[name]Hi[/name] everyone,
We are parents to two boys - [name]Asher[/name] and [name]Oberon[/name] - and one girl - [name]Raina[/name].
We really like [name]Pandora[/name] for the daughter we’re expecting, but will everyone hate it? We’d call her [name]Penny[/name] to go with big sister [name]Rainy[/name]. [name]Will[/name] people be horrified or intrigued?
Thanks!
I usually tell folks not to worry about teasing and nicknames since you have so little control BUT IN THIS [name]CASE[/name]
Spare her the “[name]Pandora[/name]'s Box” jokes when she’s a teenager. Please. It’s just inevitable.
Agreed…it’s no so much the negative connotation in the name itself for me. It’s that I can’t think [name]Pandora[/name] without thinking [name]Pandora[/name]'s Box. Teasing ground galore…
I agree about [name]Pandora[/name]'s box.
[name]Penny[/name] is a nn for [name]Penelope[/name] - so cute.
[name]Paloma[/name] is similar to [name]Pandora[/name]. I love [name]Paloma[/name]!
Hmm… [name]Paloma[/name] isn’t bad, but [name]Penny[/name] doesn’t sound like a nickname for it. What would work for a NN?
Personally, I adore the name [name]Pandora[/name], and if you’re calling her [name]Penny[/name] and introducing her as that a lot of the time, then you’ll avoid the negative connotations of the name anyway.
Mythological - Okay, she let out all the bad stuff, but [name]Hope[/name] was left, so it’s not all bad.
Innuendo - First of all, by the time she is older this reference may well have died down, as slang tends to become outdated - how often do you find people describing things as ‘neat’, ‘keen’ etc.? Also, when she is young, and the name teasing-stage is at it’s worst (until around 12, in my experience), other children will probably not know of this, (they normally know of rude words, causing the Dickons and Leslies of this world problems, but not of complex innuendos) and so she won’t get teased. By the time anyone learns about it to tease her, she will be a teenager, and so old enough not to get too upset, to realise it is the other person’s poor attempt at humour and she should merely pity them, and to have good friends who won’t tease her about it. Besides, schools often allow for pupils to give a preferred name, so she could always give [name]Penny[/name] or revert to her middle name if she truly hated it, for high school.
If you love the name, go for it!
Well, we already get odd looks with [name]Oberon[/name]. Actually, our only regret is that even his nickname ([name]Obie[/name]) is unusual. So we’re just adamant that she have a nickname that doesn’t stop strangers in their tracks… lol. Hubby and I really love it, but will people think we’re being cruel?
This is borderline for me. You have already set a pattern with naming that I think [name]Pandora[/name] fits into. I don’t see you reaching for an easy-going, blend-in name just to be on the safe side. I don’t love [name]Pandora[/name], but I think hmm… will she get teased? I think mostly, she will just have an unusual name. If she is susceptible to merciless teasing at all, it’s an easy association, but she can just be [name]Penny[/name] or [name]Pandora[/name], I don’t think it’s so extreme-sounding from her friends [name]Sophia[/name] and [name]Annabella[/name] and [name]Olivia[/name].
A group of guys in my college did mercilessly tease me of my last name - or one guy made it longer and vulgar, several thought that was really my last name when they heard the one guy’s disgusting pun and still teased me, so was I crushed? Was it my parents fault? [name]Just[/name] some stupid thoughtless kids, we’ve all moved on. I think might be a rite of passage to expect, but I don’t think it’s a life-long sentence that she will have rather have been called anything else.
I can imagine a co-worker named [name]Pandora[/name], in an ordinary office (among other workplaces, but let’s get as boring a situation as possible). It’s unusual, but I don’t think too much about a story about a different [name]Pandora[/name] or her box, or her “box” when I consider an actual person with a name. I’ve met people with unusual names and I just maybe like the name or don’t like the name, but I can say, [name]Mike[/name], meet [name]Pandora[/name], [name]Pandora[/name], [name]Mike[/name]. I don’t know what [name]Mike[/name] is thinking now, but he’s hopefully grown up enough not to say it or think about it for more than a couple minutes. There are people who think they’re the first one to point that out and that it’s not an impolite thing to do, so she might have a few annoyances as an adult, and have to have a sarcastic, “yeah, I never heard that one before” kind of response. These people would be those who think they are more clever than most or can’t think of something else to break the ice. But other names or personal qualities can have the same result.
I’d consider it to be mildly annoying occasionally rather than a lifetime of out-and-out merciless teasing.
