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I think Americans in general like giving their opinion. We spend a lot of time thinking about our own opinions and also our own personal "style". Names somehow touch on both of those things.
I had the worst time naming my kids and my mom said some awful things (after the babies were already born!). I regret my 1st baby's name deeply. |
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I mean most of those opinions don’t seem OTT this me. A lot of people in the US will associate Fiona with Shrek. Victoria may end up with a nn Vicky, and Jessica was a very popular name in the 80s. Whether any of that matters to you is up to you.
I would never ask for feedback in names and I like to think I wouldn’t give negative feedback to a mom but sometimes people don’t apply ordinary rules of courtesy to family members. |
Why can't people express preferences politely. |
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It's weird that people's extremely strong opinions on names only apply to baby names though. It is pretty rare that I hear a negative opinion on an actual person's name. Even when the name is kind of out there, people are polite. I know a Fiona in real life and no one has ever said "Like from Shrek????" about her.
I think people get in their heads about baby names because you are considering them in a vacuum, so they develop very strong feelings. But then you meet an actual person with that name and it's like "oh yeah, that's pretty." People stop being weird about it. |
Yeah. It’s like I hated the McMansion built on my street but once someone moved into it there was a real person attached to it and I didn’t mind it quite so much. |
Right! My dd's close friend is Fiona. Fiona from Shrek hasn't really crossed my mind. If anything I remember thinking it was a very Irish name and assuming they had Irish heritage. It's pretty |