It seems that [name]Piper[/name] isn’t well loved here on Nameberry. I get why some people don’t like it- it’s a surname, an occupational name etc. But for me, it’s a nature name. We are a big beach family, so [name]Piper[/name] is on my list because it reminds me of the adorable little Sandpipers that scurry along the shore at the beach. They remind me of where we live (we are sandwiched by the ocean on one side and the bay on the other) of our beach wedding, and our annual beach vacations with our 2 little boys.
But I do realize that not everyone is going to envision the cute little bird instead of a man playing the bag pipes, so I guess that’s why I can’t commit to the name just yet.
I like it a lot. It’s cute and good for a tomboy or a girly girl. And I really never think of a man playing the bagpipes when I hear the name. That’s about the last image that comes to mind, really.
More seriously, some may associate it with Jochen/[name]Joachim[/name] Peiper (Peiper is said like [name]Piper[/name]), who was high up in the Waffen-SS and assistant to [name]Heinrich[/name] Himmler. Peiper was involved in the murders of numerous prisoners-of-war, and he took a commanding role in the Malmedy massacre. I posted this on the other thread that regarded [name]Pippa[/name] vs [name]Piper[/name]. This wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I heard [name]Piper[/name] but it was the first thing my cousin thought.
EDIT: (Peiper was committing these war crimes during World War II, just to clarify)
Other than all that, I can only really picture [name]Piper[/name] on a little girl.
I would use it as a quirky middle name. I can’t picture a mature woman named [name]Piper[/name] as I think it’s kind of childish like [name]Pippa[/name] or [name]Pepper[/name].
I just don’t like it on a girl. I may be a weirdo for thinking this, but I might kind of like [name]Piper[/name] on a boy. However, given your association with the cute little sandpipers and the like, I can see it being a nice nature name.
[name]Piper[/name] is one of the few exceptions of surname as first name, occupational name that I actually adore. And yes, it can also be a nature name because I believe it is also the name of a plant. Forget which one.