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

[SeaSpray]

DS21 is fine with his name... "Craig". Not overly used, but so unusual either. He likes the fact that he has 2 middle names though. I always loved the name Craig and didn't consider any other boy's names when I was expecting him.

DS18 is Robby, but his legal name is "Robert". We've told him that we considered legally naming him "Robby" but he tells us now that he's very glad that we went with Robert because he prefers to go by "Robb" now, or even "Robert" but feels that he has outgrown being known as "Robby". Glad we chose the formal version of his name. (And NEVER call him BOB, he won't even turn around. )

I strongly considered naming DS18 "Harrison" but it didn't sound good at all with his name last name (his last name is not "Brown" like mine is). To this day he THANKS me for NOT naming him Harrison but I still love the name (George Harrison and Harrison Ford were the inspirations.

 

[MickeyCrazedMom]

My hubby is named Trace and he loved that no one else had his name. It bugs me that people say Tracy or think he is a woman, but it doesn't bother him. He wanted our kids to have unusual names also and our first son is Aidan. At the time he was born there was nooooo one with that name. Now we go to the doctors office and when they call for Aidan 4 families stand up!

The second time around we went with Ainslee for our daughter and while we have met a few here and there, it is not common. I have gotten both negative and positive responses to her name, but I love it. I only wish we would have spelled it Ainsley because that is how everyone spells it.

By the third kid, we were just happy to agree on any name!

 

[Pakey]

I have an uncommon name and gave my son an uncommon name (Bryceton). He is almost 29 and likes his name. I gave him an even more unusual middle name because family who didn't like the name I picked for him said they'd call him by his middle name.

 

[cheermom1]

My kids have fairly common names but so far we haven't really come across too many with their names ....

My name is a an old fashion name and I sooo very hated it - I was going to change it but I didn't b/c I was named after my aunt and my mom and after thinking about it chose to keep it.

although I get called Brenda and Melinda A LOT!!! LOL I guess people just seem to think that there is no way they heard Linda

 

[mom2maggie]

My new daughter is named Josie (not Josephine) - not a common name, but certainly not unusual. I haven't met another Josie younger than 65 though.
I wanted to name her Emaline, Amelie, or Beatrice, all of which my DH vetoed as too unusual.

 

[puffkin]

I don't really like unusual names. I wanted to name my DS something trendy but not too common. Actually the first name we agreed with was Brady, and that stuck. Fits him perfectly, and I really love the name.

DH is Troy and I am Kelly. I hated my name growing up....but now it doesn't bother me too much. DH likes that his name is common but uncommon.

 

[pixiewings71]

I have both an unusual and common name, my given name is Kathryn, I go by Kerri. Kerri itself isn't unusual, but the spelling is/was uncommon for our area when I was a kid. I was the only Kerri/Carrie/Kari/Kerry etc etc, in school. I have 3 girls, their names are Cami, Cassidy & Jade, not the most common and you know what? They love them. DBF is Micah, also uncommon, his sis is Tanya but pronounced Tonya. I have a sister Jayme, a brother Adam and a sister Heather....my Mom is Patsy, her sister is Pamela....nieces and nephews are MaKenzie, Alexis, Madison, Ashley, Cody, Kevin, Gracie, Joseph, Thomas, Anna......so we are a good mix of common & uncommon.

 

[pixiewings71]

My new daughter is named Josie (not Josephine) - not a common name, but certainly not unusual. I haven't met another Josie younger than 65 though.
I wanted to name her Emaline, Amelie, or Beatrice, all of which my DH vetoed as too unusual.

DD21s DD is Josie, short for Jocelyn.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

My new daughter is named Josie (not Josephine) - not a common name, but certainly not unusual. I haven't met another Josie younger than 65 though.
I wanted to name her Emaline, Amelie, or Beatrice, all of which my DH vetoed as too unusual.

I know two Josie's 3 years and under.

 

[barkley]

i have a common name with an uncommon spelling, and it does not lend itself to ANY variation or nickname-I HATE IT (and i hated as a kid that nothing preprinted had my name spelled the way i did on it). as a result i chose a name for dd that while not terribly common is familiar, and it lends itself to at least 1/2 dozen variations or nicknames.

dh has a VERY common first name-and only 3 variations, two of which he detests. as a result our son was not named for him (though dh relented and let me give him his name as a middle name), but given a name for which there is only 1 variation/nickname and it still sounds almost identical to his given name.


btw-those of you that believe you've given your child an unusual name would be wildly surpised to see how they stacked up against some of the names i encountered handling thousands of birth certificates

 

[Buckalew11]

My kids have fairly common names but so far we haven't really come across too many with their names ....

