Has the Baby Name Board stopped you from using a name?

dogperson11

There's a thread going on the BNB discussing if opinions shared there have changed anyone's mind regarding the names they're considering. Made me wonder how many ladies here also read/post there and if any of you have changed your minds based on the BNB responses.

dogperson11

(Copied from my response there)
Almost all of our girl names got negative reactions and yes, it's made me second guess them as options. I'm slowly coming back around to a few of them though. Part of me wishes I hadn't asked because I hate that I'm second guessing them.

Honestly, I find that the "regulars" of the baby name board dismiss some names due to popularity but then suggest the same names over and over. There also seems to be a trend to offer "old lady names", which there's nothing wrong with but if that's not your style then it's not your style.

I will add that when you ASK for opinions it's kind of ridiculous to be upset about the responses you receive. If you don't want honesty then asking there is not for you.

bcbuzzafsu

I asked about Olive and it was a resounding "horrible".  We've taken that into account and are not considering it anymore.  After thinking about it, it was a little too weird.  Although, I'm sure the board would also hate my son's name and he's nearly 2, everyone IRL hated it.

tamarar5

I've never posted my name on the BNB, mostly because by the time I've decided on a name, I no longer care what they think.

But I do find it silly when people post a name question, them get ridiculously upset over the responses.

Nuclearcupcake

They are not fans of my boys names (they were already here before I found the bump). Their opinions wouldn't have changed my mind on my boys names. My girls name is very very popular therefore not their cup of tea. Which is fine. I see the same names repeated and some of them aren't my style either.

mhbraymer

I have asked for opinions on other names to suggest to dh and some I liked some I didn't. I never made a fuss I said thanks and that was that since it was my choice to ask in the first place.

MandMLeona

I lurked on the BNB for a while before I posted there to make sure the majority of the styles were in line with my taste.  I have no need for opinions of people who don't like my style to begin with.  I've got plenty of that IRL.  That being said, I post more to get suggestions than for approval.  It's nice to have some input from people with a similar style.  I know no one IRL actually share my style for names.  If I'd already made up my mind, I wouldn't bother posting to the board. 

Third&goal

Our DD's name meets all the criteria the BNB hates:  Boy name, modified/mispelled, used for a girl.  But its a family name that we loved and its still very easy to pronounce and spell.  

The BNB doesn't really like the boy name we have picked out for this LO either but again, its after a family member and we like it so oh well.  

I agree, a lot of the names they suggest are the same things over and over or are an older style (which DH would never agree too).

herecomesthesun

I read the BNB but don't ask for any opinions. It's hard enough to find a name H and I are alright with. I don't care about total strangers' opinions.

bcbuzzafsu

weeklyplanner said: bcbuzzafsu said: I asked about Olive and it was a resounding "horrible".  We've taken that into account and are not considering it anymore.  After thinking about it, it was a little too weird.  Although, I'm sure the board would also hate my son's name and he's nearly 2, everyone IRL hated it. I think Olive is adorable.I've participated very little on the BNB.  I've noticed it's the same people who are active, so therefore you only get the same people's opinions.  I wouldn't rule out a name because that group isn't a representation of all people.  I agree that they suggest the same names over and over, but then again, that's probably their favorite names.



I still like Olive, just not as Meredith's middle name anymore.  BNB also didn't like Lily and we are using that. It wasn't just the board's opinion that swayed us.

As an aside, as someone who had a name that was constantly misspelled or mispronounced, it can get to be a pain in the ass.  We accidentally named my son a name he will have to spell his whole life and I feel bad about it.

Weezy56

Sort of. Before we found out we were having a boy I asked for thoughts on Gracelyn Louise, and most of them hated it. I thought it was so beautiful but I couldn't shake all the negative feedback. So we then changed our girl name to Avery, which I love so much that I didn't ask for feedback, and I know they are generally not fond of unisex names.

