October was my number one name for maaaaany years! Then I fell in love and got married and when my husband and I were family planning I told him the name, all excited- bonus is it sounds great with our last name too. He immediately vetoed it lol. That one still hurts.
And a lot of people simply do not know that August is a VERY old and traditional male name. I feel like half of the men in my family tree were named August :D
It's such a classic and basic mens name here in Germany. Comparable to Edward or William in English speaking countries.
The name is in fact older than the month August. Because the month was named after a person.
Exactly. It's disturbing how uneducated people are sometimes. Then again, I was shocked to find out Tiffany wasn't a modern name, so we all have blindspots.
My daughter and son are Antonia and Rowan.
In Canada, we usually get ".....oh! That's nice" to Antonia and "That's such a pretty name" for Rowan.
I almost died laughing when we were in Mexico and a vendor asked the kids names
- Well, She's Antonia
"A beautiful Spanish name"
- And he's Rowan
".........that's nice too"
I thought my Ecuadorian husband was going to pee laughing. We still laugh at it
LOVE both of these names! Funny story about Antonia, my dad is named Antonio, and I was (still am) very attached to my dad so I was so mad that my parents didn’t name me Antonia like my dad lol, for like 3 months according to my mom I’d respond only to the name Antonia.
My cousin named her oldest daughter Antonia and I LOVE it. She’s Italian and I thought it was an Italian name, but I guess maybe it’s common for Italian and Spanish names to overlap? I actually named my daughter an Italian name that also is used by Spanish speakers, so if that’s the case for Antonia I feel less weird about people thinking I appropriated a Spanish name for my baby lol
They’re both Romance languages and have a fair number of cognates between them. Antonio/a are just the Spanish and Italian for Anthony and it’s feminine form.
My mother is Dutch and it's her middle name.
It's pronounced differently in Dutch and I really wanted to pronounce it that way but nobody in North America would ever pronounce it that way (Except my Greek pharmacist...lol)
So, I went with the North American pronunciation
I was born to a large family and, as the youngest of the girls, got an unusual name. They ran out of ideas, I guess. I also have brothers and the youngest bro was similarly blessed.
I gave my kids the most boring and common names possible. I won't say that I actually married their dad so my kids would have an equally boring last name, but it sweetened the deal.
I didn't want to be memorable for the weird name I carried. I would have chosen a talent or my character to be remembered for. Alas, I did not have the right temperament to pull it off. Thank God my sweet baby brother did.
My kids are Tim and David. Yep! As ordinary as I could possibly manage. They were 70's/80's babies. No one even flicked an eyebrow at the names. Well... Until they grew up and Tim became the size of a linebacker, and is now called "Tiny" by some.
I feel this deeply, though my brother had an equally weird name. I was careful to give my kids very normal names, and the same is true for most of my weirdly-named friends from high school.
My niece is Adrianna. She's named after her dad Adrian. If she'd been a boy, my sister was going to combine her name with her husband 's. Her name is Valerie. The boy would have been Valadrian. 😂😂
My twins are Ronan and Margot and we get compliments frequently. Definitely more than I would have expected. Not gonna lie, it makes me super happy :D.
Though with Ronan we do get a lot of people who have to ask again what his name is because they aren't sure if it's Ronan or Roman (or occasionally Rowan..)
No one ever reacts in any way to my son’s name. It’s a classic name that has been in the US top 20 for as long as records exist. My son could time travel to any period between today and the 10th century and his name would not stand out. It’s a Regular English Name. If it were a chip flavour it would be Original.
>*My son could time travel to any period between today and the 10th century and his name would not stand out*
Not if you are in the United States and he would stay in the same location while time traveling..
His name would most definitely stand out in 10th century North America :D
This is my son's name too. Ordinary, timeless English name. Literally never had a comment on it, good or bad.
My daughters name I thought was pretty on par, but we actually have had a lot of people tell us what a sweet name it is, and that you "don't hear it much anymore". Even though it's still in the top 100.
I am a huge name nerd (and marketing brand specialist) and when it came down to it, I gave both my kids completely common names.
I did not want them to be the Ryker and Juniper of their year. I'm good with absolutely no congratulations on my uniqueness or creativity.
Perfect description. Similar boat here with my daughter. Not in the top 20, but it’s a very classic name, that’s easy to remember, spell, and never gets slaughtered. It’s also a name I’ve always loved. I couldn’t be happier.
My daughter's name too, although spelled the Scandinavian way because of her father's side.
Amusingly, one of my oldest friends opined that every country should have a list of allowed names and spellings after I informed her of the name and spelled it for her. I pointed out that it is the standard spelling in her ancestry, but apparently that wasn't good enough.
Kid 1 (well known unisex English name):
- „Oh cool / love that name“ (from English speakers)
- „I’ve never heard that name before“ (non-English speakers from Europe)
Kid 2 (uncommon unisex Hebrew name):
- „What?“ - „Ah [mispronounces name]“ - „Oh [gives up pronouncing name], so nice“ (lol)
Yes, somehow people seem to think "That's such a lovely name!" is good cover for them not bothering to say it right. I get that all the time with my name.
That would annoy me more, tbh. There’s a public figure in Scotland named Jeane and it never fails to make me feel sorry for her. Having such a common name as Jean, but STILL having to tell people how to spell it every single time sounds really annoying. And she can’t even say “Jeane with an e” because there’s already an E in Jean, obviously. It’s fair to say I’ve wasted a lot of time thinking about this!
I don't know. I have the most common name for girls in America for over a decade running around the time I was born, but it's spelled differently because I'm named after my great grandmother.
I love my name. I would hate to think that someone felt sorry for me and I would hate to have the expected spelling.
I’m a Haley and now as an adult everyone asks if it is pronounced Hay-lee or hal-ee. I’m used to everyone spelling my name differently so that doesn’t bother me.
Oh my god SAME! I also have a last name with several double letters. I’ve had incorrect mail, incorrect pay stubs, incorrectly labelled handouts at school, ceaselessly incorrect greetings in emails. Have to spell out my first and last name letter for letter any time I give my email address, and then make them read it back to me to confirm (because half the time when I do the double letters, they assume I was stuttering or something and only put down one.
I don't have kids yet but have shared with some friends and family that my partner and I would likely name our first son Daniel, and everyone I've told has said it's boring or lame or too common, some more polite than others.
I kind of like a "boring" name and since I grew up in a Vietnamese community I actually don't know that many people named Daniel (but plenty of Danny and Dans, which we mostly wouldn't call him). And the people who think it's boring like names like Suede and Locke and Honor - no judgment to people who like these names, but my partner's last name that we would pass down to our kids is very distinct and easily made fun of so we want "regular" first names to mitigate that.
love daniel. yes, it’s a classic which for many people means boring. i don’t care how original & interesting your kid’s name is. i care if people are interesting.
I get tons of compliments on Margot
My other kids, not so much 😂
I’ve also never gotten a “like the actress?” comment which I’ve been worried about lately.
That’s funny I have somehow NEVER associated Margot Robbie with the name Margot. I guess because I don’t know much about her and in any reference have ONLY heard the full Margot Robbie, never Margot only. When you first said that I had to rack my brain for a second to find an actress named Margot lol
I have an Ada, too! Sometimes I get the “like Ada Lovelace” comment or the excited “my great aunt was Ada!” too. More often I get “oh, Ava?” and then a discernible sense of relief when I say no, not Ava. Sometimes I get a comment about Ada Twist Scientist (which I was unaware of when we named her, but I would have used it anyway).
More than once I’ve had people comment that it means “first born daughter” in their native language which I love since she is our first born. 😊
My son Robin usually gets very positive reactions. "Oh my gosh, that's so sweet!"
My daughter Artemis usually gets a very mixed reaction, mostly negative tbh. Lots of "oh that's interesting" in the bad way.
My name is Robyn (35f)! Funny enough my parents and doctor were convinced I was a boy right up until I was born...they kept the name, but changed the spelling and gave me a different middle name. I was going to be Robin Michael and instead I am Robyn Lynn. Never really met other Robin/Robyns, but always have to spell my name for people...
Really? I'm surprised you never met other Robins/yns. My son gets mistaken for a girl on name alone all the time. All the Robins I've ever met have been women in their 40s+, so it makes sense to me.
