Most Unusual Names of the Decade Released
August 15th, 2010Would you name your child with your favorite designer brand or your favorite design fashion trend? How about naming your kid with your favorite car manufacturer? I’m pretty sure a lot of you use the names of your favorite musicians for your child. But some parents go further. Shy, Unity and Bean are just some of the unusual names parents have given to their children over the past 10 years, it has been revealed.
- Image by Sugarbloom Bev ;o) via Flickr
Bounty Parenting Club have released its ‘Most Unusual Names of the Decade’ list after trawling through the millions of recorded names given to newborns by its members since the year 2000. Each of the unusual baby names which appear in the top 20 list – such as Zowie, Puppy and Ice – have only been given to between one and 15 babies during the past 10 years.
Researchers have found less traditional monikers such as Rooney, Bowie and Cobain have been given to a few children whose parents were influenced by the celebrity footballer and musicians. There are also a handful of children walking around with unusual hippy-style names such a Stone, Gift, Heaven and Echo – while the fashion world might have inspired the names Denim, Diesel and Armani.
Faye Mingo, spokeswoman for Bounty said: “Our records have uncovered these unusual name choices of parents over the decade, illustrating the ever growing trend for wackier, celebrity-style names not previously heard of in Britain’splaygrounds. It’s great to see parents being creative and wanting their children to stand out from the crowd with more unusual names but there are a few names here that children may find hard to live up to!”
On the back of their findings, Bounty conducted a poll of 3,000 parents to find out how many had tried to give their baby an unusual name. A third of those polled claim their offspring has an unusual name, but more than one in 10 regret their decision to veer from the norm. Initial reactions from friends and family when told the newborn’s name included surprise (17 per cent), questions about how to spell it (27 per cent) and requests to repeat the name again to check they had heard properly. But 85 per cent of mums and dads say folk react more kindly to their child’s name now they have grown into it and developed a personality to match. However, one in 10 parents says their child doesn’t like their name – and 14 per cent have asked to change it already. A further third of parents get frustrated that people often struggle to pronounce their child’s name correctly, and a fifth acknowledge their child would probably have an easier ride at school if they had a traditional name like Sarah or James.
Faye Mingo continues: “The majority of parents polled said their unusual choice was because they didn’t want their child to share anyone else’s name, which is why to stay ahead of trends and ensure classroom standout, today’s parents are doing away with baby name books in favour of up to the minute online listings.
Parents-to-be love our latest nationwide and regional popularity charts for names given to babies and our trend charts which show popular baby names and whether a name is growing or in decline. Plus, they can search using letters of the alphabet, number of syllables and meaning of names and to help make sure parents and their children have are no regrets about their name choice; the undecided one test their ideas out on strangers in the community forums.
Parents do need to think very carefully about everything that comes attached to an unusual moniker as it can definitely shape a child’s experiences from how they are treated at school and beyond.”
The poll also shows that 75 per cent of parents who chose to give their child a traditional name such as Robert, David or Jennifer believe more alternative parents are paving the way for their child to be bullied.
And six in 10 claim there is nothing wrong with a good, strong and
sensible name – saying those who choose wacky names are being selfish and
aren’t thinking of the child.
TOP 20 MOST UNUSUAL NAMES
1. Shy
2. Unity
3. Bean
4. Zowie
5. Puppy
6. Ice
7. Victory
8. Porsche
9. D’Andre
10. Denim
11. Diesel
12. Armani
13. Rooney
14. Bowie
15. Cobain
16. Stone
17. Gift
18. Echo
19. Heaven
20. Maroon
Related articles:
- Revealed: Baby name regrets (thesun.co.uk)
- Do We Harm Our Children By Naming Them “Pop”? (bioethics.net)
- Ophelia Balls And Other Unusual Baby Names [Oh Baby] (jezebel.com)