I do understand where they were coming from with Gracelyn though. Misspelled names like Karsyn, Jaxson, etc annoy me, and I guess Gracelyn falls in that category but it just stood out to me for some reason! (At the time)

Our boy is going to be Julian, and I haven't thought to ask for feedback because we love the name so much. (We are naming him after DH's late grandfather)

I don't agree with a lot of their suggestions when I lurk, but like dogperson said, posters shouldn't ask for opinions if you don't want to hear it.

haliebabyx3

I think I've posted on BNB maybe a handful of times. With posting I mean commenting. I've never started a discussion on there. Honestly, I never even look on there.

BabyM82714

I never really asked there because I didn't care. Most people IRL haven't turned up noses to our name. Besides BF mom throwing a fit we wouldn't be using her middle name. Goodness. I did have one resident tell me that LOs name sounded like a disease and that it was awful. We are naming her Addison Kay. And I wanted to tell her that her name was an old Lady name who smelled like stinky butt. But I refrained. Other than that pretty much everyone loves it, and if they don't we do so much that I don't care.

sarahg8r

I used to follow the BNB back when I was on the TTGP board, which was only for about 2 months. Then, I would float over there some before we found out we are having a boy. We decided on our boy name (Harrison) before I even got pregnant, but I did ask the board about their opinions on one of the girl names we were considering (Reagan). I was leery about it because I know both are presidential names and thought it might be too matchy. Since we were pretty set that our first boy would be Harrison.

Holy HELL, I had NO idea the crazy that was about to be unleashed. The ladies over there went bonkers over the name Reagan...mostly disregarding my question of whether it was matchy, and just focusing on their hatred of that name. I have to say, it did change my opinion, as much as I didn't agree with what they had to say. Thankfully, we're having a boy so it was a moot point.

Rosebean

The BNB boards get as much consideration over what we named our child(ren) as our families did. None whatsoever. We keep the names to ourselves until they are born and then they hear the name that child was given. I find it eliminates "oh, I don't like that name, how about this name instead" conversations and gets us straight to "That's a nice name"... because by then, unless the person is an absolute jerk with their manners, they will politely accept the name, then hate it in private. And I am fine with that. 

CanadianintheSouth

I lurked there, and found that there is much opposition to the name we have chosen from other posts. I don't really care though, and DH and I are not telling anyone baby girl's name for that reason. We don't care for people judging it, and once she is here it will be too late so people will be less likely to voice their opinion.

Weezy56

sarahg8r said:

I used to follow the BNB back when I was on the TTGP board, which was only for about 2 months. Then, I would float over there some before we found out we are having a boy. We decided on our boy name (Harrison) before I even got pregnant, but I did ask the board about their opinions on one of the girl names we were considering (Reagan). I was leery about it because I know both are presidential names and thought it might be too matchy. Since we were pretty set that our first boy would be Harrison.

Holy HELL, I had NO idea the crazy that was about to be unleashed. The ladies over there went bonkers over the name Reagan...mostly disregarding my question of whether it was matchy, and just focusing on their hatred of that name. I have to say, it did change my opinion, as much as I didn't agree with what they had to say. Thankfully, we're having a boy so it was a moot point.

I must say I love Reagan for a girl and Harrison for a boy.

Raclla

I've never been on that board. 

However, I really need to get over there soon.  We kind of have a boy name, but we're at a complete loss with a girl name.  We used the only name we liked with DD. 

I just realized this week that we only have 10 weeks left (at the most) to come up with some sort of option. 

Laur110

I read posts on the BNB to get ideas when H and I were trying to pick a name for baby girl. We decided on a name that I have never seen suggested on there. We are excited about the name, however we are not planning to share it until she arrives.

Now if we could only decide on a middle name...

kaitm22

I posted there and immediately regretted it, but (please don't flame me) the names hubby and I like are pretty off-the-wall, which we both totally acknowledge. I don't go there any more because of the whole same list of names coming up over and over again thing, and I really didn't care for some of the negativity. I know it is the internet, and I just shouldn't have asked for opinions, but I am a 'if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all" type of poster.

FrodaBaggins

I posted there to see how popular the name we've chosen really is. I never wanted to give a kid a name that's in the top 40, honestly! But my husband wouldn't budge and ultimately I like the name so much I gave in. I got mostly good feedback about our names there. But I doubt it would have changed my mind if I didn't.

