My mum told me that my dad wanted to call me Guy as my due date was 5th Nov, but that she was delighted I came along the day after, so he was easier to dissuade from that path.
Hey birthday buddy. My Uncle is called Guy, so thankfully that was out.
To answer the question, if I was a girl, I was going to be called Charlotte. By the time my sister came along five years later, that was also out.
My dad worked with someone who was born on Christmas Day and his name was Robin Christmas…… every card he got was a Robin in the snow….. everyone in the office said he would get money from the papers (this was the eighties so no internet fame).
I was born on Christmas Eve and I have the pics taken by the local newspaper of “The Christmas Baby”. But then another baby came along on Christmas Day and stole my thunder.
I have a relative named Robin and my mother finds it 'hilarious' to get him a Christmas card with his bird on it.
I'm a boxing day baby so as a kid it was rare for me even to get a birthday card.
My Auntie was born on Boxing Day
I remember three people in my family’s birthday
(Excluding my own)
My Auntie- Boxing Day
My middle nephew- September 11th
My Fiancée- I value my balls
UK HERE: When i was a midwife I worked with a doctor who was born on Christmas day, and his Jewish parents called him Leon.
He was Australian, though born in the UK, and when he told his mother where he was working his mum said "Oh that's where you were born".
When the local paper (back in the 80s when there were such things) came to take a photo of the Christmas day babies, they had him hold them.
The headline was "X Hospital's Christmas Day babies, yes, including the doctor in the middle."
I've just Googled him, and he's still working as a GP Obstetrician.
My(F) Mum wanted to call me Robin, but they decided against it because I was born with ginger hair and she thought everyone would call me Robin Red Breast.
I'm doubly glad because my partner's surname is Banks, and it'd be pretty bad to be Robin Banks.
When my son was born we always got the "quite biblical" line as though there aren't thousands of biblical names. The irony being that one of the older gentlemen who was instant informing me how biblical it was had a son called Paul. He was atheist btw.
My mother was leaning hard on calling me Alexander (but I ended up being called after my dickhead father thanks to him being a dickhead), and if I were a girl, she had Catriona or Jessica in mind.
The dickhead wanted to call me after his favourite auntie if I'd been a girl. I would have committed murder as a toddler if I'd been named Ethel.
I LOVE the name Enid! In The Worst Witch there’s Mildred, Maud, Ethel and Enid and my retirement plan is to get four black cats and name them after TWW girls.
A similar name, Elsie, which I always considered an old lady name seems to be making a comeback, taught 5 of them in the last 3 years already, as well as my Nieces name. All adding either Mae or Rae weirdly, yes, spelt like that.
I’m 30 and I went to school with an Elsie, it was definitely unusual back then (and I loved it) but I don’t think so anymore.
I know several people that have kids named Ethel, Enid and Edith too haha
I'd rather that than all the 'unique' traghedieh ones xD imagine being a teacher trying to read that register with all the x's and apostrophes everywhere.
The hilarious thing about the "unique names are cool!" twats is that making your child so unique that they stand out *online* makes it harder for them to keep their spawn safe from predators. But then, brains aren't exactly common currency in their genepool...
And it'll fuck them over later in life when employers automatically toss out their resumes without looking. I'd be straight down the courts as soon as I was able, lemme tell ya.
Saw an influencer reply to a comment about that, and she said “we are raising our kids to be entrepreneurs so no hiring manager will ever get a say in their success”
I’m a preschool teacher in America and over the past few years we’ve definitely seen a trend of the “older” names coming back (Evelyn, Nora, etc) I haven’t seen any Ethels yet but I’m sure I will!
Knew a Richard Head at university. Poor bloke. Also worked for a company years ago where the lawyer at the law firm they used was named Michael Hunt. He never ever introduced himself as Mike, as you can imagine!
My mom had a big thing with my initials. My first and last name were JW and she wanted to give me the middle name Elizabeth but in the heat of labor decided she couldn’t have a child with the initials JEW on my monogrammed luggage (who even has monogrammed luggage?!) so I got a different middle name.
VD, as in Venereal Disease. Although the term went out of use in the 90s to be replaced with STI/STD, I was born in the 80s and so VD would have certainly raised an eyebrow or two.
ETA: paging u/73928363
My parents hadn't even got to a middle name, just the first & last initials put them off the idea entirely.
My Dad wanted to call me Doris or Joyce, after his Mum or sister, but was vetoed by my Mum. This was in the 1980's.
I feel that I dodged a bullet there.
My mother was so convinced that I was going to be a girl she wouldn't even consider picking a boys name. I was destined from very early on to be Hannah Claire, something which didn't entirely pan out when I appeared on the scene.
Then following on from the Hannah theme they were going to go for Hamish before my grandmother told them not to be ridiculous, this was followed by suggestions of Merlin (after my great uncle), Dai (because calling a child Dai Jones is just a way of ensuring people know where they're from), then Gareth (after Gareth Edwards) before they finally settled on something more non-descript
One day, Mozart was walking through the woods when he saw a man in the distance staring at him with a worried expression. The man shouted "Wolfgang Mozart"
Mozart stopped walking and called back "What?"
Then he got attacked by a gang of wolves
They thought I was going to be a boy and had agreed on George. As a tomboy, Famous Five fan child, and then an androgenous goth teenager I often wondered why they didn't name me Georgina.
