General Chat

my two uncles had unusual middle names rathbone furnvilli lol joycex

In my tree I have come across Ferbinia.....female Glaves....male Both are first names................. Reg

I think Lucia is a nice name - it's unusual but not wacky. lol I'm pleased to say that I have been saying your name right Aileen! lol My poor Dad's first name is Cyril, but he always uses his middle name David - problems arise when he goes to the Hospital or somewhere he hasn't been before and they automatically use his first name, the problem is he doesn't recognise it as he's never used it! I think it used to be common for people to give their children first names that were special for some reason (like a family name) and then give them a middle name that they liked and just use that - my Dad's Mum never called him Cyril? My name's not unusual, but has an unusual spelling (the e on the end) so it gets misspelt all the time. Kaye x

The english name Elvira is very old, pre Norman invasion. It appears in Shakespeare too. OC

I have two Garribaldi's in my tree and not so long ago..... apparently that is how the name GARY evolved!! xx

One of my best friends is called Storme. Very unusual name but is for ever being called Dawn as they mishear it!

Pinkella Guiseppe Garibaldi was an Italian folk hero, much admired by the British for his part in the Austrian-Prussian wars in the 1860s and the name Garibaldi was quite commonly used for a while. OC

Found that my great, great grandfather had a brother called Gripton..............never heard of that before or seen it anywhere else in the family. Probably a Matriarchs name passed down, though not come across it yet. Jen

My neighbour's name is 'Mosquito' I also work with a man called 'Sunday' and a woman called 'Sunny'

LOL to Bella Donna, do you call your neighbour (G)Nat for short? Sorry the temptation to resist was too much OC- my BIL's name is Gary and he's bald!! LOL My MIL's g/father was called St. Claire as a first name. I knew it could be a surname so was very surprised to learn that several people on these boards had friends called St. Claire as well. Aileenx

my OH's grandads name was Clarence Merlyn but everyone knew him as Bill. wonder why lol

hi my name is tabitha, its getting more comman now but at school in the 70's it was unheard of and i got a lot of teasing, so when i had my kids i called them matthew emma thomas ellen lily everyone has heard of those names

My GG Aunts and Uncles had some wonderful names....for instance on was called Bianca - would this not be unusal for the time 1868? Her sister was called Mariolizia, brothers Ivo, Athos, Camille, felix & rapheal Out of the 12 children my GG Grandparents had only ONE had a normal name GEORGE!! lol

OC - how fascinating!! Wish the first one was born after then; so could pretend to know where he got his name from, but sadly he was born 40 years previous to that!! ;o)

There was a boy at my daughters school called Blue. Very unusual. I love the name Elvira, was there not a song with that in??

Pink Maybe his father had a military connection> Failing that, maybe his mum just liked biscuits LOL OC

OC - what is funny is they are one of my fav biscuits.... actually have some in the cupboard now!! LOL!! xx

Unusual names can be a problem for a shy child. I grew up in Hampshire and hated having to explain how to spell my name, .... I didn't have a 2nd one to use instead. When I got married, my husband later started calling me Gwyn..... strongly disapproved of by my Welsh mother, who told him it was a boy's name. We chose names which were easy to say,... and spell, for our 3 children. Gwyn

I always have my name spelt wrong -so it`s shorted to Ros but heard of another short one the other day -Salyn! Ros