June 2013 Moms

unique names...

Do people really think that chosing a unique name will make your child more special or unique? I definitely understand not wanting your child to have 5 others in their class with the same name. Some names and spellings are just sooo out there... the only reason I can think of is their parents think it will make their children be more unique. Am I wrong?? How popular is too popular of a name for your child?

Re: unique names...

  • jefkjefk member

    I'm a school librarian, and I have a class with 3 Matthews and 3 Jacobs.  It gets confusing - I have to remember to call on Jacob C or Matthew R.  I have another class with 3 Jacks and 2 Tylers (one a boy, Tyler, and the other a girl, Tilyr).  Obviously we have a mom who wanted something different - this little girl is forever going to have to spell her name for people, and some day put that on her resume.  Ethnic names are one thing, but odd spellings, nouns as names (Apple, Pilot), and totally made-up names just make me cringe.

    Our names aren't top 10 names, but they're not weird either.  If we have a boy, we might have one or two in the same class, but that doesn't matter - I love the name too much.

  • I don't mind uncommon names, but I hate you-neek names. Seriously, if you're just going to screw up the spelling of a common name: you're an idiot.The sound is still the same (as in there are still 2 Tylers in the pps class, no matter how dumb the second one is spelled). All they do is make the kid's life hell having to spell out their name forever.
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  • I like the uncommon ones but some people just get silly with spelling and made up names. I was always known by the first initial of my last name in school which annoyed me, even worse when my parents chose a spelling that was no common in our area.

    I love seeing the other Meghans on here with the h in the spelling! It makes me feel leas of an odd ball lol!

    Both of our daughter's will have uncommon names!


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  • imagerosewatermegs:
    I like the uncommon ones but some people just get silly with spelling and made up names. I was always known by the first initial of my last name in school which annoyed me, even worse when my parents chose a spelling that was no common in our area. I love seeing the other Meghans on here with the h in the spelling! It makes me feel leas of an odd ball lol! Both of our daughter's will have uncommon names!

    I think it's interesting that you say you feel like an oddball because your name is spelled with an H. My name is Megan and growing up I went to school with a lot of other girls with the same name but they were ALL spelled Meghan, so I always wished my name had the H in it because I felt like the oddball since my name didn't have the H. Now, I like the way my name is spelled and I see it more commonly spelled the same way mine is these days.

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  • imagebluelovin:

    imagerosewatermegs:
    I like the uncommon ones but some people just get silly with spelling and made up names. I was always known by the first initial of my last name in school which annoyed me, even worse when my parents chose a spelling that was no common in our area. I love seeing the other Meghans on here with the h in the spelling! It makes me feel leas of an odd ball lol! Both of our daughter's will have uncommon names!

    I think it's interesting that you say you feel like an oddball because your name is spelled with an H. My name is Megan and growing up I went to school with a lot of other girls with the same name but they were ALL spelled Meghan, so I always wished my name had the H in it because I felt like the oddball since my name didn't have the H. Now, I like the way my name is spelled and I see it more commonly spelled the same way mine is these days.

    I am a Megan as well!  Around me, Meghan and Megan are equally popular, so I was always asked if I had an H or not... no big deal (I actually go by Meg, which completely eliminates the h/no h conversation).  But there was a girl in my class and her name was "Meaghanne".  WTH.  Pronounced "megan" just spelled with all those extra letters.  

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  • imagebluelovin:

    imagerosewatermegs:
    I like the uncommon ones but some people just get silly with spelling and made up names. I was always known by the first initial of my last name in school which annoyed me, even worse when my parents chose a spelling that was no common in our area.

    I love seeing the other Meghans on here with the h in the spelling! It makes me feel leas of an odd ball lol!

    Both of our daughter's will have uncommon names!

    I think it's interesting that you say you feel like an oddball because your name is spelled with an H. My name is Megan and growing up I went to school with a lot of other girls with the same name but they were ALL spelled Meghan, so I always wished my name had the H in it because I felt like the oddball since my name didn't have the H. Now, I like the way my name is spelled and I see it more commonly spelled the same way mine is these days.



    Everyone here is Megan! Lol its funny how it varies so much depending on where you are. I always wanted a set o. Pens or a keychain with my name on it and to this day I can't find one with the right spelling!