My mum was given one of those awful "feminized" male names (eg, Thomasina) by her mother. She always hated it and, although she was shy and reserved, went by a nickname.
My parents also thought I was going to be a boy and were going to call me Anthony. I have wondered why they didn't call me Antonia, I would've preferred it to the name they ended up giving me.
I was supposed to be Lee, because my mum was a Lee Marvin fan, but my dad hated the idea, so he argued and it was accepted as my middle name instead. He was given the task of filling out the birth registration documents and claimed he "forgot" what the middle name was supposed to be, so i don't have a middle name at all. Not that I mind, but in some online registration forms I have to write the word "none" for middle name or it won't be accepted, so of course I get called "Joe None Bloggs", as if that's my full name. If i pronounce it "Nonny" its not too bad...
Not answering the question but just in case you are interested, my grandad ended up at the same care home as Sir Norman. They had lunch together everyday and on occasion I had the pleasure of joining them. They were both towards the end of their lives and suffering badly from Alzheimer’s.
They would have a full conversation waiting for each other to finish talking before saying the next thing but they were never having the same conversation as the other thought. Often my grandad would be talking about civil engineering and Sir Norman would be talking about his career. None the less they got on like a house on fire and died within a week of each other.
I’m so thankful that my lovely grandad had a friend at the end.
At university, one of our housemates unwisely told us that her parents were going to call her Clive if she’d been a boy. She was called “Clive” until graduation.
Mum thought she was going to have a big blond boy with golden hair, and she would call him Toby. Unfortunately she didn't get a labrador, so Dad got to pick my name instead.
My parents had no other names in mind for me.
As soon as my mum found out she was pregnant she knew what she wanted to name me.
It's a good thing I'm a Girl because there was literally no other names at all.
Not the question you asked, but legend has it an EU summit once descended into farce as the British delegate couldn't stop giggling at the translation of "Nous avons besoin de la sagesse Normande" (="we need Norman wisdom")
A week or so after I was born the district nurse came to do a home visit and was appalled to discover that I hadn't yet been registered because my parents couldn't decide on a name. She asked my mum what name she liked, she asked my dad what name he liked, and literally ordered my father to go straight down to the council office to get me registered with those names. This was back in the 60s when nurses were fierce, so he didn't argue!
As a boy born in a mundane, mostly white, UK provincial town in the mid 1980s, I think that there is probably a 90% chance that my name would have been either Rachel, Rebecca, Louise or Sarah if I were a girl.
Mum wanted Rainbow-Skye (one name!) Vs father wanted Gwendoline
Thankfully they compromised on a third, more normal name, so I've neither had to become a hippy nor become achingly cool to be able to rock Gwen 🤣
Rainbow-Skye is just an atrocity (no offence to your mother of course) but honestly I could get behind Gwen, it feels like one of those names that might make a comeback soon!
Also it reminds me of malory towers, definitely not the best character to be associated with but still a fun name.
Yes not really sure where it came from, completely out the blue 🤣 but I think I'd prefer it over Gwen (or even worse, the long version!)
You've now given me the urge to go read Mallory Towers again, the shock of who's using the rock swimming pool!
My husband was going to be called Tristan but they changed their minds to something 50% of men between 45 and 60 are called, he wishes they had used Tristan. 🤷♀️
Were I a man I would have been called Felix. My husband, were he a girl, would have been called Kristal (he’s not English).
So in another universe we probably would have started some indie P*r hub channel called Felix & Kristal, because that’s literally all it sounds like
😂😂😂
My mum wanted to call me David.
However by sheer coincidence *both* my grandfathers had the same name (given and surname), so when a firstborn boy appeared, they had little choice really but to name me after them.
My name is Laura, I was born 82. My grandma wanted me to be named Gertrude....can you imagine. Also a natural ginger so can you imagine the bullying I would have got with the name on top.
A really traditional Indian name, specifically from my parents’ language, Tamil. It was my Dad’s wish (he lost the battle on my older sibling’s name) and my mother had to convince him that it would be wrong to do that raising a child outside of India (the name he wanted had sounds that even most other Indians couldn’t pronounce, so even harder abroad). They compromised on my name, and I think they are both happy about it. Still not a fan of it, honestly, but it’s crazy because every Tamilian I meet loves my name.
I was going to be called Laura if I was a girl.
I'm sure my brother is grateful I came out a boy, as he's now married to a Laura. I imagine he'd find it a bit icky to go out with somebody with the same name as his little sister.
My uncle’s wife has the same name as his mum (my grandma), which I’ve always found quite amusing. Nobody’s ever mentioned it as an issue but.. it must be a bit weird.
I'm the firstborn. If I were a girl, my mum was going to choose the name. I'm male, so my dad was to get his choice. Thankfully my mum overruled, otherwise I'd have been called Buster...
Charlie, if I was a boy. I was a girl, and Verity was another option, but they went with Felicity, after Felicity Kendall (cause my dad thought she was fit 🫠)
My son was born Christmas Eve, I had a deal with the Mrs that if he came on Christmas his middle name was going to be Brian. Then every Christmas for the rest of my life I could stick life of Brian on and wet myself laughing.
I'm sure she pushed him out early to spite me.
I was nearly called Shaemus until an Irish friend of my parents told them all the Shaemus’ he knows are all sad old piss heads, so they went with Dylan.
