But would you actually use them?

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

I've been into baby names since I was a little girl, and my taste has always run eccentric, and if not necessarily eccentric, then certainly outside the mainstream. My friends and family tend to be bewildered, confused, or put-off of my favorites - the long-running ones are Ariadne, Persephone, Andromeda, Ulysses, Ignatius, Meredith (male)... Names that make it quite obvious that I spend far too much of my time reading dusty history books for fun. Last night I was playing around with twinsets, and more than wondering if I'd get away with a name - my people would get over it, after all - I considered whether or not would I would dare. It would be far more easier to name my daughters Roxanne and Camilla, or my sons Henry and Lucien. Those names and others like them are pretty and lovely. Nobody would object to them; I wouldn't get eye-rolls and mispronunciations and misspellings for years on end. My kids wouldn't resent me at some point.

tl;dr Discussion question,would you ever actually go for your (bizarre, weird, pretentious, smarty-pants) favorites, give them middle-name status, or leave them behind altogether?

Comments

[redfield79.livejournal.com]

I've been obsessed with the Beatles since birth. I married a man whose last name is Fields..thus our child will be named Strawberry. :) everyone knows and since roll their eyes but i love when they do. :) it'll be get middle name though...i feel it's better to have it directly next to our last name. If we have two girls...her middle name will bed Persephone. I've loved that name forever and it's in a lot of my favorite shows/games. Id make it her first but we have something more fun planned. :)

[redfield79.livejournal.com]

Some roll their eyes...some love it.*

[brittmarie.livejournal.com]

I would use Aphrodite or Perseus as middle names, but probably not as a first name.

[behindgrey-eyes.livejournal.com]

I'd use my weird names. Hopefully I'd have a partner who'd be into similarly unusual names :D

[how-obscure.livejournal.com]

Persephone was a favorite of mine for years. I still really like it, but it's not really a top contender, and it doesn't really go with the other names I like. I would have totally used it at the time though, and seeing someone else use it always makes me really happy.
I think the right kid could really rock Meredith, and I like the nn Merry. That said, I think it is highly probable that a boy would get teased for it, unfortunately. It's not on my list, but I think I would probably put it in the middle name slot if it was.
I'm not sure how I feel about Ulysses being used, but I Ignatius is a name I wouldn't hesitate to use if it was on my list.
Ignatius is one I wouldn't hesitate to use, but I have a higher tolerance for unusual names (as long as they actually are names and spelt correctly). ;) It has the bonus of a normal nickname if the child decided the name was too much for him too--Nate.
Andromeda is a little more out there to me, but it's got so many nn possibilities: Andi, Romy, Eda, so I think it is usable.
Ariadne seems totally usable too.

My top names right now (grouped by potential sibsets) are:
Callum and Margaret
Tristram, Cordelia, and Genevieve.

Obviously, Margaret isn't strange. Genevieve isn't unheard of, and I don't see Callum as one that would catch too much flak. Cordelia is a bit more unusual, and I would use it. Tristram gets nothing but negative feedback from anyone I've talked to, including posts here, but I would use it without hesitation. That said, I have to find a partner willing to agree with it. Good luck, me!

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

Cordelia is such a sweet name to me! What does Tristram come from? It's a bit of a tongue-twister, which is why I guess the negative feedback comes from. It's not far off from Tristan, which tends to get the opposite response even for girls.

I've never thought of Nate as a nickname for Ignatius. :D I've always gone for Iggy, haha. But now that there's a rapper who goes by that name, and she's a hot mess, I'd pass on that particular one.

[owlzen.livejournal.com]

I would *now*. Baby #4 (due in December) will have a weird name, for sure.

[how-obscure.livejournal.com]

Tristram is a form of Tristan. BtN says it's the medieval form. I have to fess up; I first encountered it in a fanfic. I thought it was a bit weird and difficult to say at first too, but the more I saw the name, the more I liked it. Now, it's a favorite! It's said more like tris-trum, not tris-tram. Interestingly enough, I was at a relative's house awhile later and someone had paused flipping channels on a documentary for all of a few minutes, and there was a scientist named Tristram! So at least one person has used it in the past 50 years. ;)

[blueorange94.livejournal.com]

I love Matilda, and Trixie/Beatrice. My husband has unfortunately nixed both. "What are you, a hundred years old?" :-/

FWIW, my son's name is Henry, and it's awesome.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

Super uncommon or unique names are definitely middle names, for me. A family name (and my middle) is Neva. I've always loved it but I thought long and hard and would prefer it used as a middle name. But everyone is different!

[cairtirnin.livejournal.com]

My daughters are Aurelia and Lyra. I use what I love. Some people thought they were strange at first, but those same people love them now.

[so-there.livejournal.com]

my kids' names are half out there but half normal. I try to keep them somewhat grounded but it's hard. especially boy names--it's hard to get that perfect combo of normal but not really used. old names are nice but sometimes a bit much. anyway, my girls are Germaine, Ingrid, Esther. my boys are Linus ad Dietrich. we're due any day now with #6, unknown sex... so keep an eye out for an announcement ;)

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, what an amazing sibset! Is your family German or something similar?

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

LOL @ your husband. I'm so sorry, haha. I expect the same in the future.

Henry is my all-time favorite name for a boy. I'm a lot more "normal" when it comes to boys names, but that tends to be the case with everyone.

[so-there.livejournal.com]

thanks! we have some German, some other things.. last name is Irish :)

[jeweledvixen.livejournal.com]

I love Ariadne and Persephone and would definitely use them as first names. I really like a lot of the Celtic, Roman and Greek gods and goddesses names and would use them. Names like Apollo, Athena, Maia, Rhiannon, Brigid and Lugh.

I would also use Meredith for a boy.
I also love Roxanne, Camilla, Henry and Lucien.

[being-lola-star.livejournal.com]

I like unique names but not horrifically setting the child up to get mocked. I love the name Stacey as a male name but I don't think I've ever use it because of how it's seen today. That said, I think I could get away with Innogen, which is my guilty pleasure girls name but if there was really a lot of protest I'd switch it to Imogen.

[blueorange94.livejournal.com]

Verbatim hospital conversation my husband had with my mom:

Hubby: Well, it's a boy.
Ma: And? Does he have a name?
Hubby: Henry.
Ma: Henry? HENRY?
Hubby: [defensive] Why? What's wrong with Henry?
Ma: [backpedaling] Nothing, it's just... You don't hear that name very often now. Um, does he have a middle name?
Hubby: Leonard.
Ma: Leonard? LEONARD? Why did you pick Leonard?
Hubby: [fed up] Because it's your father's name!
Ma: My father's name was Léandre!
Hubby: Well, I can't say Léandrrrrrrrrrrre [lots of fake r-rolling], so we went with Leonard.

I later had to remind my mother that anyone who wasn't his child or grandchild always called my grandfather "M'n Oncle Leonard." She had honestly forgotten.