General opinions on unusual names

[dannii87]

I think go for it, don't tell people the name until LO here.. they tend to keep their pesky opinion to themselves a bit more then They will know how to pronounce it because when you tell them the name.. they will hear it the only people I would have thought you'll have trouble with is businesses maybe, like call centres. but doubt thats something you will have to worry about and LO won't need to for a long time yet

i agree

Me too Go for it!! x

 

[kalia]

Are you or your OH Scandinavian? If so, great, go for it. If not I personally don't think you should. Everyone I know with very unusual names wishes they had an easier name. I have a fairly common name but it has 3 common spellings and I get fed up spelling it. I thought I gave my daughter a name that people would be able to spell but now I realise that's not the case and I wish I had chosen a different name for her. It winds me up that some people call her Gabriella by mistake.

I understand choosing a very unusual name for cultural reasons. I know several Mharis, I was at school with someone called Siobhan, there is a Gaelic immersion school here, I don't see why people shouldn't give their children traditional names if they feel strongly about it (though I wouldn't personally as I think it would be nicer to have a name that others could reliably spell and pronounce). So if you are Scandinavian and want to do this it makes sense.

But when you give a child a name that is written differently to the way it sounds in English you are sentencing them to forever explaining to people how to pronounce their name and they will always get cards with their name spelt incorrectly and have to spell their name for people all the time.

I hope this doesn't offend but you asked for opinions and this is mine.

 

[GBLiz]

When I tell people Anjali's name I get the impression they think its a made-up trying-to-be-different name its actually a traditional Indian name and she is half Indian (I agree with Kalia that it makes more sense to give a cultural name for a cultural reason)

I think Anjali will have to correct everyones pronunciation all her life a lot of people read it as Ann-JAR-lee when its actually pronounced like Angeline, but without the '-een'

I hope she doesnt end up hating her name because of that!

 

[Gem & Leland]

leland is a traditional anglo saxon name and people still dont know how to prenounce it , i hope it doesnt hate me when his older either so mant people call him leyland

its sounds like lee lund in my accent / quickly lol or lee land for anyone who wonderes and i know your out there

 

[handbagqueen]

i've got an unusual name- full name is Isabella but my dad shortened it to Isia when I was little. I don't remember having trouble with it when I was younger and I laugh at the different ways people say it now and don't usually correct people. I think its more interesting to have an unusual name. I'm planning on a slightly unusual name if I have a boy and a fairly different name if its a girl but won't tell anyone until baby is born so they can't make judgements. I say go for it also!

 

[fran_23]

unusual names are great- no offense to anybody but you know at school when you had like 2 sarahs in your class
or loads of christophers or whatever- no one in the whole school had the same name as me
i still onl know of 2 other Francescas..my names not that unusual but no one can be bothered to say it hence
me being nicknamed Fran, Franny, Frankie, or chesca!!

 

[daftscotslass]

I say go for it. We opted for a neutral name because what works in Dutch doesn't work in English and vice versa for a lot of the names we like. As for her surname (Vlot, pronounced flot), we're doomed. Since OH moved here he's been Mr Clot, Vlop, Clod, Flot

 

[Squiglet]

I'd go for it... I'm almost 100% sure that almost every one here pronounces lil miss' name Serena as ser-reeen-na as thats how its pronounced in English.... but its not... its pronounced ser-ren-a, as thats how Spaniards and Scandinavians pronounce it. (My DH is Finnish)... TBH, I have a fairly simple name but to Spaniards its ultra complicated and I am constantly having to correct people and spell out my whole name, even if I use my name Anne, the still call me Annie or Ana, if I use the name I normally do... Morag... well thats just hilarious. Drives me nuts at times, but thats just the way it is. Personally I am glad my girls don't have common names as while they maybe easy to pronounce, it is well known that people with unusual names tend to do better in their lives.

Call your baby whatever you want, but remember that names carry personality aspects. Tia is the embodiment of her name, Serena is of hers, I am of Morag... so be careful what you name them Like Zebrastripes said.. Vanity might sound nice... but do you really want your kid taking on those characteristics?

