Baby Name has caused a rift

2 of our DGC are adopted and have unusual names. We quickly got used to the names and love them very much!

geekesse One of my Greatgrandmothers was Hepzibah. I don’t think I have heard it mentioned outside the family before

There are some weird names out there for sure.
But after all that`s all they are and i do wonder if the parents ever regret giving their child an outlandish name.
I suppose when the child becomes an adult they can change it.
If i were called summer/sky/pixey i would for sure change it.

We took our parents' views into consideration when naming our babies. We also made sure that the names wouldn't make any problems in later life for them. And we had two different cultures to take into account as well.

Two of my DGC have names that sound odd to English ears, and have unpleasant connotations, but I've never said anything to them. Nor has anyone else in my family.

I feel sorry for OP as she obviously regrets what she did - it is difficult to suppress a reaction but impossible to take the words back.

We have a Gd called River known as Rivs. Think it's a terrible name but say nothing as it's their choice. Hope she changes it when she's older

Yes, im not overly keen on my new GD name, but i know it will probably get shortened by her parents/siblings in the end, or if not if i say it enough im sure it'll grow on me...?

I always hold with idea that when they do arrive a child usually does look like its given name, but im not sure my GD does?

I have four grandchildren. Two of them were given names I didn't particularly like at first, yet I bit my tongue like I was supposed to. Years later, I have come to love those names because they are the names of my beloved GC.

If you have heard of the name before and can pronounce and spell it, just be happy. Living in a cosmopolitan area, many of my DGC friends and classmates have names that I have never heard of and struggle to pronounce. The children think it's funny that I don't always know if they are talking about a boy or a girl.

One of my Greatgrandmothers was Hepzibah. I don’t think I have heard it mentioned outside the family before
My great great aunt was Hepzibah, Tweedle

I rather like Hepzibah.

There is a problem with naming a child by what she/ he looks like as a baby surely.

Naming is such a tricky decision and there are too many people to please. Parents tend to follow fashion even if subconsciously.

So many girlfriends/ partners of my sons have had Austenesque names. Seem to have been popular around 1980.

When I went to school we were surrounded by Linda, Janet, Pamela, Margaret and so on.

Ten years ago we had First World War names. Henry Edmund etc.

Now its geographical or biological names. Skye, River, Storm etc.

We must live and let live and wince inside our own heads maybe.

I have met a Skye but she must be nearly 60 now.
I also knew a dog called Skye (obviously as she was a Skye terrier).

I also know a Zimbabwean family who have a son named Innocent - Inni for short. I love it!

I think Skye is lovely.
There was a boy of that name that my girl knew, but I thought it more fitting for a girl.

sazz1

We have a Gd called River known as Rivs. Think it's a terrible name but say nothing as it's their choice. Hope she changes it when she's older

I actually don’t think River is too bad. I think it is one of those names which grow on you and seems to be a pretty popular choice at the moment.

I’ve heard much, much worse.

I was a school secretary for a number of years so I have seen some very unusual names and even more unusual spellings. I would always recommend a name that people can spell. One little boy when asked his name always said ‘Kristopher with a K’. I suspect he’ll be saying that for the rest of his life.

Could the dog name have been Toby? That was our dog's name when I was a child.

Two of our GC have 'different' christian names, their parents wanted something unusual that couldn't be shortened. One name I always thought of as a dog's name. The other describes a red-coated animal with a white tipped bushy tail, but with an different spelling . It took us a while to get used to it but I really like it now. And if they don't like their first names as they grow up they have more ordinary middle names to choose from.

Our family have a history of disliking their given names and choosing to be called something else. It makes tracing the family history very difficult sometimes.

I have always like old names (Victorian, Dickensian, biblical) so two of our sons have biblical names (not fashionable at the time), and the other a longer ordinary name. Unfortunately the longer name when shortened together with our surname has unfortunate connotations ! Something we didn't forsee at the time. But our son has survived all the teasing at school and is probably a little tougher because of it.

Children grow up with their names and don't consider them unusual until someone comments on it. But I do wish parents would think carefully before opting for an alternative spelling,. Having your name constantly misspelled or having to spell it out for other people can get very tiresome.

George Foreman the boxer named all his 5 sons, George.
he said it was easier to remember when calling them.
actually i think it will be to their advantage grown up to have such a famous name, so it might have seemed unfair to limit that benefit to just one of them.
he also had 5 daughters, but only one is called georgetta.
freeda died aged 42.
he says he is most proud of his children, and that they are good parents. he wrote an interesting book on fatherhood.

None were named Grill, then?

That's quite famous too.

Which reminded me that Bear Grylls is actually called Michael Edward Grylls.

His sons are called Marmaduke Mickey Percy and Huckleberry Edward Jocelyne

Duke and Huck?
Or Mick and Ed

I was learning to drive around the time Brooklyn Beckham was born. My instructor's son's wife had just had a baby whom they named Paris for the same reason as the Beckhams as apparently that is where he was conceived. My driving instructor was less than impressed with the name but agreed with my sentiments when I commented that it was just as well that he was not conceived in Bolsover.

On being told by my neighbour her GD had been given the name Elsie, I blurted out "who on earth would give a dear little baby that horrible name". As it happens she has grown into an Elsie - not the most adorable little madam.

A French friend of mine was pleased with her baby's name. She said it would be suitable for her as a baby, as a child and as an adult. The baby was called Nelly.