At the park yesterday, we met a baby with the coolest name......Lion! How rad is that? We also know a boy named "Bear" and a boy named "Wolf." They could get together and create a little pack.
Would you choose a classic or offbeat name? The best baby-naming book I've read is Baby Names Now. My friend showed me her copy recently and couldn't stop flipping through it. They suggested awesome names that I wouldn't have thought of, and the book was also super opinionated. (One listing simply read: "Hortense. No!") I'd highly recommend it, if you're brainstorming names.
My current favorite names are Porter for a boy and Lucy for a girl. (My twin sister's name is Lucy, and I'd love to name my future daughter after her.) But they're always changing, so who knows what will happen by the time we have a second child. My friend is a genius at baby naming; her son's name is Jude, and her daughter's name is Theodora, but they call her "Teddy." How cute is that??!!What are your favorite baby names these days? Do you care if the name is popular or not? Would you name your baby after a family member? I'd love to hear...
P.S. The Top 100 Baby Names of 2011, and the blind date test for choosing baby names.
(Top photo of Toby when he was just a few months old)
i also love "anna" for a girl, but "joanna and anna" sounds too weird together:)
ReplyDeleteSo fun. I love thinking about names. My two favorites are Jude and Eleanor. That way they each would have their own Beatles song.
ReplyDeleteMuch love,
B
I love my son's name: Manuel (is a very classic portuguese name). For girl: Maria. Also love Matias, Mateus, Gabriel, Lucas (I guess I have more options for boys ;-))
ReplyDeleteI love the name Jude! My moms name is Judy, and my grandpa always used to call her Jude. I have this one reserved ;)
ReplyDeleteI love Rufus. My sweet husboy is a huge doctor who nerd (so am I, I s'pose) and wants to name a potential daughter "Gallifrey". Aubergine is so pretty too. Or Bryony.
ReplyDeleteNo joke - I have a friend who gave his son the middle name "Pterodactyl". Really?!?
ReplyDeleteI've always liked "Rush" and "Ash" for a boy, or "Lydia" for a girl. Also love Lucy! Naming is far in the future for me, though!
ReplyDeleteMy husbands initials are RGL, and there is a RGL ring that is passed down in the family, so while we will not pass down the name Robert, we will pass down the initials.
ReplyDeleteRoscoe Gerick Larson
So in love with the first name!
I love Annabelle and Amelia for a girl. I also love Milo and Felix for boys!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't give my kid a name like wolf, bear or any other animal for that matter. Its setting them up for playground bullies big time.
ReplyDeleteI've ALWAYS wanted to name my first baby girl Clementine, but get made fun of constantly. But it's just so old-fashioned and beautiful. I can't give it up!
ReplyDeleteI love tradtional names, like Emily and Ivy..but then I also like quirky names too, I always thought 'Wednesday' was an amazing name when i was little. Obviously an addams family fan! x
ReplyDeleteWillamina is adorable for a girl and so is Olive or Imogen. My friend just had a boy named Porter! SO many names to choose! I love old fashioned names and newer names too. Tough decision. Maybe find a name that is similar to the English one, but from another country? xx
ReplyDeleteAwww i love the name Anna too! Any name ending in 'a' is usually beautiful i think.
ReplyDeleteI love the Spaniard version of Lucy, Lucia, which is actually my middle name. I also love Ivy for a girl, but I am not sure if people would make fun of her (thoughts?) Porter is so cool. For boys I like Rafael or Philipo (Pipo in short) XOXO
ReplyDeleteI don't think I can ever like those "weird" names like "Lion, Bear or Wolf." just too strange. Names do grow on kids but sometimes they just are a little too weird.
ReplyDeleteWe picked names for our kids that we thought were not too ordinary but not outlandishly weird, either. And then they both became popular over a year.
Not to mention the name we picked for our boy is the main character on the hit show Sons of Anarchy. We picked Jackson....call him Jax for short sometimes. We had never heard of anyone doing this before. What are the odds? :-)
I love June and Oliver. Right now. ;)
ReplyDeleteI usually like classic names. Androgynous ones make me nervous for the child! And funny spellings? Too many times in school will they have to explain how to pronounce it! As long as it's cute, but strong. I want my child to feel empowered by their name, not constricted or prematurely defined.
ReplyDeleteMy boys are Silas and Griffin.
ReplyDeleteI like slightly off beat, but still recognizable as an actual name. "Lion" is a bit much for my taste.
We tried to stay away from the really popular names to avoid our sons being one of 8 Graysons (or whatever) in his class.
I have a Hudson and an Avery. Love them!