My name is a an old fashion name and I sooo very hated it - I was going to change it but I didn't b/c I was named after my aunt and my mom and after thinking about it chose to keep it.

although I get called Brenda and Melinda A LOT!!! LOL I guess people just seem to think that there is no way they heard Linda

I'm Brenda and I get Linda and Melinda quite often. I also get Karen. My sister is Karen. My SIL is Karen. My cousin is Karen. And these people who call me Karen don't even know all this!

Disliked Brenda growing up because I thought it sounded old. However, my dad named me and I would not change it because of that. Brenda is common in the south (for my age, not for kids) but up in NJ, it seemed like I was the only one.

DD is Hunter. People love it or hate it, I think. I still love it, no regrets. She loves it which is nice.

I don't mind unusual names as long as I can figure out how to pronounce them.

 

[Feralpeg]

When I named my daughter Kendall, I didn't know of anyone with that name. Now, I hear it all the time. For the most part, they are little kids. DD is 21. The name seems to have gained popularity.

We have had a few problems with people thinking she is a boy. In high school they assigned her to share a locker with a boy based on her name.

 

[luvsJack]

My daughter's name is not as common as my sons' names. Her name is Skyler--was supposed to be shortened to Skye but that just never stuck. She hates that she can never find stuff in the stores with her name on it. OTOH, she is the only one in her school; so when her name is on something there is no doubt that it is her's. Also, because of her name every teacher at the school knows her by just her first name.

My boy's names are very common. The oldest is kind of unusual for his age group, but still common. Their only issue is that neither goes by their first name which is a whole 'nother thread about name problems.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

We wanted to name our son D'Artagnan but there was a great uprising in the family.

We went with James.

I thought I was the only one who loved that name! At one time, I had my heart set on naming a future son Bowie D'Artagnan.

Now...I'd still like the Bowie part, but it doesn't go well with DBF's last name. In January of this year, however, I lost a dear cousin at the age of 32, and if I should ever have that son, I now want to name him Matthew. Matthew William (the latter for my grandfather, with whom I grew up and who was the only "dad" I ever knew).

DBF has a niece named Lilah. Beautiful name; I've never seen it spelled with the "h," but I like it.

 

[AshleyW]

My hubby is named Trace and he loved that no one else had his name. It bugs me that people say Tracy or think he is a woman, but it doesn't bother him. He wanted our kids to have unusual names also and our first son is Aidan. At the time he was born there was nooooo one with that name. Now we go to the doctors office and when they call for Aidan 4 families stand up!

The second time around we went with Ainslee for our daughter and while we have met a few here and there, it is not common. I have gotten both negative and positive responses to her name, but I love it. I only wish we would have spelled it Ainsley because that is how everyone spells it.

By the third kid, we were just happy to agree on any name!

One of my coworkers had a baby girl in July and they named her Ainslee. I like that name a lot.

 

[pearlieq]

I don't like unusual names or spellings. My internal reaction to hearing one is a combination of an eye roll and pity.

I tend to think the parents were trying to be "cool" or "edgy". I can't take parents who do it seriously and I feel bad for their kids.

This is, of course, just my opinion. I would never say anything to someone, but that's what's going though my head.

ETA: By "unusual" I'm thinking of my friend who named her kid "River", not the one who named her kid "Cassandra". I actually love uncommon traditional names.

 

[robinb]

Two of my kids have unusual names. They're happy with them and have never had any issues. Strangely, my kid with a "normal" name (Silas) is the only one I've heard mispronounced or had some one ask "Did you make that up?"

{snip}

My name is fairly common (Candace), but I would say is only spelled correctly less than 5% of the time.

I am curious, if you think "Candace" and "Silas" are not unusual, what are the names of the "unusual" named children?!?

My name is not common. It's "Roberta" and I have always hated it. NO ONE calls me Roberta and I swore that I would never name my daughter a boy's name with an "a" stuck on the end.

 

[mrsv98]

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!

 

[Joyciemc]

Don't have children, but I do have a name that is WAY uncommon for my age group. I have never met another Joyce my age. Though I do hear "my mom's name is Joyce!" a lot. I hated it growing up, but I'm happy with it now.

And as far as people understanding what I'm saying, folks often just hear 'Joy' over the phone. And once, at Starbucks, 'Troy'

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I am curious, if you think "Candace" and "Silas" are not unusual, what are the names of the "unusual" named children?!?

My name is not common. It's "Roberta" and I have always hated it. NO ONE calls me Roberta and I swore that I would never name my daughter a boy's name with an "a" stuck on the end.

You know, until recently (2005) I hadn't heard Silas as a name but ever since Weeds (not that that's the reason why someone is named Silas) I notice Silas as a name all the time. Perhaps that's because the Weeds character Silas helped me recognize it more?