I definitely would never ADVISE either way.

Oh, I really like the name Luka, Luca, Lucca, despite the association with Magnotta(if that's who you're talking about).

Luca was the name of the young boy/man in Tea with Mussolini-one of my favourite films. The name also makes me think of Lucca Italy, in Tuscany which is one of my favourite cities. Funnily, I don't think of the murderer when I hear that name. I could be way off here but I think it's a lovely name.

Luka isn't even the killers real name. I wouldn't think twice about using it- if you overthink any name you'll find a reason not to use it.

Yes, I'd mention it, since she asked.

I don't know what name you are talking about - is it a name that almost NOBODY ELSE has, so that when people hear it there's only this one person they think of? And SO notorious that the stigma won't wear off in 10 years or so? Because like someone else above said, everybody knows who Charles Manson is but babies are still named Charles because Charles by itself is harmless and common. (And I wouldn't hesitate to name a baby girl Monica - if I liked the name - just because of the other Monica with the Blue Dress.)

Edited to add: I just goggled the name mentioned above and read the name's hit on Wikipedia. Is the mother-to-be considering the name just for the shock value? She shouldn't consider HER importance/notoriety in choosing the child's name, she should instead consider the CHILD. Will the CHILD be negatively affected? I would think he would. (As in, "What in the world was his mother thinking? That she was being cute?")

Isis was an unusual but not-unheard-of name, and now it's like Adolf. Lord Grantham's dog was named Isis (in real life, as well as on Downton Abbey). So sometimes you just can't win.

I don't know your story, Robo, but Luca is a nice name. I know a couple of young Luca's.

Wow, what a terrible terrible crime, holy moly! I think I would just tell her what first came to your mind simply because of the extremity of what he did. I mean you can even see the evil in his face. Then just leave it up to her; I know if it were me, I'd want for my sister to tell me.

Without reading any replies yet, by all means tell her. IMO, that is a deal breaker in naming a child. Nobody wants the same name as a murderer. It will follow them for life. Beg her not to do it!! lol

Not sure if this was mentioned, but I can't help but notice criminals who are named after other criminals. Jessie James, etc. Always creeped me out because the person turned into a criminal also.

Oh. Just saw. So sad.

still, it's a nice name and not THAT unusual.

I ain't am fascinated by baby names and how so many people jump on the bandwagon of populat names, even though they think they are unique. I named my kids during the Jennifer and Jason craze. That's not the names I chose but I swear they had ten Jennifers and ten Jasons in every class growing up. Several of my friends have grandchildren named Dylan or Lily ( I like those names). My ex had a really weird first name and it was truly a burden. I gave both my sons rather ordinary names to avoid that.

And yeah, I would point out that they could be naming their kid the same name as a sicko criminal.

Mention it.

My kid goes to school with a Jimmy Jones. He's young enough that his parents could have googled. (And we're in the Bay area so his parents shouldn't have had to google it. I mean, I assume one of his parents grew up as a Jones....how could s/he not know?)

But they call him Jimmy, not Jim. So there's that little separation. But you bring up a good question. These days, do you google your child's name before deciding?

We were waffling between two names, but when we considered the initials, chose one over the other to avoid a gaffe. I still prefer the first name we didn't choose, though. But we were locked in to the middle name. And no, DH was not going to go the "call him by the middle name" route. We know kids who do and it's so tiresome for them.

Yes, I would absolutely mention it. Maybe it didn't enter her mind and you wouldn't want someone to realize that later with horrible regret.

I would never saddle a person with a name that had any bad or negative connotations whatsoever. There are gazillions of perfectly acceptable names and why, why, why. Poor kid. And I sure would give my opinion, as a friend. A sign of deep caring. Its easy not to go out on a limb but its more important to take the risk and share a reasoned opinion. I have, during my life, been blessed to have had an aunt give me her opinions when I was off base and I was grateful or should have been. My kids love their names and never had to defend them in any way. Two daughters get compliments. I hated my name and still do.

Interestingly, just last night I was watching this program that was parsing fact and fiction surrounding various historical events. One thing they said was Charles Lindbergh's father changed their last name from Mansson. Yes, he could've been named Charles Mansson!

Westsider, it gets bad when you have to defend a surname...

I just heard of an guy who was named Vladmir Putin. He is not Russian, and he's in his late 30's-so don't know how that name came about.

My girls have unusual names-not weird, just unusual. My son has a VERY common name, but I've always loved it and the way it's spelled. My name is uncommon-it's been out of fashion for many years but maybe it'll come back into fashion one day. Olivia and Esther have come back!

