Names with stigmas, would you use them?

[Curly]

I think Azaria is a beautiful name but I still relate it very strongly to the Chamberlain case and no, I wouldn't use it for that reason. But I'm in my 30s so I remember the case and the press coverage quite vividly.

I have a somewhat similar issue - I wouldn't say stigma though - in that if my next baby is a boy DH and I want to name him Heath. Heath is a name I have liked for over 15 years...way before Heath Ledger was well-known. I don't like the idea of people thinking we have named our son after Heath Ledger, fine actor that he was regardless. But I love the name and have loved it for so long that I feel I can put up with (and ignore) the "oh like Heath Ledger" comments.

[{sarah}]

You know what Curly, I was expecting to get Romeo & Juliet comments from every man & his dog, but in the last 16 months I've had two comments from random shop staff, so you may get away with it

[Erin_25]

My DH name is Heath & he never gets that, if anything he gets people say "sorry, was the Pete, oh Keith" grrrr it annoys him sooo much. It's like no one has ever heard of the name before.

[Astrid]

If you want to use the name, then use it. I would just suggest that you avoid a central Australian holiday till bubs is much older

[{sarah}]

Astrid, we'd probably have to avoid friends of ours too, they have two dingos as pets

[Pandora]

There was an Adolfus at my high school.
I like Vlad but DH said no
Azaria is a nice name, I thought of the Australian idol guy first. Or was it big brother? someone on a reality show

[AngelPunks]

I've got friends with sons named Rudolf (think Nazi identity and yes the child was named after the Nazi identity) and Vlad (after their ancestor - yep they're related to *that* Vlad)

I love Azaria as a name.

[Glamourcide]

...I feel I can put up with (and ignore) the "oh like Heath Ledger" comments.

FWIW, I think people don't necessarily think you've deliberately named your child after x celebrity - I figure when people say, 'Oh, like Heath Ledger', 'Oh, like Farrah Fawcett', 'Oh yeah, like that guy off *insert TV show*' they're just trying to get a handle on a name that they find unusual... (sorry, I'm not making any sense)... As in, they're not familiar with the name so they try to attach it to a famous person to get their head around the spelling and pronunciation, if you get what I mean?
Like if I was going to say to someone, 'Oh, like Heath Ledger' I don't actually mean 'So you named your kid after that hot guy from that movie', I mean 'So it's Heath, like H-E-A-T-H, gotcha', kwim?

Arrg. It's too early for making sense - I guess what I'm saying is don't take it personally if people always attach your child's name to a famous person's... I think in most cases they're just trying to be clear on a name that is less common