Whoa. I’d definitely avoid [name]Pandora[/name], too. I think that life can be hard enough without having a name that evokes teasing and strange stares. 
I love [name]Susan[/name]'s suggestion of [name]Paloma[/name]. What about:
[name]Isadora[/name]
[name]Theodora[/name]
[name]Aurora[/name]
[name]Acacia[/name]
[name]Amaryllis[/name]
[name]Ariadne[/name]
[name]Athena[/name]
[name]Calla[/name]
[name]Clio[/name]
[name]Cora[/name]/[name]Cordelia[/name]
[name]Eleanora[/name]
[name]Honora[/name]
[name]Larissa[/name]
[name]Leonora[/name]
[name]Melora[/name]
[name]Olympia[/name]
[name]Phaedra[/name]
[name]Phoebe[/name]
[name]Zenobia[/name]
[name]Zora[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name] combos:
[name]Paloma[/name] [name]Celeste[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name] [name]Camille[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name] [name]Carys[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name] [name]Delphine[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name] [name]Giselle[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name] [name]Louise[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name] [name]Scarlett[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name] [name]Tamsin[/name]
[name]Paloma[/name] [name]Violette[/name]
Good luck to you! 
c
[name]Just[/name] wanted to add something to my earlier dismissal of teasing (I love [name]Pandora[/name], and it goes with your other children’s names. GO FOR IT!) - most names allow for teasing. Seriously, it’s amazing what small kids can come up with. When I was little, my surname was an occupation. Apparently, various obvious puns on this are hilarious (the equivalent of my being called Plumber, and someone saying “[name]Will[/name] you plumb me a washing machine” - they made about as much sense as that). Also, my name is in a classic children’s book (it’s very common), and I forever got the title of the book said at me in a jeering way (a feeble excuse for teasing, as it wasn’t offensive). Anyway, my point is, kids will make fun of anything, so don’t avoid a name because of it. And if they can’t make fun of her name, then it’s probably worse - they’ll resort to mocking more personal things, like her appearance.
[name]Paloma[/name] nn [name]Polly[/name] or [name]Lola[/name].
I agree with Twinkle - if kids want to tease, they will, no matter how tease-proof you think a name is! And, how do you know your [name]Pandora[/name] won’t be the most popular girl in class, who nobody would dare tease!? If you love [name]Pandora[/name], go for it!
That said, other possible nicknames for [name]Paloma[/name] - Lo, or Lomy.
I wouldn’t do it. I read the whole [name]Pandora[/name] myth - which I think of [name]EVERY[/name] TIME I see the name - as a misogynistic tale of a woman unleashing all manner of evil on mankind through her sheer foolishness.
[name]Penny[/name] is really cute though. Obviously [name]Penelope[/name] would work for that, but what do you think of [name]Persephone[/name]? I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Persephone[/name] and the myth: even though her name is connected to death, she’s the goddess of spring, so it brings to mind the cycle of rebirth and renewal.
Her Latin name is Proserpine, and Proserpina has also seen use. More ideas for “[name]Penny[/name]”:
[name]Paden[/name]
[name]Pansy[/name]
[name]Parthenia[/name]
[name]Parthenope[/name]
[name]Peni[/name] (Hawaiian)
[name]Peninnah[/name] (Hebrew)
Penka (Bulgarian)
[name]Peony[/name]
Peregrina
[name]Pernilla[/name] (Swedish)
[name]Perrine[/name] (French)
[name]Petrona[/name] (Spanish)
[name]Petronilla[/name] (Italian) - also [name]Petronela[/name], [name]Petronella[/name], Petronille
I got all of these from behindthename.com, and you can find meanings there. Good luck!
I like [name]Paloma[/name], but if you call her Lomy it will be worse!
I also totally agree with Twinkle. If your daughter is going to be teased, she will be teased about anything, I don’t believe her name would have anything to do with it. [name]Little[/name] kids find the stupidest things funny, for example, my name is [name]Lyndsay[/name] and I went to elementary school with a boy named Linzer, sometimes kids would call me Linzer and him [name]Lyndsay[/name], and thought that was hilarious. It never bothered me at all, and I was a really shy and insecure little kid. And I can’t imagine any real teasing in the upper grades when people actually know something about [name]Pandora[/name], like Twinkle said, she will be old enough to brush it off. The name [name]Pandora[/name] always reminds me of Notting [name]Hill[/name], when [name]Hugh[/name] [name]Grant[/name]'s roommate Spike says, “I knew a [name]Pandora[/name] once, never got to see her box though.”… I imagine that would be about the extent of the teasing, and that’s really not a big deal.