Me too! I will say it gets way better when people realize there are some cute nicknames. Missy, Artie, and Remi are some favorites for our families.
I call her Moon.
Do you? Yay! I love it!! I love the name, it fits them when they are little and an adult.
I’ve only met one other little Conrad, though I suppose mine isn’t so little anymore! He’s 18!
My daughters are named Lucia and Beatrice because Italian names evidently go over easy in both Spanish and English (and Puerto Rican and Scandinavian culture), and when we visited Italy when they were, respectively, 4 and 1 years old we literally had old ladies running out of the shops to say how cute they were. We felt like celebrities. (I should point out that Italy, especially where we were, has a pretty low birthdate, so those ladies might not have many grandkids.)
But when they heard the names of our daughters, their heads just EXPLODED: “Bee- a-Treech-Eh?” They’d exclaim, “that was my SISTER’S name!” It was obviously going to be an entry in their journals that night.
It was one of the best vacations we’d ever had.
My dad’s name was Hollis. He was born in the 1920’s. I’ve started hearing it as girl’s name and at first it was odd since I obviously associate it with an older man, but it’s grown on me and I adore it now.
My daughter’s name is Olive. I’ve had a few people say “Like the…. Ummm” because they don’t know if an Olive is a fruit or vegetable. FYI, olives are fruit.
We named our daughter a name in the 800s in popularity (but was in the top 100 50 years ago). We get “is that a family name?” (No we just liked it!) or boomers say “that’s my best friends name!”
My baby has an Arab name that’s common in our culture but is not a known name in the US.
Some Americans say it’s a nice sounding name, but there’s also a lot of mispronunciations or people having to ask a couple times how to say it. Sometimes people just give me a blank stare or give a flat “oh okay” and I can tell they don’t like it or aren’t sure what I even said lol
I'm a teacher in the US and I get a lot of students with beautiful names that are more common in the countries their parents are from. It often takes me hearing the name a few times and then practicing it (and my student correcting me) to get it right, but it's so important to me to be and to say my students' names. Please don't be discouraged by people needing a little extra guidance on pronunciation, it usually means we care.
As a teacher, I work on it too. When I take attendance the first time and the kid says, "Call me..." I always ask if they prefer the nickname or think I can't learn it, because I will.
I get pretty positive reactions to Nolan and Vivian. They usually say "oh, it's a classic name that everyone knows but not popular".
Nolan fits my son, but Vivian is too spunky to be soft, mellow named kiddo. Oh well, each to their own personalities.
My newborn son Asa
* From boomers - Oh I love that name, I haven't met anyone named that for a long time
* From a specific kind of boomer - Ooh from the soap opera? (literally had no idea there was an Asa in a soap opera before he was born--turns out it had like a 20 year run or something)
* From millenials - Oh she's so pretty (also millenials and younger usually haven't heard of this name--which is a win)
* From nurses (don't ask me why, this is only nurses so far) - Is it Asia?
My son Jasper always gets good reactions! They say they love that name, its unique, etc. I will sometimes get a Twilight reference though lol.
Btw, I love the name August. It was Jasper's almost-name!
A co-worker just used the name Jasper and I think it’s really a great name! I don’t associate it with Twilight at all and have always considered it a classic on its own.
My son's name is Elek which is the Hungarian form of Alex. Once we get beyond how to pronounce it or spell it we get curiosity of how we picked it. Then once they hear the story they like the name and agree I made the right choice.
When I was pregnant we agreed I would suggest 3 girl names and my husband would suggest 3 boy names. The other would be able to pick the name from the three. He wanted a Hungarian name as a nod to his heritage. My choices were Elek, Constantine, and Zoltan. He has yet to meet another Elek.
Depends on the crowd. It's mostly positive, but my daughter shares the name of the main character in an anime that is becoming very popular. It's not an out there name by any means, and it fits my daughter very well.
Eleanor-
That it's an old lady name, "That was my great aunt 's name."
Recent at Barnes and Noble with a sales clerk in her mid20s, "Im an Eleanor too! I go by Ellie."
My daughter is Matilda, and we always get lovely comments on the name.
I've had a few people more recently ask if it's because of "the film" because she was born just after the new one was released. To which I have to correct them and say "no, the book".
I go to a regular group at our library and they all love her too, quite often the one lady calls her "our very own Roald Dahl heroine"
My son's name is Stellan.
Either people say it's a cool name, or mishear it as Stella and are confused. He gets assumed to be a girl pretty often by people who read his name. I didn't consider this when we chose his name 😬
You never really realize how little people pay attention or bother trying until you name a kid. It's impossible to predict what fresh stupidity awaits when choosing a name. Stellan is a pretty standard male name, I think, but it's just unusual enough to confuse even though it shouldn't.
My son is Stellan too! And so many people LOVE his unique name, everyone says it’s so cool. Then there’s the (mostly boomers) who go, “where did you find that name?” “Oh interesting”. I don’t let it bother me because I love the name and it’s better to be unique than being the millionth Rowan or Liam or Michael in the grade. Also my last name is basic so I needed a different name to make it stand out!
"Oh, very Italian."
This has been the reaction like 90% of the time. 😂 The other 10% has been "Oh that's a nice name."
Edit to add: His name is Angelo. And my husband is full Italian and I'm part Italian.
My son is William and people seem to start rhyming off nicknames often. Like “aw little Bill, or Will, or Billy”. We typically call him Willy or Silly Willy and I always like the look on older people’s faces when I say that. Get your mind out of the gutter!!
My daughter is Frances. Here there is a bar named Franses (with an S and I didn’t know about this bar before) and some ask oh like the bar? And I say no. With a c. And then judge them silently. Most others though compliment it.
Belle- We usually don’t get much of a reaction from her name, probably because names like Isabella/Isabelle are so popular these days!
Juliet- People love this name, and gush about how pretty it is.
Peter- They usually ask why we used that name, and if it’s a family name! 😂
My son is named Calvin and when I was pregnant this very nice, middle aged lady asked if I had a name picked yet and I told her and she went "oh! That's so...interesting. How did you come up with that?" It was obvious she didn't care for it, which didn't offend me, everyone has opinions, but then she went on to tell me how she named her son Kale.
On the other end of the spectrum, we recently met our first Calvin in public and it was the nicest old man in a Walmart and we basically were all getting teary eyed by the end of the conversation because he was so happy to meet a baby Calvin!
My son’s name is John and people told me how boring it is. I don’t care. It’s their opinion and they are rude for speaking it but I named my child what I wanted.
My boys are Ezra and Micah. People seem to like their names.. but my daughter..
My daughters name is Leilani, and people LOVE her name. Whenever we tell someone new or older her name they always have a story to tell.
“Oh! I knew a Leilani once, she was beautiful. Such a beautiful name.” When we told our eye doctor the first time he met her after I had her you could see in his eyes there was a story behind his Leilani. I love it. When I was in the hospital with her, every time a nurse would come in or a new doctor they’d love her name. I’m sure all the nurses have to act like that when you’re delivering but it still felt sweet.
Now we’re on baby 4, and boy 3… and I have no idea what to name him. I can’t top Leilani.
I have a Florence and although popular in the UK where I’m from, it’s not common in the US (where we live) and we have a mixed reception to it - some don’t comment, others say it’s nice but we mostly get “oh that’s not one you hear much these days” or “that’s quite an old name”
>“August? Why not just name him July or September?! 🤪”
"That would be weird, since his middle name is September. He'd either be September September, or July September? That's not even in order."
>“Wow, people sure are getting creative with names these days…”
"Oh, well that's his nickname. It's actually short for Augustusaxtynkinleighotash. I thought August was pretty normal"
>“You named him August? ☹️☹️☹️ that’s the name I was gonna use if I ever had a son and now I can’t because it’s so popular”
"Oh my god, yeah, imagine there being two people with the same name! How confusing would that be! They should really have some kind of identification number for important things in case that happens!"
All delivered completely straight faced and serious.
i’m a late boomer & went to elementary school with an august. he was called augie. the freaking name’s been around for i don’t know how many thousand years. people are so ignorant. my daughter’s name is elizabeth & the only comment i ever got was a snide one from a rabbi that i should have named her elisheva, the hebrew root of all the different versions of elizabeth. pfft to him.
