First names you would never call a child of yours?

[SpaceMtnGirl]

I went to elementary school with a kid named Jay Walker. It never occurred to me what was funny about it until I was older. I don't know if his parents did it on purpose or what. Also not sure if Jay was a nickname or short for something. Never heard him called anything else and he was Jay in the yearbook.

 

[bethbuchall]

I went to school with a whole family of kids with the last name Dick - Donna, John & Harold (& yes he went by Harry - who does that to their kid?!).

That's even worse than the Harry Back that I once met.

 

[RangerPooh]

And then there is my name, spelled correctly if you were in Ireland where my mother was born. I have had some really rude people ask me if my parents couldn't spell, etc. Just because you (the general you, not you specifically) are ignorant of a correct international name spelling does not make it wrong!

Both of our daughters have traditional Irish names to honor both our Irish heritage and my late MIL who was from Ireland. We have had people assume that their names were misspelled and "corrected' them. We just politely inform them of the correct pronunciation or spelling when we feel it's needed. Otherwise we just roll with it. Our girls are fine with it. One goes by a nickname (the first part of her name), the other understands that her name is hard for some to pronounce and goes with the Americanized pronunciation. She's fine with it. Our oldest is Caolyn, pronounced Kay-O-Lynn (not Carolyn), but will run with Cay-lynn. Our younger daughter is Cairrean, pronounced KI-ren (not Karen, or Kari Ann), but goes by Cai.

Having lived and taught in predominantly African American communities I have seen my fair share of interesting names. I have had children in my class who's parents purposely chose creative spellings to make them different. I also had one child who's name was misspelled on his birth certificate and therefore on his school records as well. We didn't know until half way into the school year that we had been mispronouncing the child's name until the parents rudely informed us. Silly teachers for not realizing this . What was worse is that the parents have know this since they received their child's birth certificate and did nothing to correct it. Sadly the child has the same name as his father. You'd think one of them would take the initiative to correct it...

Personally I would not name my child after characters in the bible as we're not religious. Nor would I name my child after a car or destination (Paris, London, Mercedes, Diesel, Orlando, Morocco, etc.). London is cute but too trendy.

The worst may have been Sh**eye (pronounced Sh**-aye).

 

[RangerPooh]

No stripper names: Destiny, Candy, Angel, China, Desiree, Ginger, etc.

I have taught a lot of Destiny's (various spellings of course).

 

[bethbuchall]

So far, my name, my husband's name, a son's name, and a grandmother's name have appeared. Oh, and I also have an Uncle Dick. I'm waiting for my daughter and my other son. I'm not offended, though, because there are names that I wouldn't use for my children that are perfectly fine names.

There was a cashier at the grocery store the other day with the name tag, Qyrstyn. I think maybe Kirsten, but I'm not sure.

 

[AppleDumpling]

There are names I don't care for, but can't think of any I truly hate. Like anything else, it's personal taste. Parents often have special reasons behind their choices that have meaning for them. I would never disrespect someone because of their name. I think many new parents these days want to give their child something that is a little distinctive, so aim for something in that sweet spot that's not super popular, yet not too "out there."

Obviously any first name that combined with the last name sounds funny, or would lend to teasing, should be avoided. I also don't really understand giving a child a first name that you have no intention of ever calling them. IMO, it just causes unnecessary lifelong confusion. What's the point of a name anyway? If you want to carry on a family name but don't like it as the first, then use it in the middle.

As for names with sexual or other negative connotations, like Dick or Gay, most of them are from an older generation and were perfectly acceptable when they were first used. It's unfortunate, but who could predict that certain words would take on new meanings over time. I have a friend whose name is Gaye who now goes by Gayle. She's the nicest person and just grew tired of the constant derogatory comments (from supposedly mature adults. )

 

[BLAZEY]

I believe Dick Pound was champion swimmer and head of the anti-doping committee in addition to the VP of the IOC. But yes a very well know Canadian.

 

[tvguy]

I totally agree. It's one thing if someone wants to be unique in their spellings,but the outrage when people "misspell" little Kris-tell's name as "Crystal"' makes them look ridiculous.

Yeah, there is a clerk at the store whose name is Airika.
And I know a woman who spells her name Mellisa instead of Mellisa , and another woman whose name is Eriika instead of Erika, both because their moms were so doped up after child birth that they spelled the names wrong on their birth certificates. Both discovered this when they got their driver's licenses. Until they were 16, they had been spelling their own first names wrong!

 

[clh2]

I am also not naming any more babies.

My only outlawed names-the name or any potential nickname from DH's long term girlfriend (they dated for 7 years)

And I have had a few coworkers who kind of screwed me, so those would be a no-go as well!

 

[Turn the Page]

I really dislike the really strange names, the names with unique (ie ridiculous) spellings, made up names, and overly trendy names.

