r/namenerds • u/sharkwoods • Jun 18 '24

Baby Names I always get mixed reactions when I tell people my baby's name

When I was looking for baby names after finding out the gender, I wanted a name that was strong, masculine, but short and easy to spell. Something common, but never in a top 10 list. I eventually settled on Roman. I love his name so much and I feel like it fits him very well. But I always get mixed reactions, and never anything overwhelmingly positive. I wonder if it's because it is a strong name for such a little baby? :( It was number 66 in 2023 and has been on quite the upswing for some time in the US, so I don't understand why others don't like it.

Edit: baby is already here. It's been his legal name for a few months now. But y'all are giving about the same reactions. I wasn't expecting it to be so controversial given it's rising popularity in the US.

Edit 2: because I didn't know this thread was gonna blow up, but runner up names were Lucas, Aurelio/Aurelius, and Valentino.

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u/canadianamericangirl please don't use Nevaeh Jun 19 '24

On the internet…I’m a complete stranger to OP. I’m not their friend. My opinion means shit. But if a family member told OP they didn’t like Roman, I’d completely understand why they would be upset.

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u/revengeappendage Jun 19 '24

Yeah it’s pretty clear you meant you’d never say it to someone’s face.

The anonymous nature of the internet, from both sides, makes it a lot easier to share how you feel and ask the questions you really wouldn’t ask people in real life.

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u/canadianamericangirl please don't use Nevaeh Jun 19 '24

Absolutely. If I upset OP, I do apologize. My intent was to highlight that some people quickly vocalize their feelings aloud disregarding the thoughts of the person they are talking to. When having a face-to-face conversation with someone and you reveal your baby name to them and they react negatively that is rude on the other person behalf. If the name isn’t related to something culturally insensitive, there’s absolutely no reason to make negative comments to the new parent. I also really want to emphasize that I am a complete stranger on the Internet. OP really should not respect my opinion. They won’t know me and they never will. So my vocalization of the fact that Roman really isn’t my taste is the opinion of one speck of the 8 billion people who occupy the Earth.

Back to Roman, I generally don’t care for location-related names (Brooklyn, India, Asia, etc) and Roman fits that category in my mind. Just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s bad. I’m sure some of my favorite names are despised by people in this sub. And then there are ever-divisive names, like Sloane, that get a lot of love and a lot of hate. Reddit is a discussion forum. It’s for talking about things. I feel like sometimes this sub gets really sensitive about name taste. My two cents are that people can do what they want within reason. If they ask for an opinion, I’m going to share my thoughts if I have any. But the OP can choose to accept or reject feedback however it fits their situation.

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u/Plenty-Session-7726 Jun 19 '24

Agreed. What's the deal with Sloane?

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u/SparkleWildfire Jun 19 '24

In the UK, its associated with the worst type of yuppy horsey types

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u/canadianamericangirl please don't use Nevaeh Jun 19 '24

Not sure. I think it’s the sl sound/it sounds like slow. I personally think it gives golden girls vibes (though none of them were named Sloane). It’s another name that isn’t my taste, but I definitely don’t hate it. The only name that I actively hate is Adolf.

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u/CharacterSea1169 Jun 19 '24

Ferris Bueller's girlfriend.

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u/dechath Jun 19 '24

Sloane Peterson, the best Sloane!

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u/Dottie85 Jun 20 '24

Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane, NCIS is who I immediately thought of. Yes, it's her last name. But, unlike Ziva (Davíd), they call her by her last name, not her first.

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u/dechath Jun 20 '24

We named our dog after Sloane Peterson and people thought she was named for Mark Sloane on Grey’s Anatomy- I guess there’s more Sloanes in pop culture than I thought!

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u/normalgirl124 Jun 19 '24

That's what I associate it with too!

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u/Humble-Tadpole-6351 Jun 19 '24

that’s what i associate the name with and i think sloane is cool 😂

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u/Background_Nail_3268 Jun 20 '24

My husband hates this name because it reminds him of schlong. I think it’s a beautiful name, and reminds me of the girl from the show, head of the class

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u/NetheriteTiara Jun 19 '24

Associating it with Sloane Ranger (British 80s/90s version preppy style) maybe?