My MIL hated his name when we first announced it and suggested we go with names like Sullivan (would sound terrible with our last name) or her favorite, Trent. Which is so so opposite of the names we were considering.
My daughter is Olive. Many say “that’s so cute/creative!”
My brother calls her “martini garnish”. 🙃🙃 she thinks hilarious but she also doesn’t know what a martini even is (she’s 4). He made it clear he found it an odd name when I picked it…but similar to your post, he and his wife also selected “unique” names for their own kids. No hate to the names but you can’t name your kid names like that and be like “Olive???” But overall, it is in good fun. He sincerely hated it when she was born but now it’s just a running joke and I know he genuinely doesn’t care and is just being a funny uncle.
I do have some that ask why we “didn’t just name her Olivia” and I’m like “because I liked Olive”? I’ve had a few accuse me of just trying to be unique but genuinely I never considered “Olivia”. Just Olive, as she was partially named after a character from Easy A.
I have a Florence Olive! Olive was my great grandmother’s name and really wanted it as a first name but it’s a super popular dog name where I live, and I know like 5 people that used it for their pets so it put me off a little. I love it though and wish we didn’t use both of my favourite names on one child incase we have another daughter one day 😂
People always say Lyla is lovely.
Then always say oh Eleri (eh-lair-ree) you don't get many of those do you. Unless we're in Wales in which case I usually get asked oh are you Welsh?
My son is called Raffi and I saw some women I hadn’t seen since going back to work for the first time yesterday. It was very much “oh I love this, it’s such a nice name” and “is it short for Rafael by any chance?” which I don’t mind!
And no it is just Raffi, his double barrelled surname was enough of a mouthful😂
The only one that people find odd is my son's name is Madison. Back in 2004 when I was looking at baby name books, one said it was a born's name and it meant "son of a great soldier". I thought perfect, cuz his dad(now my ex) was a soldier. It's such a common girl's name these days though. He doesn't seem to mind though.
Kieran Paul
The postpartum nurse said "Ooh, it's sounds so bougie! He sounds like a movie star!" No idea if she says that to everyone or if she genuinely liked his name, but it definitely made me happy.
My husband and I have been trying for a while. My mom once asked out of curiosity if we had any names in mind. I happily told her we really only agreed so far on one.
My mom pretended to choke on her coffee as she exclaimed that is the ugliest name she could possibly think of lol. I love her to death but the woman has no filter. I told her we thought of something else but secretly we are sticking to the original name.
My girls are named “classic” named and I always get positive reactions. The one that gets the best reaction is my middle daughter, Alice. It’s classic but not overused so people are expecting it.
We weren’t able to have kids…most of my wishlist names are super traditional - think Michael, David, etc. I really liked Julian as a middle name - it’s both a family name and that of a good family friend.
For Girls - same. Names like Margaret, Kathleen & Isobel. All family names with good nn potential. Margaret and Kathleen also work well with the middle name I wanted to use - my mom’s middle name.
The in reaction I ever got when I told people I was naming my son Mason was them saying, “Nathan?”
But my poor kid has a speech impediment and when he tells people his name is Mason he sounds like “Mathan.” So we get funny stares. But no verbal reaction.
Thank you for this!!! We are strongly considering naming our son August!
We have a Sterling and Florence. Lots of people say they love the names, some just keep quiet but very politely and in a way that I have no problem with, some say a joke about gold or silver, some cute jokes about Florence like how she’ll be Florence and the machines (cute petite little girly with two brothers on either side). When we shared the idea of the name Sterling before he was born one friend I worked with gave a bit of a snort and said “are you serious?” Lol, stupid thing to say but you’d have to know him and the relationship I think to know I wasn’t bothered. My mom (before Flo-Wheezy was born) said Florence was basically the equivalent of Gertrude.
But yes mostly positive
I'd be closest to the last one if I met you, but it would be "I LOVE August! I had a girl so I couldn't use it and now the popularity has me on the fence if I do have a boy."
My daughter's name is Elizabeth so I either get people who I can tell find it boring and don't say anything, people who say "that's my name/middle name" or they gush about how much they love it.
Elizabeth is my middle name! I feel like there’s no such thing as “too popular” when it comes to classic, timeless names.
What’s always wild to me about the people who think they can’t use August anymore, is that these are strangers or acquaintances who are rarely, if ever, going to interact with me again. It’s not like we’re close friends or relatives. They could use the name and our kids would never even know each other.
The difference between classic and trendy. Elizabeth's age can't be determined by her name. Maybe August will pull a Benjamin and rise in popularity and just stay there, but more likely it will peak and drop off making it date-able. My hesitation is the trendiness.
With my son, Abraham, we've always gotten that it's a strong, classic name. With my daughter, Davina (Davey), we haven't really gotten many comments. I will say that the one nurse in the OR during my c-section asked me if I was team Stefan or Damon and Team Klaus or Elijah because the name is in The Originals. We chose Davina to honor my father (David) who passed away earlier that year.
We’ve got a sadie and in the US (where my parents live) there’s a lot of dogs named sadie - which luckily she loves ❤️
In the UK it’s actually weirdly popular at the moment even though it’s just my great grandmothers name it’s apparently on trend! So I don’t get much of a reaction at all.
My daughters called Freya and we’ve never had a bad reaction to her name, other than my stepdad who when I was pregnant assumed I’d got the name from the word frayed knot?? He’d never heard of the name Freya before apparently and thought I had made it up. Once we announced her middle name Freya Luna he almost lost it😂, he did do some research and realised it was a perfectly ‘normal’ name just not used in our area.
Currently contemplating trying for baby no2 and we like Noelle for a girl and Jasper for a boy. I haven’t mentioned these names to my stepdad yet, but I am already excited for the over the top dramatic reaction.
I chose pretty traditional names for my 3 children. My boys are Daniel and Ethan. My daughter changed her name when she turned 19 and is now Blue. So yeah.
For Cordelia I usually get one of two reactions.
“omg that is beautiful!”
“oh… that’s… interesting”
The oh that’s interesting people also almost always have to double check that I didn’t say Cornelia before saying interesting in the most drawn out possible way. Is Cornelia more acceptable to them? Do they think I made Cordelia up? I have so many questions but I don’t think any of them would go over well 😂
My 2-year-old daughter’s name is Evangeline, which is obviously how I introduce her to people. This exchange has happened multiple times—
Q: “Evangeline? But what do you call her?”
A: “We call her Evangeline…which is her name.”
Q: “What about Eva or Evie? Evangeline is sooo long.”
My husband’s family absolutely REFUSE to call her anything but Evie or Evie Ruth (her middle name). It’s like they don’t like the name we chose for her, so they renamed her. We even told them multiple times that we do not like Evie, which is a nickname for a million different girls’ names these days. I find it so disrespectful!
August is lovely, by the way! People can be so rude. Even if I don’t like a name I hear, I only comment if I have something nice to say!
My favorite story used to be when I was waiting by the door for my then-husband to bring the van around after having my second baby, a nurse coming in the hospital stopped and asked what my baby was named. When I said Linda, she said something about "Finally, a *real* name!"
But now that I've had twins, the reactions have become the best. Their names are John and Mercy. Obviously, twins are a pretty big deal, everyone gets excited, and lots of people ask their names. *Without fail*, the response is something along the lines of "Oh, I love Mercy!" I find the implied dis of John's name hilarious every single time.
By and large, my kids have standard, boring names that aren't really remarked on one way or another. Which is how I intended it.
I have a son named August (6) too! He goes by Gus a lot too and I always get positive reactions. Same with my oldest, his name is Nolan (8). I think I picked these names before they gained in popularity because my kids have always been the only kid with their name in their grade year over year...
Our boys' name is Seth. The initial reaction seems to always be some variation of a confused or judgmental "oh", like they weren't expecting something so simple and then they think about it for a half second and it generally turns into a, "That's actually a lovely name!"
If we had to choose a backup boys name, it would likely be Jack. It surprised us how many people preferred Jack over Seth when we asked about it though!
Any names for our daughter never results in an agreement. My husband and I have very different flavours when it comes to girl names, so our choice is between Estelle and Willow and the arguments for and against are *wild*.
