Very unusual names: opinions?

I'd like to canvas opinions, especially from people who have very unusual
names or have given their children very unusual names, as a way of helping
DH and me to clarify whether we want to give our child such a name...

Background: IRL, I have a very unusual name myself. That is, about 50% of
the people who hear it for the first time have never heard of it as a name
before; and I have never met another person with my name IRL (though I have
exchanged email with a few). My own feelings about this have been largely
positive. I got teased about it a little at school, but not as much as for
other oddities like liking maths. I sometimes get fed up with answering the
same questions about it almost every time I'm introduced. But I like my
name, and I like the fact that people tend to remember me easily because of
it. (Sidheag is a screen name, which I use because I don't want my
pregnancy-related posts to show up when people search for me professionally.
It's maybe suggestive that I chose a very unusual screen name as well!)

Now DH and I are trying to choose names for our child, due any time after
tomorrow (yea!) and several of our favourites are just as unusual, or more.
I won't give the actual names in question, or my IRL name, because it would
blow our anonymity and that of our child in future if we do actually use any
of these names! I will say that the names in question are quite short and
easy to spell and pronounce: they are just unusual.

As you can tell, we're quite keen on going ahead. Anecdotally though, there
are people who find having an unusual name a real bind. Are there any of you
out there? Anybody who would really want to discourage us from using such a
name? Can you explain how you feel about it, and why? Or conversely, anyone
feeling the same way as us?

Maybe we should consider the question separately for boys and girls? I tend
to feel happier with the idea of giving a girl a very unusual name than a
boy, but I'm not sure to what extent that is reasonable.

I'm hoping that reading other people's opinions will help us to clarify our
own thoughts... TIA,

Sidheag

Sidheag McCormack wibbled

Now DH and I are trying to choose names for our child, due any
time after tomorrow (yea!) and several of our favourites are just
as unusual, or more. I won't give the actual names in question, or
my IRL name, because it would blow our anonymity and that of our
child in future if we do actually use any of these names! I will
say that the names in question are quite short and easy to spell
and pronounce: they are just unusual.

As you can tell, we're quite keen on going ahead. Anecdotally
though, there are people who find having an unusual name a real
bind. Are there any of you out there? Anybody who would really
want to discourage us from using such a name? Can you explain how
you feel about it, and why? Or conversely, anyone feeling the same
way as us?

We wanted an unusual name but not one that would be obscure, hard to
pronounce, etc. Tobias fits (so far only one person has asked how to
pronounce it), and Toby is a nickname/short form we like.

OTOH I have two long and hard to spell/pronounce names, and I would be
very wary of anything that will result in
confusion/misspelling/mispronunciation/constant questions. It sounds
like you've avoided this, in which case unusual is fine, but since even
the apparently common "Jacqueline" has been hideously mangled over the
years, don't take it for granted. I'd run the names past some relative
strangers (IRL), if I were you, and see if they can get them right and
don't think they're too weird. Reaction is the best test.

Jac

On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 21:54:49 +0000 (UTC), Jacqui
wrote:
we wanted an unusual name but not one that would be obscure, hard to
pronounce, etc. Tobias fits (so far only one person has asked how to
pronounce it), and Toby is a nickname/short form we like.


Do you pronounce it to-be-as or to-by-as ?

Sidheag McCormack wrote:
|| I'd like to canvas opinions, especially from people who have very
|| unusual names or have given their children very unusual names,
|| Sidheag

*waves her hand*
I would have to say that in this age with most countries being 'melting
pots' and the rules of normal names being broken I see very little problem
with unusual names. Although IMO crazy spellings of more traditional names
can be a PITA. My son's name is considered to be a shortened version of
other names (not how I decided on it at all) and his only problem are people
that choose not to LISTEN when being introduced to him and automatically
*lengthen* his name? I've never understood that one!
My daughter's name I have never come across before and she has the rare
problem of people thinking it's Lindsey (it rhymes with that). She learnt
to spell it quite early, problem solved!
I feel you should name the child what *you* feel would suit them tempered by
spelling problems and obvious joking.

Good Luck!