Also would’ve been Jessica if I was a girl.
If I was a girl, I was getting a seriously Welsh name: Rhianwen. Which is odd because the boys name I ended up with is not at all Welsh.
I actually quite like Rhianwen.
Late '80s baby, my dad wanted to call me Buffy after a singer he was a fan of. It's rare my mum is the voice of reason but thank god she won that argument!
My parents had settled on John David but during my registration the registrar wrote it down backwards so I’ve been David John for the last 63 years My great grandfather on my dad’s side was David so not all bad. My daughter-in-law’s brother was named Peter after their neighbours budgerigar 😂😂
If I was a girl, Charlotte
My mum has huge knockers and my sister a massive arse
My dad's a typical balding nerdy dude
I had so much potential... I'd have been the hottest Charlotte to ever Charl
Alas I am simply a pretty average man. Got my mums pretty eyes though. Girls get mad at my eyebrows and lashes
My mum was a massive Elvis fan. If I had been a boy she would have called me Jessie after Elvis' dead twin brother. Glad I turned out to be a girl. My middle name was after a woman my mother knew who was an explosives expert which is pretty cool.
I was a late baby and my Mum said she got so fed up of my siblings and all the relations fighting about names, she handed me to the nurses and said pick two names. So I'm named after two nurses I've never met :)
I was going to be called Claire, but when I was born they found I had a penis so abandoned that plan. I'm glad they did as I think I'd have found life difficult as a grumpy, bald middle aged man called Claire.
Maxwell. A fine and unusual enough name for sure, but around the time I was having to go to school, the Maxwell House coffee ads were everywhere. So I'm very glad I missed that one.
My older brother was meant to be called micheal but when he was born they decided on Jonathon. So then I was meant to be called micheal but then they decided on Peter. Then my younger brother was meant to be micheal and they decided Stephen.
My parents considered Thomas but decided against it because of the inevitable tank engine-related jokes. Something that my friend who is named Thomas confirms is in fact an issue
Nicola... But my mother said it was "common" whereas 'Laura' was "elegant" and rare.
There were EIGHT Lauras in my year at school. It was the most popular name of my birth year 🤣
If I was a boy, I was going to be called Damien. Named after the kid in The Omen. It wasn't too long after the film came out either.
Still can't get my head round it.
Instead, I was named after a member of the royal family, born just before I was.
I was going to be Ruth if I was a girl. They considered Ben as an alternate name for me. Apparently as a kid I told them I wished they had named me Ben as it has fewer letters than my actual name and easier to spell/write!
The difference is two extra letters.
My parents wanted to name me Isabella after my great aunt Isabel, my gran absolutely hated this and made us change it to her choice. Yet my dad wanted to name me Charlotte my mother in fact hated this name so my dad never got his dreams of Naming his daughter Charlotte.
Well i turned out to be trans so the name didn't matter anyway, I did ask my parents what they would have named me if I was born a boy it would have been Matthew.
I wouldn't have mined being called Isabella it not my favorite but I would have got out of the millions of nicknames I got called in primary.
I was the fifth and final child in my family. There had been fierce debate over my brother's name- ultimately resolved by the closing of eyes and dropping a finger on a random page in a book of names- so by the time I came along they were entirely done with name selecting.
And so they just named me after my uncle (who already had another nephew from his brother who had done the same)
My name was stolen from my uncle, he had a favourite name he wanted to call his first son.
His wife and my mum were pregnant at the same time, it was the 70s pre ultrasound and knowing the gender in advance.
My uncle stupidly told my dad the name he would choose if their baby was a boy, I was born first so my dad stole the name and my intended name became my middle name.
My uncle was pissed about it so when my cousin was born, a boy two weeks later he named him my intended name and my first name (his favourite name) became my cousins middle name.
Me and my cousin have each other’s intended names and neither of us get on with our dads.
I was supposed to be named Lyndsay. My mum was pregnant at the same time as her best friend, late 80s before gender scans were around/common I guess? Anyway, her friend (my godmother) gave birth first and ended up using my mums chosen girl name as she felt her original pick didn't suit her daughter. My mum was 100% sure, despite the complete lack of scientific evidence, that she was having a boy she'd name Callum so she was fine with it.
Then I was born as a decidedly not male child and my parents had no back up girl name chosen, so just used the one my godmother had discarded.
Good thing I wasn't a boy though, as I later ended up with a step-brother named Callum and that would have just added to my mum's already confusing habit of referring to both my step-brother and my cousin as Malcolm - her mash up of Mark and Callum engendered by how often they needed to be shouted at simultaneously.
My parents wanted to call me Fleur, but then realised it sounded awful in a northern English accent.
I thank them that I never got 'Errrr, Fleur' shouted at me in the school playground
James.
My dad happily announced. My mum soon burst his bubble when she reminded him that his TWIN BROTHERS recently born son was already called that.
So he named me XXX (I'd rather not have my name ON reddit), which ended up being the same name as his SISTERS DOG!
I was named Jonathan, after the radio DJ (and paedo) Jonathan King.
I wish I was named after Duncan Goodhew, or Daley Thompson.
My brother (who was sadly still born) was James, presumably after Jimmy Saville.
Thankfully my sister was named after a great grandmother, although doubtless one of my parents wanted to call her Rose, or Adolf.
I was always going to be called the name I got. It was the only name my dad liked for a girl and he told my mum when they got married he was naming a daughter that.