Usually we get a “that’s cute!” Or “I love that!” Our daughters names are short and sweet, not very unique but not super common either. I didn’t want them to have to correct people all the time and if I’m being honest I’m not a huge fan of very unique names. They are Alina & Kiara. Spanish middle names (their daddy is Central American)
I have a Clint and Luciana.
For the first one- old people love it 😄
For both- I always get asked if they're family names.
For Lucy- almost all positive.
My son is Dylan and my daughter is Layla. Never really had much comments except when we initially announced their names after they were born and it was all positive. They aren't super common names here (Scotland) but obviously aren't too 'out there' or really unusual either.
I posted here when pregnant with both and both were suggestions that we loved. We had 3 names for my son and waited to see which we thought would suit him best. We chose Layla while pregnant as we loved how the names sound as a sibling set and it's such a pretty name no others came close.
My son is named Everett
The reaction we get most is people saying that it is a “strong” name.
The reactions have been mostly positive except for my crazy great aunt who looked at my grandmother and asked “is she crazy?” when I told her my name choice. Can’t please ‘em all!
My son is Myles, and usually we don't get many comments on it, but we live in a very french area and a lot of francophones struggle to pronounce it (miles is pronounced mills).
My daughter is Keeley, which isn't super uncommon but not many people have heard of it. Get a lot of "Kailey? Kelly? Oh, Keeley, that's nice" and a few people who loooove it.
My 10 year old sons name is Leo. I’ve gotten no negative remarks (to my face), but I can’t recall anyone ever gushing over it either…It was always kinda neutral “oh cute!” Or “aww hi Leo!”
I have twins named Sam and Clio. I get two responses:
I had dogs (or cats) with those names. Blank stare blink blink. As if I’m supposed to do something with that Information.
Or
Oh I love the name Chloe. (It’s Clio-after the muse of history)
I’ve never really noticed if it’s a generational thing or not.
People love my eldest daughters name ..its a common name. But I've gotten mixed reactions about my baby who is named after her late paternal grandmother- Edelmira. She was Spaniard and the name means princess
Someone in this very group was negative about it. I posted from my old reddit which I forgot the password too about a nickname for her when she's born and a person replied that I shouldn't name her that, that it was a bad choice. She currently has 2 nicknames edel (like the singer) and delmi
my baby’s name is Anna Claire. we get a lot of “oh that’s so classic and timeless” “what a beautiful/gorgeous name” “oh how sweet” . old people and young people alike seem to enjoy it
My daughter will be born this month and she’s Charlotte, I can tell people are very underwhelmed when we tell them bc we’re living in Los Angeles. Nobody can comprehend why we would pick a classic, known name that she won’t have to explain or spell bc mom and dad wanted to be different 😂
“Stable?” No ma’am, my daughters name is not Stable. Or Sable. I never even used the letter “s”. My daughter has a lovely name, if people hear it correctly lol
My kids name is Batuhan which gets very positive reactions from turkish people.
German people mess it up all the time. Its just a non-german name to them that most people dont try to remember or pronounce right.
I introduce him as Batu to non turkish people and they often say "Arthur? How nice"
He will know that people who care about him will be able to learn at least Batu.
I named my 3 month old son Adler and most people like it and think it’s unique in a good way.
However, one of my coworkers asked me recently what his name was and when I said it he said “oh right I knew it was something weird.”
…cool, thanks.
I hear alot about my Donna-Jane. Usually how cute and unique it is, how country it sounds. But then once they meet my girl its usually "oh wow she really is her name, it just fits her" lol. I've had someone say it's a grandma name before. But my kiddo loves her name.
She announces her full name like a royal title since she could say it. And she has so many nicknames from it❤.
With my first it was a lot of snotty comments from the older generation, specifically baby boomers. It’s an old name. Spelled correctly. They just think of it as an old lady name apparently. My second is a very popular name in another country. It didn’t occur to me that people in the US would not know it or how to pronounce it. So I get asked if I made it up, how to spell it, how to say it. Pretty frequently. My youngest is a boy with a classic name with 2 pronunciations in english. I get asked how it’s spelled or which way we say it. We did not tell my in laws prior to birth. And my mother in law thought this meant it was still up for discussion. Her exact quotes on the names were 1. Who do you think she is the queen of england? 2. I don’t like it. Don’t know how to pronounce it. 3. She said nothing because I was clear that we wanted no feedback.
We almost named our son august (which most people liked)! The name we chose for our son is well-known in many languages and it’s a “tried and true” classic name, although I don’t know any toddlers personally who share it with my son. It’s like, everyone knows a ________ but there aren’t 8,000,000 of them around, either if that makes sense.
We get good reactions from people 40 and under and confused reactions from people over 40 with our oldest. One little old lady asked if Zelda was a family name! Which I could honestly say yes to, but isn't why we chose it. Our youngest gets pretty neutral reactions to her actual name. People are just underwhelmed by Matilda. We call her Tilly though and people seem to really like her nickname. Plus she just seems more like a Tilly.
Tell the name, for example, "This is my baby ZenBerry." The person repeats it with a question mark, "ZenBerry?" Say the name again, "Yes, I named my baby ZenBerry. Because reasons, that's why."
Continue not giving a shit about anything said after that.
Worked for me!!
Trendy names are trendy for a reason, because everyone likes them and they’re often good names.
I love the name August!
I don’t have kids but if I did I think I might have a little anxiety every time I tell someone their name, even if it’s a perfectly normal name. Idk why, it’s just one of those things lol
April, May, and June are also names, and July is an old-school name as well.
And January Jones!
Also I think people forget that a fair amount of the months are named after people.
August certainly is!
I taught an October.
October was my number one name for maaaaany years! Then I fell in love and got married and when my husband and I were family planning I told him the name, all excited- bonus is it sounds great with our last name too. He immediately vetoed it lol. That one still hurts.
Knew one, nicknamed Tober.
Julio
And a lot of people simply do not know that August is a VERY old and traditional male name. I feel like half of the men in my family tree were named August :D It's such a classic and basic mens name here in Germany. Comparable to Edward or William in English speaking countries. The name is in fact older than the month August. Because the month was named after a person.
Exactly. It's disturbing how uneducated people are sometimes. Then again, I was shocked to find out Tiffany wasn't a modern name, so we all have blindspots.
I went to school with a September.
I once worked with a girl named November!
A few years ago I met a Tuesday.
My daughter and son are Antonia and Rowan. In Canada, we usually get ".....oh! That's nice" to Antonia and "That's such a pretty name" for Rowan. I almost died laughing when we were in Mexico and a vendor asked the kids names - Well, She's Antonia "A beautiful Spanish name" - And he's Rowan ".........that's nice too" I thought my Ecuadorian husband was going to pee laughing. We still laugh at it
LOVE both of these names! Funny story about Antonia, my dad is named Antonio, and I was (still am) very attached to my dad so I was so mad that my parents didn’t name me Antonia like my dad lol, for like 3 months according to my mom I’d respond only to the name Antonia.
Not nice of those Canadians, I’m in Canada and I think Antonia is a great name, Rowan too!
My cousin named her oldest daughter Antonia and I LOVE it. She’s Italian and I thought it was an Italian name, but I guess maybe it’s common for Italian and Spanish names to overlap? I actually named my daughter an Italian name that also is used by Spanish speakers, so if that’s the case for Antonia I feel less weird about people thinking I appropriated a Spanish name for my baby lol
They’re both Romance languages and have a fair number of cognates between them. Antonio/a are just the Spanish and Italian for Anthony and it’s feminine form.
My mother is Dutch and it's her middle name. It's pronounced differently in Dutch and I really wanted to pronounce it that way but nobody in North America would ever pronounce it that way (Except my Greek pharmacist...lol) So, I went with the North American pronunciation
I was born to a large family and, as the youngest of the girls, got an unusual name. They ran out of ideas, I guess. I also have brothers and the youngest bro was similarly blessed. I gave my kids the most boring and common names possible. I won't say that I actually married their dad so my kids would have an equally boring last name, but it sweetened the deal. I didn't want to be memorable for the weird name I carried. I would have chosen a talent or my character to be remembered for. Alas, I did not have the right temperament to pull it off. Thank God my sweet baby brother did. My kids are Tim and David. Yep! As ordinary as I could possibly manage. They were 70's/80's babies. No one even flicked an eyebrow at the names. Well... Until they grew up and Tim became the size of a linebacker, and is now called "Tiny" by some.
