Baby names

I have a grandson named Dexter - he's 16 and it's never been a problem and, in fact, he recently said how much he likes his name.

I do hope this post is light-hearted or a joke. Surely no mature adult would raise this non-issue and risk alienating a family member simply because they are spending too much time on a streaming show. Lot’s of people and fictional characters have lot’s of names. I’m sure plenty of people today have the names of bad people of the past. That’s life. Please do not project your fixation on tv characters onto your niece and her child.

Don’t create tension in your family over something so ridiculous. Not every opinion or thought that crosses our minds needs to be spoken. Enjoy your new family member. Be grateful for their health. Celebrate your niece’s entry into parenthood. That is all.

Haven't seen the programme ,but know of a Dexter .
I think that it means right handed or maybe dextrous .
Recently I asked a child minder what the little boy's name was .
Cain.
Not my first choice.

My late mother hated my daughter’s name so decided to use her middle name despite me telling her not to.
It took weeks and firm words from my father before she actually used the hated name though she used a shortened version .
She thought we should have gone down family tradition and called her a good Irish name…my father in law would have reacted the same to any Irish name.
Her name is quite a common name in England so that was neutral territory .

NotSpaghetti

Real and fiction.
Many have associations.
Admittedly calling one's son Adolf would not be good... not sure if it would be blocked in the UK, probably.
I seemto remember Cyanide was blocked.

My primary school had children from a war zone. I had Adolf in one of my classes. I thought I had misheard him, so asked him to spell it out in English. (His English was very good.)

We have a Dexter in our family and nobody thinks anything of it. It could be worse, they could have made up a name with a peculiar spelling which nobody could read and pronounce right.

I would keep out of it. The child can change his name when he is older, if he wants.
My kids wouldn’t have listened anyway!

Exactly

Well, if it is Dexter, that does have a strong association for me with a TV series serial killer. Probably because I've never known another Dexter in real life. Dexter is also a standard enough name that people will get over the association fast, if they even have it. Pretty soon the child will own the name and it will become associated with him alone in the family.

In the maternity ward, a Mum with a surname beginning with C wanted to call her baby Wendy. A nice name but not with a surname beginning with C. We all offered different names. I don't know what she chose in the end. Happy 62nd birthday Wendy.

I would say nothing, so many baddies with quite an ordinary name. Nothing wrong with Dexter, I remember in tv a couple named their twins Reggie and Ronnie,definitely wouldn't do that.

Tried to persuade Mr Hoare not to call his daughter Emma, without success

NP48 I would advise not to say anything. It’s a name they like, let them enjoy it.

In the TV show "Criminal Minds", which features a group of criminal profilers, the team leader and his wife are expecting a baby boy and trying to decide on a name for him. The team lead is discussing the situation with his mentor, and notes that many times when they would consider a name, he would automatically link it to a serial killer: Jeffrey (Dahmer), Henry (Lee Lucas), etc.

In the end, they named the baby Jack. It was not mentioned whether the team lead was automatically put in mind of the Ripper.

The sad reality is that there are a lot of people who do terrible things, and as a consequence, it is very possible that ANY name could have a negative connotation attached to it. A few examples:

Edmund (Kemper)
Edward (Gein)
Robert (Hansen)
John (Wayne Gacy)
Peter (Sutcliffe)
Aileen (Wuornos)
Elizabeth (Wettlaufer)
Jane (Toppan)
Dorothy (Dorothea Puente)

and so forth.

I heard a woman calling her young son Awesome when I was visiting the USA. I mentioned it to my own son and he said that the child is probably named Orson. 😂

Siptree

I was in Sainsburys earlier a woman had a toddler in trolley, he was trying to stand up. At the sound of "Saracen sit down!" I had turn quickly into the next aisle before I laughed out loud.

Fancy saddling a kid with that! I know of a Nevaeh (Heaven spelt backwards), Sansa (Game of Thrones?) and a Loki.

Having been a teacher I've come across lots of interesting name choices. I remember a quite challenging boy who was called Maverick! I also taught a boy called Gordon Bennett! Some parents clearly don't think what a child will have to put up with all their life!

I knew a number of Damiens when at school.
Only one since the film.

OP,

Serial killer series being streamed come and go.

Shall parents take that into account when naming their kids?

What is next? Movies? TV series? Books?

No, please do not say anything.

I was in Sainsburys earlier a woman had a toddler in trolley, he was trying to stand up. At the sound of "Saracen sit down!" I had turn quickly into the next aisle before I laughed out loud.

.

I could never understand how Liz Hurley could name her son Damien!!!
Thought maybe it was a reminder of her horrible ex.
.

Just leave them to it, it is their baby.

A young friend called her baby after one of Andrew (formerly prince) Gra daughters.
Lots of lovely names they could have named her but seemingly everyone she tells instantly says why ,her grandpa is a sex offender .
Sense and royalists are on a different planet ,but but her namesake has a princess as her mum…..lol

ah, you mean Dexter, there are many serial killers with many names; including, david, matthew, john, peter, etc, dont be silly

I too think you should say nothing.

I honestly do n ot think it possible to find any name that does not have some negative associations to someone or other.

If the series is still popular when the child starts school and this causes a problem, then the child can be called something else.