im curious because im about to give birth in a few weeks and anticipating negative feedback from fam and friends.
since i was a lil girl ive always loved just about every name thats on the top 10 now. guess everyone else did too.
the only one i love enough to overlook popularity is [name]Olivia[/name]. i announced babys name as [name]Olivia[/name] when we found out it was a girl and i was flooded with positive comments. but then we changed her name and kept it a secret. [name]Adelaide[/name] [name]Seraphina[/name] [name]Pearl[/name] is a far cry from mainstream and popularity which means general public will probably turn up their nose.
i was just wondering for those of you who have had the joy of having a baby what were ppls reactions to your not so mainstream name choice? did the neg comments bother you?
We named our daughter Emmelline ([name]EM[/name]-uh-lin), which is not very common, and we have had nothing but positive comments. I think [name]Adelaide[/name] [name]Seraphina[/name] [name]Pearl[/name] is a very pretty name (I considered both [name]Adelaide[/name] and [name]Seraphina[/name] for my daughter). I tend to like not-very-common names, and some that I considered did not get positive reactions, but my mom always told me “She will grow into whatever name you pick, so you should pick what you like”. And it’s true… no one in my family liked my nephew’s name at first, but I could not imagine him as anything else now. But I personally don’t think you have anything to worry about.
My experience and opinion is that people are sometimes rude. They don’t usually intend to be though. Give people the benefit of the doubt and keep telling yourself not to take any one comment too seriously or personally. (I doubt you will have problems though. The name you chose is lovely! Different than [name]Olivia[/name] for sure though so I bet you will get some comments)
You may get things like 'hmm interesting choice" or “Why did you change it?” or other things that aren’t really negative, but not quite positive either. Everyone is going to have an opinion and we do have to sorta put up with it. Oh and also keep in mind that when someone has a baby EVERYONE wants to know the name and it’s almost expected that you’ll comment on it in some way when you find out the name. So rather than just a standard “how pretty” or “oh that’s one of my favorites”, you might get slightly different comments from people.
I don’t remember specifics of what everyone said about my girls names when they were born so I don’t think it lasts too long. Two things do stick out though. 1. my [name]MIL[/name] said “Is she a child or is she something we’d find in a garden” when she first heard my daughter’s name ([name]Scarlett[/name] [name]Rose[/name]) -she has no issues w/ the name today! It was just one of those semi-rude things people blurt out without thinking. 2. DD #2 ([name]Penelope[/name] [name]Iris[/name]) - everyone knew her first name for months, but the middle name was decided last minute. I remember one friend saying, “Oh, I see you have used yet another flower name for her middle name… you must have a thing for flowers.” this isn’t really even bad, but for some reason, it sticks out in my mind!
Well, we chose relatively common names for our three oldest, so when we were thinking of some less-common names for our twins ([name]Adelaide[/name] in particular for our girl) everyone was sort of shocked, lol. They said some pretty mean things about some of our choices, which I’m used to because my partner also hates almost every name I suggest, but yeah people tend to be really critical about names that aren’t the most popular. I like the idea of keeping names a secret for this reason, but I never do that because I do like having people’s opinions…sometimes it hurts, though!
Oh, friends and family are such a joy! Uh i hope some of the sarcasim came through in my typing. Though, since i dont have any children; i have never just talked to my mom about kids names, so i have never had to deal with that from my friends. However, i get it from all angles with my friends. Since we are all young (early 20’s), my main two friends love trendiegh! Uh! Misspellings and added constanants and just everything, my friend (my husbands sister) wants to name one of her children Mykael. Yea, [name]Michael[/name]. And i mean, to each his own; then one day we were talking and i said devin and myself had agreed on the name [name]Eloise[/name] [name]Matilda[/name] [name]Katherine[/name]; and the first words are ‘If you name my niece [name]Eloise[/name] im going to call her [name]Ellie[/name] and i will be so mad at you’. I was taken back; i mean how can she tell me what to name MY child? Let alone be so blatently mean about my name choice when i always jsut listened to her hers and never said ‘wow do you know how stupid your doing to make yourself look by spelling [name]Michael[/name] M-Y-K-A-E-L? Because frankly, the spelling doesnt even make sense to the pronounciation!’. Uhh! Some people are just rude, and i think it is especially shocking when it is a friend you are close with.
Another situation was when we thought we were pregnant, and my other friend asked me what names i was thinking of and i said for a girl [name]Alice[/name] [name]Madeleine[/name] [name]Louisa[/name] and she goes ‘Im going to call her [name]Maddy[/name]’. I mean it just takes you back, because some people act like its the uggliest name in the world, like your saying your going ot name you child Shitty Blood Semen Head. THAT would deserve a blatent, please dont do that. I just found it hard to believe that peopel couldnt at least PRETEND to be happy about a name choice we had.
As for now, i have decided, to keep our naems to ourselves. I have diffrent name tastes then all my friends; who like [name]Cayden[/name], [name]Zaiden[/name], [name]Spencer[/name] (girl), and having rhyming sibling names because its cute. I love [name]Alice[/name], and [name]Persephone[/name], and [name]Philomena[/name], along with [name]Sebastian[/name], [name]Perseus[/name], and [name]Jude[/name]. So i will keep them to myselves, and if i am able to grace the world with as many children as we want to have, they will have to deal with me naming them whatever i want.
I have just now (especially) noticed how rude people can be when they dont agree with soemthing that you do. A fun conversation about baby na,es turns into an offensive angry conversation. Some people. haha.