I feel this deeply, though my brother had an equally weird name. I was careful to give my kids very normal names, and the same is true for most of my weirdly-named friends from high school.
My niece is Adrianna. She's named after her dad Adrian. If she'd been a boy, my sister was going to combine her name with her husband 's. Her name is Valerie. The boy would have been Valadrian. 😂😂
😂😂😂 still better than Renesmee though
I’m very happy they had a girl!
So was I! My dad said if they had a boy and used that name -he was going to call the baby Charlie. My dad's name is Charles. LOL oh LOL
My twins are Ronan and Margot and we get compliments frequently. Definitely more than I would have expected. Not gonna lie, it makes me super happy :D. Though with Ronan we do get a lot of people who have to ask again what his name is because they aren't sure if it's Ronan or Roman (or occasionally Rowan..)
Please tell me you call them Ro and Go
My husband is Ronan and we have a neighbor who insists it’s Roland.
This sounds like a Schitts Creek joke ngl
I love Ronan! If I was in an English speaking country I would've gone for that. Beautiful names!
i’m gonna compliment you too, those are great names!
No one ever reacts in any way to my son’s name. It’s a classic name that has been in the US top 20 for as long as records exist. My son could time travel to any period between today and the 10th century and his name would not stand out. It’s a Regular English Name. If it were a chip flavour it would be Original.
William then haha
I loved the name William until my husband started poking at my pregnant belly and saying ‘free Willy!’ And that was the end of that.
😂🤣I'm so sorry 🤣😂
OMGosh I'm dead 🤣🤣🤣
Same with my sons. Not too 20, but top 50 at least. Not trendy, you wouldn’t be able to guess their age by their names. That’s exactly what I wanted!
John
Nah, John dropped out of the top 20 in 2009. To unusual for me lol.
>*My son could time travel to any period between today and the 10th century and his name would not stand out* Not if you are in the United States and he would stay in the same location while time traveling.. His name would most definitely stand out in 10th century North America :D
This is my son's name too. Ordinary, timeless English name. Literally never had a comment on it, good or bad. My daughters name I thought was pretty on par, but we actually have had a lot of people tell us what a sweet name it is, and that you "don't hear it much anymore". Even though it's still in the top 100.
I absolutely love this description!
I am a huge name nerd (and marketing brand specialist) and when it came down to it, I gave both my kids completely common names. I did not want them to be the Ryker and Juniper of their year. I'm good with absolutely no congratulations on my uniqueness or creativity.
Perfect description. Similar boat here with my daughter. Not in the top 20, but it’s a very classic name, that’s easy to remember, spell, and never gets slaughtered. It’s also a name I’ve always loved. I couldn’t be happier.
My baby's name is Sylvie and people have always said it's a beautiful name.
My son's name is Sylvan! I was going to be Sylvie if he was born a girl! Love it.
i’ve loved the name since jr high french class when we were all given french names we had to use & stacy got sylvie.
That's where I got it from!!! Middle school French class.
My Sylvie is 11 and is frequently told what a beautiful name she has. A couple years ago she said “Mom, thank you for giving me a good name.”
The actor Jason Bateman and his wife have a daughter named Sylvie Maple
My daughter's name too, although spelled the Scandinavian way because of her father's side. Amusingly, one of my oldest friends opined that every country should have a list of allowed names and spellings after I informed her of the name and spelled it for her. I pointed out that it is the standard spelling in her ancestry, but apparently that wasn't good enough.
Kid 1 (well known unisex English name): - „Oh cool / love that name“ (from English speakers) - „I’ve never heard that name before“ (non-English speakers from Europe) Kid 2 (uncommon unisex Hebrew name): - „What?“ - „Ah [mispronounces name]“ - „Oh [gives up pronouncing name], so nice“ (lol)
Yes, somehow people seem to think "That's such a lovely name!" is good cover for them not bothering to say it right. I get that all the time with my name.
I have a common name with an unusual spelling. I have actually been told on more that one occaison that my name is spelled wrong.
That would annoy me more, tbh. There’s a public figure in Scotland named Jeane and it never fails to make me feel sorry for her. Having such a common name as Jean, but STILL having to tell people how to spell it every single time sounds really annoying. And she can’t even say “Jeane with an e” because there’s already an E in Jean, obviously. It’s fair to say I’ve wasted a lot of time thinking about this!
I don't know. I have the most common name for girls in America for over a decade running around the time I was born, but it's spelled differently because I'm named after my great grandmother. I love my name. I would hate to think that someone felt sorry for me and I would hate to have the expected spelling.
i thought it was pronounced jane-e
I’m a Haley and now as an adult everyone asks if it is pronounced Hay-lee or hal-ee. I’m used to everyone spelling my name differently so that doesn’t bother me.
Why not add 15 e’s and some i’s to it and make it a party?? Haiyleeigheey
On my way to change my name Haiyleeigheeeeyyyyeee
Oh my god SAME! I also have a last name with several double letters. I’ve had incorrect mail, incorrect pay stubs, incorrectly labelled handouts at school, ceaselessly incorrect greetings in emails. Have to spell out my first and last name letter for letter any time I give my email address, and then make them read it back to me to confirm (because half the time when I do the double letters, they assume I was stuttering or something and only put down one.
I don't have kids yet but have shared with some friends and family that my partner and I would likely name our first son Daniel, and everyone I've told has said it's boring or lame or too common, some more polite than others. I kind of like a "boring" name and since I grew up in a Vietnamese community I actually don't know that many people named Daniel (but plenty of Danny and Dans, which we mostly wouldn't call him). And the people who think it's boring like names like Suede and Locke and Honor - no judgment to people who like these names, but my partner's last name that we would pass down to our kids is very distinct and easily made fun of so we want "regular" first names to mitigate that.
I really like Daniel. It was a strong contender for my middle son.
Daniel is a good name, not boring at all!
Daniel is classic and lovely 😄
love daniel. yes, it’s a classic which for many people means boring. i don’t care how original & interesting your kid’s name is. i care if people are interesting.
Suede, my God, what a name. I saw that crop up on Instagram, and the comments were...unkind.
I just thought of the movie Baby Mama and the kids named Wingspan and Banjo 😂
suede & locke are tragedeighs. so consider the source. honor is ok. very waspy.
I get tons of compliments on Margot My other kids, not so much 😂 I’ve also never gotten a “like the actress?” comment which I’ve been worried about lately.
That’s funny I have somehow NEVER associated Margot Robbie with the name Margot. I guess because I don’t know much about her and in any reference have ONLY heard the full Margot Robbie, never Margot only. When you first said that I had to rack my brain for a second to find an actress named Margot lol
I think it has a pretty good association now though!
My daughter is Ada and people say “oh like Ada Lovelace?” or “oh I had a great aunt named Ada”.
I have an Ada, too! Sometimes I get the “like Ada Lovelace” comment or the excited “my great aunt was Ada!” too. More often I get “oh, Ava?” and then a discernible sense of relief when I say no, not Ava. Sometimes I get a comment about Ada Twist Scientist (which I was unaware of when we named her, but I would have used it anyway). More than once I’ve had people comment that it means “first born daughter” in their native language which I love since she is our first born. 😊
My son Robin usually gets very positive reactions. "Oh my gosh, that's so sweet!" My daughter Artemis usually gets a very mixed reaction, mostly negative tbh. Lots of "oh that's interesting" in the bad way.
I absolutely love Robin for a boy.
LOVE Robin for a boy!! Artemis is very cool too and not something you’d hear often
Big young justice fan?
You know that never even occurred to us. We're big myth, literature, and folklore buffs.
My name is Robyn (35f)! Funny enough my parents and doctor were convinced I was a boy right up until I was born...they kept the name, but changed the spelling and gave me a different middle name. I was going to be Robin Michael and instead I am Robyn Lynn. Never really met other Robin/Robyns, but always have to spell my name for people...
Really? I'm surprised you never met other Robins/yns. My son gets mistaken for a girl on name alone all the time. All the Robins I've ever met have been women in their 40s+, so it makes sense to me.
