I’ve been thinking about names a lot recently (as usual) and I realized that some of the names on my list feel a little weird when I try to picture them on a newborn. This is especially true with [name_m]Philip[/name_m]. I love the name, and I think it sounds romantic and timeless, but imagining a baby [name_m]Philip[/name_m] just feels a little off. I wonder if maybe I can get away with it by calling him [name_u]Pip[/name_u] until he’s a bit older…?
What do y’all think? [name_m]Can[/name_m] names be too grown up sounding for a little baby? Are there any other examples of this that come to mind? I’d love to here y’alls thoughts!
My name is rather hard to picture on a newborn, and not just because it’s slightly dated. More importantly, I thought it was a really heavy name growing up and not in a ‘oh look at me I’m a cool grown-up’ kind of way and I was always jealous of girls with names that felt more light and airy to me. The fact that I’m okay with it now might confirm the possibility that yes certain names can be a lot to bear as a child but fine once you’re older.
I’m a big nickname person, so I can’t picture a baby with any name that doesn’t sound cutesy I can’t even picture a baby called [name_f]Olivia[/name_f]- she’d have to be [name_f]Livvy[/name_f] or [name_u]Ollie[/name_u]. That’s just because I love cutesy nicknames.
I think any “adult” name is perfectly fine for a baby because they won’t be a baby for long. Using a nickname (even one unrelated to their name) when they’re an infant can help the name fit them better until they’re a bit older.
Philip is fine on a baby and [name_u]Pip[/name_u] is a super sweet nickname, by the way!
Honestly I used to agree with this, and there are still SOME names that feel that way for me. I’d say I experience this more for girl names than boys IMO. For example: [name_m]Kevin[/name_m], [name_f]Karen[/name_f], [name_f]Helen[/name_f], [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] etc. They feel like really strange names for a baby to me.
But I’ve kinda been loving traditional “adult names” on baby boys lately.
[name_m]Frank[/name_m] - met a baby [name_m]Frank[/name_m] the other day (not short for anything) and it was so cute on him🥺
[name_m]Fred[/name_m]
[name_m]Hank[/name_m]
[name_m]Philip[/name_m]
Though I do think having a cute nickname is helpful for bringing a more youthful energy back into the name: [name_u]Frankie[/name_u], [name_u]Freddie[/name_u], [name_u]Pip[/name_u] (adore this for [name_m]Philip[/name_m] btw)
When they’re babies some names can seen grown up especially if the name is a more vintage or clunky name but their also not going to be babies forever so I think it’s better they have a grown up name than a very baby-ish sounding name that wouldn’t age well. Some names I can’t imagine on a baby would be Hank, Gil (my grandpas name), Joe, Robert, Mike (not Michael, just Mike), Richard, Kevin, Harold, Susan, Karen, Monica, Deborah, Janet (my aunts name) or Cathy.
I’ve known kid Philip’s and it never seemed clucky or old and I can definitely imagine a baby named Philip (in The Office there’s two babies names Philip so that’s what I think about when I hear baby Philip) and if anything you like the nn Pip which is an adorable nn for a baby if you think it sounds too grown up.
I get “too heavy” or “too much for a child” comments on most of my names. I think nicknaming [name_m]Philip[/name_m] [name_u]Pip[/name_u] or [name_u]Pippin[/name_u] whilst he’s little is a perfect solution - I wouldn’t give up a name because of that.
I might be in the minority, but I usually see ‘too grown up’ names on babies or children as adorable. Like, I think [name_m]Philip[/name_m] on a newborn would be absolutely darling and classy.
One of my names is the same way, but, to be fair, it also has a connection that is most undesirable at the moment. I plan on using a nickname for it for my child that will seem a little less daunting and let them choose what they want to go by when they are older (stay with the nickname, choose another nickname, go by the full name. In your case, [name_u]Pip[/name_u] as a baby/child, and the options of [name_u]Phil[/name_u] or [name_m]Philip[/name_m] when they are older.