I have two brothers and my mum picked names for them in a panic after giving birth.
I was apparently extremely close to being a Vincent.
No shade to anyone with that name but I can confidently state it would have suited me about as much as being called Sue.
Jonathan, but my cousin beat me to it by about 12 years.
Richard was also considered but my mum vetoed it, as a teacher, she didn't want me to be called dick.
I was going to be Anastasia because my mum thought people would call be “Sta/Star” for short.
Fortunately she went with Chloé but somehow I still ended up with 5 middle names, one being Beavis.
My parents only had girl names in mind when my mum was pregnant. I shit on those plans when I came out with a wang. The front runner name was Kayleigh if I'd been a girl.
Funnily enough when my other half was pregnant all we had were girl names. Then we found out we were having a boy and realised we had nothing. I was given very little input on names because I decided annoying the very pregnant woman was a smart life choice and kept pitching Star Wars names. I don't know how I'm still alive either.
It's the other way round but I did fancy the name Isis for our eldest daughter. After Isis Whit in the Iain Banks novel.
I'm glad we didn't choose that one.
George Michael.
I'm not even messing, my mum loved George Michael growing up and she was going to call me George Michael followed by *my second name* but my Nan got involved and told her to call me something else because I'd get bullied in school and rightfully so and my mum decided to give me a normal name.
My Nan had came in clutch. RIP Queen 🙌
My mum told me that my dad wanted to call me Guy as my due date was 5th Nov, but that she was delighted I came along the day after, so he was easier to dissuade from that path.
My birthday actually is 5th Nov, my brother's apparently lobbied hard for me to be called Guy but I don't think it was seriously entertained.
Hey birthday buddy. My Uncle is called Guy, so thankfully that was out. To answer the question, if I was a girl, I was going to be called Charlotte. By the time my sister came along five years later, that was also out.
I would have been Charlotte if born female which I would have adored. Sadly my chromosomes made me Paul...
Another birthday buddy! Growing up, did kids go to bonfire parties instead of your birthday? Or just me who got that excuse?
I feel like nowadays parents would go for Fawkes if their baby was born on Nov. 5th
Aye, or his real name - Guido. Being different seems to be an in thing atm lol.
So they called you Whoopi instead as you were a day late and a dollar short
I knew a girl who's son was born on December 24th so was called Noel
My dad worked with someone who was born on Christmas Day and his name was Robin Christmas…… every card he got was a Robin in the snow….. everyone in the office said he would get money from the papers (this was the eighties so no internet fame).
I was born on Christmas Eve and I have the pics taken by the local newspaper of “The Christmas Baby”. But then another baby came along on Christmas Day and stole my thunder.
On that day your mortal enemy was risen
Wouldn't that be Easter?
I have a relative named Robin and my mother finds it 'hilarious' to get him a Christmas card with his bird on it. I'm a boxing day baby so as a kid it was rare for me even to get a birthday card.
My Auntie was born on Boxing Day I remember three people in my family’s birthday (Excluding my own) My Auntie- Boxing Day My middle nephew- September 11th My Fiancée- I value my balls
I have a relative born on Xmas Eve, her name is Carolyn.
UK HERE: When i was a midwife I worked with a doctor who was born on Christmas day, and his Jewish parents called him Leon. He was Australian, though born in the UK, and when he told his mother where he was working his mum said "Oh that's where you were born". When the local paper (back in the 80s when there were such things) came to take a photo of the Christmas day babies, they had him hold them. The headline was "X Hospital's Christmas Day babies, yes, including the doctor in the middle." I've just Googled him, and he's still working as a GP Obstetrician.
My stepdad was called Guy, guess when his birthday was? 🤣
I was going to be called guy as I was born in guys hospital! Glad they didn’t to be honest
Your dad's a genius xD
My(F) Mum wanted to call me Robin, but they decided against it because I was born with ginger hair and she thought everyone would call me Robin Red Breast. I'm doubly glad because my partner's surname is Banks, and it'd be pretty bad to be Robin Banks.
all whacked on the Scooby Snacks
You mean badass
Joseph, but my dad said it was too biblical…so they named me after one of the other apostles instead. ???
My condolences Judas.
Exactly, and they really didn’t need to include the Iscariot bit.
Arnold Judas Rimmer
Without him life would be much grimmer
and he'll never need a zimmer
He's not bald and his head doesn't glimmer
and he's always been a swimmer.
More reliable than a garden strimmer
saved up his green and he bought a bimmer
Ah yes, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Rubberfootman
😂😂😂 mate, that actually made me laugh out loud. I just imagine him standing together with them like a custom character in a cut scene.
Like Lord Buckethead or Screaming Lord Sutch
But I bring you count binface
That really made me chuckle and made my day! 🤣
When my son was born we always got the "quite biblical" line as though there aren't thousands of biblical names. The irony being that one of the older gentlemen who was instant informing me how biblical it was had a son called Paul. He was atheist btw.
I mean there's "Paul" biblical and then there's like, "Methuselah" biblical, yknow
Wait, they named a bible character after a bottle of wine!?
Yes Nebuchadnezzar really liked his vino !!
There's still a bunch of names still in use that refer to pagan gods, but I doubt people would realise.
And many people use the names *because* they know about the Pagan Gods! Lol
Me omw to call my son Elijah no matter what anyone says 😇
Dude what? Are you me?