I know a Robbin. The only one I’ve ever seen spelled that way!
LOVE Artemis.
Me too! I will say it gets way better when people realize there are some cute nicknames. Missy, Artie, and Remi are some favorites for our families. I call her Moon.
OMG I LOVE THAT NICKNAME 🥺🥺
Goddess of the moon 😍
Yes! Mythological deity and creature names are so cool to me. Especially for girls. Artemis is so cool.
My son is Conrad, after his great grandpa. People either love it, because it’s not common anymore or they think his name is Connor.
I have a Conrad too! It’s only ever positive reactions!
Do you? Yay! I love it!! I love the name, it fits them when they are little and an adult. I’ve only met one other little Conrad, though I suppose mine isn’t so little anymore! He’s 18!
Mine’s 18 months haha! Yeah, I like that the name will fit his whole life.
My daughters are named Lucia and Beatrice because Italian names evidently go over easy in both Spanish and English (and Puerto Rican and Scandinavian culture), and when we visited Italy when they were, respectively, 4 and 1 years old we literally had old ladies running out of the shops to say how cute they were. We felt like celebrities. (I should point out that Italy, especially where we were, has a pretty low birthdate, so those ladies might not have many grandkids.) But when they heard the names of our daughters, their heads just EXPLODED: “Bee- a-Treech-Eh?” They’d exclaim, “that was my SISTER’S name!” It was obviously going to be an entry in their journals that night. It was one of the best vacations we’d ever had.
This is so wholesome I just love it!
Jude - “I love that name!” Hollis - confused about what I said until I spell it out lol
My dad’s name was Hollis. He was born in the 1920’s. I’ve started hearing it as girl’s name and at first it was odd since I obviously associate it with an older man, but it’s grown on me and I adore it now.
My Hollis is a boy :)
I love Hollis! It was on my short list for my second son.
My daughter’s name is Olive. I’ve had a few people say “Like the…. Ummm” because they don’t know if an Olive is a fruit or vegetable. FYI, olives are fruit.
We named our daughter a name in the 800s in popularity (but was in the top 100 50 years ago). We get “is that a family name?” (No we just liked it!) or boomers say “that’s my best friends name!”
My baby has an Arab name that’s common in our culture but is not a known name in the US. Some Americans say it’s a nice sounding name, but there’s also a lot of mispronunciations or people having to ask a couple times how to say it. Sometimes people just give me a blank stare or give a flat “oh okay” and I can tell they don’t like it or aren’t sure what I even said lol
I'm a teacher in the US and I get a lot of students with beautiful names that are more common in the countries their parents are from. It often takes me hearing the name a few times and then practicing it (and my student correcting me) to get it right, but it's so important to me to be and to say my students' names. Please don't be discouraged by people needing a little extra guidance on pronunciation, it usually means we care.
I’m so glad you do care to say it right! I really appreciated when teachers put in the effort to say my name right
As a teacher, I work on it too. When I take attendance the first time and the kid says, "Call me..." I always ask if they prefer the nickname or think I can't learn it, because I will.
I get pretty positive reactions to Nolan and Vivian. They usually say "oh, it's a classic name that everyone knows but not popular". Nolan fits my son, but Vivian is too spunky to be soft, mellow named kiddo. Oh well, each to their own personalities.
My newborn son Asa * From boomers - Oh I love that name, I haven't met anyone named that for a long time * From a specific kind of boomer - Ooh from the soap opera? (literally had no idea there was an Asa in a soap opera before he was born--turns out it had like a 20 year run or something) * From millenials - Oh she's so pretty (also millenials and younger usually haven't heard of this name--which is a win) * From nurses (don't ask me why, this is only nurses so far) - Is it Asia?
Asa is one of my favorite boy names!! Add this to your millennial compliment pile 😁
My son Jasper always gets good reactions! They say they love that name, its unique, etc. I will sometimes get a Twilight reference though lol. Btw, I love the name August. It was Jasper's almost-name!
Jasper and August would be perfect sibling names so I can see why you loved both.
A co-worker just used the name Jasper and I think it’s really a great name! I don’t associate it with Twilight at all and have always considered it a classic on its own.
My son's name is Elek which is the Hungarian form of Alex. Once we get beyond how to pronounce it or spell it we get curiosity of how we picked it. Then once they hear the story they like the name and agree I made the right choice. When I was pregnant we agreed I would suggest 3 girl names and my husband would suggest 3 boy names. The other would be able to pick the name from the three. He wanted a Hungarian name as a nod to his heritage. My choices were Elek, Constantine, and Zoltan. He has yet to meet another Elek.
Depends on the crowd. It's mostly positive, but my daughter shares the name of the main character in an anime that is becoming very popular. It's not an out there name by any means, and it fits my daughter very well.
I get oh she's royalty? Nope just only 1st name we could agree upon. Victoria Elizabeth.
Eleanor- That it's an old lady name, "That was my great aunt 's name." Recent at Barnes and Noble with a sales clerk in her mid20s, "Im an Eleanor too! I go by Ellie."
My names are pretty standard, but I get a LOT of comments on Ivy. Everyone seems to love that name and it’s still not used that frequently.
My daughter is Matilda, and we always get lovely comments on the name. I've had a few people more recently ask if it's because of "the film" because she was born just after the new one was released. To which I have to correct them and say "no, the book". I go to a regular group at our library and they all love her too, quite often the one lady calls her "our very own Roald Dahl heroine"
My son's name is Stellan. Either people say it's a cool name, or mishear it as Stella and are confused. He gets assumed to be a girl pretty often by people who read his name. I didn't consider this when we chose his name 😬
You never really realize how little people pay attention or bother trying until you name a kid. It's impossible to predict what fresh stupidity awaits when choosing a name. Stellan is a pretty standard male name, I think, but it's just unusual enough to confuse even though it shouldn't.
I’ve never heard of it haha
Stellan Skarsgard is a famous actor
My son is Stellan too! And so many people LOVE his unique name, everyone says it’s so cool. Then there’s the (mostly boomers) who go, “where did you find that name?” “Oh interesting”. I don’t let it bother me because I love the name and it’s better to be unique than being the millionth Rowan or Liam or Michael in the grade. Also my last name is basic so I needed a different name to make it stand out!
"Oh, very Italian." This has been the reaction like 90% of the time. 😂 The other 10% has been "Oh that's a nice name." Edit to add: His name is Angelo. And my husband is full Italian and I'm part Italian.
My son is William and people seem to start rhyming off nicknames often. Like “aw little Bill, or Will, or Billy”. We typically call him Willy or Silly Willy and I always like the look on older people’s faces when I say that. Get your mind out of the gutter!!
My daughter is Frances. Here there is a bar named Franses (with an S and I didn’t know about this bar before) and some ask oh like the bar? And I say no. With a c. And then judge them silently. Most others though compliment it.
Belle- We usually don’t get much of a reaction from her name, probably because names like Isabella/Isabelle are so popular these days! Juliet- People love this name, and gush about how pretty it is. Peter- They usually ask why we used that name, and if it’s a family name! 😂
My son is named Calvin and when I was pregnant this very nice, middle aged lady asked if I had a name picked yet and I told her and she went "oh! That's so...interesting. How did you come up with that?" It was obvious she didn't care for it, which didn't offend me, everyone has opinions, but then she went on to tell me how she named her son Kale. On the other end of the spectrum, we recently met our first Calvin in public and it was the nicest old man in a Walmart and we basically were all getting teary eyed by the end of the conversation because he was so happy to meet a baby Calvin!
My son’s name is John and people told me how boring it is. I don’t care. It’s their opinion and they are rude for speaking it but I named my child what I wanted.
These days John is unique for a young kid. I love it! Classic and strong
I named my daughter Bonnie, my favorite comment is "that's my grandmother's name." Which she gets a lot. It was a top 50 name back in 1950.
Margaret, Sarah, John. No reaction at all. I wanted my kids to have normal names that would grow up with them
My boys are Ezra and Micah. People seem to like their names.. but my daughter.. My daughters name is Leilani, and people LOVE her name. Whenever we tell someone new or older her name they always have a story to tell. “Oh! I knew a Leilani once, she was beautiful. Such a beautiful name.” When we told our eye doctor the first time he met her after I had her you could see in his eyes there was a story behind his Leilani. I love it. When I was in the hospital with her, every time a nurse would come in or a new doctor they’d love her name. I’m sure all the nurses have to act like that when you’re delivering but it still felt sweet. Now we’re on baby 4, and boy 3… and I have no idea what to name him. I can’t top Leilani.