I've met plenty of males named Luka, Lucca, Lucas who were nice and normal boys/men, so it would not be a name that would have a negative connotation for me.

Yes, please mention it to her. I believe our names can and do affect our lives in ways we don't really consider. I'm embarrassed to even mention this but here it goes...my daughter wanted to name my sweet granddaughter FINCH. Yes, I'm hollering...FINCH! Who in their right mind would name a sweet baby girl FINCH. I was a emotional wreck her whole pregnancy. It quickly became apparent the more I talked to her about it, the more determined she was to keep the name. The poor child was doomed. I'll never forget the night in the waiting room. Daddy came out of the delivery room to let us know she wasn't going to be naming the baby FINCH! Her MIL and I literally fell to the floor crying thanking God! We didn't know what the new name was but no way could it have been any worse!

Yes, I would mention it to her. It would all be my fault if she regretted it and I didn't say anything, and maybe even if did and she decided to use the name anyway.

If this is a first child and a second is likely, she could save the name for later. When we were deciding on names for our oldest, there was a name we both liked and there were people we liked with the same name, but there were too many people we both (and I especially) felt very strongly and negatively about -- so we used the other choice. Three years later, another boy, the negative folks were not in our lives and we went back to our original choice -- no reasons to not want to use the name. Maybe the publicity will fade and a the name will be okay later (assuming it is just the given name and not the family name too).

Chispa I have as well. It would be a common name if there were more Eastern Europeans or Italians here but we are primarily very -- Maine-y.

I mentioned it casually and I don't think they care!

There is a reason that Adolph is not a popular child's name, even 70 years later.

Names are important.

I know a man named Arrow. He has been called Cupid's arrow all his life and resents it mightily. How can a man named Arrow be taken seriously? His parents did it deliberately, claim Arrow is an American spelling of an Irish name.

His parents pronounce their last name "QUEpida." Arrow says "SuePEda" because it sound a little less ridiculous. I'll just let you guess the correct spelling.

Sheesh, are you serious? Arrow's last name is Cupida?

My great-niece is Emily Rose. I never asked my niece and her DH if they ever watched "The Exorcism of Emily Rose." My DH said he'd avoid names from horror movies like Jason and Damien.

Hmmm . . . well, Finch is an unusual name, but it's not bad, I don't think. It's like Wren, which I have heard several times. I like Wren.

We have a friend whose first name is Werthen (it's a girl). Now THAT'S unusual.

I kinda like Finch. And Wren. I like natural names.

The concept of Volvo names is very waspy, speaking as a wasp, I would likely be in the same boat!

Spelling matters to me. I love the name Sean, but not Shawn or Shaun. My daughter's name is Sarah and woe to the person who drops the H.

Three of my kids have very classic, traditional names and the fourth has an ethnic name as a nod to my paternal heritage. My girls' names are very unpopular in current times but not at all unusual. Older dd's name is a common middle name but it isn't even in the top 500 for girls's names in the year of her birth. Someone who worked at dh's old company had a dd a year older with the same name but we didn't even know the family (met them at company Christmas party). Other dd's name was 346 on the list but again, never hear it nowadays. It was a common Irish name 50 years ago. Older do has the ethnic name that was 106 on the list. I hear the name occasionally but only one other kid at his school, two years older, has the name. If we lived in NYC, I'm sure we'd hear it more often! Younger ds has the only common name of my kids. It's a very traditional name along the lines of Michael and Matthew - was in the top 10 the year he was born but he was named for two of his great-grandfathers. Funny tho, there are three boys, including him, with that name in his grade but there are at least 8 boys named Jack in his grade and that name was like #50 the year he was born. My biggest thing when naming my kids was not choosing something that was trendy and not giving them a name but spelling it in a non-traditional way (like Madison = Madyson, Madisyn, Madisin - and yes, I've seen it spelled these ways!).

As far as Luca, I like that name and wouldn't let the murderer thing prevent me from choosing it IF the last names are different and if I didn't have some strong name association with the murderer. If your sister likes the name and isnt concerned about the name association, I personally don't think it's a big deal if the last names are completely different. plus there is no guarantee that you give your kid a regular name that later might get associated with someone famous/infamous. I have a friend whose married name is Elizabeth Taylor. I doubt her parents thought she would end up marrying a man whose name was Taylor!

If it is Luka, Luca, Lucca. What ever, I would pick a different spelling for sure. But if you are not Italian or close to it, why not just Luke.