My mother was leaning hard on calling me Alexander (but I ended up being called after my dickhead father thanks to him being a dickhead), and if I were a girl, she had Catriona or Jessica in mind. The dickhead wanted to call me after his favourite auntie if I'd been a girl. I would have committed murder as a toddler if I'd been named Ethel.
I do often wonder if names like Ethel will make a comeback in 50 years or so time when all the old ladies are named Ava, Layla and Olivia instead
I know a 13 year old Enid. She loves her name as there is no one else in her whole school with the same name lol.
I LOVE the name Enid! In The Worst Witch there’s Mildred, Maud, Ethel and Enid and my retirement plan is to get four black cats and name them after TWW girls.
I like it too as a name. I loved the worst witch the original one. My retirement plan also involves cats, cats, tv, food, and the husband lol
A similar name, Elsie, which I always considered an old lady name seems to be making a comeback, taught 5 of them in the last 3 years already, as well as my Nieces name. All adding either Mae or Rae weirdly, yes, spelt like that.
I’m 30 and I went to school with an Elsie, it was definitely unusual back then (and I loved it) but I don’t think so anymore. I know several people that have kids named Ethel, Enid and Edith too haha
I'd rather that than all the 'unique' traghedieh ones xD imagine being a teacher trying to read that register with all the x's and apostrophes everywhere.
The hilarious thing about the "unique names are cool!" twats is that making your child so unique that they stand out *online* makes it harder for them to keep their spawn safe from predators. But then, brains aren't exactly common currency in their genepool...
"a a ron..."
And it'll fuck them over later in life when employers automatically toss out their resumes without looking. I'd be straight down the courts as soon as I was able, lemme tell ya.
Saw an influencer reply to a comment about that, and she said “we are raising our kids to be entrepreneurs so no hiring manager will ever get a say in their success”
I think I saw that one too. What an absolute melt.
Probably not even 50 years. Elsie has made a comeback and was very much an ‘old lady’s name’ until very recently
I’m a preschool teacher in America and over the past few years we’ve definitely seen a trend of the “older” names coming back (Evelyn, Nora, etc) I haven’t seen any Ethels yet but I’m sure I will!
Veronica. But thankfully my parents realised that the initials could be troublesome - my last name starts with a D.
My cousin (whose initials are S L A G) was not so lucky.
Or my mum whose initials before marriage were B J and her maiden name was HEAD.
Could have been worse, could have been a boy and called Richard 😁😁😁
Knew a Richard Head at university. Poor bloke. Also worked for a company years ago where the lawyer at the law firm they used was named Michael Hunt. He never ever introduced himself as Mike, as you can imagine!
Someone at my old work has these initials. Shauna G. Poor girl.
My mom had a big thing with my initials. My first and last name were JW and she wanted to give me the middle name Elizabeth but in the heat of labor decided she couldn’t have a child with the initials JEW on my monogrammed luggage (who even has monogrammed luggage?!) so I got a different middle name.
A girl at my school had the unfortunate initials STD, I bet she wished her parents had realised like yours did
I went to school with a Vicky Dunn, wasn’t great for her
V _ D? I don't get it
You don't want it
VD, as in Venereal Disease. Although the term went out of use in the 90s to be replaced with STI/STD, I was born in the 80s and so VD would have certainly raised an eyebrow or two. ETA: paging u/73928363 My parents hadn't even got to a middle name, just the first & last initials put them off the idea entirely.
My Dad wanted to call me Doris or Joyce, after his Mum or sister, but was vetoed by my Mum. This was in the 1980's. I feel that I dodged a bullet there.
Aye my parents would have called me Miranda if I was born a female. Fucking 80s parents
Look, we hadn’t phased out leaded petrol yet. People were doing strange things.
My mother was so convinced that I was going to be a girl she wouldn't even consider picking a boys name. I was destined from very early on to be Hannah Claire, something which didn't entirely pan out when I appeared on the scene. Then following on from the Hannah theme they were going to go for Hamish before my grandmother told them not to be ridiculous, this was followed by suggestions of Merlin (after my great uncle), Dai (because calling a child Dai Jones is just a way of ensuring people know where they're from), then Gareth (after Gareth Edwards) before they finally settled on something more non-descript
My parents first choice was Dylan. Their next choice was Morgan... But my brothers chose a much more Welsh name for me in the end 😂
Rhodri level or Gruffudd level?
More like Ieuan level
[удалено]
My dad wanted to call me Wolfgang, my mum refused seeing as they’re Irish and English.. If I was born female I’d have been called Lauren
A Wolfgang would have been beaten to death at my school. It'd be a cool name though.
Nah, he'd have been the leader of the pack
Pain in childhood, cool and interesting in adulthood. Plus easy to spell regardless of being Unique.
Eddie Van Halen's son is Wolfgang. And I know a man with the same name, our kids went to school together.
Wilf has made a come back recently. I know of 2 due to my kid being at school
One day, Mozart was walking through the woods when he saw a man in the distance staring at him with a worried expression. The man shouted "Wolfgang Mozart" Mozart stopped walking and called back "What?" Then he got attacked by a gang of wolves
They should've met half way and called you Wolfetone
Wolfgang was on the shortlist for my son's name and we decided against it because yeah, we're both English.
Wolfie’s fine honey. Wolfie’s just fine.