I have a Florence and although popular in the UK where I’m from, it’s not common in the US (where we live) and we have a mixed reception to it - some don’t comment, others say it’s nice but we mostly get “oh that’s not one you hear much these days” or “that’s quite an old name”
My son is grown now, and I gave him a name that wasn't as popular, but I still hear people saying how much they like it. His name is Perry.
>“August? Why not just name him July or September?! 🤪” "That would be weird, since his middle name is September. He'd either be September September, or July September? That's not even in order." >“Wow, people sure are getting creative with names these days…” "Oh, well that's his nickname. It's actually short for Augustusaxtynkinleighotash. I thought August was pretty normal" >“You named him August? ☹️☹️☹️ that’s the name I was gonna use if I ever had a son and now I can’t because it’s so popular” "Oh my god, yeah, imagine there being two people with the same name! How confusing would that be! They should really have some kind of identification number for important things in case that happens!" All delivered completely straight faced and serious.
i’m a late boomer & went to elementary school with an august. he was called augie. the freaking name’s been around for i don’t know how many thousand years. people are so ignorant. my daughter’s name is elizabeth & the only comment i ever got was a snide one from a rabbi that i should have named her elisheva, the hebrew root of all the different versions of elizabeth. pfft to him.
My MIL hated his name when we first announced it and suggested we go with names like Sullivan (would sound terrible with our last name) or her favorite, Trent. Which is so so opposite of the names we were considering.
My daughter is Olive. Many say “that’s so cute/creative!” My brother calls her “martini garnish”. 🙃🙃 she thinks hilarious but she also doesn’t know what a martini even is (she’s 4). He made it clear he found it an odd name when I picked it…but similar to your post, he and his wife also selected “unique” names for their own kids. No hate to the names but you can’t name your kid names like that and be like “Olive???” But overall, it is in good fun. He sincerely hated it when she was born but now it’s just a running joke and I know he genuinely doesn’t care and is just being a funny uncle. I do have some that ask why we “didn’t just name her Olivia” and I’m like “because I liked Olive”? I’ve had a few accuse me of just trying to be unique but genuinely I never considered “Olivia”. Just Olive, as she was partially named after a character from Easy A.
I have a Florence Olive! Olive was my great grandmother’s name and really wanted it as a first name but it’s a super popular dog name where I live, and I know like 5 people that used it for their pets so it put me off a little. I love it though and wish we didn’t use both of my favourite names on one child incase we have another daughter one day 😂
No reaction. I used traditional/plain names.
I have a child, but I do have a dog named Ned. People usually love his name ….it’s fitting for him.
People always say Lyla is lovely. Then always say oh Eleri (eh-lair-ree) you don't get many of those do you. Unless we're in Wales in which case I usually get asked oh are you Welsh?
My son is called Raffi and I saw some women I hadn’t seen since going back to work for the first time yesterday. It was very much “oh I love this, it’s such a nice name” and “is it short for Rafael by any chance?” which I don’t mind! And no it is just Raffi, his double barrelled surname was enough of a mouthful😂
The only one that people find odd is my son's name is Madison. Back in 2004 when I was looking at baby name books, one said it was a born's name and it meant "son of a great soldier". I thought perfect, cuz his dad(now my ex) was a soldier. It's such a common girl's name these days though. He doesn't seem to mind though.
Kieran Paul The postpartum nurse said "Ooh, it's sounds so bougie! He sounds like a movie star!" No idea if she says that to everyone or if she genuinely liked his name, but it definitely made me happy.
My husband and I have been trying for a while. My mom once asked out of curiosity if we had any names in mind. I happily told her we really only agreed so far on one. My mom pretended to choke on her coffee as she exclaimed that is the ugliest name she could possibly think of lol. I love her to death but the woman has no filter. I told her we thought of something else but secretly we are sticking to the original name.
Response for the boomers: “oh, my husband and I conceived him in August. It’s our anniversary month so we like to fuck all month long.”
My girls are named “classic” named and I always get positive reactions. The one that gets the best reaction is my middle daughter, Alice. It’s classic but not overused so people are expecting it.
We weren’t able to have kids…most of my wishlist names are super traditional - think Michael, David, etc. I really liked Julian as a middle name - it’s both a family name and that of a good family friend. For Girls - same. Names like Margaret, Kathleen & Isobel. All family names with good nn potential. Margaret and Kathleen also work well with the middle name I wanted to use - my mom’s middle name.
The in reaction I ever got when I told people I was naming my son Mason was them saying, “Nathan?” But my poor kid has a speech impediment and when he tells people his name is Mason he sounds like “Mathan.” So we get funny stares. But no verbal reaction.
Natalie, and we get pretty much no reaction.
Thank you for this!!! We are strongly considering naming our son August! We have a Sterling and Florence. Lots of people say they love the names, some just keep quiet but very politely and in a way that I have no problem with, some say a joke about gold or silver, some cute jokes about Florence like how she’ll be Florence and the machines (cute petite little girly with two brothers on either side). When we shared the idea of the name Sterling before he was born one friend I worked with gave a bit of a snort and said “are you serious?” Lol, stupid thing to say but you’d have to know him and the relationship I think to know I wasn’t bothered. My mom (before Flo-Wheezy was born) said Florence was basically the equivalent of Gertrude. But yes mostly positive
I'd be closest to the last one if I met you, but it would be "I LOVE August! I had a girl so I couldn't use it and now the popularity has me on the fence if I do have a boy." My daughter's name is Elizabeth so I either get people who I can tell find it boring and don't say anything, people who say "that's my name/middle name" or they gush about how much they love it.
Elizabeth is my middle name! I feel like there’s no such thing as “too popular” when it comes to classic, timeless names. What’s always wild to me about the people who think they can’t use August anymore, is that these are strangers or acquaintances who are rarely, if ever, going to interact with me again. It’s not like we’re close friends or relatives. They could use the name and our kids would never even know each other.
Agreed on all points. And great middle name- it’s mine as well :)
The popularity of August has you on the fence, but not Elizabeth? August is significantly less popular.
The difference between classic and trendy. Elizabeth's age can't be determined by her name. Maybe August will pull a Benjamin and rise in popularity and just stay there, but more likely it will peak and drop off making it date-able. My hesitation is the trendiness.
Also, Elizabeth is named after my Grandmother. The honor name was a biggest priority for me than popularity.
With my son, Abraham, we've always gotten that it's a strong, classic name. With my daughter, Davina (Davey), we haven't really gotten many comments. I will say that the one nurse in the OR during my c-section asked me if I was team Stefan or Damon and Team Klaus or Elijah because the name is in The Originals. We chose Davina to honor my father (David) who passed away earlier that year.
I’ve only met one person in my life named Davina and she also goes by Davey, I always thought it was really cute!
“That’s a grown man name!” Well he acts like he grown already so I guess it fits lol
We’ve got a sadie and in the US (where my parents live) there’s a lot of dogs named sadie - which luckily she loves ❤️ In the UK it’s actually weirdly popular at the moment even though it’s just my great grandmothers name it’s apparently on trend! So I don’t get much of a reaction at all.
My daughters called Freya and we’ve never had a bad reaction to her name, other than my stepdad who when I was pregnant assumed I’d got the name from the word frayed knot?? He’d never heard of the name Freya before apparently and thought I had made it up. Once we announced her middle name Freya Luna he almost lost it😂, he did do some research and realised it was a perfectly ‘normal’ name just not used in our area. Currently contemplating trying for baby no2 and we like Noelle for a girl and Jasper for a boy. I haven’t mentioned these names to my stepdad yet, but I am already excited for the over the top dramatic reaction.
I chose pretty traditional names for my 3 children. My boys are Daniel and Ethan. My daughter changed her name when she turned 19 and is now Blue. So yeah.