ReplyDeleteMy friend has a little boy and his name is Leo! She pronounces it with this adorable French accent. It's my favourite boy name so far. Kisses
ReplyDeleteWe have an Edmund that we call Teddy. Teddy is still one of my faves. I love Ruby and Jonah, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm daydreaming about a daughter, and after tossing around Julian/Juliet/Jude in my head, I settled on Julia. If we turn out to have a second son I don't have any name. Maybe Jerome? Emil?
ReplyDeleteNever thought I would, but after living in the deep south for 5 years, I officially LOVE double names for girls. Mary Grace, Anna Kate, Beth Anne...
ReplyDeleteI looove thinking about names! My faves are:
ReplyDeleteBoy: August, Smith, Leland, Angus
Girl: Lumin, Ruby, Violet, Ginger, Artemis, Lina, Josie, Gertie
I love thinking about baby names...even though actually putting them to use is far in the future for me!
ReplyDeleteI love Alba, Norah, Ella, and Eisley for a girl. And for boys I love the names Rowan, Augusten, Oliver, or Jameson. Old-fashioned and a bit out of the ordinary...which is why I love them so!
I wouldn't name a child after someone & I definitely don't mind if a name is popular or not.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand names like Lion or Bear.....cute but ridiculous!! I do think you have to have least give some thought to when they go to school & when they grow up!!
It seems to be a US thing to use "last" names as first names these days ie, Hudson & Ryder.
It's a tricky thing....with both my son & daughter, I had pretty much decided their names before they were born or at least we had a short list....they both really suit their names, some babies just look like a particular name I think :)
My criteria for a name -- it absolutely CAN'T be on the top 100 list in the US! We picked Aveline Alenka for our daughter. Aveline is from the Irish/Gaelic Aibhilin which means "desired/wanted child" and Alenka is from the Slovene language and means light/radiance. Neither name is even on the top 1000 in this country, but both are somewhat popular abroad.
ReplyDeleteWe're going to name our first child Rowen or Evelyn!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I know a couple that named their son "Behr Resling" (pronounced "bear wrestling").
I've already decided that our future daughter (if we have one...wink wink) will be named Hadley. I fell in love with it after reading The Paris Wife. But of course I always fall in and out of love with names so it may change.
ReplyDeleteOur daughter's name is Finley and she often goes by Fin, but calls herself Fifi (she's two). I think Fox is a great name for a boy.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite girl name is Hazel June. It is claimed for sure.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are seriously considering naming our son Waits (after Tom Waits). Are we crazy here?
We also like Abraham - Abe for short. I love the name Chapel for a boy, but the hubs says no. Also considering Arthur
Lion? Not Lionel? Maybe it was short for Lionel? To be honest, I think Lion is a bit much. But I chose a traditional name for my son.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI like Ainsley or Teagan for a girl and Colby for a boy.
ReplyDeletefor a boy, i love: jack, hudson, henry, liam, and now, porter! great name! for a girl, i love: lily, violet, colette, and now theodora (teddy - so cute!). oh and finn and sawyer. both for either a boy or girl! :)
ReplyDeleteWe named our baby girl Eloise. We lived in NYC at the time and felt it fitting to name our sweet girl after the little girl that lives in the Plaza hotel.
ReplyDeleteI don't have children (yet), but hubby and I have always loved for a girl Isabella and Jeremy. :)
ReplyDeleteMaria
I love bad ass names for boys. Cowboy names: Cash, Jed (short for Jedidiah) and Calhoun (Cal for short)
ReplyDeleteFor girls I love Scout, Ruby and Dolly (after Dolly Parton).
And I've always wanted to give a little girl the middle name "Darling" after the family in Peter Pan. And because you can't get too mad when using her full name when she is in trouble if you are calling her "darling"
It seems 'fun' but I think it's a bit ridiculous when kids are called things like Apple.. or Lion tbh! More suited for a pet imo?
ReplyDeleteSome of my favourites are a bit uncommon but not tooo far.. Estee or Essie for short, Amelia, Ezra or Ellis
I love not-so-popular first names, with great nicknames. So names along the lines of
ReplyDeleteWren nn Birdie
Elodie nn Lola
Liberty nn Libby
Blythe nn Bee
Delphine nn Dell
Hawthorne nn Hawk
Whistler nn Whit
Bowen nn Bo
Easton nn East
Everett nn Rhett
....and that's just the short list!
Bear and Wolf are great (And not un'proper' names.)
ReplyDeleteI do hope little Lion has this amazing lion jacket!
My wee one is Gabriel but we considered all sorts of names (in fact, he was called Davide for the first 3 days until we realised the Scottish half of this Scottish/Sicilian/Canadian family struggled with the pronunciation).
Love Giacomo for boys.
