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MWeber
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| Posted: Oct 18 2010 at 8:24pm | IP Logged
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So, we picked out a name for our daughter who is due in a couple of months: Greta Anne. But the few people who have asked about it didn't have much to say when I told them. My (very loving and wonderful) MIL said "Huh, that's interesting." I wanted to cry.
So, have you ever had that kind of response with a name you picked for one of your children? Obviously, it doesn't matter what other people think, but it does kind of put a damper on things, LOL! 
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Michele
Mom to ds (2006), dd (^2007^), dd (2009), & dd (Dec 2010)
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Oct 18 2010 at 8:29pm | IP Logged
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 I don't know if I had that type of response to a name we used.. but we don't find out ahead of time if the baby is a boy or girl.. and one of the girl names we had picked out and ended up not using was Margaret and it got a rather lukewarm reception.
Most people react to their own past and sometimes a name will bring up a memory that they think will stay with the name.. usually the new baby will push that out of the way easily enough  or it's a name they just had never thought of and they need to warm up to it.
And I think it's lovely.. Greta is a name I considered though it never made it to the top of the list.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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MWeber
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| Posted: Oct 18 2010 at 8:54pm | IP Logged
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Funny, Greta is supposedly a version of Margaret.
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Michele
Mom to ds (2006), dd (^2007^), dd (2009), & dd (Dec 2010)
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organiclilac
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| Posted: Oct 18 2010 at 8:59pm | IP Logged
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I don't think any of our family was thrilled with "Samuel" - but I think they've warmed up to it. I agree with what Jodie said - they will soon associate the name with your sweet baby, and probably learn to love it! And, I think Greta is a beautiful name!
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Tracy, wife to Shawn, mama to Samuel (4/01) and Joseph (11/11), and Thomas (2/15)
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Oct 18 2010 at 9:31pm | IP Logged
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One of my friends adopted a daughter from China - her name is Greta - and she's the cutest, spunkiest, liveliest young lady, a true joy. (And she does card tricks, LOL!) I think Greta is a lovely name, and I have to love Anne - my own patron saint!
My dd's name is unusual (it is French in origin) and we had a few "huh?" reactions at the beginning...but it suits her, as she's got her own unique style. I would go with the name you love, and let everyone else adjust.
(Besides, you could be inflicting some backwards word name or car model name on them...they'll appreciate the love and care you devoted to name-choosing later on, trust me!)
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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JenPre
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| Posted: Oct 18 2010 at 9:40pm | IP Logged
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When we announced that we were having Marie-Therese everyone took a bit of time getting used to it. Most people asked if we'd shorten it to "Marie" (nope!). Except my grandmother. She had a sister named Marie whom she didn't get along with (I never knew her at all and didn't know this story until after we'd named our Marie-Therese). She said she won't use Marie and insists on calling her Therese.  But she's Marie-Therese to us and I can't imagine her with any other name!!
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Jen
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Erin
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| Posted: Oct 19 2010 at 12:12am | IP Logged
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MWeber wrote:
| So, have you ever had that kind of response with a name you picked for one of your children? Obviously, it doesn't matter what other people think, but it does kind of put a damper on things, LOL! |
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Yes, often, all our children have unusual names and we have varying responses. Basically you have to develop and thick skin, and funny enough some of them end up loving the name.
Truthfully I would much rather a response like you mil than my mothers, she thinks she is entitled to have strong opinions on our baby name list. I don't tell her anymore, I know she didn't like my last name, and now she does
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leanne maree
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I stopped letting anyone into our secret after our 1st.
There was no surprise in the 'name' when dd was born. She was already named.
Now when ever we have a baby, we announce the name after the baby is born.
We had a strange reaction from my dear grandfather, with our second dd. He didn't like her name - too modern.
Or youngest dd was also a problem for many as it is a traditional Irish name and many still can't say it correctly. Brid. Pronounced 'Breed'.
So Yes I know how you feel, peoples reactions can make you question your name, but its not theres to respond to really.
