Initials-Deal Breaker or Not?

Particularly for girls who will probably change one part some day two of my top choices have some fairly unfortunate initials:
ERP- [name_f]Eliza[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] Po (Erotic role play being the trouble)
APE- [name_f]Amara[/name_f] [name_f]Elaine[/name_f] P
o (the typical monogram style) we both love/d this one

So what is your opinion? Are troublesome initials a deal breaker? :confused:

My other current ideas are:
[name_f]Zenobia[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f]
Meira [name_u]Vivian[/name_u]
[name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] [name_f]Astrea[/name_f]
[name_f]Amara[/name_f] [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Dacia[/name_f] [name_f]Elaine[/name_f]

[name_m]Don[/name_m]'t count on girls changing their surnames!

That said: I never would have noticed ERP as a thing.

I wouldn’t love APE, but those wouldn’t actually be the initials anyway. Personally, when I use my initials I usually don’t include my middle anyway (no particular reason, I just default to first and last). Unless you have your heart set on monogramming lots of her things and using the traditional order (which I would argue is pretty avoidable), I don’t think [name_f]Amara[/name_f] [name_f]Elaine[/name_f] P***o is a problem.

Happily for you, Meira [name_u]Vivian[/name_u] P***o is MVP, which is awesome! :slight_smile:

Okay, I’ve never heard of ERP being an acronym for that. You’re probably overthinking things…

To my knowledge the amount of time you use all of your initials is not often and besides if someone is going to be teased, high school kids could turn any initials into anything rude!

I love both of your names, [name_f]Eliza[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] and [name_f]Amara[/name_f] [name_f]Elaine[/name_f] are truly gorgeous!

If my favourite name in the whole world had the initials APE, I would probably still use it, I dong consider it to be a big deal at all!

They can always choose to write their initials as EP or AP (which is what I though people did anyway until joining Nameberry).

I had no idea about ERP, so I think that would be fine - [name_f]Eliza[/name_f] is so amazing. APE is a bit trickier, but if you love it… Maybe another middle name added to [name_f]Amara[/name_f] [name_f]Elaine[/name_f]? [name_f]Amara[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] [name_f]Elaine[/name_f] is nice.

[name_f]EDIT[/name_f]: [name_m]Just[/name_m] realised that the actual initials would be AEP. That is more than fine, there is nothing to worry about.

Definitely over-thinking the ERP thing, I have never heard of it. I don’t think APE is that bad because she may have some things monogrammed but her actual initials would be AEP, so I think it’s fine. It’s not like every time she initials something she’d have to write APE.

Until I read what ERP means, I had no idea what the potential issue was with it, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that. I really don’t think it’ll be an issue.

As with APE, are monograms even a thing anymore, I thought things were, by and large, personalized in standard initial order these days? Given that a monogram, if still used, is used rarely I fail to see a problem there either.

I think unless the first and last initial very obviously stand for something, e.g. [name_m]Ben[/name_m] [name_m]Jones[/name_m] - BJ, initials don’t matter that much. You can avoid using all your initials very easily and unless people know your middle name they won’t work it out. My parents vetoed [name_f]Beth[/name_f]-[name_f]Ann[/name_f] and [name_u]Leigh[/name_u]-[name_f]Ann[/name_f] for me because my maiden name began with a D and they didn’t want BAD or [name_m]LAD[/name_m] but I doubt anyone would have realised it unless it had been pointed out to them.

I’ve had to modify a favourite name combo that spells out PMS (made worse by the fact that her sister’s initials spell JOYS).
Adding a second middle has left us with PIMS. Much less offensive!

Edited to add that it’s kind of old fashioned to anticipate a surname change for your daughter.

Most only use their first and last initials. Plus, 99% of the time you use your initials, it’s for signing official documents. I doubt the mortgage lender or the lawyer is going to comment on potentially awkward initials. That being said, ERP is definitely over-thinking it. Most teasing happens in school, and if school-aged children, including teenagers, know what ERP means, then we have greater issues.

[name_f]Do[/name_f] you live in the South? [name_f]Do[/name_f] people who don’t live in the South monogram things? I wouldn’t worry too much about monograms. The last initial receives so much prominence that the three letters together don’t even really read as a word. As someone who does live in the South, and who sees monograms all the time, I’ve never noticed if someone’s initials made a word. As long as your daughter’s initials don’t spell HO or BJ or something else obviously sexual (ERP doesn’t count!), then I think you’re ok.

Thank you for all of your input. I may have a bit of a tendency to over think some things.
Having come from a world of online game playing (that’s where me and SO met in fact) the ERP thing is probably a bit more on my radar than it would be for most.
As for the AEP vs. APE it is traditional in jewelry for the last name initial to be placed in the middle which is usually a bit larger with the flanking initials being a bit smaller. In that context it would be strange to add emphasis to the middle initial though I suppose I could use EAP instead emphasis on the first name.
Finally, it is still reasonable to assume the likelihood that at some point a daughter would change her last name the majority of women still do socially, professionally, or legally. Other than name jewelry the most usually application for prominent displays of monograms are used in a wedding context.

Initials really aren’t that big of a deal, especially the ones you listed. I’ve worked with people whose initials were BJ and BS. It wasn’t that big of a deal to anyone. Mine are are associated with beer and ___ stands at college. They might ask if those are really my initials, but don’t care beyond that. If you love a name, go for it. Maybe I’m old at heart, but I’d still monogram :smiley: The fact that the last initial is larger than the others gives it a different feel to me and less wordy.