 

[beanie]

I adore unusual names, and especially names with a story behind them. Everyone always comments on my two's names. We have purposely gone for those with simple spellings as they have a polish surname and I thought that would be enough for them to learn to spell lol but even so we do get a lot of cards for them with different spellings. Seren gets called Serena (Sereena), Sharon, Serin, Seven (OH's nan lol) and Cally is always being called Kelly but thats the fun of unusual names. My name is Shona (I hated it when I was younger, wantedto be a Susie) and I love being one of the few Shona's people have met.

Squiglet I always thought it was Seren - a but then I have Seren so just added an a on the end lol

 

[moss]

We're Scottish and American. The Scottish have a lot of viking past, but we don't know enough about my husband's family to know if he's involved with that... It looks like it when you see a lot of his relatives, though. I'm a mix, as most Americans are, but my great grandmother was a Hagberg, which is Swedish... I know Swedish and I just happen to love Scandanavian names. I come from a country where everyone is rooted to loads of countries somewhere in their past, and I don't see the point in sticking to one name origin if the name is something you love. My name (Brooke) was uncommon growing up- I was the only one, but it's obviously easy to pronounce. No one spells it right, and no one ever gets my last name right, either (the Mack vs Mc thing), but it has never made me feel tormented. It does get a bit annoying to be asked if I'm named after Brooke Shields, who wasn't famous when I was born, but I appreciate not being one of ten people in my class with the same name... Yep, I think I'll go with the unusual name! The boy's name I have picked, Jacob, is far more common... I have several in my extended family. Oops!

 

[LisaJ1986]

I like unusual names. Angel isn't unusual but it certainly isn't common. Lots of people don't like it but i love it. It's the only name we could agree on. Not normal in my family to have uncommon names so i like it being different.

 

[Noor~ul~Usman]

Well it's gona depend on which side of our family you are as to whether you think it's weird or not

Farooq is a perfectly normal - but as far as I can tell not 'overly used' name (such as something else like Ali )
It's predominatly an asain name and also recognisably a Muslim name - makes sense..we're both Muslim and hubby and his entire side of the family are also asain
(handily my name is also asain origin even though I'm not )

However from my side of the family - where everyone bar my mum chose 'normal names' for their kids (Ben, James, Thomas etc) it will seem a bit odd. Thankfully it's fairly easy to spell and get your head around so they should manage Plus like I said...mum's already given me and my brother 'different' names for no other reason than she liked them

And to be honest I don't care if they do struggle because it's me and hubby that are raising the kids so they need to fit in with us...the direct family I can imagine having more problems calling our son something like 'Paul' considering the kind of lifestyle he's going to be raised in

*** ultimately if you really like a name and you honestly think it sounds nice when people say it then you should use it I wouldn't encourage odd names just for the sake of being 'trendy'...but if it means something to you that's fine.
I think the easier to pronounce the better though. I got by because my name, although slightly uncommon and definately not english, is easy to say and fairly easy to spell (although people still like to ask to make sure and I don't mind )

 

[KJ]

I have an unusual name and my whole life I have been forever spelling and pronouncing it to people. But.... I LOVE IT"!! And am sooo thankful to my parents for giving it to me. I wouldn't have liked a more normal name.

Yes, it's annoying when people can't get 3 simple syllables right, yes it's annoying having to spell and re-spell all the time. But it's got an amazing meaning, it's traditional cornish name, it sounds lovely, it's a great ice breaker and I wouldn't be without it.

In contrast my middle name is Jane (couldn't get more normal!), and I don't really like it. Mum said she was toying with Jane or Lee for my middle name. I wished she'd chosen Lee, but never mind.

Now I'm married to a Nigerian, I also have a very strange, difficult to pronounce last name. And I love that too!

I can't stand people who say that unusual names are a catalyst for bullying. I was never bullied becuase I'm bloomin proud of my name and everyone knows it! Obviously there is a line, which when crossed, names just become ridiculous and cruel, but most unusual names are nowhere near that!

We gave Asher the name because it was slightly unusual, sounds great and has an amazing meaning. He has a Nigerian middle name of Omale, which I also love. If we have a girl in the future we have a Nigerian first name and an English middle name picked out, both are lovely.

Someone I know actually implied that we were cruel using Nigerian names as we were setting our kids up for bullying in school! WTF!?! My children are and will always be half Nigerian and I want them to be proud of their heritage.

K.xx

 

[bunnymom1980]

Unusual names are definitely better. That's why we picked Alicia, it's not a weird name but it's not popular.