I completely agree with Brontide... careful selection of wording can make your opinion less judgemental. Tact isn't really that hard is it? Like Nicambar said... it's surprising what grows on you when you know somebody with an unusual name. Also, like Bron said: her unusual name became popular... who knows what will be popular in 5/10/50/100 years time! The names John and Ann would have been deemed strange at some point in time.
It seems that name advice usually consists of suggesting how the child will feel if bestowed with an unusual name but parents should also be advised to give consideration to how they will feel if met with negative reactions to their choice. The more unusual the name, the more likely people will object to it. I don't think that most people will hear the negativity directly (this is an online forum and people are far more eager to offer views which would be withheld in real life) but it isn't nice to be amongst a group of parents and have people ask your child's name and whereas "that's lovely" or "I wanted that" is heard after earlier responses, to have you child's name met with silence can be hurtful and feel as though a personal attack has been made on your child.
I consider DD's name to be less used name rather than unusual but I am aware that it isn't popular with older people so I prepare myself for the reaction (or lack of it) when asked.
Most of us want the names we select to appreciated and not mocked. Only a small minority want the names to shock (didn't someone in the US name his child Adolf Hitler and complain when a bakery refused to make a cake with the name on it?) I think if you deliberately chose a name based on the amount of controversy it will create then perhaps you are being selfish and not thinking of the the child but I think that would be very rare. I think most unusual names are genuinely loved by the parents who bestow them and done so with the best of loving intentions, just as all parents do. I do wonder about celebrity children's names though. You might as well call the kids "Look at Me!"
The unusual ones I came across recently were Pixel (boy) and Qwerty (girl).
Last edited by India's Mum; September 15th, 2009 at 09:21 AM.
: Never like what I write when I read it back the first time.
A friend of mine works with a women who named her son Cash.
The only others I can think of are, Chole (someone) who is a model and is with an X NRL player (I think thats what he was anyways) have a son and his middle name is Danger (which my brother thinks is grea cuz he can say, 'Danger is my middle name'! MEN!!!).
Frank Zapper (who was a drugged up 1970's singer/ poet, what ever it is you want to call him) had Moon Unit, Dweezil and Ahmet Emuukha Rodan. Moon Unit went into the music industry at one stage and went by the name of Moon Zapper, which my mum thinks is great Dweezil toured Aust a year or two ago as he too is a musician.
A girl a work with has a son named Reef which isn't what you'd call weird, but she has 3 boys the first being William and the third being Ruban, so Reef is just so completely different!
wow. there are so many names out there. I do feel for the kids that end up with these rediculous names.. Some of the are quite nice but others are a little to be desired.. i cant think of any atm.. but i do know a couple, im sure.
pish- that is funny you say that about the model with the son middle name danger.
the couple who do have the son with the middle name danger is model/channel v host Chloe Maxwell and Titans player Matt Rogers.
my DP wanted our son to have the middle name Danger for the same reason so he could say "dangers my middle name" hence why i let him NOWHERE near the paperwork!
when i was in hospital having DS i met a lady who had just given birth to twins Zephyr and Jagger.
it just goes to show the different tastes in names
I wouldn't mind giving my kids traditional Cornish names, as my Mum's Cornish and some are really nice! I don't think DP's that keen though...
On the other hand, he wants to call this baby Indiana and give it my surname as its middle name. My surname is Jones I may need to ensure Mum keeps him away from the paperwork! I don't mind Indiana, just not too keen on the Jones bit...
I have to include one that i heard recently.....Atlas. He is a baby boy. When they told me i was a little confused and was like "as in the book of maps?" and they laughed and said that he was a greek god that and had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The baby was minutes old when we were talking about this and you could see that he already suited the name and it was perfect for his family.
I think what some of us deem as different will one day be the norm.......
Actually, Atlas was a Titan, not a Greek God - if you're going to name your child after someone then get it right! The Titans were the forerunners of the Gods, but were bested by the Gods who then took over the godding job and punished the Titans... by, for example, making Atlas carry the world on his shoulders and guard a tree with golden apples. Hercules once took over the world and the heavens from Atlas, as Atlas was the only one who could get a golden apple, but tricked Atlas into taking the world back. It was one of the impossible tasks.
I know a little girl named Pixie. At least you can spell/pronounce it. She's a wonderful girl; really kind, clever and friendly. I heard some unusual names yesterday from a lady I'd just met, her daughter's names: they're beautiful names. Unusual isn't always bad.
DS has a very traditional name - because DH vetoed Matthias and Jareth. I suppose Matthias would be more acceptable to most boys than being named after the goblin king in Labyrinth!
I am not a fan of unusual names and spellings because all my life I have had to correct people and spell my name So frustrating!.. So much so that when I was 16 I became Abby and have been ever since.. Only my family call me my real name.Taite has unusual spelling, so maybe I am a bit hypocritical Seth though is nice and simple.. We did consider Bam but decided against it and we also got told "You can't do that to a poor child" I still don't mind it though!
Up until recently I have had an unusual it seems to be alot more popular now. Because of the spelling I'm always correcting people because not to many people get it right but a japanese lady told my Dad to spell it like that so he did. I also have a lastname that no one can spell. I don't correct the spelling anymore I don't mind. But in saying that I do like my name..
I like most unusual names but there are some which I think are to extreme and I personally don't like them but I think each to there own we can't all be the same. They most extreme I have heard are Baby and Pony...
my son has a girl in her swimming class called "holiday" and another is "Coco"
I used to work with a "July"
my other son goes to preschool with twin girls called "Savanah & Storm"
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Dweezil toured Aust a year or two ago as he too is a musician.
I may need to ensure Mum keeps him away from the paperwork! I don't mind Indiana, just not too keen on the Jones bit...
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