ErnieZippy

I find it's a good way to test the waters for a name without putting the name out there publicly and (possibly) getting offended by people you know in real life. I'd rather find out now how people really feel about a name, than later...

MallardDucky

I posted there looking for suggestions about our name and what would work better. Got good feedback and it did make me/DH change our mind about something.

kiley820

Nope. Have never even been on the BNB. I think they only reason I may (If I ever do) would be to get ideas. We are still undecided and I still have no interest in what the BNB thinks I should name my child or likes/dislikes for our son's name. I understand people wanting opinions but I'm not one of them. And if you're interested…it's good to get feedback/idea's on nicknames etc that you may have never thought about. 

We are planning to keep our son's name to ourselves (if we ever decide!) due to the fact that I'm not interested in anyone's thoughts/opinions on the name we choose. (Mostly my family!) If we did decide and choose to share I know my family would have a million things to say, good or bad. They already started driving me crazy and throwing names out there when we first announced the pregnancy so I knew from the beginning this is what we were going to do. 

Also, just my two cents on name popularity…..who cares?! I think naming a kid is hard enough, the initials, the nicknames, the popularity etc etc. Who's to say if a name isn't popular now it won't be next year or even 6 months from now? And vice versa. I mean, no one really knows. I think if you and your SO like it, that's all that matters!

chase16

funnibunni80 said:

I have posted on the names board, but really only while we were debating on names- so we don't go there anymore. They really didn't turn off to my names- but I tend to go with the majority. Boy names for boys, girl names for girls, no misspellings/youneek/made up names, etc. so the typical stuff that people flame out about don't apply. I did get a little squinty-eyed when a bumpie mentioned that she was naming her LO Amelia Rose too (then same on TTGP with Charles Brian- but she named hers first) but I realized that our LOs would never meet, so it was NBD. If I was unsure about my name choice, I would absolutely let others sway/change my mind. But once I've made up my mind and found "the one" then nothing will. Of course, I wouldn't ask for opinions at that point either.

This. I posted our name choice (Julia), which went over pretty well.. Both MNs we are considering (leaning towards Julia Faye) were actually suggested by the ladies on that board.

chase16

Speaking of names, just saw this link on the Name Board that tells you how "democratic" or "republican" your name is, based on registered voters. My name (Sarah) is about half/half, just a tiny bit more democrat. Kinda fun.

https://www.claritycampaigns.com/names/

BlckRoses

I just posted there today to get some feedback about some middle names we're considering.  Mostly because we're not really sharing the name choice with anyone IRL until baby gets here.  I just wanted to bounce it off someone in case I totally missed something.  They didn't like the spelling we're going with (Arya vs Aria) mentioning that I probably got it from Game of Thrones with the Arya spelling.  Well, that is where we got it and that's why we're spelling it that way  I just didn't respond to those comments and I did get good feedback about the middle name choices.  

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tamarar5

redhorizon343 said:

I went on there to test the waters with a few of the names we were mulling over. They liked my names OK. I went in there thinking they were objective, but they really do have a very specific set of tastes/rigid rules.

I started to seriously side eye when someone posted a traditionally spelled gaelic name with the concern that people would not know how to spell or pronounce it. Everyone was like "oh, it won't be a problem! It's traditional! People know" Maybe it's just me, but I'm not well versed in reading gaelic names and it just looked like a random combination of letters to me. And no one said "People won't know. Your daughter is going to have to spell her name and pronounce it for people all the time. If you're OK with that, then that's fine."

It was then that I realized that there is some serious tunnel vision on the BNB.

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†****** stuck in box*******

DD1 had a traditionally spelled Gaelic name... quite literally, no one has ever said her name right the first time without having first been told.

Luckily, she doesn't seem to care yet. But to just assume that *everyone* will know how to say it because it's traditional is just silly.

