We named our second daughter after the most famous woman in the world. And she's never forgiven us.

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She wanted a contemporary name and we chose to honour her sainted grandmother instead.

Our other kids seem reasonably content with what they were given although one struggles to get her name pronounced by others in quite the way she likes it pronounced.

Naming babies is diabolical.

You tell people early and they tell you about a kid with that name who was a bully or a bedwetter.

You tell people when the actual baby is born and they get offended they weren't consulted.

And here is the absolute worst thing I ever did as an incipient grandmother.

Our son-in-law and our daughter, the one who thinks her name is boring and old-fashioned, revealed what they were planning to call their first baby.

And what did Bad Grandma do? I said I thought it was awful.

I am the worst (fortunately, she just told me to bugger off. Someone who gave her child the name of the most famous woman in the world apparently had no right to an opinion.)

Here we are four years later and not only is the child delightful, but the name is both modern and ancient. I hate to admit it but I was very very wrong.

A friend has just told her own kid she hates the name he's picked for his incoming daughter. He's cranky. She's sticking by her guns. She'll get used to it, I am confident.

I'm reminded of this........

© Canberra Times