If we have a girl... I like Hero or Myrtle... or Sofia after my best bud, I like my classics!
Or Nita after my grandmother. god I love this game.
Becca at GGC has the BEST naming skills though.
Old favorites :Elaine, Amy, Maura, Scott, Matthew, Peter.
ReplyDeleteNew Favorites: Rose, Claire, Madeline, James, Jude and Luke.
As someone with a quirky name, I'm in favour of going for something a bit eccentric. But stay away from fashionable names! There are far too many children called Jaden, Braden, Aiden, and Hayden, these days (also McKenzie, Jordan, Chloe, and Sohphia, in my opinion). If you need to dig for something a little unexpected, head back in time 150 or so years or go for a last name like Harrison, Kennedy, or Powell.
ReplyDeleteOh what happened to Elliot?! I find it easier to name boys too. We have one reserved and I don´t want to share it just yet. My friends did a great job at naming their 3 kids: Jonah, Ida and Kai. Love it!
ReplyDeleteTwo friends of mine recently delivered - a boy and a girl: Tim and Louisa!
I think you did a great job with Toby - we share our birthday too ;) - just 28 years apart, haha :)
We have trouble finding nice girl's name, but have loads in mind when it comes to boys. Our favourites are Nathaniel and Timothy (dunno why but I just love names with "th" in them) because they're classy but not too popular so our child won't possible meet five kids with the same name at school:) As for girls, the only one we were able to come up with was Helena but with this exact spelling. It's my gran's name so I'm sure she'd be chuffed if our baby had the same one:)
ReplyDeleteOh! Forgot one of my favorites
ReplyDeleteWilla nn Billie
Yup! Love that one.
I love thinking about names - there are so many great ones out there :) Since my own name is different, and I have always loved that, I love the idea of giving my kids names that won't be too popular either. However - family names are important in my family. We like Trygg for a boy [an homage to my norwegian heritage] and Lily for a girl.
ReplyDeleteI like the offbeat/different names, especially for boys.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I have narrowed down our list to a few... for boys we like Penn and Reed and for girls Zooey, Schuyler, and Julianne.
Our baby boy is named Easton....it's my mother's maiden name. We would love to name our next baby (if it's a girl) either London or Birdie. I just love Birdie, but I'm thinking it might just be a little too "out-there" for adult-hood.
ReplyDeletejo have you seen this baby naming blog? i'm obsessed! http://swistlebabynames.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletei read update after update from people who write to swistle needing her naming expertise. SO INTERESTING.
Lately I've been loving Cosette for a girl (think Les Miserables) and nicknaming her "Cozy."
ReplyDeleteI'm also in love with Irish and French names, such as Darragh (for girl or boy), Tegan, and Vivienne. I love talking about baby names!
My husband and I are expecting in October and we just yesterday settled on a name... Hazen. I love it because it reminds me of my favorite grandma in the entire world who was Hazel. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI've always loved thinking about names. I really love the name Xavier Eduard. I've always loved the way the French version of Xavier sounds and my Grandpere's middle name is Eduard. James has always been a favourite of mine as well.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I've always been more attracted to boy names than girl names. :p
My favorite girl name, that my husband would NEVER be down for, is Magnolia. I think it's perfect. Luckily, we agree on boy names because that's what we're expecting.
ReplyDeleteWe want to name our first daughter Lucia (pronounced "Loo-CHEE-uh") after my grandmother, whose maiden name was Santa Lucia. I think it's pretty and unique, and it's meaningful to us.
ReplyDeletelion was our choice for our baby boy up until right before he was born. then we switched to blue. so glad we did because he has big blue eyes! i dont think animal names are wierd at all...whats wierd to me is why people choose names that millions of other new people are handing out to their kids...like jackson! thats strange to me. be original people!
ReplyDeletehappy to read this post as we are expecting a little girl in 2 months and havent locked a name in yet!
yes! i LOVE the name lucy :)
ReplyDeleterosalynn is what i'm saving for my baby girl ;)
ReplyDeletealissa b
http://alissab.us
Those are sweet names! My husband's middle name is Ze'ev, which means "wolf," and it SO fits him! Anyway, we'd love a little girl named Emmanuelle after my father-in-law whose middle name was Emanuel or an Avital. I'm a sucker for a boy named Ben. I guess I like to keep things traditional with a hint of a twist.
ReplyDeleteWhen are you finally going to say you're pregnant again?
ReplyDeleteOooh, I LOVE Porter for a boy or girl.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently stuck on Charlotte (Lottie) for a girl and Leo for a boy.
I LOVE the names our friends chose for their brood: Maddox, Delaney, Sawyer, and Beckett. (Their middle two are girls.) Talk about names that work for babes, but can totally grow with the kiddos into adulthood, and are interesting and cool!
