MEAN, Rude grandparents...HELP!
Find a Conversation
| Tue, 12-27-2005 - 4:24pm |
Well, we received some really bad feedback from both sets of grandparents this holiday weekend when we revealed our choices of names for our first son, with the preference of Gabriel (Gabe). The others were Gage and Chandler. One grandmother keeps pronouncing it is Gabrielle, and when corrected, said she would have to remember "Gay...Gabe...Gabriel..." and stated "how could you do that to him?" and the other said it was such a feminine name...and the grandfathers think the nn will be Gabby instead of Gabe. I cried all weekend and now I am seeking everyone's input to see if we are "missing" something...I thought this was a fairly normal, likable name that was "safe" and would not turn anyone off too much even if it was not their style...
DESPERATELY SEEKING YOUR OPINIONS!!!
Do you like the name Gabriel, are you neutral or do you absolutely detest it?

Pages
I, personally, think that Gabriel is a feminine name but I also think Devon, Evan, and Christian are feminine to me, too. But who am I?! Everyone has their opinions.
Good Luck!
Not to make light of your problem but I had to chuckle when I read this post. Must be a Jersey thing with Gabriel and the Gay/feminine thing. Gabriel is one of our top choices and my mother said it sounded like a gay man's name. Sigh. I feel your pain. It must also be something with their generation because no one of our generation seems to have these issues with that name.
I say if you love the name then use it. Your family will get over it when the baby arrives and if they don't that's tough.
My mom looked at my dh's name lists yesterday and started moaning about how she does not want a granddaughter to be named Isabella/Isabelle. And other than Abigail (little Abby, she said) she isn't crazy about any of his other preferences and she isn't too fond of anything I suggest either. She keeps pushing names like Christa. (Can you say 70s?) Fortunately, my brother (sometimes he really is cool) spoke up and said, "It really doesn't matter what names you like, Mom, because this is Steph and Larry's baby and it's their choice. As long as they like the name they choose that's all that matters." I'm pretty sure he didn't like any of the names on the girl list either but at least he was nice enough not to give us a hard time.
Good luck with your naming dilemma.
For what it's worth I love Gabriel and think you chose a wonderful name.
Stephanie
EDD 8/3/06
Mommy to Lawson Michael Binghua - born 8/8/06
miscarriage in November 2007 at 7 weeks
miscarriage in April 2008 at 8 weeks
i love the name. my husband's nephew is Gabriel and it is a perfectly normal and great name for a boy. the grandparents are just being difficult. my in-laws weren't too thrilled when we named our son Elijah. my MIL couldn't even really pronounce it (she's korean with a very strong accent). she mostly calls him Ejae (a name we chose as a NN in lieu of Eli). but they got over it. he's your son and you shouldn't let the grandparents' negativity of the name deter you if you really love that name. and Gabe is a great NN, too. and it is NOT hard to pronounce. Gabriel is a wonderful name and the grandparents will love your son no matter what you name him.
BTW, Chandler and Gage are cool names, too. just NMS.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to name my son Gabriel.
What you are going thru is the exact reason why I use this board as my "opinion" place instead of family and friends! DH and I keep our name thoughts to ourselves and announce the name after the baby is already named. That is usually my advice to everyone as well---unless you want your feelings hurt by unsensitive family members, keep it hushed!
We have a Gabriel in our family now. He is about 15 months old now. NO one calls him Gabe--the Mom and Dad were very specific that his name is Gabriel, not Gabe. No one calls him Gabby or Gabrielle. I don't think its feminine at all. Although Gabriel is not my choice of a name, I still think its a fine name. It is becoming a popular name, so you aren't the only one out there that likes it!
I do like Gage a lot out of your other choices, too!
Theresa
I am on baby #4 and I quickly learned after my 1st pg to keep name choices away from family ears until baby is born! Once they meet the little bundle of joy, they will not care what he is named! I personally think there is nothing wrong with Gabriel, it's a great masculine name! There is a distinct difference btwn Gabriel and Gabrielle!
~Mona~
Gabriel is as feminine as Michael, I can't hear any feminine in that and
Gabriel is for sure a boy with a nn of Gabe. I knew a Gabe in school and he wasn't teased at all. It's nms but a nice name. I like Chandler and love Gage.
Pages