In the world of celebrity, anything goes with baby names.

It all started with Bob Geldof’s daughter Fifi Trixibelle. Then came along Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter, Apple. And, after Jamie Oliver’s wife Jools gave birth to Petal Blossom Rainbow, we were so used to such untraditional names that the world gave little more than an eye-roll.

Back in Normalville, however, people aren’t so open-minded when it comes to naming their offspring, as one expectant mother recently found out.

With two daughters already and a third child overdue, a mother floated the idea online of calling her baby Iris James, were she to give birth to a girl. But she said that her own mother is enraged at the idea because the expectant mother’s brother is hoping to have a son and name him James.

Since airing her suggestion on Mumsnet, the mother has been bombarded with responses, some from those who loved her name, and others who clearly didn’t.

“Why lumber your daughter with a boy’s name? Pretty ill thought out,” wrote one anonymous internet-user.

Similarly, another person thinks the name James would be wasted on a girl as the daughter “will be too embarrassed to tell people what her middle name is,” emphasising that James “is a BOY's name.”

The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Show all 20 1 /20 The 20 best places to raise children in the UK The 20 best places to raise children in the UK The Orkney Islands The coast of the Orkney Islands near Bisray village Chmee2/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK The Shetland Islands A general view of the Shetland Islands JOHN D MCHUGH/AFP/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK The Western Isles A man rides his bike on Harris, one of the Western Isles, also known as the Outer Hebrides Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Winchester Choristers from Winchester Cathedral enjoy the artificial rink set up beside the cathedral The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Eden The Hartside Summit in the North Pennines in the district of Eden Christopher Furlong/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Craven A sheepdog works in Skipton, in the district of Craven Christopher Furlong/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Ryedale The Folk Museum in Ryedale Creative Commons/Dennis Smith The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Staffordshire Moorlands Three Shire Heads, which crosses over Cheshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire Wikimedia Commons/Brian Jones The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Huntingdonshire St Ives in Cambridgeshire, which lies within the boundaries of Huntingdonshire snowmanradio/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK South Northamptonshire The village of Bradden and St.Michael's church, in south Northamptonshire Greg Fitchett/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Harrogate Spring flowers adorn the front of the Crown Hotel in the Spa town of Harrogate in Yorkshire and The Humber Christopher Furlong/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Rutland Normanton Church in Rutland NotFromUtrecht/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Warwick The West Midlands county town of Warwick David Alonso Pérez/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Surrey Heath St Michael's Church, Camberley, which is situated in Surrey Heath Len Willians/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Chichester A view of the Cathedral in Chichester Evgeniy Podkopaev/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK South Lakeland Kendal, which lies in South Lakeland Mark Fosh/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Richmondshire The swing bridge in Reeth in Richmondshire Kreuzschnabel/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Tonbridge and Malling Ightham Mote in Tonbridge and Malling Brian Snelson/Creative Commons The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Stratford-on-Avon Straford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare Christopher Furlong/Getty Images The 20 best places to raise children in the UK Aberdeenshire Westhill in Aberdeenshire, Scotland SCOTT CAMPBELL/AFP/Getty Images

Other women shared their own experiences of having traditionally male names. “My middle name is Ross and I have always hated it,” wrote one. “I got teased at school for it, and even though I am in my mid thirties people always make unpleasant comments when they find out.”

But as another person pointed out, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have a young daughter called James, adding: “If a celeb has done it surely it is a green light for us mere mortals to do so also without criticism.”

And others were all for it. “James is my daughter’s middle name. I think it's lovely and a bit different,” wrote one woman, although she admitted not many people agreed with her.