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

[tr-ray]

I have a fairly uncommon name (Theresa...with the h...the other way is just spelled wrong)

That's my name too!!
My name is fairly unpopular, especially considering I'm in my late 20's...
My DH's name is fairly common (Eric), but the name we picked for our DD is Sheridan Elyse. I think it's fairly uncommon, but I've had spell her name "SHERATON" or, our last name is also a first name, so when things are filed last name, first, they call her our last name.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Actually, Ananda is not completely uncommon. In fact, I believe Mohammed Ali has a daughter named Ananda. You could easily make Annie the nickname or she could go by Joy.

It's fine if you don't like it, I do. It's certainly not as bad as some I have seen. I know one kid named Kahlee, it is pronounced Kuh-lee-ee. Believe me, nobody can pronounce that poor kid's name when they read it.

FWIW, I grew up with nobody being able to spell my first or my last name. My last name is not hard (Berger), but people see the first e and think it has to be some exotic name and always try to pronounce it weird. Or if they spell it, they spell it like hamburger. And my first name, I chose an unusual spelling of Jessi and nobody ever spells it right, even after I tell them. It doesn't bother me that much.

The name means a lot to me, particularly the meaning. It's fine if you don't like it. This is all hypothetical anyway.

 

[preschoolmom]

I used to think my name was pretty uncommon (Summer Lynn), but I've come across two other people that live in my area with the same name (different variations on spelling though). Weird huh!

What other spellings are there for Summer? (Love the name, just curious).

 

[aprilgail2]

I

I know that I want to name my first daughter Ananda Joy (after the dog in A Swiftly Tilting Planet.) I want my kids to all have literary names.

seriously...naming your child after a dog??

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Wow, people are snarky. The name is a Sanskrit name for the "Joy without which the universe will far apart and collapse" according to Charles Wallace. It's not the character, it's the name and the meaning. And it is one I have heard before, for humans. Whenever name conversations come up and people start talking about what you might name a future kid, I always get compliments on it. I've never heard anybody be so negative. Aaron likes it too. Of course, it is all fun and games. I don't know that I'll ever have a daughter, but I still think it is a beautiful name, and it is the name of the main character in the book I am writing (again, nicknamed Annie.)

 

[torinsmom]

I'm not sure about my kids names being ultra trendy or unusual, but they mean very personal things to us. My daughter, Helena, named after my Grandmother Helen while paying tribute to my husband's Spaniard ancestry. My other daughter, Kristina, because my husband wouldn't let me name her Carolina.

"We are NOT naming her after a basketball team!!"
"But honey, it's a really good basketball team"

But my son, Angel, he's a struggle with my family. You see, my ancestry is Irish and English. My husband is Apache and Spaniard. So we knew before my son was born that his name would be Angel. But he is the fairest of all of my children. So even though Angel is a very common name for Spanish males, my son does not LOOK Spanish. So now we have this little white boy named Angel. He is definitely going to learn how to box!!

LOL, is he a DUKE fan?! I think Carolina would be a really great name.

Marsha

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Well howdy neighbor!!! No, no I could never marry a Duke fan. Not that they are not nice people, some of them. I just couldn't do it!!

And thanks, I too think Carolina would be a beautiful name

Oh, one more thing......


GO HEELS!!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I like unusual names. I have a Scooner Tuna.

You mean like in Mr Mom???

 

[Ember]

My name is middle of the road uncommon (Brandy). I've met other people with my name but not too many of them. I've never liked my name, I don't think it sounds pretty at all. Not to mention no one ever spells it right. I get Brandi, Brandie, or even Brandee. Also, and I'm sorry to other posters who share my name, but it sounds like a stripper name.

My middle name is Elizabeth and I like it much more. I tried to have people call me by my middle name when I was 12 or so, but my mum wouldn't go for it so it never stuck.

Personally, I don't care for most "unique" names or spellings. As a teacher, I always wonder what the parents were thinking...

 

[MariDisney]

My name (Mari) is fairly uncommon. To this day, I rarely get it pronounced correctly (Mar-ee with the accent on the Mar, sort of like Maury Povich if you say Mah-ri and not Moor-y). I get Mary, Marie, Moori, MAAAAHri, etc. Usually I don't bother correctly people any more if it's a one time interaction. I did get a little worried though having my blood drawn earlier this week. They called Mary and no one else got up. So, I did. Usually I'll say "Mari" and they'll look at the paperwork and make sure they have the right person. I think because I was fasting and starving that I didn't do it. SO, about 6 vials into the blood draw I checked just to make sure they had the right person with the right paperwork. This gets annoying sometimes.

