name shame- Is it just me?

I was talking to a friend about names recently. She likes [name_f]Ashlyn[/name_f], [name_f]Brianna[/name_f], & [name_u]Kennedy[/name_u] for girls, and [name_u]Nick[/name_u], [name_u]Ryan[/name_u], and [name_m]Harrison[/name_m] for boys. All normal, none interesting, absolutely not my style.

The weird thing was that I didn’t really want to say what my favorite names were. I didn’t want to admit that [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], [name_f]Leonie[/name_f], [name_f]Mercy[/name_f] and [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] are on my list, as well as [name_m]Silas[/name_m], [name_m]Otto[/name_m], [name_u]Lionel[/name_u] and [name_m]Caspian[/name_m]. I had name shame!

Have any of you ever experienced this? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you like names that are accepted on Nameberry but might seem weird or ugly to people who like names like [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] and [name_f]Maci[/name_f]? Have you ever not wanted to admit your favorite names to someone outside of the Nameberry community?

Maybe this is ridiculous, but I really was uncomfortable sharing my favorite names- my naming taste must just be too sophisticated for the world outside Nameberry :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks for any input!
LL

This exactly!

I was talking to some friends last week, talking about what we would name our children. She was saying names like [name_f]Emily[/name_f] and [name_f]Megan[/name_f]. I felt too embarrassed to say [name_f]Rowena[/name_f] and [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] were my among favourite names, as they seemed so abnormal next the the common [name_f]Emily[/name_f] :frowning:

I eventually told them, after a girl said that she would name her daughter [name_f]Kiki[/name_f] [name_f]Lola[/name_f]. And to be honest, I got weirder looks than she did! However, I love my naming taste. I don’t care what they think!

I’m the same! I was talking names with two friends recently and their favourites were [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] and [name_f]Amelia[/name_f]. I felt a bit embarrassed when I said that I liked [name_f]Edith[/name_f] and [name_f]Margot[/name_f] and the faces they pulled really didn’t help!

I do the same. I will tell my sister the names I truly like even though she hates them. My friends I would tell that I like [name_m]Isaac[/name_m], [name_u]James[/name_u], etc. but I don’t think they would react well to the likes [name_m]Tadhg[/name_m] and [name_m]Bjorn[/name_m] or [name_u]Blaire[/name_u], Rasia and [name_f]Milena[/name_f].

Yes, I know the feeling! I’m always a bit uncomfortable when discussing my favourite names with others. I would feel embarrassingly pretentious by bringing up [name_f]Ottilie[/name_f] and [name_m]Justinian[/name_m] and [name_f]Eulalie[/name_f] in discussions that typically revolve around [name_m]Jack[/name_m] and [name_f]Mia[/name_f].

Firstly, I love [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], [name_m]Silas[/name_m] and especially [name_m]Caspian[/name_m], and secondly, I am kind of worried about the comments I’d get from friends. We very rarely talk about names, and none of them know how important the names I like are to me (they’d think I’m crazy thinking about kids now), so I get a bit defensive about them, if you know what I mean. A lot of the names I like are a bit out there in the real world, and one of my friends has already said she likes [name_u]Phoenix[/name_u] (for a girl) but can’t imagine one in a job interview (in [name_f]England[/name_f] it really isn’t very popular), and that’s the most normal name I want to use! But I don’t think it matters what they think, I like my faves regardless. :slight_smile:

Constantly. After my cousin told me [name_f]Amelie[/name_f] sounds like omelet, I never like to share my favorites, because I know most people won’t like [name_m]Augustus[/name_m] and [name_f]Coraline[/name_f]. You should have seen my cousin’s face when I mentioned that I like the name [name_f]Sibyl[/name_f]. I understand the shame!

I completely understand, I wouldn’t dare tell anyone I know in real life the names I really like. I have some more ‘normal’ names on my list like [name_f]Emma[/name_f] and [name_f]Clara[/name_f] and [name_m]Lucas[/name_m] and I only tell them those (and I tell my family all the Welsh and Irish ones because they don’t find them weird seeing as they are all Welsh and Irish :slight_smile: ). I am scared what horrible things they’ll say about the names that mean so much to me but, to be honest, I’m more ashamed that I’m even thinking about names so much at my age!

Totally do this all the time!

I feel like non name nerds don’t really have the same exposure to names that we do, and so if we talk about names and i mention my favorites, mine end up sounding bizarre, made-up, overly unique to their ears. To me, they sound fresh and delightful.

I actually feel “name shame” mentioning on nameberry what names my DH and I have agreed on for our future children. Our two boy names are [name_u]Hunter[/name_u] and [name_m]Maverick[/name_m] which aren’t well-recieved on here, but we love them and they are perfect for us. My own personal taste aligns more with nameberry tastes. If I could name my children without my husband’s input I would use names like [name_u]Everett[/name_u], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_m]Hugo[/name_m], [name_m]Otto[/name_m] or [name_m]Caspian[/name_m]. In real life, I’ve only mentioned a lot of my weirder favorites to my husband who has more modern taste. He definitely thinks they are weird lol.

I do sometimes. I’m lucky that I have some friends who not only put up with but appreciate my obsession with names and will talk to me seriously about the weird and wonderful names I love. Then there are some that roll their eyes and wonder if I’ve stopped taking my medication!