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  • imageMegStory17:
    imagebluelovin:

    imagerosewatermegs:
    I like the uncommon ones but some people just get silly with spelling and made up names. I was always known by the first initial of my last name in school which annoyed me, even worse when my parents chose a spelling that was no common in our area.

    I love seeing the other Meghans on here with the h in the spelling! It makes me feel leas of an odd ball lol!

    Both of our daughter's will have uncommon names!

    I think it's interesting that you say you feel like an oddball because your name is spelled with an H. My name is Megan and growing up I went to school with a lot of other girls with the same name but they were ALL spelled Meghan, so I always wished my name had the H in it because I felt like the oddball since my name didn't have the H. Now, I like the way my name is spelled and I see it more commonly spelled the same way mine is these days.

    I am a Megan as well!  Around me, Meghan and Megan are equally popular, so I was always asked if I had an H or not... no big deal (I actually go by Meg, which completely eliminates the h/no h conversation).  But there was a girl in my class and her name was "Meaghanne".  WTH.  Pronounced "megan" just spelled with all those extra letters.  



    Wow that's the worst spelling I have ever seen! Right up there with magyn...


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  • llbta85llbta85 member
    We use unique family names, because I come from a family where (on both sides) everyone has a unique family name.  I am with you on taking a common name and spelling it differently. 
  • We chose unique names for our girls because DH is Mike, so he was against super-popular names, and my name is absurdly uncommon, as in I have not only never met anyone with my name IRL but practically everybody I've met has said they've never met anyone with my name before either.  Pardon the awkwardly long sentence.  Anyway, both the girls names were top 1000--I think 300s and high 900s the years they were born.  We didn't seek out a threshold, just chose a name that felt right and discovered the ranking later.  My name has never been top 1000.  So I suppose that puts the girls in the middle.  I totally feel your pain on the spellings.  I don't get it at all.

    FWIW, w/this LO we are likely to pick a far more common name.  

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  • Faith7Faith7 member

    I don't personally know any parents who believe that a special name will make their child special (or unique) any more than a strong name will make their child strong or any other characteristic.

    I think, for me, the attraction of a unique name (not a weirdly-spelled one) is that it feels kind of like a blank page.  Maybe there's someone somewhere with that name, but no one I or anyone in my family has ever met.  As though the name belonged solely to my child and he has the privilege of imbuing it with the meaning he chooses.  As a parent, I would like to find a name that didn't already remind me of another person, complete with that person's strengths and flaws and nuances.  My own name is somewhat rare (Marisa, rhymes with Lisa) and, when I wasn't correcting people who wanted to pronounce it "Marsha", I appreciated the fact that my name was mine-all-mine.

    My problem is that, feeling this way, I'm still not willing to name my kid a word that isn't really a name.  So I'm looking for an actual name, with all the properties my husband and I like in a name, that doesn't already belong to someone else we know.  Practically impossible.

  • imageariaforte8:
    I don't mind uncommon names, but I hate you-neek names. Seriously, if you're just going to screw up the spelling of a common name: you're an idiot.The sound is still the same (as in there are still 2 Tylers in the pps class, no matter how dumb the second one is spelled). All they do is make the kid's life hell having to spell out their name forever.

     This! I really hate you-neek or made up names but real, uncommon names are a different story. Our daughter's name is extremely uncommon in the US (has never been in the top 1000) but extremely common in the UK (top 40). It's a classic British name that no one in the US is very familiar with, but we chose it because we loved it and wanted to give her a quintessential British name to reflect her heritage/where she was born. It may sound weird to others when we move back to the US, but to me, it's in a completely different category than the you-neek names you hear these days. 

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  • Our daughters name will be unique but not to make her special. We are naming her Acadia Cadie for short after a place that has sentimental value for DH and I.

    I think popular names are fine, if its a name dh and i love and wanted to name our child.

    Idk why anyone would give a crap what anyone else names their kid...
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  • I just picked a name I love. I didn't check to see how popular it is. Not that there's anything wrong with checking; I just didn't care.





    I'm not new. I just hate The Bump. 