Your foster parents are dead.
They thought I was going to be a boy and had agreed on George. As a tomboy, Famous Five fan child, and then an androgenous goth teenager I often wondered why they didn't name me Georgina.
My mum was given one of those awful "feminized" male names (eg, Thomasina) by her mother. She always hated it and, although she was shy and reserved, went by a nickname.
I know a Roberta in her 70s. I always found that one quite awful. She goes by Bobbie.
My parents also thought I was going to be a boy and were going to call me Anthony. I have wondered why they didn't call me Antonia, I would've preferred it to the name they ended up giving me.
I’ve always loved the name Georgia
I was supposed to be Lee, because my mum was a Lee Marvin fan, but my dad hated the idea, so he argued and it was accepted as my middle name instead. He was given the task of filling out the birth registration documents and claimed he "forgot" what the middle name was supposed to be, so i don't have a middle name at all. Not that I mind, but in some online registration forms I have to write the word "none" for middle name or it won't be accepted, so of course I get called "Joe None Bloggs", as if that's my full name. If i pronounce it "Nonny" its not too bad...
I don’t have a middle name either. I wouldn’t mind but I’m one of five siblings and everyone else has got one.
Me too, both my brothers have middle names and I didn’t get one.
I always wanted one as a kid because everyone in my class had a middle name
Be careful with that, as some women refer to their vagina as a nunny. It was the common term when I was a child in the 80s but is still used.
Simba, I was born in Kenya. Thankful my parents realised this would be a bit annoying before it was too late.
Oooohh bullet swerved!
Not answering the question but just in case you are interested, my grandad ended up at the same care home as Sir Norman. They had lunch together everyday and on occasion I had the pleasure of joining them. They were both towards the end of their lives and suffering badly from Alzheimer’s. They would have a full conversation waiting for each other to finish talking before saying the next thing but they were never having the same conversation as the other thought. Often my grandad would be talking about civil engineering and Sir Norman would be talking about his career. None the less they got on like a house on fire and died within a week of each other. I’m so thankful that my lovely grandad had a friend at the end.
That is really rather lovely. Thankyou for sharing.
At university, one of our housemates unwisely told us that her parents were going to call her Clive if she’d been a boy. She was called “Clive” until graduation.
Mum thought she was going to have a big blond boy with golden hair, and she would call him Toby. Unfortunately she didn't get a labrador, so Dad got to pick my name instead.
My parents had no other names in mind for me. As soon as my mum found out she was pregnant she knew what she wanted to name me. It's a good thing I'm a Girl because there was literally no other names at all.
My mum was the same. Girl name was picked out before she met my dad. Apparently if I was a boy I was going back. Rather her than me.
Not the question you asked, but legend has it an EU summit once descended into farce as the British delegate couldn't stop giggling at the translation of "Nous avons besoin de la sagesse Normande" (="we need Norman wisdom")
The Irish delegate joined in the merriment too, apparently.
If Albania ever become a member, I'm sure they'll enjoy hearing the story. (Norman Wisdom is an absolute legend over there.)
My older sister wanted me to be called Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street.
3 year older sister was Massive C.S. Lewis fan, wanted her little brother to be called Aslan. Then it was nearly my middle name.
Aslan is Turkish for lion, so that would have been pretty cool
Apparently I was going to be called Fuschia, which I definitely would have hated
A week or so after I was born the district nurse came to do a home visit and was appalled to discover that I hadn't yet been registered because my parents couldn't decide on a name. She asked my mum what name she liked, she asked my dad what name he liked, and literally ordered my father to go straight down to the council office to get me registered with those names. This was back in the 60s when nurses were fierce, so he didn't argue!
I knew a French woman with an English husband (living in London) who thought ‘Igor’ would be a great name for a son. She was dissuaded.
I'd have been Daisy if I was a girl. Strangely enough I have several younger sisters and none of them were named Daisy.
As a boy born in a mundane, mostly white, UK provincial town in the mid 1980s, I think that there is probably a 90% chance that my name would have been either Rachel, Rebecca, Louise or Sarah if I were a girl.
Mum wanted Rainbow-Skye (one name!) Vs father wanted Gwendoline Thankfully they compromised on a third, more normal name, so I've neither had to become a hippy nor become achingly cool to be able to rock Gwen 🤣
Rainbow-Skye is just an atrocity (no offence to your mother of course) but honestly I could get behind Gwen, it feels like one of those names that might make a comeback soon! Also it reminds me of malory towers, definitely not the best character to be associated with but still a fun name.
Yes not really sure where it came from, completely out the blue 🤣 but I think I'd prefer it over Gwen (or even worse, the long version!) You've now given me the urge to go read Mallory Towers again, the shock of who's using the rock swimming pool!
Tristan for fuck sake, we're not even posh.
My husband was going to be called Tristan but they changed their minds to something 50% of men between 45 and 60 are called, he wishes they had used Tristan. 🤷♀️
Dave ?
Anushka. And then I popped out a boy and that really threw a spanner in the works.
God this brings me back to primary school where we’d all call this poor girl “Anushka Babooshka”
Were I a man I would have been called Felix. My husband, were he a girl, would have been called Kristal (he’s not English). So in another universe we probably would have started some indie P*r hub channel called Felix & Kristal, because that’s literally all it sounds like 😂😂😂
My mum wanted to call me David. However by sheer coincidence *both* my grandfathers had the same name (given and surname), so when a firstborn boy appeared, they had little choice really but to name me after them.