OH is pretty good. He’ll rip my name list to shreds but he always gives his reasons why. I’ve had friends go “that’s just stupid” whereas OH will say “have you thought about… X reason”. I like this constructive name shaming!

Yeah, when I give my top picks ([name_m]Benedict[/name_m] and [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f]), people laugh and say, “Aw, your poor kids.” I’ve been on Nameberry so long that I forget these names are “strange”. Compared to my guilty pleasure names ([name_m]Alonso[/name_m], [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u]), [name_m]Benedict[/name_m] and [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] are pretty normal.

I don’t feel name shame, but I do feel like I’m not talking to people who are coming from the same place in the naming world as I am. I’m not ashamed of my favourite at all, but I can just picture my friends’ disgusted faces as I mention [name_f]Eulalia[/name_f] or [name_m]Imanol[/name_m], and that really discourages me from sharing… especially if they’ve shared first and I have troubles concealing my feelings (generally negative) on my face when they share theirs. And if I don’t like their picks, they probably won’t like mine. I feel like it’s sometimes good to share and expose people to names outside the top 10 :wink:

I will say, people can really surprise you! I just met a guy who told me his favourite name is [name_m]Marius[/name_m]. I almost fell over. My heart started pounding, I was swept off my feet <3 So sometimes it’s worth it to share.

Ha! [name_f]Glad[/name_f] I’m not the only one in ‘the closet’!
Friends are always telling me their favorite names e.g. [name_f]Layla[/name_f], [name_f]Ella[/name_f], [name_u]Noah[/name_u], [name_u]James[/name_u] e.t.c., and I NEVER mention mine.
I can just imagine the comments that would be said if I mentioned names like [name_f]Isidora[/name_f], [name_f]Rosamund[/name_f] and [name_f]Dorothy[/name_f]…lol!

On the upside, my husband is Japanese so he knows nothing much about ‘western’ names, so I always mention my faves to him because he is a clean slate. He likes alot of them! Isn’t it funny how society can influence our preferences?

When my coworker found out I am pregnant she asked me about names. I reluctantly told her my choices but was delighted to learn that she wants to name her future daughter [name_f]Seraphine[/name_f]. But I refuse to tell my mom until after baby is born because I KNOW she will hate my choices

I don’t really talk names with anyone outside of Nameberry. But, I’m sure if I did they would look at me strange when I tell them my favourites are [name_m]Jethro[/name_m], [name_m]Barnaby[/name_m], [name_u]Lionel[/name_u], [name_f]Martha[/name_f], [name_f]Dorothy[/name_f] and [name_f]Helen[/name_f]. To me, they are normal compared with my GPs e.g. [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m], [name_m]Coltrane[/name_m], [name_u]Jericho[/name_u], [name_f]Thisbe[/name_f], [name_u]November[/name_u] and [name_f]Sunday[/name_f].

I don’t even attempt to talk names with my friends anymore because I’m afraid of their reactions. I have so few names I really love and all it takes is one remark to make me question them. My friends only really ever talked about girls names and I know some of their favorites are [name_f]Gabrielle[/name_f], [name_f]Juliana[/name_f], [name_u]Camryn[/name_u], [name_u]Kennedy[/name_u] etc. Most of my favorite names are pretty tame but I mentioned my great grandma’s name (one of my favorite names) to my friend and she giggled at it. Another time I told my friends my favorite name was [name_f]Georgiana[/name_f] and it was met with dead silence. I can’t imagine what my family would think of my names. My mom’s favorite name in the world is [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] and she once told me she thought [name_m]Oliver[/name_m] was a weird name. My mom and my sister both think the name [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] is unisex and its my sister’s favorite name for a GIRL. I think I’ll wait until if and when I have a baby to shock them with my name choices.

I absolutely love the names [name_m]Loring[/name_m], [name_f]Sigrid[/name_f], [name_u]Merritt[/name_u], [name_f]Heinricka[/name_f], [name_f]Aileen[/name_f], Irenee, [name_u]August[/name_u], Benedickt, [name_m]Jolyon[/name_m], and [name_m]Wilhelm[/name_m]…Names my whole family abhors. I think my Momma is praying for me to marry someone who likes names like [name_m]John[/name_m] and [name_f]Jane[/name_f] :slight_smile:

I definitely don’t think I would be embarrassed per se to reveal my name list to my closest friends, because we kind of have a similar naming style. [name_f]My[/name_f] best friend wants to name her future daughter [name_f]Fiorenza[/name_f]! I haven’t talked names with them in years though. I’m obviously an obsessive expert on the subject, so they come to me for name advice. I know for sure I wouldn’t mention my guilty pleasures: [name_f]Sundance[/name_f], [name_u]Fran[/name_u]çois, [name_u]Halcyon[/name_u]. I don’t think I’ve ever revealed my VERY favorites, and if I do, it’s never both the first and middle. I’m just terrified someone will steal my names and make them popular. :lol:

YES! [name_f]My[/name_f] mom found my name lists a few weeks ago and I could tell she didn’t like a lot of the names. She told me some of my girl names are “too old ladyish.” I do NOT like old lady (or man) names and I don’t consider any of my names old lady/manish. I remember when I told her I liked [name_m]Ezra[/name_m] and [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], she had this “eww! gross!” look on her face. I think they’re adorable, but she hates them. lol.