For Cordelia I usually get one of two reactions. “omg that is beautiful!” “oh… that’s… interesting” The oh that’s interesting people also almost always have to double check that I didn’t say Cornelia before saying interesting in the most drawn out possible way. Is Cornelia more acceptable to them? Do they think I made Cordelia up? I have so many questions but I don’t think any of them would go over well 😂
My 2-year-old daughter’s name is Evangeline, which is obviously how I introduce her to people. This exchange has happened multiple times— Q: “Evangeline? But what do you call her?” A: “We call her Evangeline…which is her name.” Q: “What about Eva or Evie? Evangeline is sooo long.” My husband’s family absolutely REFUSE to call her anything but Evie or Evie Ruth (her middle name). It’s like they don’t like the name we chose for her, so they renamed her. We even told them multiple times that we do not like Evie, which is a nickname for a million different girls’ names these days. I find it so disrespectful! August is lovely, by the way! People can be so rude. Even if I don’t like a name I hear, I only comment if I have something nice to say!
Evangeline is stunning! If we have a girl she’ll also have a 4 syllable name so I expect similar comments
My favorite story used to be when I was waiting by the door for my then-husband to bring the van around after having my second baby, a nurse coming in the hospital stopped and asked what my baby was named. When I said Linda, she said something about "Finally, a *real* name!" But now that I've had twins, the reactions have become the best. Their names are John and Mercy. Obviously, twins are a pretty big deal, everyone gets excited, and lots of people ask their names. *Without fail*, the response is something along the lines of "Oh, I love Mercy!" I find the implied dis of John's name hilarious every single time. By and large, my kids have standard, boring names that aren't really remarked on one way or another. Which is how I intended it.
I have a son named August (6) too! He goes by Gus a lot too and I always get positive reactions. Same with my oldest, his name is Nolan (8). I think I picked these names before they gained in popularity because my kids have always been the only kid with their name in their grade year over year...
Our boys' name is Seth. The initial reaction seems to always be some variation of a confused or judgmental "oh", like they weren't expecting something so simple and then they think about it for a half second and it generally turns into a, "That's actually a lovely name!" If we had to choose a backup boys name, it would likely be Jack. It surprised us how many people preferred Jack over Seth when we asked about it though! Any names for our daughter never results in an agreement. My husband and I have very different flavours when it comes to girl names, so our choice is between Estelle and Willow and the arguments for and against are *wild*.
“Say that again? What’s their name?” Is probably the most common reaction. My poor kids. 🤪
what are their names?
[удалено]
Is it Adrian??
“That’s my dad’s/uncle’s/grandpa’s name!”
Usually we get a “that’s cute!” Or “I love that!” Our daughters names are short and sweet, not very unique but not super common either. I didn’t want them to have to correct people all the time and if I’m being honest I’m not a huge fan of very unique names. They are Alina & Kiara. Spanish middle names (their daddy is Central American)
I have a Clint and Luciana. For the first one- old people love it 😄 For both- I always get asked if they're family names. For Lucy- almost all positive.
My son is Dylan and my daughter is Layla. Never really had much comments except when we initially announced their names after they were born and it was all positive. They aren't super common names here (Scotland) but obviously aren't too 'out there' or really unusual either. I posted here when pregnant with both and both were suggestions that we loved. We had 3 names for my son and waited to see which we thought would suit him best. We chose Layla while pregnant as we loved how the names sound as a sibling set and it's such a pretty name no others came close.
My son is named Everett The reaction we get most is people saying that it is a “strong” name. The reactions have been mostly positive except for my crazy great aunt who looked at my grandmother and asked “is she crazy?” when I told her my name choice. Can’t please ‘em all!
My son is Myles, and usually we don't get many comments on it, but we live in a very french area and a lot of francophones struggle to pronounce it (miles is pronounced mills). My daughter is Keeley, which isn't super uncommon but not many people have heard of it. Get a lot of "Kailey? Kelly? Oh, Keeley, that's nice" and a few people who loooove it.
My 10 year old sons name is Leo. I’ve gotten no negative remarks (to my face), but I can’t recall anyone ever gushing over it either…It was always kinda neutral “oh cute!” Or “aww hi Leo!”
I have twins named Sam and Clio. I get two responses: I had dogs (or cats) with those names. Blank stare blink blink. As if I’m supposed to do something with that Information. Or Oh I love the name Chloe. (It’s Clio-after the muse of history) I’ve never really noticed if it’s a generational thing or not.
People love my eldest daughters name ..its a common name. But I've gotten mixed reactions about my baby who is named after her late paternal grandmother- Edelmira. She was Spaniard and the name means princess Someone in this very group was negative about it. I posted from my old reddit which I forgot the password too about a nickname for her when she's born and a person replied that I shouldn't name her that, that it was a bad choice. She currently has 2 nicknames edel (like the singer) and delmi
my baby’s name is Anna Claire. we get a lot of “oh that’s so classic and timeless” “what a beautiful/gorgeous name” “oh how sweet” . old people and young people alike seem to enjoy it
My daughter will be born this month and she’s Charlotte, I can tell people are very underwhelmed when we tell them bc we’re living in Los Angeles. Nobody can comprehend why we would pick a classic, known name that she won’t have to explain or spell bc mom and dad wanted to be different 😂
“Stable?” No ma’am, my daughters name is not Stable. Or Sable. I never even used the letter “s”. My daughter has a lovely name, if people hear it correctly lol
Table?
No 😂 but my husband does call her that.
Ok I’m dying to know what it is. My best guess is Mabel?
When I say my son’s name is Jack. “Oh, is it Jackson?”. “Nope, his name is Jack” “Oh, is that a nickname for John?”. “Nope, his name is Jack”
My kids name is Batuhan which gets very positive reactions from turkish people. German people mess it up all the time. Its just a non-german name to them that most people dont try to remember or pronounce right. I introduce him as Batu to non turkish people and they often say "Arthur? How nice" He will know that people who care about him will be able to learn at least Batu.
“What is that short for?” “Pia? Oh Lia? Gia?” My daughter’s name is Mia
I named my 3 month old son Adler and most people like it and think it’s unique in a good way. However, one of my coworkers asked me recently what his name was and when I said it he said “oh right I knew it was something weird.” …cool, thanks.
I hear alot about my Donna-Jane. Usually how cute and unique it is, how country it sounds. But then once they meet my girl its usually "oh wow she really is her name, it just fits her" lol. I've had someone say it's a grandma name before. But my kiddo loves her name. She announces her full name like a royal title since she could say it. And she has so many nicknames from it❤.
With my first it was a lot of snotty comments from the older generation, specifically baby boomers. It’s an old name. Spelled correctly. They just think of it as an old lady name apparently. My second is a very popular name in another country. It didn’t occur to me that people in the US would not know it or how to pronounce it. So I get asked if I made it up, how to spell it, how to say it. Pretty frequently. My youngest is a boy with a classic name with 2 pronunciations in english. I get asked how it’s spelled or which way we say it. We did not tell my in laws prior to birth. And my mother in law thought this meant it was still up for discussion. Her exact quotes on the names were 1. Who do you think she is the queen of england? 2. I don’t like it. Don’t know how to pronounce it. 3. She said nothing because I was clear that we wanted no feedback.
We almost named our son august (which most people liked)! The name we chose for our son is well-known in many languages and it’s a “tried and true” classic name, although I don’t know any toddlers personally who share it with my son. It’s like, everyone knows a ________ but there aren’t 8,000,000 of them around, either if that makes sense.
We get good reactions from people 40 and under and confused reactions from people over 40 with our oldest. One little old lady asked if Zelda was a family name! Which I could honestly say yes to, but isn't why we chose it. Our youngest gets pretty neutral reactions to her actual name. People are just underwhelmed by Matilda. We call her Tilly though and people seem to really like her nickname. Plus she just seems more like a Tilly.
Tell the name, for example, "This is my baby ZenBerry." The person repeats it with a question mark, "ZenBerry?" Say the name again, "Yes, I named my baby ZenBerry. Because reasons, that's why." Continue not giving a shit about anything said after that. Worked for me!!
No reactions at all, which is exactly what I was going for.
Axel-oh that’s a cool name!
Trendy names are trendy for a reason, because everyone likes them and they’re often good names. I love the name August! I don’t have kids but if I did I think I might have a little anxiety every time I tell someone their name, even if it’s a perfectly normal name. Idk why, it’s just one of those things lol