An odious woman!

We wanted our son, who is now 23, to have a traditional Norwegian middle name and so gave him the name Kai. Since then it's become very popular in the UK and is regarded in the same way as Chantelle, Charmaine etc. One of my daughter's, now 37, has a name that was chosen because of a biblical link, but then many years later was popularised by a character in East Enders and again is now regarded as a 'modern' name.
As for children's friends not being allowed to come and play because of their name...what on earth would the odious woman have made of my daughter's best friend at junior school; Nomolongelo?

I like Ralph shortened to Rafe .

The two most recent babies in our family (great nephew and niece) are George and Caitlin. George's big brother is Ralph which at first I thought rather old-blimp-ish, but it has grown on me.

I fell about laughing when I heard the name of my pal's boyfriend. I though it was so old fashioned...then I went on to marry him!

When I named my daughters I was avoiding association with kids I had taught and only knew adults with the names I eventually chose...as soon as I had named them the world as littered with other kids with the same names!

I know of recent babies named Stanley, Ivy, Mabel, Esme, Aggie, Bertie, Matilda,Vera & Sidney but no Jane, Susan, Ann, Linda or Mark, Paul, Steven or Peter!
I once taught a Japanese child whose parents, despite being advised differently , decided to give their child an English name to use at school! They chose Brian!!

Fashion is a funny thing!

Doesn't do herself any favours, does she? I noticed a distinct twinkle in her eye when Matthew Wright commented that this latest issue about names must be bringing in lots of media opportunties for her.

Yes, and still odious!

She's on the Wright Stuff discussing the name thing now.

I had to have a saint's name for my middle name too. Then another saint's name when I was confirmed.
I looked at the Wikipedia entries for Hopkins - she is even worse than I thought.

I had to have a saint's name for my middle name too. Then another saint's name when I was confirmed.
I looked at the Wikipedia entries for Hopkins - she is even worse than I thought.

Regarding saints - I remember reading about an English couple living in France who wanted their baby christening Peggy. The priest wouldn't have it as there's no St. Peggy. I have no idea why they didn't opt for the original name that Peggy comes from - Margaret. Anyway, in the end the priest compromised with 'Pere Guy'.

My mama was still a practising Catholic when both my sister and I were born. We were both baptised and both times (1945 and 1950), the priest objected to our names on the grounds that there were no saints with those names. My ma pointed out that "there is a first time for everything". Our second names, however, are perfectly saintly.

When I chose absentdaughter's name, my mother was horrified because "that's a name for old women", who, of course, must have been babies once. Not that it matters because she hated it and changed it legally once she became an adult.

Nothing odd about Josh. Remember the one that, according to the song, fought the battle of Jericho, back in biblical times? Ashley is probably from a surname, like Shirley. Jordie is probably an "updated" spelling of Geordie. Kurt is a perfectly respectable surname in Turkey and sometimes used as an abbreviation for the surname Curtis. And so on.

My favourite name is DancesWithWolves (Dan for short) . Good film too.

I love the name 'Kevin' it reminds me of great people.....I also like....Dave! Purple is my favourite colour.....dunnno!

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Hopkins - you really could not make this up.

Oh dear - I just found this thread and watched part of that video. I found it unbelievable! Of course some kids' names are nicer than others, but judging a child on their name???!!! What an awful woman - pity her poor kids.

It seems snobbery is alive and well, unless this is some sort of spoof. She really did seem to believe what she was saying though.

I gave my own lads normal names, but they played with all kinds of kids when they were growing up: let's see, there was Kurt, Jordie, Phee, Vu, Ashley, Josh....as well as your standard Michael and Paul etc. I never gave their friends' names a second thought.

Thank you Greatnan

This is fun - a glass of wine, sitting on the balcony under a shade, with the TV turned towards me so I can post in between rallies!

I do remember years ago that Sharon was one of those names that weren't posh. Then the Times did me thing about who got firsts at uni. The top name was of course Sharon. Kevin's was also not posh but the French thought it was chic.

Aka, it was kind of you to explain to Nonu what the thread is about! Did you think she couldn't work it out for herself?

No. I never expect anything. Jingle knows the rules about personal insults. I had to smile, though, because her comment made me think of that advert where the little girl tells the man on the phone 'You are a silly man'. I could just hear Jingle saying it!

Greatnan - you are not seriously expecting J08 to give an explanation?

AKA ,

Jingle, I don't mind your calling me a daft old trout, but could you tell me exactly how you come to that conclusion?

My sister is Canadian and some of the names in her family might raise a snooty eyebrow in the UK - there's a Sharon, a Kevin, a Trevor, an Eric and a Terry. Is she bovvered? of course not! The perception of names can vary from country to country - look at some of the US politicians for instance. Is Newt a name or a description of an inebriated politician??

Remember Johnny Cash and 'A boy named Sue'?
I am afraid some research, (I can't remember the provenance) found that teachers often pre-judge children on the strength of their names, and expect the Chantelles and Waynes and any child with a mis-spelt name to be trouble!
I think the name Sharon is biblical and I love the sound of it - what a pity it has been ridiculed.
Nine of my ten grandchildren have 'classic' names and I have learnt to like the tenth - Holly- which was chosen by my young son-in-law!

There was some interesting research into the names of children who ended up in trouble - oddly enough, Cecil and Marmaduke were up among the problem names - perhaps they were bullied or perhaps they had the kind of parents who would give such names to their boys.
Apparently, after the Emilys and Amys even older names are back in fashion - Mabel and Edith and Sybil were mentioned - even Agatha.