Oh goodness yes. And there are plenty of them, but it’s mostly just because of how dated certain names are. For example, a woman I know named her most recent child [name_u]Gary[/name_u]. [name_u]Gary[/name_u]! I pitied the kid - all I can picture when I hear [name_u]Gary[/name_u] is a dull office worker in his 40s.
Names can’t be to grown-up sounding for a baby. They might be hard to imagine but that’s where nicknames come in. I think people forget that you spend the majority of your life as an adult, not as a child. Having a “grown-up” name with a nickname is a great.
Definitely! I’m still amazed that my grandparents looked at my infant mother and said “yeah, she looks like a [name_f]Marilyn[/name_f]”. When she was little my grandma exclusively called her [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_u]Lynn[/name_u] so I guess there’s always a work around.
No, I don’t think so. Throughout his playground year, little [name_m]Philip[/name_m] can be can [name_u]Pip[/name_u], even LiLi or [name_f]Phillie[/name_f]. Cutesy juvenile nicknames are great for younger kids, & they will eventually grow into their names & appreciate you for them.
I love [name_m]Philip[/name_m]! I think formal names can be really cute on babies, particularly really classic ones like [name_m]Philip[/name_m]. I agree with other posters that [name_m]Kevin[/name_m] and [name_u]Gary[/name_u] are weird on a baby… Perhaps mainly cuz they seem a lot more dated. Whereas fancier/more vintage feeling ones like [name_m]Frank[/name_m] or [name_u]George[/name_u] or [name_m]Philip[/name_m] have a sort of quirky appeal and sound cute on a baby even if it’s a little odd. Personally, I find [name_m]Philip[/name_m] to be super sweet at any age, esp. with the nn [name_u]Pip[/name_u]!
Children are adorable and usually make any name work. Now if you named your daughter [name_f]Phyllis[/name_f], it would definitely invoke imagery of a certain decade and perhaps a bespectacled, older lady, but [name_m]Philip[/name_m] on a boy is a slightly preppy name that’s also chipper so I think it could totally work!
Some names sound youthful like [name_f]Polly[/name_f] or [name_f]Bonnie[/name_f], but I can definitely see them on adults too.
Others like [name_u]Joan[/name_u] or [name_f]Esther[/name_f] sound middle-aged or older to me. I hadn’t thought of this before, but a baby [name_u]Joan[/name_u], that would feel a little strange. Though babies often become [name_m]Timmy[/name_m] or [name_u]Pip[/name_u] or [name_f]Joanie[/name_f] or [name_u]Boo[/name_u] [name_u]Boo[/name_u] Squigums for awhile.
And of course we spend a lot more of our lives as adults than we do as kids or teens.
In my opinion, yes. [name_m]Henry[/name_m], for example, just sounds like a grandpa’s name and I can’t get past that enough to even like it. To use one of my names as an example here, [name_f]Rosamonde[/name_f] seems like too much for a little baby, but by calling her [name_f]Rose[/name_f] (or [name_f]Rosie[/name_f]) I think it makes it so much more doable until she is an adult and can fit the decorum and elegance of [name_f]Rosamonde[/name_f].
[quote=“[name_u]Harvest[/name_u]-[name_u]Endellion[/name_u], post:17, topic:358165”]
And of course we spend a lot more of our lives as adults than we do as kids or teens.
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I don’t think it has much to do with the actual name. It just depends on the parents and how they like to call their babies and kiddos. It might be that a person considers a name too old for them to use on a baby comfortably. Its not an intrinsic property of the name.
I’d be fine calling a baby [name_m]Henry[/name_m] but [name_m]John[/name_m] sounds too old man to me. I wouldnt say that [name_m]John[/name_m] is too grown up its more that I prefer different sound/feeling like what I feel with [name_m]Johnny[/name_m] for a baby.
I can’t even picture a baby called [name_f]Olivia[/name_f]- she’d have to be [name_f]Livvy[/name_f] or [name_u]Ollie[/name_u]. That’s just because I love cutesy nicknames.