--
~~~Who is still blown away by the boy in her elementary school
named Jennifer~~~
Jenn-WAHM-DS11-DD6-TTC#3

"Sidheag McCormack" wrote in message
...
I'd like to canvas opinions, especially from people who have very unusual
names or have given their children very unusual names, as a way of helping
DH and me to clarify whether we want to give our child such a name...

Background: IRL, I have a very unusual name myself. That is, about 50% of
the people who hear it for the first time have never heard of it as a name
before; and I have never met another person with my name IRL (though I
have
exchanged email with a few). My own feelings about this have been largely
positive. I got teased about it a little at school, but not as much as for
other oddities like liking maths. I sometimes get fed up with answering
the
same questions about it almost every time I'm introduced. But I like my
name, and I like the fact that people tend to remember me easily because
of
it. (Sidheag is a screen name, which I use because I don't want my
pregnancy-related posts to show up when people search for me
professionally.
It's maybe suggestive that I chose a very unusual screen name as well!)

Now DH and I are trying to choose names for our child, due any time after
tomorrow (yea!) and several of our favourites are just as unusual, or
more.
I won't give the actual names in question, or my IRL name, because it
would
blow our anonymity and that of our child in future if we do actually use
any
of these names! I will say that the names in question are quite short and
easy to spell and pronounce: they are just unusual.

As you can tell, we're quite keen on going ahead. Anecdotally though,
there
are people who find having an unusual name a real bind. Are there any of
you
out there? Anybody who would really want to discourage us from using such
a
name? Can you explain how you feel about it, and why? Or conversely,
anyone
feeling the same way as us?


I have a very unsual 1st name. VERY unusual. All my life I have had to
explain, re-explain, spell, pronouce it etc. I used to say 'I dont have a
name, I have a conversation". No one has ever spelled it right, and if I say
it before spelling it, they STILL spell it wrong because it sounds one way
and looks another.
I have HATED it for ages, not the name but the hassle.
Like you, if I were to give my name, I would never be able to be anonymous
because its that unusual.
My husband wants to name the baby after me, I was NOT going for it no matter
how much he loved the name. In the end I picked another name and we will use
mine as a middle name.
I have a lot of friends w/weird names, but most of them have either a
conventional first or meiddle name and then another unusual one. I have 2
that are both weird. I recommend giving a "normal" name if the kid wants to
haev an alternative.
Trust me, Im 32 and spent at least 15 years of my life actively searching
for a new name.

Sidheag says:

Anecdotally though, there
are people who find having an unusual name a real bind. Are there any
of you out there? Anybody who would really want to discourage us from
using such a name? Can you explain how you feel about it, and why? Or
conversely, anyone feeling the same way as us?

We named our first son Eamon, which is very unusual in the US. We knew we
would need to be patient with people. :-) He's only 2 1/2 yrs now, so
obviously we don't know whether he'll grow up to appreciate his name the
way we do. But we're definitely going to express to him why that name
seemed absolutely perfect, why we loved it enough to give to him. We
didn't pick it just to be off-the-wall; it truly seemed like the right
name for our baby.

But just in case "Eamon" proves to be too much bother, we chose a more
common middle name. :-)

Good luck with the name decision.

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net

Sidheag McCormack wrote:


Now DH and I are trying to choose names for our child, due any time after
tomorrow (yea!) and several of our favourites are just as unusual, or more.
I won't give the actual names in question, or my IRL name, because it would
blow our anonymity and that of our child in future if we do actually use any
of these names! I will say that the names in question are quite short and
easy to spell and pronounce: they are just unusual.

As you can tell, we're quite keen on going ahead. Anecdotally though, there
are people who find having an unusual name a real bind. Are there any of you
out there? Anybody who would really want to discourage us from using such a
name? Can you explain how you feel about it, and why? Or conversely, anyone
feeling the same way as us?

Maybe we should consider the question separately for boys and girls? I tend
to feel happier with the idea of giving a girl a very unusual name than a
boy, but I'm not sure to what extent that is reasonable.


A few thoughts:

1) Particularly if a name is unusual, easy to spell and pronounce
is a bonus. It's not a requirement, of course, but it just
makes things a little easier like making it more likely the
teacher will get in the right ballpark when calling roll ;-)

2) I do think that there's more latitude for girls' names than
boys', though I'm not sure that would be a deal breaker for
me if I had a boy.

3) I react differently to unusual names depending on what *sort*
of unusual names. For instance, I tend to be fond of names
that are traditional but uncommon, but less fond of names
that are made up. I like names that have a history to them
(even if they're really wacky), but am less fond of names
that seem pulled out of thin air for the express purpose
of being weird for weird's sake. Of course those are
total value judgements on my part that I have no right to
be making for anyone but myself, but you asked for
opinions... ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

Sidheag McCormack wrote:
I'd like to canvas opinions, especially from people who have very unusual
names or have given their children very unusual names, as a way of helping
DH and me to clarify whether we want to give our child such a name...

My mother has a very unusual name. It was her grandmother's
nickname, the name everyone knew her by after she immigrated to the
U.S.A. My mother found her name a bit burdensome as a child, but now
she loves the name, loves the history, and loves having an unusual name.
My name is ordinary and I don't feel it suits me. Not because it is
ordinary, I don't think, but that doesn't help.
I gave my children unusual names. Well, unusual where we live. In
Israel their names wouldn't be that uncommon. I love my children's
names and I'm very happy with them.
I hope this helps!
--
-- Vicki
Married DH May 21, 1995
Ima shel DS, born 11/16/99; and DD, born 5/19/02.
"Stay-at-home" Ima since October 2002.
An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. -Spanish proverb
I may not currently be pregnant, but I look pregnant, does that count?

"Sidheag McCormack" wrote in message
...
As you can tell, we're quite keen on going ahead. Anecdotally though,
there
are people who find having an unusual name a real bind. Are there any of
you
out there? Anybody who would really want to discourage us from using such
a
name? Can you explain how you feel about it, and why? Or conversely,
anyone
feeling the same way as us?

Maybe we should consider the question separately for boys and girls? I
tend
to feel happier with the idea of giving a girl a very unusual name than a
boy, but I'm not sure to what extent that is reasonable.

Many people in my family have unusual names only because they are not from
the US. The names are difficult to pronounce correctly, so we mostly just
get by with whatever the person can say and leave it at that. My cousin
radically changed the pronunciation of his name to something easier so that
people don't get it "wrong". Now, it's totally wrong, but he likes it
better than having it said 20 different ways. When people do try to get it
right, it's butchered anyway. If you have something difficult to say, your
child might end up changing it to something easier. If you don't mind that,
then go for it.

"Alphawave" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
We named our first son Eamon, which is very unusual in the US. We knew we
would need to be patient with people. :-)

We had to eliminate Eamon from our list, although we both loved it (and all
the people we talked to, as well) because it is very unusual for Italy - not
hard to pronounce, but hard to spell right.

Elly
38 weeks today!
(14 days to go!)
EDD October 6th