Why do so many parents these days give their kids long names?

For instance, someone I know just gave their newborn kid the first name "Lou-Anne Grace". I mean, it sounds nice but why so long? It's almost as if people want to kid their kids the most unique sounding name just for the attention and to feel somewhat superior.

If I ever have kids, I'd like to give them standard names like Peter, John or Joshua for any boys I have and Francesca, Anna or Emma for any girls I have. Short and nice names that don't take a long time to say.

Saying that though, I'm glad my dad gave me my name: Ashton

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 1

TheGoodPharaoh

Peter lol, do you want him to get bullied?

Reply 2

Ash8991

Original post by TheGoodPharaoh

Peter lol, do you want him to get bullied?

What's wrong with Peter?

Reply 3

Kilam_Namoan

Uniqueness is nice. Its tiring to see many people with the same names. Like too many Arabs are called Mohamed (and like its 30 other spelling variations) Ahmed, Ackhmed etc, too many Whites are called Matthew, James etc. I think its time that people start mixing stuff up a bit more. You don't need to say their full name when you talk to them. "Lou-Anne Grace"can be shortened to "Lou", "Anne" or "Grace". Easy to say and unique on paper. In a few years, I imagine a lot more people will have long, complex names and names will becoming more short and simple again.

Reply 4

TheGoodPharaoh

Original post by Ash8991

What's wrong with Peter?

It just sounds old

Reply 5

username2926188

peter reminds me of peter from horrid henry! the annoying little :angry:

Because they can?

As long as its not an embarassing name

Reply 8

Anonymous #2

Original post by UWS

Because they can?

What's your name sir?

Reply 9

loveleest

1) Because they can
2) Because they want to
3) They like long names

Reply 10

Reality Check

Original post by Ash8991

It's a certain class of parent who gives these double-barrelled first names. They often also misspell common names to make them more 'special'. However, it's up to them how they wish to name their progeny.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 11

JuSt_Do_It_

Original post by Ash8991

It's not that deep to have some uniqueness, plus it helps to specify exactly who your child is out of the multitude that have similar forenames and surnames. I see it as convenient as you can just choose one of your many names instead of the given first name you have, to be addressed by.

Reply 12

claireestelle

I chose to change to a double barrelled surname myself but it's made a lot of things awkward so any kids we have will just have simple, easy to spell names. Besides I can't convince my fiancé to even agree to middle names so a long first name probably wouldn't have one :tongue:

Reply 13

Claire461

Original post by Ash8991

I quite like the name Ashton. It's quite unusual in my experience. But as far as parents are concerned, everyone thinks their own child/children are unique. I have a granddaughter called Emma-Grace and that is what she is always called and not shortened and one of my sons is called John-Joseph, shortened to John-Joe.
There are a lot of names I don't like, but then that's just me and like other people, that's their choice.

Reply 14

Tiger Rag

Original post by Ash8991

Moved to Chat

Reply 15

Beth_H

Lou-Anne Grace isn't really that long. It's only one syllable longer than your own first name, and shorter than mine (Elizabeth). There are many possible reasons why parents might name their child something like that. Perhaps they wanted to combine names that meant a lot to them (like names of family members), or they wanted a name that was unique but relatively simple (which it is - it rolls of the tongue, and 'Lou', 'Anne' and 'Grace' are all easy to spell). Or maybe they just wanted to give their child a name they liked, and exercised their right as her parents to do so.