Baby names - do you like your grandchild's name?

Our survey, conducted in partnership with sister site Mumsnet, revealed that an astonishing one in five grandparents hates (or has hated) their grandchild's name. New research from Mumsnet released today also uncovered that there are now 13 'baby name tribes', which show the trends and patterns new parents have when choosing a baby name. From 'Flower power' to 'Old schoolers', you can find the full list of tribes here.

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Baby names

In our survey of 2,000 grandparents and parents, we looked at how involved grandparents were in the baby name decision-making process and whether they like their grandchildren's names.

69% of grandparents think that it's fine for grandparents to give their opinion on their grandchild's name, but that it’s not their place to give unsolicited suggestions. 38% of parents say that it's none of their business, while 31% of grandparents agree.
15% of parents admit that a parent or in-law dislikes their baby's name. 4% of grandparents say that they still have not accepted the name, even over time.
2% of grandparents say that they have fallen out with the parents over their baby name choice - 6% even say that they temporarily fell out of contact because of the disagreement.

After being told the name of their grandchild...

8% claimed they said they loved the name, when, in fact, they didn't at all.
9% simply just said: "What?"
4% were completely silent.

What were grandparents' objections to their grandchild's name?

The name was ugly (28%)
The name was too 'weird' (17%)
It was too old-fashioned (11%)
Annoyance that the parents wanted to use a family name related to the other grandparents (11%)
It reminded them of someone they dislike (11%)
Annoyance that the parents hadn't used the grandparents' suggested name (6%) or a family name (6%)
They disliked the spelling (6%)

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The top names hated by grandparents

Aurora
Charlotte
Elijah
Finn
Jack
Lindsay
Noah
Sally
Tabitha

Disagreements and avoidance

44% of grandparents said that the disagreement was with their daughter, 22% with their son, 17% with their daughter-in-law and only 6% with their son-in-law. In order to avoid using the hated name, 17% said they avoid mentioning the child's name when talking to other people about them, another 17% admit to using the child's name begrudgingly and 6% said they avoid saying the name at all. 39%, however, have found that they've come to terms with the name now that they've got used to it.

Mumsnet Founder Justine Roberts said: "Choosing a baby name is fraught enough for parents when you’re only taking into account your own views. If you add grandparents’ biases to the mix, it can become impossible, unless by some freakish chance you all agree that the baby has 'Cedric' written all over him.

"Parenthood is one long object lesson in not pleasing everyone. New parents should think of any naming tussles as preparation for coming battles over what constitutes an appropriate outdoor outfit, whether it’s alright to cut the cat's hair, and whether two hours is enough time to revise for a GCSE."

Baby names canva