My Dh father would always insist in writing childs name in Gaelic, it was nice, but that wasn't the way we had spelt the childs name. We had to become thick skinned to that.
God Bless,
Leanne 
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Leanne
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Lisbet
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| Posted: Oct 19 2010 at 5:45am | IP Logged
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I have a Greta. Short for Margaret. Folks either love it or hate it. I actually had someone say to me "that's not a very attractive name." I don't care. I love it. LOVE IT! It is so classic, yet not at all trendy. And it totally fits my little Greta-boo! :)
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
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Nick, 17
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Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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Lisbet
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| Posted: Oct 19 2010 at 5:48am | IP Logged
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I have to add, we also have a Samuel - I got very lukewarm responses on that also.
We have NO boys names picked out at this point. Baby is due in 4 weeks, we have no idea if it's a boy or girl. We have a girls name covered, but no clue on a boy...
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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MWeber
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| Posted: Oct 19 2010 at 6:41am | IP Logged
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Erin wrote:
Truthfully I would much rather a response like you mil than my mothers, she thinks she is entitled to have strong opinions on our baby name list. I don't tell her anymore, I know she didn't like my last name, and now she does |
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Yes, but the response "That's interesting" is the southern way of saying "Are you kidding me?"
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Michele
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MWeber
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| Posted: Oct 19 2010 at 6:49am | IP Logged
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Lisbet wrote:
| I have a Greta. Short for Margaret. Folks either love it or hate it. I actually had someone say to me "that's not a very attractive name." I don't care. I love it. LOVE IT! It is so classic, yet not at all trendy. And it totally fits my little Greta-boo! :) |
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I can't believe someone said that to you! Wow.
Lisbet wrote:
I have to add, we also have a Samuel - I got very lukewarm responses on that also.
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I personally love the name Samuel and know several, although most of them go by Sam. I also know a lot of girls who are named Sam.
We kept the gender of the baby a surprise with our first, but our second child (who died at 37 wks) had severe birth defects that prohibited us from knowing her gender until after the autopsy. It was incredibly horrifying not to be able to name her, especially when we were scrambling to order a headstone for her grave. So since then, we have found out the sex at our 20 wk u/s. That being said, I definitely won't be sharing her name with anyone else until after she's born. I have a habit of just blabbing the truth, even if I'm not ready to.
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Michele
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Becky Parker
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I love the name Greta!
Recently when out having lunch with two friends I told them we were thinking about the name Sebastian for our son that will be born in Dec. Their response was "Oh no!" and "You've got to be kidding!"
I was heart broken. I would never say that to anyone! Just the other day, one of the two called and asked if we were still thinking about the name Sebastian and when I rather defiantly said "yes", she said it's one of those names that will grow on people. I think she felt bad about her first reaction.
Picking out a name for a child seems like such a personal decision to me. I can't imagine why people think they have a right to voice their negative opinion.
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Becky
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MWeber
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| Posted: Oct 19 2010 at 7:06am | IP Logged
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Lisbet wrote:
| I have a Greta. Short for Margaret. Folks either love it or hate it. I actually had someone say to me "that's not a very attractive name." I don't care. I love it. LOVE IT! It is so classic, yet not at all trendy. And it totally fits my little Greta-boo! :) |
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I think the reason I was saddened by the reaction was b/c I don't want my dd to grow up hating her name due to unpopularity. I really couldn't care less about people's opinions otherwise. I agree that it's wonderfully classic!
Becky Parker wrote:
I love the name Greta!
Recently when out having lunch with two friends I told them we were thinking about the name Sebastian for our son that will be born in Dec. Their response was "Oh no!" and "You've got to be kidding!"
I was heart broken. I would never say that to anyone! Just the other day, one of the two called and asked if we were still thinking about the name Sebastian and when I rather defiantly said "yes", she said it's one of those names that will grow on people. I think she felt bad about her first reaction.
Picking out a name for a child seems like such a personal decision to me. I can't imagine why people think they have a right to voice their negative opinion. |
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I just can't imagine saying that to someone. DH has a cousin named Sebastian, and it totally suits him. I love it!
