Possibly risking offending some, but genuine question.

And what about the Australian baby who was to be called KVIIIy?

When I worked in a school we used to wait with bated breath for the annual school lists to see what amazing names came up. I have also got to say that the weirder the name the worse the behaviour in many cases. I think the best name was Nefferteetee and then there were the T'Shan, T'lise, TJ (not an abbreviation).

My DGS1 will start in reception in September. There will be three little boys all with the same forename.
Embellishing the spelling of that short name could be difficult. I expect teachers have long ago found ways of dealing with this.

Do you teachers know if the fad for two letter names is still going. BJ, PJ. etc etc.?

I appreciate that sometimes parents choose to spell names differently. Although sometimes they do not know how to spell the names either. Another problem I have come across in school is a girl called Leslie (male spelling) we were split site and I did not realise for a good while that the child was female.

My mother wanted me to be called Janet. My father objected, saying it made him think of Scots girls with red elbows.

Neither my brother or I are called by our first names. We each have three; he's called by his second, me by my third.

My parents later divorced; their children's names were not the only thing they disagreed on.

This has brought back so many memories. The longer I taught the harder it got to spell and pronounce the names. It was a nightmare. Kayleighs and Kylies and Kay Lees and. Kyleighs and Kylees. And every time a new celebrity or actor was in the news it would turn up a few years later- Kyannu, Keean, Keanoo, Keeannu
dread to think what has been added since!

My father wanted Prudence, Patience Charity or one of the virtues. Thank heavens he was away fighting the war! I could never have married my husband if I'd been named Charity.

I've got a case this week where a child is called Charon. Wasn't he the ferryman for the dead across the Styx. I believe he had a nice puppy with three heads called Cerebud (. Or was it fluffy?)

Having worked in "elderly" care in the past with beds filled with Annie, Mary, George and Bob, I can't wait to see them in sixty years time. All these little old ladies and gentlemen called Elli-Mae, D'jon, Tinkerbelle etc. What might fit a little child will surely not fit a grown adult. Or maybe we will all be used to it by then.

Like Galen I had a narrow escape when my parents named me. My father had been reading King Arthur and the Round Table to my older brother and when I was born asked my brother what name I should be given - he said Guinevere!! My father thought that would be a good unusual name -my mother, thankfully, put her foot down and refused.

One of my brothers was born on the anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar and my mother wanted to call him Horatio ... thankfully, my father steeped in there.

Worst apparently true life naming I have heard of was a child named Skyone, pronounced Sky-oney ...because ' She was conceived when we were watching Sky One'.

I once knew a child called Judas!

Talking of misspelled names - some fifteen or more years ago, someone was telling me how they had decided to call their child Kadie. That is how it sounded anyway, though I have to admit that I am not sure what the most common spelling of that name is. However, they wanted it to have a twist, so decided to spell it Cadé, in the mistaken belief that an e acute was pronounced i. As a result, anyone with even a smattering of French assumed it was pronounced Cadday (approximately).

I have never understood why someone would want to name a child 'Cain'. Biblical, yes, but he did murder his brother!

Also think of Carrie and Damien as 'creepy' names after the horror movies, but have family members (same family) with these names.

Here in France a mother and father were taken to Court and denied the use of their chosen name for their new daughter,,,,Nutella !!! (which, in case you haven't seen it, is a chocolate and hazel nut spread !)......Although modern names are creeping in, in years gone by most girls names began with Marie after the Virgin Mary ..as in Marie Claire, Marie Paul, etc et and boys were Jean ,,,Jean Marc, Jean Paul, etc ....most people I know have now dropped the Marie or the Jean and call themselves, as in my neighbours, Celine, Yvette, Annick, although most males still use the Jean pre name !Latest names in popularity seem to be Soanne, Claudie, and various versions ...saw one new born the other day with the name Freddie ! Not sure if maybe his parents were British !...my name defines me as having been born in the late 40's as there are so many of us about !

My eldest daughter's three little girls all have Welsh names, Seren, Carys and Efa. Not many others with the same names where they live. My youngest daughter has Amelia which I think is a very pretty name, just wondering what the new baby, due in January will be called.

GD has an Army or is it Armi in her class, not sure if it is made up or a foreign name as she does have Polish and Russian children in the class.

DGS is called Cain - unfortunately! Have to be very careful as his parents love the name... Fortunately he has the choice of two other names should he decide not to keep it.

Know of a French lady called Doreen - pronounced Doh rine... not very attractive. lots of Kevines in France after the "home Alone" star/film.

I am used to non-English names both within the family and having taught in inner London for many years so I do not think I am being xenophobic at all when thinking that some parents who choose to create names for their children do not think carefully enough about what it sounds like with Auntie or Uncle in front of the name. Though tbh we all get used to the names after a day or two!

grandMattie - I hope I did not offend! I think not many people of a younger generation would make / know the biblical connection. In itself, I think Cain is a lovely name - just the association which makes it feel tricky. I guess that is so for many, many names - we all have our reasons for preferences. I often hear teachers say it is very difficult to choose a name as they always conjure up a picture of other children and this has led to many 'once favourites' being abandonded!

I have a friend who was a registrar. He once had a couple who came to register the birth of their new daughter. Their chosen name was Chlamydia, because they thought it was different and pretty. He did ask them if they were sure that they wanted to go ahead, but they could see no reason to change it...

In a similar vein - Daughter is secondary school teacher and once had 8 boys called Mohammad in her class. All spelt differently!

'Lincon' and 'Jawgee' anyone?