[Deleted User]

I asked on there and everyone hated the two choices we had narrowed it down to.  I wasn't upset or offended, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I stopped going on there because I knew my style was way different than most on there.  We haven't settled 100% on a name yet, but the one we're most likely going to use is definitely not MOST people's style.  But, it's perfect for us and we love it, and that's what matters.  :-)

caybeh

I don't post over there or read there, so nope!

mikrinikki

Ooh..that board irks me! Any name that is suggested that is anything other than on the top 10 list is discarded.
They really are quite blunt on how they feel....name police. I am first generation American and wanted a name from my roots. I asked about 4 different names that were very close in spelling, a letter inserted or deleted, and got ripped apart. I wanted to know what general "Americans" (not my family) would think and all I received was prejudice comments....

MeganEMcG5

Kind of. We thought we had picked a name very early on (Harper), but after lurking on the name board and the social security name release I'm wavering. I honestly had no clue it had become so trendy until I started paying more attention. Had they all just said "I hate it" (which many of them do) rather than, "it's become too trendy" or my personal favorite, "it's like the Tiffany of the 2010's", I wouldn't have changed my mind. I really do like the name, but I prefer not to have a name that's really popular/trendy.

chase16

mikrinikki said:

Ooh..that board irks me! Any name that is suggested that is anything other than on the top 10 list is discarded. They really are quite blunt on how they feel....name police. I am first generation American and wanted a name from my roots. I asked about 4 different names that were very close in spelling, a letter inserted or deleted, and got ripped apart. I wanted to know what general "Americans" (not my family) would think and all I received was prejudice comments....

This surprises me.. Usually they love culturally significant names (as long as you are actually from that culture.. Me trying to use a traditional Swahili name probably wouldn't go over well). What was the name and what is your nationality?

brookerachelej

I get a kick out of that board because some poor soul will post a name and ask for an opinion on that particular name and the responses are always something like "NO...but here are the names I DO like..."

shaylagirl

I kind of want to go over there and post my name and see how awful it is. 

My middle name is always mispronounced because, I was SUPPOSED to be a boy (SURPRISE!), so my parents took what was supposed to be my first name, and girly-fied it and made it my middle name.  I admit, I usually don't tell anyone my middle name because they ALWAYS say it wrong, and if I say it, they spell it wrong, which I've found frustrating.  I like it, but I get annoyed that no matter what I do, it's going to get butchered one way or the other.

forevermyfenix

I've lurked over there once or twice, mostly to see the popularity of the name I've chosen. Even before BFP, if I'd get a random name stuck in my head that I thought might have been a candidate for a name of a child (my own or even just a character in a whatever Sims game I was playing), I'd do a quick google search and usually found some threads from there. 

I wouldn't actually post there though. It'd be one thing if posters would just simply say they didn't like it, but I've seen people get pretty flamed for liking an abnormal name. IMO it's fine to post opinions, but no need to be rude or brutal about it. I'd never talk to anyone to their face the way some people post on there. 

It is interesting though, I've had the name Fenix in my mind for years now, and I've seen it become at least a little more accepted than a few years ago. Granted, with different spelling, but when I first considered it, it was pretty unanimously disliked. Now you'll see some people like it as a "guilty pleasure" name. 

rcm201408

Yes! DH & I finally BOTH liked a name and I read some good and some bad things elsewhere online about this particular name so decided to post on the BNB for an opinion. Boy did I get one... Their reactions were so harsh that I could never name LO this... ever. All I'll say here is it was a unisex name that's probably more often given to boys, but we liked it for our girl. 

Oh well. Never doing that again, thats for sure!

audreylaine510

I never posted DD 1s name on there because I knew they would hate it. I haven't posted about DD2 either because we were set on her name before we even found out what we were having. I like to read the board but I don't ever ask for their opinion because I don't really care what others think of the names DH and I have chosen. 

lizztheo

It didn't stop me from naming DS1 Ryker. It did help sway us on the middle name because we were considering Ryker Francisco (middle family name) but almost everybody said it reminded them of prison (Ryker=Rikers, Francisco=Alcatraz). I only asked at the beginning of this pregnancy when I was looking for suggestions and did not particularly like any of the names. We've chosen a name now and I highly doubt our opinion will change from people on the board or in real life.

mikrinikki

I am greek and my Mom's name is Kyriakoula (Christine in greek). So we were trying to get something close. We were thinking Kira, Kiara, Kyria, etc.