Are you afraid of weird names? Are you afraid that a child with a very unusual name will be bullied or singled out?
I’m mostly talking about word names, particularly those names that you may hear being called by a hipster mother in NYC or [name_m]Portland[/name_m], like [name_u]Banjo[/name_u] or Wingspan!
I read an article a few years about a boy named [name_m]Flash[/name_m]. At the time of the article the boy was about 8 years old, so, he’s probably about 13 or so now. The mother of the boy named him [name_m]Flash[/name_m] and immediately got a massive backlash from friends and family. In his first few years she was constantly bombarded with “how could you” and “that poor child will have no friends”. When [name_m]Flash[/name_m] started school everyone got the surprise of their life, not only did the other kids think his name was awesome but [name_m]Flash[/name_m] ended up having another boy in his class, and they ended up being best friends, called Bolt!
[name_m]Flash[/name_m] and Bolt ended up becoming very popular kids and they weren’t bullied by other children, the children just accepted them as names. The bullying and taunting came from adults who couldn’t accept the the mother named him such a name and the kids couldn’t see what was wrong with his name.
So, are you afraid of weird names? Or, are you afraid what other adults will think of you?
I absolutely love “weird” names and intend to use them for future children parents say they worry about other kids picking on them, but from what I’ve seen it’s the parents that are the nasty and judgemental ones, not the children. Not to say a child hasn’t made fun of someone for a name (from my experience it has always been last names that are made fun of, or middles and they’re usually totally normal names. Maybe because there is more of a pool of taunts to pick from with a common name?) I strongly believe you should teach your child how to handle a bully and have confidence and also teach your child to not be the bully. If you openly scoff and make fun of a kids name, more than likely your kid will be the bully others worry about because they are copying your actions.
I have an unusual name and have met many people with strange names and they’ve never had peers pick on them because of their name. I feel like you should be aware of what you name your child and know the inside and outs of a name and how to handle backlash but I feel like a parent should name their child what they want without being scared of the infamous hypothetical bully (within reason - I’ve seen names not allowed such as abortion and things like that, who does that?)
I love them but I am afraid of what others would think. I also second (or third?) that it’s the parents/adults who are judgemental and the children are innocent, with the older ones being more likely to just be curious.
I’m trying to be brave and pick a name I love but that others will not to start with, but so far I’m only debating the use of [name_u]Shiloh[/name_u] - which isn’t even that “weird”! I am also a lot more braver with my boy names than my girls, for a reason I can’t pinpoint. I guess I think it’d be easier for a boy to wear but that’s only as I know boys with “weird” names and little to no girls.
I love them, but I do get nervous about what others might think, or worse, say - to me or to my child.
For example, we’re considering [name_u]Loren[/name_u] for our baby due in [name_f]October[/name_f], if it’s a boy. SO and I both love it, but it’s an unusual choice for a boy and because of who we would honor with the MN, he wouldn’t really have a second option to fall back on, just NNs. I’m just afraid of the neverending “but that’s a GIRL’S name” protests (because it sounds so similar to [name_f]Lauren[/name_f]) and other assorted weird comments. That’s why it ended up being the “weirdest” name under consideration, a lot of my previous loves went straight to the GP list once an actual child was being named, lol.
To @greyer, I’m a lady [name_f]Lauren[/name_f] and met a guy [name_u]Loren[/name_u] one time. It wasn’t weird at all, in fact, it was a fun thing to bond over!
I am honestly less concerned with my child being bullied as a child than growing up and being prejudged for having an unusual name. For example, if Wingspan [name_m]Jones[/name_m] is in school, he might get teased a bit. But if Wingspan [name_m]Jones[/name_m] is applying for a job and the recruiter thinks that Wingspan sounds like a daft, made-up name by someone trying to escape their past (it happens), then I would be concerned. That seems much more damaging long-term than childhood teases.
Furthermore, Wingspan is so not-a-name in comparison to some other somewhat unusual choices. [name_m]Winthrop[/name_m], for example. Wingate, [name_m]Wright[/name_m], [name_m]Washington[/name_m], to stay in the W theme.
Also, word names are not my thing anyway, so the point is rather moot. But if I were hiring someone and they introduced themselves as Wingspan, they’d have to prove themselves a little harder than someone named [name_m]William[/name_m] or even [name_m]Wolf[/name_m].
Depends how unusual they are. If they are ‘common’ or used on typical ‘hipster mums’ as you called them, then I would probably steer away from it (I heard something the other day calling out [name_u]Ocean[/name_u]…my nose turned). But I love unisex/trendy/unusual names and hopefully will use them some day. Personally I’ve always wished I had a cooler name, and those I have met who have something a little different, they’re just treated like people, because thats all they are.
Not afraid of unusual names either, plan intend to use them for future children as well. Have some that don’t like my choice for a boy. Like to believe that he’d take after me and be strong. That he’d have confidence in himself and not care about negative opinions from others. I’ve loved the name ever since it came to me twice in a dream. That it was his name, that it suited him well as a kid and later as an adult. But agreed, people shouldn’t make fun of unusual names.
