Is it wanky to change the name of your house??

[Bramshott]

Just that really! We've lived her nearly 10 years, never really liked the name, and have some old documents where it's referred to by another name (eg. imagine current name is Oaklands, and alternative name Oak House). So wish we'd known this and changed it when we moved in...

But wonder whether it looks really wanky to change the name now! I know that if I ask friends they'll say "change it" whilst secretly thinking we're really up ourselves so I need honest perspectives here!

Yes it is wanky. Sorry.

I'd change it. Might confuse the postman for a while but if the new name is nicer then I'd go for it

My mum did, she's not wanly at all. Her house was called 'dunwerkin' or some such pun when she bought it and she changed it to a more classy name. You have to do it officially so that the emergency services etc know where you are.

I would change it. If anyone asks, telling them you never liked the name of the house and found out it used to be called should pacify them. Not up yourself at all!

Not sure how much of a hassle it is to do mind you?

I think it depends what you call it! We had a house near us go from something basic like Ashlea/oakfields etc to bloody Carpe Diem. Now that's wanky

Were considering giving out house a name. Dh thinks we should call it rose cottage because everywhere is called rose cottage. It has no roses and is not a cottage

Rose cottage was a euphemism for the morgue in a hospital where I used to work...

I think in those circumstances, where it's a previously used name, it's fine.
When I was a kid, we moved from a distinctive house with a name (let's say Wisteria Villa) to a normal suburban house with a number, and my mother insisted on calling it Wisteria Cottage. Now that was wanky.

I vote Geoffrey.
Never see houses called Geoffrey these days.

I LOVE Geoffrey! Great idea. Just imagine being asked your houses name and saying oh its erm Geoffrey

or Eric?
no not 'wanky' but could lead to confusion with PO etc

Brilliant idea! I want my house to be called Geoffrey .

OP I wouldn't think it was wanky if it was a similar name. Carpe Diem on the other hand...

If this were our house, I'd ditch the name and have a number. Couriers have a hard enough time with us, what with the "X Street"/ "X Close" problem; it takes the biscuit when they have to cruise up and down, looking for the house name!

I'm thinking Colin! I don't know why I'm drawn to Colin

You're going back to the houses original name, that's not wanky in the least. The wanky ones were the people who changed the houses name in the first place. My uncle once bought a house that was called "Britonia" by its owners, Brian and Antonia. Classy.

I too vote for more houses called Geoffrey. Great name.

Thanks for your replies - seems most are in favour of changing.

It's not the 'original' name as such, but another name it's been known by at one point.

Renter - no numbers here I'm afraid - too rural!

I wonder how long the post office are happy to use two names? It's easy to notify them, but presumably they still deliver post with the old name on for a while. Much easier if you do it when moving in. Our postman is "huffy" at the best of times!

We changed our house name back to the original. There was a big plaque on the front gatepost with "Geoffrey House" on it, then we took off some creeping ivy from the stonework and found it had originally just been called "Geoffrey" actually. Much less wanky.

obviously it isn't actually called Geoffrey but will now always be called that

Unless you live in some sort of mansion in the country, I tend to view house names like personalised number plates - unnecessary and a tad wanky.

In that spirit, we changed the name of our house back to '44'. Cos our neighbours are 42 and 46.

In our case running it's a town house, but in a street where lots of old gardens have been sold off for new houses. This has meant there are lots of 2, 2a, 2b, 3, 3f, 13, 13a etc going on. They don't always run in the expected order for some reason, so most people use the house name as well as the number. When we moved in first, we thought it wanky, till we had to chase an ambulance all over the street when they were coming to pick up my DM (blue light) and didn't know how the numbers worked. Using the house name too, solved that.

If you're changing it back to a name it previously had, then I think that's fine. Changing it to something new is a little on the wanky side. You do need to get any changes approved by the Royal Mail, though (I have no idea how you do that).

Have just seen Bramshott's rural reference.

In that case, it has to be a name you like. Go ahead and change it.

So where cars are traditionally seen as female am I to assume that houses are male? If so, mine is totally a Derek!

Agree with running. I knew a really pretentious couple whose house was called something terrible like Lilyput Lodge and insisted it be called that. It was a two up two down, Victorian cottage with an extension on the back!

at Casa Bevron

sheila - it's not wanky if there's a good reason.

In our case, a little semi in an ordinary street didn't need to be called anything but '44'.