  • imagerosewatermegs:
    imageMegStory17:
    imagebluelovin:

    imagerosewatermegs:
    I like the uncommon ones but some people just get silly with spelling and made up names. I was always known by the first initial of my last name in school which annoyed me, even worse when my parents chose a spelling that was no common in our area.

    I love seeing the other Meghans on here with the h in the spelling! It makes me feel leas of an odd ball lol!

    Both of our daughter's will have uncommon names!

    I think it's interesting that you say you feel like an oddball because your name is spelled with an H. My name is Megan and growing up I went to school with a lot of other girls with the same name but they were ALL spelled Meghan, so I always wished my name had the H in it because I felt like the oddball since my name didn't have the H. Now, I like the way my name is spelled and I see it more commonly spelled the same way mine is these days.

    I am a Megan as well!  Around me, Meghan and Megan are equally popular, so I was always asked if I had an H or not... no big deal (I actually go by Meg, which completely eliminates the h/no h conversation).  But there was a girl in my class and her name was "Meaghanne".  WTH.  Pronounced "megan" just spelled with all those extra letters.  



    Wow that's the worst spelling I have ever seen! Right up there with magyn...


    I went to school with a Maygin pronounced Megan.
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  • My name is Elaine which isn't common but def isn't uncommon.

    My generation cannot spell or pronounce it correctly. It's not difficult at all.

    Our son is Bradley and this baby will be Nathaniel. Neither name is super common but they're both common enough to be easy to spell and pronounce.
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  • LuthyLuthy member

    This little girl is going to be Nova. It's pretty uncommon in the US (around rank 600 I think) but more common in some other places. We didn't really care either way. I was worried at first it was a little TOO out there but it grew on me and now I don't really care what anyone thinks of it.

    I do hate you-neek spellings of names, but unusual names themselves I think are great if the parents love them. 

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  • DS's name is incredibly uncommon - DH picked it because he has a more common name and didn't want DS to be one of three kids with the same name in his class. It's a real name, but I never would have picked it on my own...well, I never would have picked it. It was the only name on DH's list that we could agree on, though.

    DD's name (the top name on our list) is much more common - in the top 500. There is a simlar name in the top 50. I don't care because I picked out the name years ago, and I can't imagine her being named anything else.

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  • Our name choice has nothing to do with popularity. History and mythology is a passion of ours and a big reason DH and I got together. We figured what better way to celebrate that than the name if our Daughter? Sure Freyja isn't a typical name in the US but its still a name.
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  • I'm all for more uncommon names but don't dig the random spellings. My daughter is Evangeline but we call her Evie for short. It is a spinoff of a family name and I loved the meaning of it bearer of good news. I do think that I'm weird about names though given what my name is Sunny.
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  • mel1987mel1987 member
    I was mainly talking about off the wall spellings and names like hashtag and audio science. The names that you ladies listed are lovely :]
  • imageFaith7:
    I don't personally know any parents who believe that a special name will make their child special or unique any more than a strong name will make their child strong or any other characteristic.I think, for me, the attraction of a unique name not a weirdlyspelled one is that it feels kind of like a blank page. nbsp;Maybe there's someone somewhere with that name, but no one I or anyone in my family has ever met. nbsp;As though the name belonged solely to my child and he has the privilege of imbuing it with the meaning he chooses. nbsp;As a parent, I would like to find a name that didn't already remind me of another person, complete with that person's strengths and flaws and nuances. nbsp;My own name is somewhat rare Marisa, rhymes with Lisa and, when I wasn't correcting people who wanted to pronounce it "Marsha", I appreciated the fact that my name was mineallmine.My problem is that, feeling this way, I'm still not willing to name my kid a word that isn't really a name. nbsp;So I'm looking for an actual name, with all the properties my husband and I like in a name, that doesn't already belong to someone else we know. nbsp;Practically impossible.


    This is exactly how I feel. I have a unique name, and though I have to spell it every time and its often mispronounced, I've only run into one other person I've had to share it with. I guess it makes me feel like an individual, and when I hear my name in the grocery store, I know it's for me. Obviously sharing names on a more regular basis doesnt traumatize folks for life and they are plenty unique based on the person they are, but our girls will have unusual or unpopular names, though easy to spell. We fell in love with them for many reasons, but knowing the girls will most likely be the only ones in their class with their names is one of them.
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