Splendid names from the beautiful baby competition

Kaz_76 - I agree!

I think my main problem with naming children is that you have no idea what kind of person they are going to be, and I don't like the idea of my decision on their name affecting how they perceive or how they might be able to interact. Fair enough, the parents might be Classical scholars at Oxbridge and be surrounded by people who think Psyche is a wonderful name (my first thought was that child at school is instantly going to be nicknamed Psycho) - but what if your child joins the army as a squaddie, or does something so utterly different to you, IYSWIM? Will they appreciate their name then? I guess I think that it's very easy to label your child with its name, whether the label is middle class, "chav", pretentious or what have you. And I want my children to be able to be taken on their own merits, and be able to move easily in social circles they choose with the minimum of difficulty.

Because, let's face it, there are so many people out there who *will* immediately form jugdement on your child because of what you chose to call them.

At this rate any child of mine will be called John or Jane?

nothing wrong with jane!?

Certainly in America, black people rejecting ordinary names in favour of made up ones began as a political statement. When the civil rights movement was at its peak, many black people decided to reject names which they considered to come from a culture that had been forced on them (John, Mary etc) in favour of names of their own creation. I certainly don't think that everyone who makes up a name now is doing this, but it does explain how the trend started. I don't think it's that laughable (although I agree some of the names are awful).

I think it's very harsh to think negatively about an interview candidate on that basis- it says nothing about him or her, only that his or her parents were likely to have been part of a particular socio-economic group. It doesn't speak volumes about anything. I'm sure you wouldn't dream of saying, "I'd think negatively of any candidate whose parents were poor and black" but it boils down to a similar thing.

Bit shocked by some of the views on this thread, tbh. Bit amused by people mocking names from cultures they obviously know nothing about.

As this is obviously aimed at me, did you read on and see I moderated my statement in the light of Lois's comment ?

That said, I'm not convinced apples always fall that far from the tree.

can't disagree with that

however i will be honest...if i saw two baybeh pictures in a newspaper and could only form an opinion on the name ('cause let's face it, most baybehs look the same ?) my mental picture of baby demi-leigh chantelle's family would be one thing, and of baby yossarian lysander's would be another thing altogether...

not that would influence my voting of course. as i couldn't be arsed to vote for any of them. ?

the last time i saw one of these competitions i was amazed how many of the infant boys had flat caps on. is this a yorkshire thing?

You put exactly what I was trying to say! I deleted a bit from my post about choosing middle of the road names in the case of moving up or down the social ladder. Yes, that's exactly what I meant. If I came across someone called Yossarian, I'd be just as likely to think 'poor b@stard as I would a Levonelle but then perhaps that's because of the part of town I come from ?

Not P&P but I associate the name firstly with Frasier and then remind myself that it could be for a girl or a boy. ?

FWIW, I love the name Ysella, I think it's lovely.

Kaz - It doesn't matter what name you choose, it'll get mispelt or mispronounced regularly, or it'll be called posh, poncy, dated, common , foreign, criticised for being a crazy spelling (even if it's the original spelling) ...

And I don't see what's intrinsically wrong with unusual names, especially when what's unusual in one decade tops the lists in another. I draw the line at the random use of punctuation marks - an extra level of complication you don't need - and I find it a bit odd when people change the spelling of a well-known name to be phonetic, it makes me wonder if the parents are illiterate. However, given I have an Aunt Phiona, I'm saying nothing more. ?

No, but the ferret down the trousers might be.

Sare (Yorkshire through and through)

Thanks P&P, I appreciate your answer. The reason I ask is that my 3 year old daughter is named that. I named her it. But now I do worry as to me it's a little girls name. I can't imagine an adult being called Kelsey as it's too pretty iyswim.

[groan] Oh no, not John. There are way too many Johns and it's such a dull sensible name.

Could I interest you an a Timothy or a Simon instead?

There are hardly any children called John these days- it's about 80th most popular IIRC, way behind all the Archies etc that people think are unusual. I think it's the best name ever- a real strong, historical, ballsy name (but I would say that...)

P&P, sorry I didn't- I must have missed it.

I think there's a chapter in Freakonomics about the effect names have on people - I've failed to read it so far though.

I would try not to judge someone on their name - but I think it is possible that some people with certain types of name have to work hard to overcome some people's prejudices. My daughter is called Matilda which is most definitely not to everyone's taste but we liked it and it suits her - and I don't think it's going to cause her trouble in later life. If it does and she doesn't like it she has a more usual middle name - Alice - that she can use if she prefers. I harbour a secret desire of calling any second daughter Calypso after reading the Camomile Lawn and the Odyssey but don't think I could do it - she'd probably hate me forever!