I agree with someone above who said no boys names that end in den like Aiden, Brayden, Caden, etc. For girls no Emma or Olivia (though I love both of those names they are too trendy). I am also not a fan of Britney, Brandy, Candy, Crystal, or any names after brands or inanimate objects. No Mercedes or Champagnes please. Also no Ashley or Jessica, they were both way too popular when I was born.

I am actually really starting to like the old fashioned names. I was substitute teaching a few years ago and had a 2nd grader named Mildred. At first I thought the name was horrible but by the end of the day it was really growing on me. I also knew a girl in high school named Gretchen. I doubt I would ever use either of those names but I do really like Margaret.

I think it is really important to think about how that name will look when the child is an adult. Jayden is cute for an elementary school kid but I just don't think it works as well for an adult.

 

[Domo]

Bean.

 

[AppleDumpling]

I am actually really starting to like the old fashioned names. I was substitute teaching a few years ago and had a 2nd grader named Mildred. At first I thought the name was horrible but by the end of the day it was really growing on me.

I agree. Though Mildred has an unappealing sound to me, I think the nickname Millie is adorable. I know a 16 year-old Millicent who is called Millie. Born in 2000, her parents named her for the millenium, which IMO, is pretty cool.

I think it is really important to think about how that name will look when the child is an adult. Jayden is cute for an elementary school kid but I just don't think it works as well for an adult.

Agree that how a name will age is a consideration, and trendy names usually become very dated. It's all a matter of one's perspective. Take the name Shirley. Shirley Temple was a cute little girl but her name was trendy, and any Shirleys today are elderly women. But Shirley is not that different than Ashley was in the 80's, or Riley and Kaylee are more recently. In 60 years, people will think of Jayden, Riley and Kaylee as old folks, LOL.

 

[Hikergirl]

My second grade teacher was Mrs. Dick

Thank goodness she didn't teach middle school.

 

[aprilgail]

I believe Dick Pound was champion swimmer and head of the anti-doping committee in addition to the VP of the IOC. But yes a very well know Canadian.

L

Wasn't there a race car driver named dick trickle?

 

[Sleepy425]

When we signed up to be foster parents I was secretly scared of getting a kid whose name I would be embarrassed to say - I didn't want people to think I gave the poor kid the name!
Then came the day DCF called us to take newborn twins. Identical twins. Named Julissa and Jelissa. It was just shy of three years when we adopted them Sept 2016. The best part of adoption day was changing their names to Eliza and Juliet (neither of which I love, but we nicknamed them Liz and Jules when we brought them home, and then needed to give them permanent names that would work with those nicknames). The girls see a lot of specialists and we are at the pharmacy often - all of the medical staff at the various offices were thrilled that the identical names were gone. Those names caused so many issues over the years!!!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

L

Wasn't there a race car driver named dick trickle?

You are correct. Must have been an interesting childhood

 

[MommyMK]

My husband and I work with the public so we have seen our share of different names over the years, he knows a non famous Alicia Keys lol, but my favorite has to be La - a, pronounced La-Dash-A. Nope, wouldn't name my kid that.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

My husband and I work with the public so we have seen our share of different names over the years, he knows a non famous Alicia Keys lol, but my favorite has to be La - a, pronounced La-Dash-A. Nope, wouldn't name my kid that.

I still don't believe anyone is actually named La-a. It comes up so often from people who say, "this nurse/teacher I know told me about this ridiculous name she saw..."

Same with the Orangejello/Lemonjello twins name that people also like to tell you that they've seen before.

Sounds more like an urban legend.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I would try to imagine the child as a child and an adult in his or her various chosen roles. Imagine a CEO named x... A mother.. A nurse..

I like names a child can shorten if they don't like it say Elizabeth. Plenty of scope to go Betty, Beth, Liz etc.

We weren't blessed with children so I didn't have that responsbility. It was bad enough trying to name our dogs without people thinking ill of us in the park..

 

[bdcp]

A lot of old names are coming back. My grandmother was named Hazel which I always thought was such an old fashioned name, but I know one newborn and have heard of several others just this year. Names come and go. My name was fairly common in my generation (born 1960) but I haven't heard of a newborn with my name in years. It's a pleasant name, but just not used very often. My boys have very common names for kids born in the 1980's and they were names that were on the top ten list during that time. DH and I are very traditional. I see parents thinking they're being unique with their kids names only to have multiples in classes when they get into school. Everyone thought they were being unique. I definitely have issues with intentionally misspelling names to make them unique, yet being upset when everyone spells it wrong.

Speaking of names that sound strange on an adult, I knew of a Col "Brandy" Last name. Somehow, Brandy just doesn't infer leadership. Sorry if that's someone's name, but the parents probably never imagined her future military rank. It's like people who name their daughter's things like Bambi. It doesn't make anyone think CEO. Some people hate their names and go on to change them also.