Anyone who has given their child an unusual name ...

[SC Minnie]

I have an older uncommon name, Mona, and have always hated it. I named DD Catherine wanting her to have something common. She goes by Catherine and not a shortened form except to some friends that call her Cat.

I really liked the name Reid for a boy but DH wouldn't have it.

 

[Jenvenza]

My friends name is Katherine- in 4th grade the teacher told her "that name is to long, you have to pick a nickname- do you want to be Kathy, Kate, Katie" Poor kid didn't want ANY of those but she muttered "katie I guess" and for the rest of that year she became Katie!




Seriously?? There is a Gianna here everytime you turn around- VERY popular name- 3 in my daughter grade alone!! She also has a Miles in her class (parents named him after some Jazz guy) Also have a Niles in the class so it gets a bit confusing with Miles and Niles

Yes, seriously. Maybe it is popular where you live, but it is not where I live.

 

[CathrynRose]

I named DD Catherine wanting her to have something common. She goes by Catherine and not a shortened form except to some friends that call her Cat.
.

That's me.

Do me a favor, ask your daughter if she actually ever told anyone to call her Cat. I never did - and I like it, but I never said "Hey, call me Cat" I've always introduced myself as "Cathryn"

But it never fails. New jobs, new people - always end up calling me Cat. And like I said - I like it - but I'm curious if this is your daughter's experience, too.

The only time I *do* refer to myself as Cat, is when I sign e-mails (not even REAL letters, cards - only e-mail) I do this:

~Cat

 

[shrubber]

She also has a Miles in her class (parents named him after some Jazz guy) Also have a Niles in the class so it gets a bit confusing with Miles and Niles

GAHHH!!!!!

Miles ( Davis ) was not some jazz guy....

Kids these days, whatta gonna do,

 

[CathrynRose]

Oh - forgot:

I have a Joey (Joseph) and a Danny (Daniel). I actually hate both the proper versions of both names, but did it so they would have a 'real' name.

That being said - I would have thought both names, would have hoards of kids in their class with the same name.

Joey gradated in June - and he graduated with ONE other "Joe" (not Joey - not that it really matters, but....) And Danny is 14 and has had ONE Daniel (again, not Danny)

The "unusual" names, are becoming more usual, where as the Joey's and Danny's are not as common anymore. It's weird.

FTR - I generally don't like different names, and I actually like Koi - as well as her pretty bedding. I imagine a dark haired / light eyed girl (much like your oldest) and pulling it off very well.

 

[princess pooh]

My son's name is Bodie. I didn't think it was that "out there" but people really seem to love it or hate it. He can always go by Bo or his middle name if he really hates it.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I have an unusual name (Eden). Growing up there were absolutely no other Edens around. Now it's becoming increasingly popular.

I gave my two sons unsual names, too. I hesitate to say them here, but...
My oldest is Willoughby. When he was little, we mostly called him Will, but now, at 16, he prefers Willoughby. My youngest is named Finley and he's called Finn about 75% of the time. He likes his name (he just turned 7), but he really wants to be called by his middle name (Clark).

We've never met another Willoughby, though I did see a birth announcement in our town for a little boy named Willoughby. Most of the Willoughbys we've heard of have been very old or deceased.

We met another little boy named Finley at the mall a couple of years ago. Other than that we've never run across another, though I know they're out there (some girls named Finley, too).

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I have an older uncommon name, Mona, and have always hated it. I named DD Catherine wanting her to have something common. She goes by Catherine and not a shortened form except to some friends that call her Cat.

I really liked the name Reid for a boy but DH wouldn't have it.

I have a great aunt named Mona. Since I adore her, I have always liked the name. But I agree that it is an "older" name. Still very pretty though.

 

[SC Minnie]

That's me.

Do me a favor, ask your daughter if she actually ever told anyone to call her Cat. I never did - and I like it, but I never said "Hey, call me Cat" I've always introduced myself as "Cathryn"

But it never fails. New jobs, new people - always end up calling me Cat. And like I said - I like it - but I'm curious if this is your daughter's experience, too.

The only time I *do* refer to myself as Cat, is when I sign e-mails (not even REAL letters, cards - only e-mail) I do this:

~Cat

She likes it but she doesn't tell people to call her Cat and really only her good friends call her that. If someone tries to call her Katie or Kathy she will correct them in a heartbeat but Cat she's OK with. If she meets new people she says her name is Catherine.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I have one dd with a traditional name that everyone knows how to spell and pronounce, but it is very unusual. She hates it because it's different and she can never find junk with her name on it in the tourist trap shops.

My other dd has a common name that you hear a lot, and she can buy the junk her sister can't. We spelled it the right way, but lots of people are spelling it wrong (dropping a silent letter), so people will spell hers wrong, or pronounce it wrong. She doesn't like her name, either, because too many other girls have it.

Angela, I hope you know that I adore you from when you posted regularily on this board years ago, and this is not meant in a mean way:

Remy and Holland are lovely names, and while not necessarily common, not what I would call unusual.

Koi, on the other hand, goes way beyond unusual. Seriously, naming your child after a fish? Have you really thought this through? Kids are mean, teenage girls can be horrible. I can think of a dozen awful jokes the poor girl will undoubtedly endure as a teenager. She will not thank you for this.

I'm sorry, I have to agree with this, too. When I first saw the name posted, I didn't even think about the fish aspect with teenagers, I just thought it was a little "out there", but really, this does go way beyond. I know some kids will always be able to come up with a reason to tease another child, but why make it so obvious and easy for them?

I don't want to hurt your feelings. It's a pretty word and would make a pretty name if it wasn't commonly known as a type of fish.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

My friends name is Katherine- in 4th grade the teacher told her "that name is to long, you have to pick a nickname- do you want to be Kathy, Kate, Katie" Poor kid didn't want ANY of those but she muttered "katie I guess" and for the rest of that year she became Katie!

