Possibly risking offending some, but genuine question.

Yes, Jalima, hippy days

If one of them is Phoebe, Phoebes, I think it's a lovely name!

I really enjoyed this thread! When our daughter was born, my husband wanted to call her Cleopatra. (He is Greek) I managed to talk him out of it and she has a nice normal easy to spell name to go with our Greek surname, which nobody seems to be able to cope with. When she was about 18 months old, I heard her talking to herself and spelling her surname correctly as she had heard us spelling it so often on the phone! I was named after my two grandmothers and I was very fed-up all through my childhood, as I was the only one in my school with my Christian name and there was only one other girl with my middle name and she hated it too. They were both very old-fashioned names at the time, but now, they are totally in fashion and I feel very trendy!

Ditzy or not, I'm sure Daisy is great fun!!

I do know at least two Daisies and they are both very sweet and lovely.

We'd decided to call DD1 Daisy, until I mentioned it at work and it caused great hilarity. I must admit it doesn't go too well with our surname. When I told DD this she said she'd have loved to be called Daisy. Apparently our second choice makes her sound like a boring old maid., whereas you'd always want Daisy at the party.

Those names sound quite 'hippy Iam64.
Saffron anyone?

I like Daisy in particular.

However, for some reason unknown, I always expect a Daisy to be ditzy! Although she may not be.

I always have to spell ours too.
And my maiden name if required.

It's not just given names that often have to be spelt. I grew up having to spell my surname to most people as it was either missheard or misspelt. I hoped when I married it would be a Mr. Smith or Brown, no luck I'm still spelling my married surname 42 yrs later !

When I was in my teens and early twenties, I had friends and relations who called their babies Sunshine, Daisy, Daffodil, Moonbeam and other delights. Daisy is making a comeback, along with lots of other flower names, Iris being amongst my favourites.

I do sometimes look at the baby names thread on mumsnet and cringe at what some parents are planning to saddle their poor little baby with. Though there are often replies saying, please, for heaven's sake, don't....
Certain names do have certain connotations, though some will deny it with their last breath. I have heard more than once of reception teachers' hearts sinking when they see certain names on their new class list, since they know from experience what they are likely to expect...

Having said that, a relative who is anything but ill educated has just given a baby a very nice, traditional name, with a very alternative spelling. And we all thought immediately how that child is going to have to spell it out for the rest of its life.

We had a lovely cat caled Stanley, now i have a lovely grandson with the same name

I have finished the packet of chocolately biscuits lately.... have not bought any more lately....!

Hmm ...haven't had any chocolately ... thanks or the reminder Jalima

Krystle is one name that springs to mind.

Surnames can be a bigger problem. Many Russian immigrants are the beginning of the 20th century, and German refugees in the 1930s anglicised their names to render them less prey to bullying and racism. This practice makes tracing one's family rather difficult!
My father kept his surname intact, but no one could pronounce it and when I was at school I was teased and bullied about it but never wished my father had anglicised his name to fit in.

Still, I think that's a different issue. Sorry to wander off topic a bit!

chocolately - is that a new word?

I always think of that chocolately malt drink - Milo

My nephew's cat was called Milo - until their first baby came along, a boy, and they decided they liked the name so gave it to their son, and their cat has become 'cat'!!

Our cat was an RSPCA rescue cat - named ' Tiger' but such a wee scrap of a thing and no stripes when we first got her ...turns out she is a tabby after all, but you would never have known as she was just a matty grey all over. She was semi-ferrell when we got her and would scratch your hand to bits to get a treat held out to her. So, we thought ' savage tiger ' ... Lily Savage ... tiger-lily .... and Lily she is! A lot calmer these days . I do sometimes feel a wee bit of a blush coming on when I find myself telling someone about her and they say 'Oh that's my daughter / mum / sister's name'!

I worked with someone whose cat was called Colin. And recently on Facebook, someone had lost one called Roger. DS1 until recently had an aged moggy called Monkey.... I won't go into the reasons.

On the subject of names - whatever happened to good old names for dogs like Rover, Rex, Fido, Spot, Bruno, Lassie? Or Tiger, Misty, Ginger, Puss for cats?

Dogs (and cats) these days seems to have proper names that children may have.
eg Harriet, Poppy, Maisie, Beatrice, Bella, Max, Jack, Oscar, Sam

The naming of some children borders on cruelty. Life is hard enough wihout having to spell your name all the time and if you have a nice ordinary name you can go easier through life.
GIve your children classy names like Kate's mother did so that they can fit any role and it looks good on their degree certificate or on the heading of their business correspondence.
Give them a name they can grew old with. Some babies are named as if they will stay 6 months old.

In my case, Blinko`s game produces Lewne, I don`t think it`ll take off. If I use my middle name it comes out as Lewis, my father`s actual name.

My father was known to family, friends and colleagues as Jim. This was neither his first nor middle name. Nor was his name James. He is first name was actually Ernest. Blinko's game makes me Ernne the Unpronounceable or Jimne the Cricketing Sweep! Or Sweeping Cricket.

A friend's DH was from a Francophone country, their DD was Josiane. Frequently her teachers assumed Josie-Anne, so did I!
A Genny was often asked why she spelt her shortened name Iike that. She wasn't Jennifer but Genevieve or possibly Geneviève!

Well, not weel.