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Michele
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mathmama
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JenPre wrote:
| When we announced that we were having Marie-Therese everyone took a bit of time getting used to it. Most people asked if we'd shorten it to "Marie" (nope!). Except my grandmother. She had a sister named Marie whom she didn't get along with (I never knew her at all and didn't know this story until after we'd named our Marie-Therese). She said she won't use Marie and insists on calling her Therese. But she's Marie-Therese to us and I can't imagine her with any other name!! |
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We have similar responses to our Anna Mary's name. We get asked if we will shorten it to Anna and I had one woman tell me that Anna Mary would get sick of all the syllables and would shorten the name herself. The thing that cracked me up about that is that the woman who said this had the name of Anna Maria and went by Anna Maria Anyway, Anna Mary was originally supposed to be named Anna with a middle name of Mary, but dh loved it when Therese said "Anna Mary" (she was 2 at the time and it was awfully cute) so he wanted Anna Mary to be her first name. And so it is. She is in no way an Anna, she is totally an Anna Mary. I am grateful that she has 2 first names. She is the sort of child who needs 2 patron saints
We do get "oh that's interesting" in response to our oldest's name, but only when we pronounce it. Once we spell it I think people aren't so surprised by it. We don't pronounce it "Theresa". I was actually surprised by the response to our third dd's name. Veronica is not a name you hear much these days, so I expected negative reactions. People really surprised me and we had an overwhelmingly positive response to Veronica Rose. I do agree it is a beautiful name 
I wouldn't worry at all about other peoples' response to a name you have picked. Dh and I have always been much more concerned about what saint our child is named after. And like someone else said, your child will be so grateful someday that she is named after a saint and not after a tree, rock, car, or a "no smoking" sign. Yes, I once heard of a child named Nosmoking after a "no smoking" sign 
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Beth, wife to Tom and mommy to 4 beautiful girls:
Therese 11/04
Anna Mary 6/07
Veronica 10/09
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Nique
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My own mother and after telling her the name of our baby! And this was just minutes after I delivered my "Tabatha".
Let me tell you, if I coulda gotten off that delivery table I woulda...
REMEMBER: Your MIL had her turn to name her kids, and now this is YOUR TURN 
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guitarnan
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What Nique said.
And...I have an ancestor named Sebastian, so I think it's a great name! (His sons were John, John Theobald, and Sebastian...gotta love those French naming traditions...)
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Fuzzy
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Oh, the joys of naming a baby. It always amazes me when you get input about the name of YOUR baby. And even though you know it shouldn't bother you, it does. I am sorry they have given you this reaction. I think the name is beautiful, and your baby will fit the name perfectly  . I sometimes think that our *wonderful* pregnancy hormones make so many things hard in those 9 (10) months.
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Fuzzy
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JaysFamily
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Yes! LOL. My family hated our son's middle name, which I'll tell you next time I see you.
Aside from that, it took me two years to warm up my husband, and my mother, to the name Aurelia should we ever have a girl. They finally started to love the name last year!
I think Greta Ann is gorgeous! I love traditional names! It's cute, unique, and has a touch of Southern charm to it as well! Don't name your child based on other people's opinion of the name! If God has placed that name on your heart, there's a reason for it! Other people had the chance to name their own children.
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MelissaClaire
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We only found out the sex once before and even then didn't tell anyone we knew what baby was, so no one's ever heard the definite name until baby was born and named. We choose pretty traditional names so I don't think there's much for people to comment on. (Rebecca, Thomas, Andrew, Rachel and James.)
I do love the name Greta though! My friend knew she was having a girl and was going to name her Gianna and she got such a negative reaction from people that she promised she wouldn't ever share a name before hand again.
Actually the only negative reaction I've gotten from a proposed name was from my husband. I love the name Faustina Bernadette but upon hearing it his response was, "If she comes out a 90 year old lady you can name her that."
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Baby name question
