel or rebbie for short) Gives lots of options in the future

This is an excellent option!

@scentedgeranium

I wouldn't want to nag I've my child a label. Being a rebel can be a giid or bad thing depending on the situation. And maybe she won't be a rebel. It's like calling your child Shy or Happy or something.

I actually know a woman named Happy. I always wonder if it caused her problems in life.

As others have said, perhaps use it as a middle name.

I like it. I think it'd have been a no, but the prominence of Rebel Wilson has turned it into a legitimate name.

On here you're unlikely to get a yes to anything that's not a fairly run of the mill moniker, in my experience. If you love it, go for it.

@GeorgiaGirl52

I LOVE IT! I think it is perfect. If you have a second daughter, I would suggest Dixie!

Are you being ironic?

Please don't do this to your baby/child/teen/adult daughter.

You will get used to it quickly and overlook the meaning, but everyone else she encounters will think that first, judge, or comment about it. For the rest of her life. Whether she loves the name or not (and the odds are 'not'), she'll be fighting a stereotype all the way.

If you must have it as a family no or 'in-joke', then Rebecca Isabel/Annabel/Clarabel/AnythingElseEndingInBel is a good compromise.

Honestly though....this sort of thing makes me see the point of the French list of approved names.

I think the main lesson here is don't tell people what you plan to call the baby until it's here.

I think it's fine tbh. I wouldn't blink an eye at meeting a little Rebel, though I'd assume that her parents were a bit out there. Having said that I live in one of those bits of London and know a little Hendrix, Bowie, Zephyr, Boudicca etc.

@2021Mum

Thanks all. Maybe I’ll need to have a bit more of a ponder on the name then! As a bit of context- I’m a doctor (not currently practicing) and my first name is Storm. My partner has a very normal name and I loved the fact growing up that my name was unusual, even more so in my job where everyone had very ‘normal’ names! I do really value everyone’s opinions though as sometimes my wackiness runs away with me- and maybe MIL is right this time (unfortunately!) 🤪

I love the name Storm.

I like rebel also.

@Nohomemadecandles

It is very try-hard. Not eccentric or unusual. Just tacky and silly. Like when Sarah called her baby Brittany before being convinced change it to Bethany in 80's Coronation St

Absolutley this!

It smacks of trying to 'aspire' to something, like calling you child Porsche or Britney or Royaltee.

It's a status-grab thing, which people who have status don't need to do...

I wouldn’t use it - Rebecca can easily have Rebs/Rebbie as a nickname if that’s important to you

[quote Lifeonmars12]@2021Mum Without trying to be mean I just told me partner about this thread and asked her what silly names she’d heard for kids recently and the first one out her mouth was “Storm”
Then I’ve just read your latest post 😂[/quote]
No need to be insulting to the OP now. Storm is a great name.

One of the major (and often overlooked) issues with these younique names is safety and privacy. OP has told us her first name and profession only but because it’s uncommon she’s very easy to find online. This might be fine for the OP who would have hit adulthood just as social media was really taking off but her child might not want to be so easily traceable.

The name itself is awful. I know a boy with a super cool edgy name - it still doesn’t suit him and he’s a teenager now.

Very unfair on the woman to be. She might be a conformist and hate the name or will feel obliged to live up to the name and ruin her own life. Names have meaning and power, I wouldn't saddle my child with a name like that that isn't of her own choosing.
Which is why people in my religion choose their own names when they grow up.

I've literally just looked on the GMC Register and there are NO Dr Storms.