I have always preferred names to be the actual long version and not the morphed nickname version of a name. Like Elizabeth and Rebecca, Not Liz and Becca. That way the kid has options. See I was a child of the fifties. I have a nickname as my given name. My middle name is Danielle. And I have a very unique and famous last name. Anyway in college the head of my department called me in and asked what my real name was, I told her, she said "you must change your name. You will never reach your potential with that name. Go with your second name. It is so much better than what you go by and for heavens sake do not take a husbands name!" Such and odd conversation to have when you are 19...

I named my DD after myself and her dad, and gave her both our middle names. When she was in first grade there was a girl who had her exact name with the same last name initial. The teacher asked if they had nicknames they wanted to use to tell them apart and my DD said "Yes call me Elle!" We had NEVER called her that. But for the next 12 years she was Elle to everyone in school. Never to us and she went by Danielle everywhere else.

Several of her friends swapped out their names when they hit college. Seems odd but people do that sometimes.

hahaha Mtn! My sisters still laugh and poke me about how mad my dad was when he learned I'd "changed" my name when my name was called to receive my High School diploma. In fact, I didn't change my name-- I merely added a second middle name (Allyn) but that didn't matter to him. He still claims that HIS daughter was never announced on the stage that night!

I don't use the name (and never did except on my diploma) but I do use the initial.. along with my 3 given initials.

My 3 DDs each have a 3 syllable traditional first name, and a short traditional second name (for example, Jane). In choosing, we thought of likely nicknames, and whether we liked them. That all turned out just fine. However, there is a 6 year gap between DDs1 & 2. DD1 attended a French lycee private school. When she was little, I was startled while waiting for a parent-teacher interview to be addressed as the mother of a child whose name I didn't immediately recognize. The pronunciation of my daughter's name in French was very different: The emphasis in English on her first name is on the first syllable, and in French on the last syllable with a different sound. The last name pronunciation is also significantly different. When naming DDs 2&3, we aimed for names that were a little more bilingual-friendly. DD1 has carried on the tradition with her daughters.

Luka was in consideration because of the father's ethnic heritage and that is how it would have been spelled in his country of origin.

However they did decide to go with another name, very nice and also slightly unusual!

Happy auntie!

And lovely baby! Best wishes to all!

Linelle! I have always thought Sarah was the loveliest of feminine names. And yes, it must have the h at the end. Here is my sweet Sarah (white with blue eyes) with her stinky brother Bucky, definitely living up to her name!

I think spelling is very important, too. My parents spelled my name with an i at the end. I hated it as soon as I started writing my name. In the third grade I started spelling it with an ey at the end and I spelled it that way from then on. My diplomas and professional licenses all spell my name with an ey. It did not cause any problems at all until after 9/11. Since then, I have to make sure I make air travel reservations with the old spelling so they match my drivers license. I will legally change it, one of these days. It's a pretty big pain to do it officially. I have never understood why my mom spelled it with an i. She is a very serious, traditional type.

ETA: Robo, what a sweet photo! You are a glowing Auntie to that beautiful baby!

Pretty fun to hold a day-old baby! And then give him back!

Perhaps you could suggest the name Dylan instead.

Awwwwww! Congrats to all.

Congratulations on your new nephew.

Miniscule's story is almost the same as mine. I gave my daughter a 3 syllable 1st name (not super common though it's been steadily rising in popularity since my daughter was born, darn it) and short middle name to go with her short (and very, very common) last name. Her 1st name has two common nicknames, one of which sounds ridiculous with her last name. I've always called her by her full first name. My mom thought it was too much of a mouthful and called her by the other nickname for a while, but eventually came around.

At aftercare, one of the Spanish-speaking teachers caller her by the Spanish version of her name, which adds an "a" on the end and splits up a dipthong into separate vowel sounds. The Spanish pronunciation opened up another nickname possibility, which is actually a boys name. She got called by that nickname at aftercare, but nowhere else.

Oh Robo! How precious! Congratulations-- you will be such a wonderful aunt! It's one of my most favorite things to be!!

Oh what a precious baby!! So happy for you Robo and his new family

He is precious! Congrats to all.

Beautiful photos! Congratulations and thank you for sharing them.

Msmeow, it really is the most perfectly feminine name, isn't it? :-)

Yeah, I don't know where we came up with it but it was perfect for her. My dad nicknamed her "Serendipity".

D

Precious, and what a head of hair! Congratulations to you and your family.

What a sweetheart! Enjoy.