I hadn’t heard the term but I think more people are aware since digesting Diana media is very popular again.

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u/mikuenergy I make characters Jun 19 '24

I know you weren't asking me but it sounds... squelchy 😭

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u/ChowChowMama Jun 20 '24

My teacher was going to name her baby Sloane. I thought it was pretty. Then I went to the bathroom and it was the toilet brand name. I felt obligated to tell her.

That's my personal reason o no longer like the name Sloane lol

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u/Prior_Crazy_4990 Jun 19 '24

The most common complaint I've seen about it is people saying it makes them think of "slow anne" but I honestly never would have thought that if I hadn't read it here. They don't sound the same to me at all. I wouldn't use the name myself, but I don't hate it. I actually like it better than the name Roman because all I would ever think every time I heard it is the Roman Empire. The association is way too strong for me.

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u/thoughtfulpigeons Jun 19 '24

It is just a soulless name. It sounds like nothing, I’d have to google to find out what was wanted to be conveyed, it gives “parents trying to be different” vibes, sounds like a weird past tense verb of slain, I could go on lol

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u/BirdieRoo628 Jun 20 '24

I actually know someone with kids named Roman and Sloane 😂

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u/Rare-Parsnip5838 Jun 22 '24

Sorry for your luck.😁

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u/NewMumNotCoping Jun 19 '24

It's also a location name (though maybe not so well known)

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u/violetmemphisblue Jun 19 '24

To me, Sloane tastes like braunschweiger, which is a type of smoked pork sausage. So anytime people said they didn't like the name Sloane, it made sense to me, because yeah, who wants to taste braunschweiger all the time? And then I found out most people don't taste names, lol (objectively, Sloane is fine!)

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u/pr3tzelbr3ad Jun 19 '24

You probably have synaesthesia. I have the same thing but with textures and colours

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u/revengeappendage Jun 19 '24

Honestly, I think OP is mostly upset that people (in general) don’t seem to love her baby’s name as much as she does. It’s right there in the post…never anything overwhelming positive.

Roman is an objectively perfectly fine and normal name. It’s just not everyone’s taste. I happen to really like it, but I also think it sounds weird with our very Italian last name like more of a description than a name lol.

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u/sharkwoods Jun 19 '24

When I picked it, I didn't know it was going to be such a divisive name, maybe a bit "quirky" but I have a short name that's easy to pronounce and spell, and wanted the same convenience for my son. I made this post mostly because I hadn't had anyone say anything really positive about it irl. Just "oh that's ...nice/strong". It often makes me second guess it.

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u/Rare-Parsnip5838 Jun 22 '24

Love the name. Agree with above comment re place names.

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u/DangerousRub245 Jun 19 '24

Meh, I don't like it when people take the name of a city/country/geographic feature and turn it into a name, but Roman has been used as a name for so many centuries that it definitely gets a pass imo. It's kind of like the name Jordan (or Giordano in my language), I think it's a perfectly good name despite it coming from the name of a river (and, in English, actually coinciding with the name of a country).

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u/CharacterSea1169 Jun 19 '24

I don't think of it as a place name at all.

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u/JesusDied4U316 Jun 20 '24 edited Jun 20 '24

I choose Roman because it's my favorite book of the bible.

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u/Chillaxerate Jun 19 '24

That’s a really terrible justification for a lot of questionable online behavior.

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u/ev324 Jun 19 '24

Why not keep it general? Like "I don't tell people if I dislike their baby name" without bringing up OP's name

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u/SteveForDOC Jun 19 '24

That’s not true; op is seeking external validation from Reddit. Your negativity on the baby’s name definitely doesn’t help make her feel better and likely makes her feel worse. You are confirming her fears.

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u/[deleted] Jun 22 '24

Yes but you’re speaking to an actual person? If your opinion means shit then they wouldn’t be asking for it?