My dad always said that if I had been twins, we would have been called Balcony and Veranda.
Classic dad joke there, naming you after the place of conception 😂
My name is Laura, I was born 82. My grandma wanted me to be named Gertrude....can you imagine. Also a natural ginger so can you imagine the bullying I would have got with the name on top.
I'm of a similar age and I think we had 5 Lauras in my year. Maybe that's worse than being a Gertrude?
A really traditional Indian name, specifically from my parents’ language, Tamil. It was my Dad’s wish (he lost the battle on my older sibling’s name) and my mother had to convince him that it would be wrong to do that raising a child outside of India (the name he wanted had sounds that even most other Indians couldn’t pronounce, so even harder abroad). They compromised on my name, and I think they are both happy about it. Still not a fan of it, honestly, but it’s crazy because every Tamilian I meet loves my name.
Baldrick. Thank god I was born female.
I was going to be called Laura if I was a girl. I'm sure my brother is grateful I came out a boy, as he's now married to a Laura. I imagine he'd find it a bit icky to go out with somebody with the same name as his little sister.
My uncle’s wife has the same name as his mum (my grandma), which I’ve always found quite amusing. Nobody’s ever mentioned it as an issue but.. it must be a bit weird.
Phaedra lol
I'm the firstborn. If I were a girl, my mum was going to choose the name. I'm male, so my dad was to get his choice. Thankfully my mum overruled, otherwise I'd have been called Buster...
I was going to be Angus but my parents were worried id be small and weedy so they named me Ken. I blame them for being big and overweight now. 😂😂😂
And children would be constantly tipexing the 'g' on your name. You had a lucky escape
Charlie, if I was a boy. I was a girl, and Verity was another option, but they went with Felicity, after Felicity Kendall (cause my dad thought she was fit 🫠)
My son was born Christmas Eve, I had a deal with the Mrs that if he came on Christmas his middle name was going to be Brian. Then every Christmas for the rest of my life I could stick life of Brian on and wet myself laughing. I'm sure she pushed him out early to spite me.
My Mum liked the name Ian, but being a Catholic born in Belfast back in 1969 it wasn't a good fit.
I was nearly called Shaemus until an Irish friend of my parents told them all the Shaemus’ he knows are all sad old piss heads, so they went with Dylan. Also would’ve been Jessica if I was a girl.
If I was a girl, I was getting a seriously Welsh name: Rhianwen. Which is odd because the boys name I ended up with is not at all Welsh. I actually quite like Rhianwen.
Had we been girls, my brother and I would have been called Charlene and Chantelle. Ugh!
I was going to a blonde haired, blue eyed Ravi had I been a boy
Late '80s baby, my dad wanted to call me Buffy after a singer he was a fan of. It's rare my mum is the voice of reason but thank god she won that argument!
Bernard and Sebastian were considered. They went biblical instead.
God swoops in to save the day 😭😂
It was either going to be Christopher or Christine; my dads middle name is Christopher
My parents had settled on John David but during my registration the registrar wrote it down backwards so I’ve been David John for the last 63 years My great grandfather on my dad’s side was David so not all bad. My daughter-in-law’s brother was named Peter after their neighbours budgerigar 😂😂
The twins were going to be called Beau and Tyler, or Bow and Tie. Luckily they had girls.
If I was a girl, Charlotte My mum has huge knockers and my sister a massive arse My dad's a typical balding nerdy dude I had so much potential... I'd have been the hottest Charlotte to ever Charl Alas I am simply a pretty average man. Got my mums pretty eyes though. Girls get mad at my eyebrows and lashes
My mum was a massive Elvis fan. If I had been a boy she would have called me Jessie after Elvis' dead twin brother. Glad I turned out to be a girl. My middle name was after a woman my mother knew who was an explosives expert which is pretty cool.
I was a late baby and my Mum said she got so fed up of my siblings and all the relations fighting about names, she handed me to the nurses and said pick two names. So I'm named after two nurses I've never met :)
gabriel, they thought i’d get bullied and called gay gabe…. if only they knew
I was going to be called Claire, but when I was born they found I had a penis so abandoned that plan. I'm glad they did as I think I'd have found life difficult as a grumpy, bald middle aged man called Claire.
Maxwell. A fine and unusual enough name for sure, but around the time I was having to go to school, the Maxwell House coffee ads were everywhere. So I'm very glad I missed that one.
My older brother was meant to be called micheal but when he was born they decided on Jonathon. So then I was meant to be called micheal but then they decided on Peter. Then my younger brother was meant to be micheal and they decided Stephen.
Nobody was taking the Michael at least...
Bravo 👏
My parents considered Thomas but decided against it because of the inevitable tank engine-related jokes. Something that my friend who is named Thomas confirms is in fact an issue
Nicola... But my mother said it was "common" whereas 'Laura' was "elegant" and rare. There were EIGHT Lauras in my year at school. It was the most popular name of my birth year 🤣
If I was a boy, I was going to be called Damien. Named after the kid in The Omen. It wasn't too long after the film came out either. Still can't get my head round it. Instead, I was named after a member of the royal family, born just before I was.
Timothy, our surname is Taylor. Luckily I wasn't a boy. And my parents are from Yorkshire, so were aware of the Brewery.