Lol erm… My daughter is named [name_f]Liberty[/name_f]… I named her a weird name lol… I think its nice to be unusual. Her brother is bailey so not too different but not really common…
p.s cherilyn… valkyrie is a wicked name. epic choice
I do like uncommon names. Due to husbands preferences, I’m trying to keep names with in the Top 1000 but with girls especially I find myself wondering out of the top 1000 quite frequently. With boys, I’m sorry to say, I’ll stay with in the top 1000 because I just like them better I guess.
The way I look at it is, this will be their normal. Not ours. So, if Valkyrie is born in 2015, they’ll be going to college 2033! They’ll be surrounded by their friends [name_m]Flash[/name_m], Bolt, [name_f]Rainbow[/name_f] and [name_u]Banjo[/name_u]! Lol! Employers and colleges, as well as other people will be a lot more used to weird names, except to them they’ll be normal, but unusual.
I’m not afraid of word names in general, but I’m picky with them. I like uncommon flower names ([name_f]Zinnia[/name_f], [name_f]Lilac[/name_f]), and some gemstones ([name_f]Opal[/name_f], [name_f]Peridot[/name_f]), and I’m sure there are other word names on my list (probably mostly in Spanish and Basque).
I do worry about what people think, and I KNOW parents/ adults are more judgemental than kids. Kids don’t know any different. A kid grows up with a classmate named [name_m]Flash[/name_m], [name_m]Flash[/name_m] becomes a normal name. Kid never hears the name [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] until he’s 25, then [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] is a weird name to kid-turned-adult. I remember being in grade 5 and having a [name_m]Simon[/name_m] in my class, but I had never heard the name before so I thought it was super weird. My best friend since I was 3 is named a name similar to [name_f]Hayley[/name_f] with a never-again-seen spelling variation, and yet that’s the most normal name to me.
Would I want to be named [name_m]Flash[/name_m] or Bolt? Or introduce my kids as [name_m]Flash[/name_m] and Bolt? Heck no, so I won’t be using names like that on my children, because honestly, it would embarrass me.
[name_u]Banjo[/name_u] is a legit name He’s a famous poet ([name_m]Man[/name_m] from Snowy [name_u]River[/name_u], anyone?)
Seriously though, I love weird names. Especially for boys. Boys names are pretty boring. The same names over and over for centuries! I grew up with a very normal name, knew a couple of other kids with the same name, and still got teased relentlessly by both kids and adults, so I figure fear of teasing is a poor reason to stick with more common names if you’re not into that.
Sadly my husband is a very much a “what will people think?” person, so our children will all have “real” names.
I like a lot of “weird” names. I don’t know if I’d choose [name_m]Flash[/name_m], but I wouldn’t hold it against anyone that did. I mostly like “actual names” with history, but if I liked a name enough to find meaning in it, that would be enough for me. Nowadays, this is becoming more and more common.
I’m going to admit, I’m a little afraid of weird names! I wouldn’t want my kids to get bullied. Chances are that whole [name_m]Flash[/name_m] and Bolt thing won’t happen. I wouldn’t choose a name that wouldn’t look right behind a Dr. I don’t want my kids to have “stripper” names.
I’m not afraid of weird names, I just don’t like them and I don’t think parents should give their children names that would look and sound out of place for an adult with a profession.
[FONT=Verdana] Back in the Victorian era flower and gemstone names were considered weird but nowadays you’d have no problem going to see Dr. [name_f]Rose[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] or Dr. [name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_m]Jones[/name_m], even Dr. [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] [name_m]McGee[/name_m] or Dr. [name_f]Crystal[/name_f] Peterston.
To the Victorians these names were weird and outrageous! To us, they’re normal! What’s weird to us now, will be normal in the future! [FONT]
It depends from name to name. I don’t like names because they’re “weird” but I don’t not like them for that reason either. I’m mainly concerned with what my family thinks - none of my choices are outrageous! Also, I like to let myself go with middle names - I think it’s much more interesting to see a less rare first with an unexpected middle in the Birth Announcements than something like [name_u]Banjo[/name_u]… which is the name of my dog.
parents say they worry about other kids picking on them, but from what I’ve seen it’s the parents that are the nasty and judgemental ones, not the children. Not to say a child hasn’t made fun of someone for a name (from my experience it has always been last names that are made fun of, or middles and they’re usually totally normal names. Maybe because there is more of a pool of taunts to pick from with a common name?) I strongly believe you should teach your child how to handle a bully and have confidence and also teach your child to not be the bully. If you openly scoff and make fun of a kids name, more than likely your kid will be the bully others worry about because they are copying your actions.
He’s a famous poet ([name_m]Man[/name_m] from Snowy [name_u]River[/name_u], anyone?)