I wanted to name my DD something that could not be mispronounced, so I named her Caroline (Carol-eye n). It really never occured to me that someone would pronounce it Carolyn (Carol-in). The two spellings always seemed very clear and straightforward to me. Not to the rest of the world. LOL She's gets Carolyn about 40% of the time.

To the PP who loves the name Ananda, I agree it is a beautiful sounding name. I would also encourage people to think about the difficulties that will come with a name like that (always correcting people from saying "Amanda", etc.). It may not be a deal breaker on the name, but as someone who has said "It's Mari, not Mary" about a million times I think it's something to think about.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

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

We have an Eden that teaches at our school. It is a beautiful name. I also love the names you gave your sons.

I met a father at the pedi office once his son's name was Ian Orion . I commented that it was an interesting name. He went on to tell me that his son was name after Ian Stuart (Stewart?) the late lead singer of the skinhead band swrew driver and Orion stood for Our Race Is Our Nation.....

Mmmmmmmkay. Boy was I uncomfortable after that. To make it worse he commented on the beauty of my "Aryan" blonde blue eyed twins. ** twitch twitch***

Wow. It is a nice sounding name, but I would not have liked that explination either. I think I would have suddenly become interested in something across the room that I just had to get up an see.

There are some names I absolutely hate because I used to teach and now I'm a probation officer. Certain names remind me of some of the lovely juveniles I have had to deal with over the years, and there is no way I could ever think of those names with anything but shivers.

I'm sure Aiden is a great name for some of you, but to me, it's a horrid name because he was a horrid juvenile delinquent. The same with Ashton and a few other names.

(Not all the juveniles I've worked with were/are horrid. Some are actually pretty good kids that just did something stupid. They learn from their mistakes. Some juveniles will never learn.)

LOL! Aaron and I were talking about names, and both of us agreed that one name in particular we could never give to a son. It is the name of the kid in my classroom who bites frequently, and he also has two kids in the class he subs for with that name who have been problematic for him.

Teachers have the hardest time naming kids because of all the terrors they have had over the years .

That was actually in something my boyfriend sent me: You know you're a teacher when you can't have children because every name sends your blood pressure through the roof.

 

[EMom]

We liked Siobhan for DD18, but we figured, since we live in Indiana, she'd forever be Si-ob-han instead of Shu-van in pronounciation.

Instead, she is Sara Emily, and goes by Emily or Emi. BTW, Sara not Sarah is the proper spelling.

Ummm.......The women of my family have spelled "Sarah" with an "h" for hundreds of years, taking their cue from The Bible. Perhaps you meant that your child's name is spelled with no "h", but it would not be accurate to say "Sara" is the proper spelling in general, when both are accepted. In fact, Sarah is used much more frequently in the US than Sara. "Sarah" consistently ranks well ahead of "Sara" on the list of baby names the SS Administration compiles yearly.

 

[Inigo]

Ummm.......The women of my family have spelled "Sarah" with an "h" for hundreds of years, taking their cue from The Bible. Perhaps you meant that your child's name is spelled with no "h", but it would not be accurate to say "Sara" is the proper spelling in general, when both are accepted. In fact, Sarah is used much more frequently in the US than Sara. "Sarah" consistently ranks well ahead of "Sara" on the list of baby names the SS Administration compiles yearly.

You don't have a sense of humor at all, do you?

 

[golfgal]

Actually, Ananda is not completely uncommon. In fact, I believe Mohammed Ali has a daughter named Ananda. You could easily make Annie the nickname or she could go by Joy.

It's fine if you don't like it, I do. It's certainly not as bad as some I have seen. I know one kid named Kahlee, it is pronounced Kuh-lee-ee. Believe me, nobody can pronounce that poor kid's name when they read it.

FWIW, I grew up with nobody being able to spell my first or my last name. My last name is not hard (Berger), but people see the first e and think it has to be some exotic name and always try to pronounce it weird. Or if they spell it, they spell it like hamburger. And my first name, I chose an unusual spelling of Jessi and nobody ever spells it right, even after I tell them. It doesn't bother me that much.

The name means a lot to me, particularly the meaning. It's fine if you don't like it. This is all hypothetical anyway.