Must be the grade. When I was in 4th grade we had two Ricks. Teacher told one them they had to be Ricky. She drew the name out of the hat. Poor kid was so upset. Unfortunately to this day I still call him Ricky. That was 35 years ago. Some habits are hard to break.

 

[Liberty Belle]

DD is Grace and we thought it was pretty and old fashioned and not too common but we have found it to be more common than we thought, at least in our area. Every night she looks to the heavens and gives thanks she was not born a male child, to whom DH was determined to give the name....OTTO!!!

DH's family is German and Otto is also my DDad's middle name so it would have been a tough fight!...whew!

I like the name Otto. I think it's cool.

 

[Aisling]

I have an unusual name (Eden). Growing up there were absolutely no other Edens around. Now it's becoming increasingly popular.

Back in the early 80s there was a popular soap opera called "Santa Barbara" with a character named Eden. I'd never heard it as a name before, but all of a sudden Edens were popping up here and there (not a ton, though) I'm guessing because of the popularity of the character and the uniqueness of the name. Very pretty.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Back in the early 80s there was a popular soap opera called "Santa Barbara" with a character named Eden. I'd never heard it as a name before, but all of a sudden Edens were popping up here and there (not a ton, though) I'm guessing because of the popularity of the character and the uniqueness of the name. Very pretty.

Funny you should mention that. Back in the early 80's I went to some fair thing and met a soap star and Enos from Dukes of Hazard. That was about a month or two before that Eden character on Santa Barbara. My mom swears the actress went back and got my name circulated in the soap scene. I don't know which soap the actress was from, but I think it was just a coincidence.

 

[clovergirl5]

Growing up Jennifer in the 70s made me want to be sure my daughters were never stuck tacking on the initial of their last names in every class that they were in. There was always a "Jenny S., Jenny R and Jenny V" or some such nonsense, though my parents swear that they hadn't heard of it before I was born.
So I picked Brynne for my first daughter, from a baby book, never dreaming that people would mis-pronounce it. It looks like it sounds, two "n"s make a short vowel sound, you get the idea. But she gets everything from "Brianne" to "Brian" to "Brine" (!!!) Her middle name is her Korean name.

For our second daughter, we nearly chose Piper, (LOVE IT!) but to make a long story short, we didn't bring home the baby we called Piper, and we didn't want to use the name for the child who was ultimately ours. We fought like crazy to agree on a name, and ended up keeping her Korean name, SeiJin. (say - jin) I worried that it would never be pronounced correctly, but gave up considering that since everyone gets Brynne wrong. I do wish I would have left the "e" off and made it "Brynn" instead, because I think it would be easier. Oh, well.

And by the way, in Korea, SeiJin is more like Seh-jin, so even we say it wrong technically. We kept it for the meaning, "World Treasure" and because of the story of how it came to be her name, and because we love it. We do call her "Sage" sometimes for short, though it hasn't really stuck.

Me too! Im Jenifer Lee. My dc are Taylor Elise, Jordyn Olivia, Matthew Christian, Camryn Grace and Hayden Ella.

 

[vettechick99]

Aisling, I have always pronounced your name A-sling in my head. Guess I'm not alone. Good to know I've been wrong!

Jenvenza, Scooner finally realized Gianna was not her. She called her Sarah.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

GAHHH!!!!!

Miles ( Davis ) was not some jazz guy....

Kids these days, whatta gonna do,

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

I've got two to share.
First of all, Hurley Parker (the dog in my avatar) was named after a friend of my roommate's who died right before my roommate got the dog....I've never heard that name (for a person or a dog) before and I spent a long time trying to figure out where it could have come from before I finally asked my roommate.
Second, my aunt goes by Norton (her middle name and a family name...originally a surname but was also my great-aunt's name...my aunt's first name is Ann after her other aunt.) She went by Norton all the way through childhood, decided in High School that she hated being the only Norton, and that she was going to be called Ann. She went to school the first day, realized how confusing it was that there were so many Anns, and decided she liked her unusual name after all and she's never switched to Ann again.

 

[TiggerStac]

I knew there was another Brady mom around on these boards I just think it is such a great boys name AND very easy to yell when he acts up LOL. Plus no one mispronounces/spells it!

I have a Brady, too... Brady Alexander, very easy to call out to the 2 year old

My others aren't really common. My oldest is Tyler, there are a few Tyler's that are older (14-15ish) and one or 2 he knows his age. Brady is my 2nd and my youngest is Caleb (goes by CJ, Caleb Joseph) again...none of them are overly popular, I hear more of Brady around here because of Tom Brady..but that's not the reason we choose it.

Girls names we had picked...Gabriella, Savannah and Kaleigh. I don't know any garbriella's. I know of one other Savannah that is my 2 year olds age and Kaleigh...I know of a couple, but strange enough, my best friend from HS and I caught up on Facebook about 6 months ago, he has a 5 year old named Kaleigh...spelled exactly how I wanted to. Most times you see it Kaylee, Kaylie...

 

[surfergirl602]

I have a Julia too (Julia Lindsey), she's 10 and she was the only Julia in her school..until last week, when another Julia enrolled..and it's in her grade too. Argh! Not her class though.

I love love love the name, still my absolute favorite for a girl. We call her Jules, Jule and J along with Julia, but NEVER Julie.

My Julia is 7. Its a pretty common name, but so far, we've never hand another one in her grade/class. We NEVER use Julie. If we wanted to call her that we would have named her that!

And its a pretty easy name to pronounce right? Apparently not to some people. It's joo -lee-uh... Not Jool-ya. That bothers me and its mainly my mother that says it wrong.