We named our baby girl [name]Daphne[/name]. When people (strangers, co workers, nurses etc) ask and we tell them the usual response is “oh”. No “oh, that’s pretty” or " what a nice name" just “oh”. I guess in a sea of Ellas, Bellas and Maddys people are caught off guard by something a little less main stream. At first it bugged me but now I really don’t care. We love her name and that’s all that matters.
My family thinks the name is sophisticated and classic. I know that my mil doesn’t like it (she told my mom - who does that??) which makes me glad we didn’t tell her before the baby was born. My husband picked [name]Daphne[/name] and if his mother had said something negative he may have chosen something else
For some reason, people seem compelled to offer their negative opinion and try to persuade you to change the name before the baby is born is they don’t care for it. For example, my own mother responded to our first-place boy’s name (we have had two girls so far) by saying why would you saddle a child with that name? My OWN MOTHER, who I actually get along with and like! I have found, however, that people tend to be less ruthless when you are holding an adorable baby in your arms who also happens to have a name for which they do not care. So, I am a huge advocate of keeping the name secret. Perhaps others have had negative experiences after the baby is born.
My first daughter has a name that is more common ([name]Madeleine[/name]), and I find that more annoying (especially given the spelling and pronunciation issues) than the occasional look that we get in response to our second daughter’s name ([name]Eleanor[/name]). We have actually been pleasantly surprised with the number of positive comments that we receive regarding our daughter’s “old-lady name”.
I think that the name that you have selected is beautiful, and if you love it now, you will love it even more when your daughter is soon wearing that name (at least that has been our experience)!
I love the name [name]Adelaide[/name] [name]Seraphina[/name]! It’s so pretty! I can’ hardly see anyone disliking such a unique choice! I personally have never had any experience with people reacting to the names I like- okay some people weren’t thrilled to hear my favorites ([name]Mina[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Temperance[/name] [name]Delilah[/name], and [name]Aria[/name] [name]Josephina[/name]) but that shouldn’t hold you back! If you truly love the name, nothign should stop you. Good luck!
- [name]Athena[/name]
I’ll take [name]Adelaide[/name] [name]Seraphina[/name] [name]Pearl[/name] over the more common [name]Olivia[/name] anyday! What a lovely choice for your daughter!. As a rule, I would advise any parent to keep the name to themselves until you have the birth certificate signed. There are so many issues with announcing a name: (1) Someone else close to you can “steal” the name you love; (2) People can be cruel with their comments and ruin a perfectly good name for you; (3) You’ve heard the phrase “you can’t please everyone”? Well, guess what? It’s true! There’s always going to be one toxic person who has nothing but negative words poring out of their mouths. Oh, sorry that was a little harsh, wasn’t it? [name]Baby[/name] naming should be fun not stressful. Since joining Nameberry, I’ve heard so many needless horror stories. It’s unfortunate really. Good luck to you!
Prefer [name]Adelaide[/name] [name]Seraphina[/name] [name]Pearl[/name] over [name]Olivia[/name] too. Good luck to you, and don’t let anyone’s comments bother you.
Had some not so nice comments too. Tested a few favorite names out, to get some opinions from friends. Some were supportive, others not so much. To all the negative comments from people, we do respect their opinion even if don’t agree. They don’t have to like the names, it’s not going to change anything. As long as my Hubby and I love the names, and the kids grow to love their names too. That’s all that matters.
We kept our kids’ names secret until they were born, and the only person who had anything negative to say about either of them was my mother-in-law. She was disappointed that our son’s name, [name]Adam[/name], couldn’t be shortened into a nickname–this from the only person who calls my husband by his full name instead of its extremely common short form–and after we had [name]Ivy[/name], she actually called us back at the hospital asking if it was too late for us to change her name (as if we’d want to), because she had a laundry list of reasons against it that she had been discussing with her best friend. I forget the whole list, but the reasons ranged from poison ivy to “little lambs eat ivy” in the song Mairsy Doats, which I doubt most kids have ever heard, to the fact that her initials, ISP, are “some computer thing.” By now they’ve both grown on her, but I can’t wait to hear what’s wrong with the name of #3 due in [name]March[/name], whatever it may be.
First, [name]Adelaide[/name] [name]Seraphina[/name] [name]Pearl[/name] is absolutely marvelous, and much better than [name]Olivia[/name]! ([name]Olivia[/name] is beautiful too, but way too popular)
I don’t have children yet-nor am I expecting- but I do bring up names to my friends and family.
My favorite name for a boy, that I [name]WILL[/name] use in the future, is [name]Henry[/name]. Two of my friends (who are 17 & 15) absolutely loved it.My parents said “[name]Henry[/name]'s a girl’s name!” :shock: ugh. After not giving up on [name]Henry[/name], my parents both like it a lot =) Once I had the idea to use “[name]Alan[/name]” is [name]Henry[/name]'s mn, after my mom’s deceased brother, but have since created a literary theme for my children, and his mn is Albus ([name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] has been a huge part of my life). Mom doesn’t know, but she will NOT be happy.
I’ve also gotten negative comments from mom about:
[name]Esme[/name] (“your child will hate you!”)
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Adelaide[/name]
[name]Juliet[/name] (she just “doesn’t like” it
and also a few others…She’s into more common names, like [name]Lily[/name], [name]Sophia[/name] & [name]Audrey[/name].I keep telling her they’re too popular.
I’m not a fan of my mother’s naming skills to begin with–I’m [name]Kristine[/name] [name]Amber[/name]. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many times it’s been spelled “[name]Christine[/name]” >.<
And my grandmother expects me to carry on the tradition of naming my first daughter [name]Kathryn[/name],as she is the every-other-generation daughter. [name]Kathryn[/name] is my mom & great grandma & so on…I told her no. That did not go well.
So, yes, I’ve been there 