What's in a name

Some of the names on the Mumsnet baby names thread really make me want to weep for the poor little babies. Made up names, seriously outlandish names, over-cutesy names, and overtly boys' names for girls, but with 'original' spelling so as to be even more 'quirky'.
There are often plenty of DON'T DO IT! replies, but who knows how much notice the 'Look At Me! I'm SO quirky!' parents will take.

BBevan, my French lesson name was Denise.

Names should be like a precious gift given under which a child can flourish. So often children wilt under names chosen by thoughtless and crass parents.

When my friend received a proposal she said she really thought long and hard before because her true love's surname was so awful! They have their golden wedding coming up so it certainly was true love. Needless to say, they have been very careful with their children's names as they could have been crippling to them otherwise.

When a friend's daughter was expecting they nicknamed the unborn child pilchard. When she was born her big brother (all of 4 years old) was asked what her name was and immediately said pilchard - which is how she is now known in the family!

When I was at Grammar school we were all given French names in our French lesson. Most were obvious as in Pierre for Peter. Since my name was very unusual then ( not so much now) , I was called Marthe. I was mortified.

I think David Bowie's son is Duncan Jones, or to give him his full name:
Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones

however, he has called his baby son Stenton David Jones (sounds like something you use in a heart operation).

David Carradine named one of his sons Free Seagull, poor lad!

Frank Zappa's children all had strange names, not sure whether they changed them when they grew up or not (wasn't one called Dweezil?)

Didn't David Bowie's son, named Zowie by his parents, change his name to Douglas and there is another son/daughter of a famous parent of much the same vintage who did something similar.

Jamie's new son is River Rocket. I help out in a junior school and some of the children have some odd (well to me anyway) names.

Poor child, siblings names are no better. I knew an Oswin and Osman Osman and Orson Cart.

We know a Jack Horner whose sister is Mary Lamb and one of my oldest friends is Marjorie Dawe.

I was at school with some kids who had been lumbered with unfortunate names---Ivor Payne and Crystal, Ruby and Pearl Dimond.

Yes Bags you have the child his future profession !!

How about River Oliver QC, n&g?

Though Oliver River QC sounds better.

There are several "ordinary" names where you can't tell if it's a male or female, on hearing them eg Leslie/Lesley, Frances/Francis, Terri/Terry etc.

I just feel sorry for the little lad. River could be worse though and looking at some of Jamie's other children's names...they are.

My litmus test is always could we have a King River or a Prime Minster River Oliver ????

I like simple names that can't be messed around with.

I think there's a list of names you can choose from in France and you couldn't just use any old word or name?
I think you always have to think about the child as an adult when their names are called out in public places and folks don't know whether to expect a male or female.
Life's tough enough esp at school without having an 'odd' name-mind you Johnny Cash's Dad thought it was ok to call him Sue!

Not a case of daft names, but name confusion. When I first started at Grammar school, in 1954, our form teacher was getting all the family info off each of us. When it came to parents names, I gave my stepfather`s as Wilson Charles. She wrote down Charles Wilson, and I told her that was wrong, that it was the other way around. She took great pains to assure me that the Christian name had to be written first, followed by the surname. It took me, a lowly 11 year old, ages to explain, and get it through to her, that his first name WAS Wilson, and surmame Charles!

My GD went to swimming lessons with a Parsley

An uncle had a name which was run-of-the-mill and popular when he was christened, but was then though to be ridiculously "pretentious" and caused him much embarrassment when he was older, particularly combined with his surname which was often thought to be a poshified version of a very common one. In his teens he entered a newspaper competition to create a nickname He took his initials - P.A.S - and turned them round into SAP. He won.

In my brother's case it's the initials. He's WAC but known by his middle name-had my parents put the A first he would have been AWC, not a good idea in a boys' school!

All my legal documents give my forenames as A B but I've always been known as B A even in school. A lot of people don't know what my registered first name is. It's never a problem I just have to remember when filling in forms. I'm sure a lot of these children with 'unusual' names will change when they're older. Though in the Oliver's children's case their middle names might not be an option
Personally I prefer 'standard' names.

Such a foolish name says a lot about the parents- wanting to be different which is what most children don't want to be when they are growing up.

A name like Pickle amounts to child cruelty in my book. Poor little thing!