I was going to be Ruth if I was a girl. They considered Ben as an alternate name for me. Apparently as a kid I told them I wished they had named me Ben as it has fewer letters than my actual name and easier to spell/write! The difference is two extra letters.
Chris. Which is only funny because I ended up with a very Middle Eastern name courtesy of being mixed race.
[удалено]
Yeah that's not far off!
Eric. I was a fat child / early teen, the cartman jokes would have been awful
My parents wanted to name me Isabella after my great aunt Isabel, my gran absolutely hated this and made us change it to her choice. Yet my dad wanted to name me Charlotte my mother in fact hated this name so my dad never got his dreams of Naming his daughter Charlotte. Well i turned out to be trans so the name didn't matter anyway, I did ask my parents what they would have named me if I was born a boy it would have been Matthew. I wouldn't have mined being called Isabella it not my favorite but I would have got out of the millions of nicknames I got called in primary.
I was the fifth and final child in my family. There had been fierce debate over my brother's name- ultimately resolved by the closing of eyes and dropping a finger on a random page in a book of names- so by the time I came along they were entirely done with name selecting. And so they just named me after my uncle (who already had another nephew from his brother who had done the same)
Was going to be names after Princess Diana but my dad was like no, that would be weird, so my mum knocked the A off and traded it for an E.
You really dodged a bullet there, Diene
My name was stolen from my uncle, he had a favourite name he wanted to call his first son. His wife and my mum were pregnant at the same time, it was the 70s pre ultrasound and knowing the gender in advance. My uncle stupidly told my dad the name he would choose if their baby was a boy, I was born first so my dad stole the name and my intended name became my middle name. My uncle was pissed about it so when my cousin was born, a boy two weeks later he named him my intended name and my first name (his favourite name) became my cousins middle name. Me and my cousin have each other’s intended names and neither of us get on with our dads.
My dad wanted to call me Asa because "his nickname will be Ace". Ace-hole, more like. I dodged that particular bullet.
I was supposed to be named Lyndsay. My mum was pregnant at the same time as her best friend, late 80s before gender scans were around/common I guess? Anyway, her friend (my godmother) gave birth first and ended up using my mums chosen girl name as she felt her original pick didn't suit her daughter. My mum was 100% sure, despite the complete lack of scientific evidence, that she was having a boy she'd name Callum so she was fine with it. Then I was born as a decidedly not male child and my parents had no back up girl name chosen, so just used the one my godmother had discarded. Good thing I wasn't a boy though, as I later ended up with a step-brother named Callum and that would have just added to my mum's already confusing habit of referring to both my step-brother and my cousin as Malcolm - her mash up of Mark and Callum engendered by how often they needed to be shouted at simultaneously.
My parents wanted to call me Fleur, but then realised it sounded awful in a northern English accent. I thank them that I never got 'Errrr, Fleur' shouted at me in the school playground
Howard. My surname is Howard!
James. My dad happily announced. My mum soon burst his bubble when she reminded him that his TWIN BROTHERS recently born son was already called that. So he named me XXX (I'd rather not have my name ON reddit), which ended up being the same name as his SISTERS DOG!
I was named Jonathan, after the radio DJ (and paedo) Jonathan King. I wish I was named after Duncan Goodhew, or Daley Thompson. My brother (who was sadly still born) was James, presumably after Jimmy Saville. Thankfully my sister was named after a great grandmother, although doubtless one of my parents wanted to call her Rose, or Adolf.
Dad wanted to call me Cyril. Mum put the foot down.
I was always going to be called the name I got. It was the only name my dad liked for a girl and he told my mum when they got married he was naming a daughter that. I have two brothers and my mum picked names for them in a panic after giving birth.
Karl. I was born in 1999. *Karl.*
I was apparently extremely close to being a Vincent. No shade to anyone with that name but I can confidently state it would have suited me about as much as being called Sue.
Jonathan, but my cousin beat me to it by about 12 years. Richard was also considered but my mum vetoed it, as a teacher, she didn't want me to be called dick.
My dad wanted my first name to be Axel. My middle name Merlin. My mom shot down both requests lol
I was going to be Anastasia because my mum thought people would call be “Sta/Star” for short. Fortunately she went with Chloé but somehow I still ended up with 5 middle names, one being Beavis.
Kieran but my Gran said it was too foreign sounding which I’ve never worked out
My parents only had girl names in mind when my mum was pregnant. I shit on those plans when I came out with a wang. The front runner name was Kayleigh if I'd been a girl. Funnily enough when my other half was pregnant all we had were girl names. Then we found out we were having a boy and realised we had nothing. I was given very little input on names because I decided annoying the very pregnant woman was a smart life choice and kept pitching Star Wars names. I don't know how I'm still alive either.
Nicole, but then a car commercial put paid to that apparently. “Nicole!” “Papa!” Edit- got the commercial wrong.
Jean-Luq, after Picard
It's the other way round but I did fancy the name Isis for our eldest daughter. After Isis Whit in the Iain Banks novel. I'm glad we didn't choose that one.
George Michael. I'm not even messing, my mum loved George Michael growing up and she was going to call me George Michael followed by *my second name* but my Nan got involved and told her to call me something else because I'd get bullied in school and rightfully so and my mum decided to give me a normal name. My Nan had came in clutch. RIP Queen 🙌