The absolute worst name I have ever ever heard bar none is Shane Ritchie's new daughter - he and his wife have called her Lolita.

ooh no i think its a great name. the only reason i wouldn't call a master c'moonity this is then he'd have the same initial as his dad

i actually think it would be quite an unusual name nowadays

timothy and simon were quite popular names when i was at school, so i'm guessing they were very 70s

Bah, I've just got unlucky then. My father, husband and FIL are all called John and I'm refusing to name any future boys we have with the name.

I don't know what the inlaws were thinking. They name John after his dad and his sister has the same name as her mother. What would Freud say about that.

I said right at the start that all these names are from white caucasian children so the black/ethnicity thing isn't relevant. I wouldn't mock a culture i know nothing about.

I'd hate to be a teacher in inner city Notts in 4 years trying to grapple with the names in my first post. It's the punctuation that annoys me most, why don't we all give a try? J'ohn, S'arah, K'ate, Br'ian?

maybe they're just very unimaginative? ?

I would argue that there are probably a fair few equally ridiculous names coming from the higher socio-economic ones, or perhaps the middle ones wanting to be perceived as higher? I think it depends on where you are standing. I'm pretty certain many people from the lower groups will be mocking the names of the 'posher' kids. If people are likely to remain in the extreme end of the social ladder, it probably doesn't have so much of an effect on thair lives but I'd rather not open my child up to potential bullying and discrimination. The views you have expressed are a good demonstration on how strong the effect of a name can have on some people though dare I suggest, it's a very narrow-minded view, particularly with reference to the apple and tree comment. I realise that climbing the ladder is probably more common but in some cases where it is downward, the same can be argued for the more unusual highbrow names.

I came from a very poor single parent family, lived on a council estate but went to a grammar school. When I said my sister's name in a French lesson (Tracy), the mocking never stopped as it was the time of Birds of a Feather / Essex girl jokes.

IMHO, I think the celebrity culture has a lot to answer for. I wouldn't be surprised if the root of such names came from the trend of naming their children things ilke 'apple'.

There was a baby Lolita ini my doctors sugery some time ago. It's a really good example of a perfectly pretty name (is it Spanish?) rendered unusable by it's connotations. I have no idea why someone would choose it.

KN, that's so interesting re: black names.

I think you might be right. They named the first born with an traditional Irish name then ran out of ideas when S and John came along.

Poss Spanish or Italian I guess - sounds like it might be a diminutive of something else. It is pretty - and I don't usually bother about origins of names too much but Lolita is definitely a step too far.

You're right, I just looked it up and it's a diminutive of Delores.

I think this is very true. My next-door neighbour was a boy called Spencer, and he was regularly beaten up at his school. The little girl down the road was called Bea - pronounced Bay-er - which is short for Bearta - and no-one knew what to make of her name.

Simons and Timothys abound in my family and I think they're great names ? Mind you the more I think about it, the more I like good old John and Jane!

Kaz_76 - just to say that when I said that you could tell where a person came from in my home town by their children's name it was by no means because we were making fun of any particular group of people - simply that the demographic was so interesting by the really almost insular enclaves you find. For example if you'd heard my daughter's name you could take a good guess at where we lived, similar with names whether they be Catherine, Xerxes or Chardonnay-Demi-Belle?!

The names we have got for a potential second child for a girl are slightly unusual but extremely unusual for a boy. Its nothing to do with being pretentious - simply that we saw a name and adored it! Our short-list includes Hector and Taliesin

Anyone got an opinion on a child's name I found out last night, Bombette? (the middle b is not silent) after her Dad who is known as Bomber. I found this quite odd, although don't think it says anything about the social class of the family (and I don't know them so can't comment)

Hector is indeed slightly unusual for a girl. ?

I had a lovely Uncle Hector who would wander along the main street in Tobermory with his cat either sitting on his shoulder or curled up on his cap. ?

my first thought would be they were rockers/motorbike types?

i know of a female called 'vandelle' apparently its the feminine of vandal. her parents were punks i think...

? Haven't bothered quoting the girl's names. They couldn't possibly be classed as pretentious or cruel!

My absolute favourite boys name I haven't listed - I loved it for years and had a boy doll called it. Unforutnately, there is now a character in Harry Potter with the name but oh well!

Is it Draco?

See now I would have guessed at it being Spanish - "Ysabella" if memory serves, is actually another term for the palomino colouring of horses, due to it being favoured by a queen of the same name...

I used to work with a "Zella" who was mid-forties and terribly dynamic...

It is not!

Please say it's Hagrid?