Hey, I’m new here, but I thought I’d ask a question I’ve been thinking about lately.
Have you ever been afraid/embarrassed to share names that you like? I don’t mean announce possible names for an expected child, I mean just talk about names with people.
I’m a teenager, so I’m not expecting anytime soon, but a little while ago I had a conversation with some of my friends about names. My friends all agreed that [name]Sailor[/name] was an adorable name for a girl, and my best friend explained how she planned on naming her first daughter [name]Bobbi[/name]. Now, I have nothing against [name]Sailor[/name] and [name]Bobbi[/name], or any of the other names along that style that they were discussing. They’re perfectly fine names; they’re just not my style. My personal style falls more in line with names like [name]Wilhelmina[/name], [name]Octavia[/name], [name]Mabel[/name], [name]Louise[/name] and [name]Artemis[/name]. And during this conversation, I kind of choked. Instead of sharing my own favorite names, I just mentioned current naming trends and the popularity of their favorites. I chickened out. I was afraid of their reactions, especially considering they don’t really know that I’m into names. So, I was wondering, has something like this ever happened to you?
I think it’s like any other situation where you know you’re going to be the minority opinion, and you know you’re not going to change anyone’s mind, so why introduce a note of unpleasantness? What you did was great-- offer objective information instead of contrary opinion, which is much more valuable and saves you for hearing your interests ridiculed.
I have had a very big interest in names since I was 14 years old and yes - I have always had vastly different naming styles than my peers, I can completely understand where your coming from. I think my friends caught on after a couple years and they would throw random names at me, usually way outside of my personal style - I think you handled the situation very well, providing factual information and leaving opinion out of it is always a good way to go.
I know what you mean. I’m in my teens as well and most of my friends would have laughing fits if they knew that my favourite names are [name]Agatha[/name] and [name]Edmond[/name]. Very few of them know I’m interested in names. My mum knows I’m interested in names and when she got so sick of me pestering her about her opinions on names she asked me what my favourite names are, like you, I chickened out. I just shrugged. [name]Welcome[/name] to nameberry ris71 and personally I much prefer [name]Wilhelmina[/name] to Salior.
i think that most people off of nameberry aren’t as in on trends as us ELITE NAMERS are (lol). Names that you suggested are more vintage and quirky, which is a trend many of us berries including myself have fallen for. People that aren’t as into naming would think of trendy names as celebrity baby names or weird but more popular names. Those are trendy, but not trending. Berries are also more accepting to the idea of weirder names an can see them working in the real world, maybe we’re all in a fnatasy bubble though.
[name]Lucky[/name] you that your friends are more in to trendy names, [name]Sailor[/name] is a huge guilty pleasure of mine (as said in my sig) but my friends are more Top 10 fans
I’m a teenager too and I kind of feel awkward bringing up the subject, like you. I’m not really sure why, since most of my friends are pretty used to my kind of hobbies and probably wouldn’t care nearly as much as I imagine. But they want to name their kids things like [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] and I want to name mine [name]Adelaide[/name] and [name]Theodore[/name], and whilst they’d likely be pretty open, I still chicken out of telling them for some reason.
You’re lucky that your friends have such cool naming tastes, and you definitely did right to mention naming trends instead of bringing yourself into a conversation where you thought you might have felt awkward. You don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t want to, but I just go by the policy of “If they don’t bring it up, then I won’t” but if anyone asked me about it I wouldn’t deny it. Why would I? It’s an awesome hobby, just not one that people might expect a teenager to have
Not really, though I can understand why you would be.
Personally, [name]Sailor[/name] is my style, and the names you mentioned aren’t, but unless you went about it in a rude way, I’m sure your friends would love to hear your input and your naming style!
Me and my friends talk about names all the time! Though one of them wants to name his daughter [name]Ashley[/name], and my girl friends lean towards things like [name]Bella[/name] and [name]Lilly[/name], which aren’t really my style at all (If you couldn’t tell from my signature, haha). Some people do find a name ‘obsession’ strange, but if they’re your friends, why not mention it? They might find it cool!
I understand completely. I’ve been fascinated by names since I was about nine, and joined my first name message boards when I was eleven. No one even knew about my naming hobby until about a year ago. Of course, there is a bit of a gap between what my mother and my friends think is a good name.
My naming style is all over the place, but I generally like names with a history. Of course, the same people who think [name]Isabella[/name] is unique (there are some, sadly) think these names that get plenty of respect on NB (Like [name]Mavis[/name], my current crush) are going to cause a child so much pain. Whenever I tell my mother current favorites, she laughs. [name]Lucy[/name] [name]Ariadne[/name] and [name]Matthias[/name] [name]Orion[/name] is possibly the best sibset I’ve ever come up with, but she thinks it’s terrible.
Most of my friends know my hobby. If we discuss names, which I try not to because I get carried away, I politely smile when one suggests Onyxx-[name]Rose[/name] and another wants a B/G sibset of Kandis and [name]Junior[/name] (Kandis is a phonetic K-trend spelling of [name]Candace[/name] and yes, [name]Junior[/name] would be the full name). If I unleash the horror of those names onto the poor teen souls who don’t know any better…
When the subject does come up, I smile and say my favorites are variations of their names. That makes them happy. So, according to my friends [name]Alexandria[/name] and [name]Evelyn[/name] my future daughters will be [name]Alessandra[/name] and [name]Eve[/name]. And truth to be told, I do plan on honoring my best friend [name]Christine[/name] some day.
Definitely understandable. Maybe if it comes up again, you could test the waters with one name. Maybe say that you saw someone on facebook with that name and what do they think?
But I really don’t blame you for not saying anything. I had different groups of friends in high school and into my 20s who were into all sorts of different things. I would talk about books with some friends and music with others, etc. Sometimes our friends can’t fill every role. If you don’t feel like it would be any fun to talk names with them, hop on nameberry!
[name]Glad[/name] to know I’m not the only one who’s gone through this!
Most of my friends and family know that I’m interested in names, but my mother is the only person who understands my level of obsession. She’s found me on naming boards since I was about eight and has come to understand my hobby, even if she thinks it’s a bit weird. My brother only recently learned about it and then demanded to know what names I like. That time, I blanked. I had to really rack my brain to find names that he wouldn’t laugh at. Of course, he found [name]Calvin[/name], my #1 boy’s name strange. You know, even though we were practically raised on [name]Calvin[/name] and [name]Hobbes[/name]. [name]One[/name] time he found me on a naming board and called me a weirdo. [name]Ah[/name], brothers.
Completely understand! Whilst I’m no longer a teenager, I first got into names when I was 14 or 15. I didn’t really discuss the hobby with other people, because like a lot of posters have said, I guess people find it an odd interest for a young teenager? As though names are an interest that should be exclusively for those who are expecting a child. I have talked about my favourite names with friends, but I suppose I just never made it come across as though it was something I put a lot of thought into. They obviously found my choices odd, and hadn’t even heard of a lot of the names I like, and I do recall feeling somewhat upset that I was made to feel odd for liking names that aren’t common or trendy!
Anyway, I think you handled the situation really well and you have a wonderful taste in names, [name]Mabel[/name] is my absolute favourite name!