Wow, people are snarky. The name is a Sanskrit name for the "Joy without which the universe will far apart and collapse" according to Charles Wallace. It's not the character, it's the name and the meaning. And it is one I have heard before, for humans. Whenever name conversations come up and people start talking about what you might name a future kid, I always get compliments on it. I've never heard anybody be so negative. Aaron likes it too. Of course, it is all fun and games. I don't know that I'll ever have a daughter, but I still think it is a beautiful name, and it is the name of the main character in the book I am writing (again, nicknamed Annie.)

No one is being snarky but you post about growing up with no one being able to spell your name and then go on to say your are going to name your kid after a Dog with an unusual name and I simply pointed out that you are going to cause your kid the same grief that you have spent your life dealing with.

My name (Mari) is fairly uncommon. To this day, I rarely get it pronounced correctly (Mar-ee with the accent on the Mar, sort of like Maury Povich if you say Mah-ri and not Moor-y). I get Mary, Marie, Moori, MAAAAHri, etc. Usually I don't bother correctly people any more if it's a one time interaction. I did get a little worried though having my blood drawn earlier this week. They called Mary and no one else got up. So, I did. Usually I'll say "Mari" and they'll look at the paperwork and make sure they have the right person. I think because I was fasting and starving that I didn't do it. SO, about 6 vials into the blood draw I checked just to make sure they had the right person with the right paperwork. This gets annoying sometimes.

I wanted to name my DD something that could not be mispronounced, so I named her Caroline (Carol-eye n). It really never occured to me that someone would pronounce it Carolyn (Carol-in). The two spellings always seemed very clear and straightforward to me. Not to the rest of the world. LOL She's gets Carolyn about 40% of the time.

To the PP who loves the name Ananda, I agree it is a beautiful sounding name. I would also encourage people to think about the difficulties that will come with a name like that (always correcting people from saying "Amanda", etc.). It may not be a deal breaker on the name, but as someone who has said "It's Mari, not Mary" about a million times I think it's something to think about.

One of my favorite students ever is named Mari (he is an 'old' married lady with a couple kids of her own now so when I see her I feel old as she was 13 when I first started teaching her).

 

[bballmom56]

Inigo ~ I almost said the exact same thing as Emom. Then I reread your post and understood it as saying that the correct spelling for YOUR DD was Sara, not for the name in general. Then I also realized it could have been said with a wink. But for those of us with Sarah's, we jumped to the conclusion that you were saying that the ONLY proper spelling was Sara .

 

[tink20]

A friend's girlfriend we met once: her name is Wyth (with)

 

[Peanut214]

LOL- Its not only Aiden that is popular- we have Aiden, Caden, Jayden and Hayden that is popular around here!

Goodness, Jayden was actually my first choice! I am really out of the loop when it comes to popular names!

 

[NY Disney fan]

I gave my child an unusual name but its Hebrew so its not like its a fake, made up name.

 

[NY Disney fan]

I agree. We named our youngest boy Reece (not sure if that's considered unusual or not), but I wanted to spell it Rhys. My husband and I discussed it quite a bit, and thought that it would be misspelled and mispronounced all the time, so we opted for the 'American' spelling. I'm glad we did - for his sake - but I still like the traditional spelling Rhys so much better.

I have to say with those lovely Irish-y Gaelic names you are playing with fire in the United States. You pretty much have to spell them different for your child to feel included. Siobahn, Siorse....they just don't translate well in the US. Lovely names though.

 

[EMom]

You don't have a sense of humor at all, do you?

Actually, I do. But I also have past experience with a fair number of people who are adamant (and that is putting it mildly) that Sara is the proper way to spell the name and anyone who spells it with and "h" is only a half step from being the village idiot. Considering any name book makes it clear that both spellings are acceptable and correct, I find it surprising that I keep coming across people who are so dedicated to the "no 'h' at all costs" school of thought. I dislike invented spellings of names, but in the case of Sarah/Sara, either is just fine.

As bballmom56 indicated, I didn't read your post as being in jest. I thought PERHAPS you meant YOUR child's name was correctly spelled "Sara" instead of it having to be spelled that way in all instances, which is why I mentioned that possibility.

It now seems you were not one of the sort who is obsessive about the "h" being a bad, bad thing. But they are out there. I simply thought I had come across one more of the rabid anti-h-ers.