See the results of this poll: Somerset
Respondents: 89 (This poll is closed)
- I love Somerset : 12 (13%)
- I like Somerset : 26 (29%)
- I dislike Somerset: 51 (57%)
I do not particularly care for it. It really makes me think of somersault.
I’m apparently in the huge minority, but I love it! I knew someone who planned on using Somerset, nn [name]Somer[/name]/[name]Summer[/name]/[name]Sommer[/name]. I think it’s really sweet. It’s a place name that I think works really well. I think it is very refreshing, and a nice spin on the popular [name]Summer[/name].
I kind of adore it–never heard of it as a first name before, actually. Unique yet extremely classy. So much better than Summer.
I agree with [name]Ash[/name] that it is a sweet and refreshing place name but I voted in the middle. I love [name]Summer[/name]. I like Somerset. Wasn’t sure if I loved it, but now, as I’m writing this post I like it more and more. I hope a girl named Somerset doesn’t use [name]Summer[/name] as a nickname, only because I think it defeats the purpose of naming her Somerset in the first place and it would make me think that she doesn’t like the name Somerset, if that makes sense?
Dislike. If you were in the UK, you would get endless impressions of Somerset accents. Probably everyone you met would attempt it and it would be unbearable.
[name]William[/name] Somerset Maugham happens to be one of my favourite authors so my first thought is of the literary connection. My second thought is of the English county of Somerset which is a gorgeous place. It would probably be easier to pull off if you didn’t live in [name]England[/name] (you don’t have to worry about that since you’re in Australia :)). I think it’s quirky, has a beautiful sound and a happy “feel” to it. I would love to meet a Somerset!
Yuk. Dislike. Sounds like a made-up name.
I actually quite like it. I would not use it myself but I do think it has a really pretty sound. I don’t know about the UK reference so I am no help there.
mischa brilliant to remember Somerset Maugham! So happy to see lots of berries loving this one. Keep on voting please.
rollo
I think Somerset is absolutely gorgeous, of course looking at my name’s list that is no surprise. I adore beautifully complicated names, and Somerset definitely fills that bill for me. It does help, however, that I love [name]Summer[/name], too, because my naming style just can’t be simple. 
I’m not a fan, but I wouldn’t mind it as much in the middle.
It’s not bad, but I like [name]Summer[/name] better. My husband will only allow the name [name]Summer[/name] if she’'s actually born during [name]Summer[/name]. (Due date is on the line. )
It actually seems masculine to me. I don’t like it. I prefer [name]Summer[/name].
There have always been county/baby names, though, both in the UK and abroad. This one just hasn’t been heard as much. Besides, she wouldn’t really be naming the kid “after” the county.
Anyway, the more I’ve thought about it,the more I prefer it to [name]Summer[/name]. I actually am not that huge a fan of [name]Summer[/name] at all, because it brings to mind a typical beach bunny. Somerset’s an entirely different kind of image.
I don’t think it’s really true that there have “always been county/baby names” at least not UK counties, because the majority end in -shire. Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Herefordshire… unless you mean just using the names Buckingham, Cambridge, Hereford… I know place names are popular, but seems rather bizarre to me to use a place name unless it has a particular significance to you. I suppose some people just like how the name itself sounds though. In some cases chopping off the -shire might give you a surname (eg. Lincolnshire becomes [name]Lincoln[/name]) so that fits the surnames-as-first-names trend, but then you’d never think that [name]Baby[/name] [name]Lincoln[/name] had been given a county name.
[name]Kent[/name] and [name]Devon[/name] are the only UK county names that I have ever seen used as baby names, and they’re not mainstream here.
I think Somerset could be OK as a mn, but in the UK a person called Somerset would get people doing the accent all the time (“Oi kum frum Zummerrrrzehhht”).
But see, I’ve met kids named Cambridge particularly after the place? Called “[name]Cam[/name]” for short, but nevertheless… The parents picked it to reference the grandparents’ home. And then the [name]Lincoln[/name] I know was named with the [name]Lincoln[/name] chopped off just because the parents liked the county.
I’ve also met several Devons over my lifetime, so maybe it’s just me. And one [name]Kent[/name]. I don’t know, I’ve been surrounded by place na,es.
I was named partially after the Carolinas and people (largely up [name]North[/name]) have mimicked Southern drawls at me as soon as they figure it out. ([name]Caroline[/name] from South Caroliiiiinaaaaaaah.) I’ve never really minded. I think that we imagine kids to be much more sensitive about stuff like that than they actually are.
Being British, I can’t help but say Somerset in the accent from that county, and it doesn’t make the name sound particularly pretty!
[name]Just[/name] wondering how the name [name]London[/name] goes down in the U.K.? If it is okay then I would suggest that Somerset would fit to a T in [name]England[/name] too. I think it is a classier version of [name]Summer[/name] and love the literary connection and its uniqueness. I think it has lots of energy, it isn’t way out but has a modern unisex feel that is so popular now. I can definitely see someone who would have been named eg [name]Stella[/name] or [name]Penelope[/name] fitting the Somerset mould.
rollo
I can definitely see the appeal of this. I like it as a GP 