Babies being given unusual names.

I have never felt that my given name is me. I know that sounds strange, but I could never properly relate to it. It is not an unpleasant name, but it was as if it was someone else's name, not really mine!

For most of my adult life, until relatively recently (when email addresses suddenly revealed my given name), I usually went by a slighty different version that my OH had always used for some reason.

Then I learned that my mum had being going to call me 'Karen' until the midwife who delivered me made a disparaging remark about it, and suggested the name that I was then given.

I can honestly say that when I found that out, I felt like I had found out who I really was and what my name should have been.

But that was before I learned how that name now being abused used!

So common names are given by timid parents are they? Try telling that to an Adam who was named a few months before Adam Ant hit the charts ?
And I once had a class with a quarter of the boys named Harry. Blame JK Rowling. ?

*grannyactivist^ One grandchild has a French name that sounds okay, unless it’s said by someone who’s not French

There is a name that I love when pronounced the French way, but not in English..
I wonder if it is the same name. I don't suppose it begins with 'Ag', does it?

Just smiling as recently son 1 and I were discussing his name and I did remark that, had he been a girl, the name would have been given to her. He laughed that off declaring it was 'positively masculine'. Oh aye.......

I've never liked my name. It was quite popular in 1900, but has dropped out of the top 1000 girls names. I was named after a sister of my grandfather who died earlier in the year I was born.
I gave my daughter a name I thought had not been used for about a century but when she started school there were two others.

I was one of five in primary school with the same first name (which I dislike to this day!).

My sister had an unusual name. Quite simple, spelt as pronounced, but she got so many other versions of it she started telling people her name and spelling it (it only had 6 letters, until, she said, the felt the spelling was becoming part of her name.

Then someone with her first name hit the headlines and all her problems vanished!

I still like the names we chose for our children, and more to the point, so do they. They’re all uncommon, but not weirdly so.

Our grandchildren have interesting names for the most part. The Bishop who confirmed me was named for a very old-fashioned saint and our youngest grandson now shares the name. I love it, the name really suits him. Our NZ granddaughter has two very classical names (one is Shakespearean) and our youngest granddaughter was given the middle names of both great-grandmothers. One grandchild has a French name that sounds okay, unless it’s said by someone who’s not French - but the middle name is super.

We deliberately named our children so that they had a choice of whether to use a shortened version (which we used when they were small) or the full, more formal one as adults. So far, they have both stuck with the shorter names, but they know that they have the choice to change if they want to.

I have spent my whole life spelling my name - and it's not even unusual! Consequently all three of my children have names which they don't have to explain/spell.

My maiden name was difficult both to spell and to pronounce. If I gave my name I automatically spelt it out as well. The first name I’m known by is easier, but one of my first names is Katherine, and you would not believe how many ways there are of spelling that apparently ordinary name!

My great-niece has the difficult surname, and her first name is a sweet old-fashioned name but spelt very oddly. Poor child, a lifetime of explaining the spelling lies ahead.

My sons have traditional but relatively unusual names, not hard to spell but distinctive. One of the names is a great deal more popular now than it was when he was born 50 years ago. I think we started a trend!

I have two friends with unusual names. One of them loves the fact that it always made her stand out, the other one hates her name for the same reason. She didn’t like being conspicuous

I was determined that my children should have names that could not be abbreviated as I dislike the use of nicknames and shortened versions. Their surname was unusual enough and needed spelling!

But they all still acquired nicknames anyway!

One of my friends was named Tamara Knight.I don't think her parents had said it aloud.

My 3 daughters have don’t have particularly unusual names but all three often have have to spell them out as there are different ways to spell them.

Hetty58

Elusivebutterfly, because popular names are 'safe', reliable, uncontroversial - parents with little imagination?

Thanks for denigrating a huge number of the population. Still rather our ˋordinary nameś than calling a child a name they may well be embarrassed about as they grow older and see how ridiculous it sounds,
www.babygaga.com/20-baby-names-that-should-be-illegal/

2 of my sons have shortened their name, and 2 could not, but rest of family made it longer instead, putting 'y' on end.and it annoys one, but doesnt bother youngest! Same with my girls, they get called shortened or nick name variants of their names.Shame really, as they're not unusual ones, and nice names.

And what is 'normal' somewhere, may not be 'normal' at all depending where they might decide to live later. We chose names that would fit in several languages and in most places. What is 'normal' or 'unsusual'.'

My maiden surname is not common, outside of Scotland, and people found it difficult to spell and pronounce. My first name is straightforward but definitely of it’s time.

Yes Hettymy mistake definitely not bringing personnel into it, lazy typing, just hit predictive text.
I still think a name is personal choice and we should not be put of by whether it is unusual or popular.

There’s also the surname to take into account....Eileen Dover, Miles Standing etc.

Both my sons were given just one name and that name was unusual at the time and still unusual today. Neither had any issues with their name. We gave them names we both liked and didn't consider what anyone else would think.

When naming our children we tried to give them names which would suit them at whatever age they were.
A lot of names suit cute young children but may sound daft on an older person, and extremely daft on an elderly person.?

One of my daughters has an unusual name which is not difficult to spell. It’s amazing how many different ways people have a go at spelling it. It is spelt just like it sounds so I don’t see the problem they obviously have with it ?

rafichagran, I think you mean personal (hoping HR aren't involved) and that's my point. It's a shame when there's a sudden rash of popular names, everyone copying. I think it was all Alexanders when my sons were small.

My second husband got the ghastly name of the main character in the book his mum was reading at the time (that's how much thought went into it) so always used his middle name!

Talking about names, i gave my daughter the name of her paternal great grand mother. Years later and to this day i wish i had given her a more interesting name.