Poll: whose opinions matter to you?

Girl Names
1

Whose opinions do you care about when choosing a name? Be honest!

  • Yours (and SO if you have one)
  • Your parents
  • Your siblings
  • Your grandparents
  • Aunts, uncles, cousins
  • Friends
  • Society (everyone)

0 voters

2

I like to think that I don’t care what people think, but I’m guilty of wondering what certain people in my life would think!

1 Like
3

[name_m]Just[/name_m] me and my husband, really! I’ve come to the realization that I will never be able to fully please everyone in naming my child, so we might as well choose exactly what we love as the baby’s parents.

5 Likes
4

I specifically focused on the “when choosing a name” part in my answer (which was just my partners and I). After I’ve already chosen the name, if someone else said something mean about it, that would certainly upset me. But I didn’t announce any of the options we were considering for my child, and we didn’t name them until after the birth, for partially that reason - I didn’t want be talked out of a name I loved just because someone else thought it was weird.

3 Likes
5

I answered mine and my SO’s, first. After a few years of stress due to caving into our families’ opinions/wishes, we finally put a stop to a lot of the bs. They get absolutely no say so in our kids’ names. If they like them, we’re glad. If they don’t, well, it’s no skin off our teeth. Our goal isn’t to impress them or choose what they would choose.

I also chose society because I would be lying if I said it wasn’t at least considered. I’m not saying that I would or wouldn’t use a name just because a stranger told me their opinion but I guess part of me does worry I’ll be judged for my choices. People, especially online, can be very harsh…

4 Likes
6

Mine! Possibly because I’m single and probably never going to have kids so as long as i like it, it’s fine :grin:

2 Likes
7

[name_f]My[/name_f] husband’s for sure. I have to admit my mom has some influence also. :slight_smile:

1 Like
8

[name_f]My[/name_f] own, but also “society.” When considering a name for a real child, I think a lot about my little grocery store test. If I ran into a random neighbor in the cereal aisle, would I feel uncomfortable introducing my child? Would I be tense waiting for judgment? I never want to pick a name so unusual that little interactions like that are difficult for me or my child.

3 Likes
9

As long as me and my Partner love it. I don’t think I really care what anybody else thinks be honest. The names I choose I have chosen for a reason. [name_m]Even[/name_m] the ‘sad’ [name_f]Isadora[/name_f], ‘weird’ [name_m]Rainer[/name_m], and the ‘looney’ [name_f]Luna[/name_f]. As long as the name doesn’t burden my child in an awful way, why should anybody else like the names I choose?

1 Like
10

The opinions of the people closest to me would definitely matter, that doesn’t mean they would sway me but I would like to have an idea of their impression of any name I’d consider.

1 Like
11

Mine and my future SO’s would be the top priority for sure. To be honest, since I don’t share a name style with my parents or grandparents, I might take a negative response as a compliment—I wouldn’t want to choose a name that “fits” in my sibset or either of my parents’ sibsets because all of the names are very much not the vibe I want so I’d wonder what I was doing wrong if they were super into them.

I think the only outside opinion I might put some thought into would be my best friend’s. I’ve never taken a name off my list because she didn’t like it but I have fallen deeper in love with names because she’s said it’s one she really likes.

2 Likes
12

It’s mainly my partner’s opinion and mine that matters. However, I like to be aware of how our parents feel about the potential names. We happen to have parents who share their opinion honestly and respectfully, so that’s why it was possible to share the names we liked with them.

At the beginning of my pregnancy, our parents each liked some names and sometimes didn’t like one of the options. However, because they knew the potential names for months, they’ve became used to each of our options. Now they like all the potential names.

I feel like it can be good to share the names you like and discuss them. But you have to choose people who can be respectful even when they don’t have the same tastes as you. Otherwise, it’s totally ok to keep the potential names to yourself and to focus on what you and your significant other want.

1 Like
13

I care mostly just about me :sweat_smile:

1 Like
14

Obviously my husband and I have to like her name but I care that my child likes their name so Im trying to gather what I can from sources I trust. I appreciate getting perspectives from other people to test how I really feel about a name.

Seems impossible to not care what anyone else thinks unless you live outside of society??

2 Likes
15

ya 100% say themselves/so lol

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16

[name_f]My[/name_f] and my partner’s opinion, my younger self – I want to stay true to some of the convictions I had growing up about names, and my family.

1 Like
17

Definitely my own option :sweat_smile: don’t got an SO so that’s not a concern. [name_f]My[/name_f] fam/people close to me opinion matters slightly to me, if the don’t like the name I can really care less but if they do like it then the name usually tends to go higher on the list. I like to hear others opinions on names but ultimately it’s what matters to me most

1 Like
18

Mine and my husband’s are the only opinions that truly matter to me BUT…I do think about how the name will be received by my parents. Their opinions wouldn’t persuade me to give up a name I love but they could help convince me I made the right choice.

1 Like
19

I’d have voted for all of them if I could!

I definitely think about how names I like would be received both by people I know and by wider society. I think it’s only natural to want to pick something people generally like, or at least that doesn’t garner strong negative reactions (for the child’s sake more than anything!)

But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t necessarily let someone else’s opinion (besides mine, my husband’s and maybe my mum’s) rule a name out. It depends on their reasoning and strength of feeling as well.

We took [name_f]Astrid[/name_f] off our list because my mum really disliked it. If [name_f]Astrid[/name_f] had been the one and only, we’d probably have kept it because it was more a personal reaction than a concern about wearability. But since we were between [name_f]Astrid[/name_f] and a few other options we liked equally, it was a good way of narrowing down.

4 Likes
20

personally i don’t care about what my family & friends think - if they like the name, great, but if not then it just shows me they’ll never use my favourite names on their own child, so it’s a win-win situation really. i do, however, care about what wider society think. i don’t want to name my child something that would cause them embarrassment, so even if i liked them (i don’t, but) names like [name_f]Karen[/name_f] or [name_m]Dick[/name_m] would be out of the question.

1 Like