My daughter will have her first child next month. She is going to name it Echo Marie.
Echo??
Help me convince her not to hang an odd name on her. I have an odd name myself and I got tired of explaining it so I went to my other name.
Should I try to talk her into changing it? Or should I just go with her flow?
Oh no, here we go again.
Echo??
I’d try to get your daughter to abandon the idea. Maybe if enough Dopers weigh in on this side, then you can tell your daughter that you surveyed …
well no, I guess you can’t! Best of luck to you anyway.
When I heard what my third niece was going to be called I cringed. At the time The name seemed to me like one of those American trailer-trash names. But it’s grown on me.
(Rianne)
Tell your daughter that your granddaughter is bound to be teased. (“Echo, echo echo”)
“Echo” sounds kind of cheap. Maybe you can convince her to go with “Camry”, or at least “Corolla”.
They’re thinking of condemning a child to an eternity of “‘Echo’…‘Sorry, could you repeat that?’” moments… :rolleyes:
Oh NO! She’ll never be able to quack like a duck!
If you can’t convince her to change it, at least have your speech ready when you’re interviewed by CNN:
“Well, I told her naming my granddaughter “Echo” was going to cause problems.”
“No, I don’t know where she got the rifle.”
I kinda like it. As long as she spells it the regular way, and not Ekkoh or Eckeau or E’ko.
If she MUST call the child Echo, perhaps she could be nudged into using a more traditional name, with Echo as a nickname. Rebecca would work.
My first budgie was named Echo. Little bugger talked up a storm.
It might be a little embarassing for her during role call when the the teacher calls out “Echo” and all the little wiseacres around her in gym class or homeroom start answering, repeatedly, “Echo-Echo-Echo.” Fortunately, she’ll only have to endure this two or three times a day for twelve or thirteen years.
I don’t know. It probably won’t be that bad. Certainly there are names out there that are far worse. But she will get teased, of that I am almost certain.
All that said, if I were to actually meet somebody called Echo, my first thought would probably be, “Wow, cool name.” Of course, I’m also the guy who named his online persona after Mephistopheles . . .
Apparently they got off to the sonigram?
Middle name suggestion: Lalia
I dunno… my grade-school music teacher was named Echo Kowalzek, and she was in her 50’s or 60’s at the time, so it’s not totally unheard of.
I always thought it was a cool name.
I think it would be neat, I’ve always wished I had a more unique first name. If she doesn’t like it, she can go by a nick name or middle name when she gets older.
Echo?
Damn, that’s just wrong.
It’s a bloody horrible name, it’s going to cause the poor little girl YEARS of grief, embarassment and shame, and anyone who would name a child that is a frickin’ idiot. I know everyone’s trying to be nice about this, but I’m going to just be honest; it’s a horrible, stupid idea.
Mephisto made a point that cannot be emphasized enough; the girl will be teased about her name EVERY DAY at school, usually more than once, for at least twelve years. Twelve years. That’s over two thousand days of teasing and of being embarassed of her own name. Try to remember how you felt when you were teased.
Want a not-so-common name? There are lots of names that aren’t overly common without being ridiculous.
<anime reference>
It could be worse. She could have been named A-ko… 
</anime reference>
(There’s an anime called Project A-Ko, one of whose main characters is a girl with a personality and a screech more nerveracking than a thousand algebra teachers squeaking chalk on the blackboard…)
There was a very pretty, um, model a few years ago named Echo Johnson. You can look at pictures of her on Google Images, but I’d advise against looking at them at work. She also has a website if you Google her name. Same caveat as with the photos.
And then this charming little girl was called Echo in her early movie appearances.
No, this won’t work out for the poor girl.
She’s gonna be called “Marie” in no time. At least Marie is a pretty name. Echo is just odd.
My poor father got saddled with the first name of “Leslie.” If you wanted to piss him off and ignite a stream of curses, just call him “Leslie,” and that would do it.
It didn’t help that there was the actor Leslie Nielson or other guys named Leslie. That meant nothing when he got phone calls or letters for “MISS Leslie So-and-so.” He was always so mortified by that.
Good thing he had a normal middle name. That’s what he went by for the most part. So that’s why I see this girl as going by “Marie” for most of her life. “Echo” just isn’t worth the grief.
Suggest Emma or Ella instead. They have the same sound without being totally off the wall.
Keep reminding her how cruelly this child will be teased and how it’s going to hurt her. I think that would probably be the best approach, rather than just, “I don’t like it.”