I'm a big fan of the classics and family names. My grandmother is "Lola" so I plan on using that as a first or middle for my daughter one day! I also recently heard the name "Keats" for a boy and I'm loving that as well.
ReplyDeleteMy son went to daycare with a little boy named Fox - not so sure about that. Guess it's okay for a nickname...?
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of naming a little one after a family member. My grandmother is Elisabeth and goes by Betty - how cute would Betty or Bess or Libby be?
My personal criteria are: French (or sounds good with our French last names), not in the American top 10, somehow honors a family member (middle or first name), and for a girl it can't be too 'out there'. My mom has this theory that girls are already marginalized, so why make it even harder to succeed. This was in the wake of both my nieces having very original names.
I love those names. I am for anything classic...Max, Jack, Anna. However my grandma's name is Sonoma and I LOVE her name. So differnt and fitting. :)
ReplyDeletehow can a person be a "genius" at baby naming? that's like being a genius at eating an apple or something.
ReplyDeletewe named our daughter norah kelly (kelly being a family name) but it was SO HARD to narrow it down! there are so many girls names i love... loren, quinn, wren, maggie, morgan, ruby, ramona, jane, and so on.
ReplyDeleteboys names were so much harder for us to decide on. good thing we had a girl! i like like benjamin, ryan & ezra, hubby likes henry, julian, & elliot.
:)
a friend of mine just had a son... he named him Corbin, which is such a great name... middle name: Tank.
ReplyDeleteshe balked at the name but compromised by letting it be the middle name.
Johann & Lotte! Our kids names :-) We thouhgt also about Leo for another boy oder Emma or Alva for a girl.
ReplyDeleteBoy names that double as occupations (Hunter, Cooper, Porter, Thatcher, Mason) make me scratch my head. I'd prefer my son was named John, Eric, Paul...
ReplyDeleteAnd giving a girl an androgynous name (Charlie, Teddy, Brooks, any last-name-as-first-name) also seems too trendy.
I knew a girl in junior high who wanted to name a son Anakin, like Anakin Skywalker. >.<
I love Nerina for a girl. Also love Anna and Miette.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of any boy's names I really like!
We have three "Js": Javier, Jorge and Julia. They are not named after any relative (that was my husband's rule) although I actually chose the names (or gave the successful options!).
ReplyDeleteHonestly? I think people spend too much energy trying to be #original#...
ReplyDeletehonestly - I'm pretty sure your little twiglet will be a unique individual regardless of their name.
A rose by any other name etcetera, no?
Most people think I'm NUTS for the names I've picked out, but I absolutely love the name "Cordelia" for a girl - nick name "Cordy". For a boy, I like "Emerson", after the inspiring Ralph Waldo Emerson.
ReplyDeleteI love Olivia or Caroline for a girl and Oliver, Adam or Daniel for a boy. We don't have the tradition of middle names in my country (Slovakia) so I'll just have to pick one.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved the named "Lucy". Lucy Honeychurch from "A Room with a View" is a favorite. Porter is great, too. I never liked my name as a child (thought I sounded like a boy!) but now I do. It's different but not too crazy. Not too sure about Lion, Bear and Wolf. :)
ReplyDeleteMy brothers and I all have first names from my dad's family and middle names from my mom's. I like the idea of incorporating family names, but I also have some personal favorites - Adelaide, Lola Jeanette (Jeanette's my mom's name), Sloan ... boy names are harder for me! I do like Porter. Reading these comments have been fun ... Eric, Ezra ...
ReplyDeleteMy kids are named Chaz (Charles) and Lucy.
ReplyDeleteMy top two baby names that were not used: Kai & Iris.
WOLF: loved that name, but was not brave enough or supported.
Names that linger as favourites but not really thought of since my last was born and then eventually named:
Eve, Enid, Ruby is cute. Sofie. Mirabel. Penelope. Olive. Agatha. Esther.
Hugo, Elliot, Oscar. Fenn.
ha, i used to know a girl named hortense!
ReplyDeletei love thinking about baby names. i usually like slightly unusual and offbeat names, probably because my own name is very unique.
My favorite baby names are 1-Clear to the gender of the child, 2-easy to pronounce and spell, 3- recognizable, but not super common. My name, Cynthia, is all of these and i love it. No one can make fun of it because it doesn't rhyme with anything or sound like anything else. No one has ever mistaken me for a boy. I use the typical spelling so that's not usually an issue. And i've never had more than 1 other Cynthia in my class at a time. It's a great name! :)
ReplyDeleteI love traditional names as well, Annie (my moms name is Ann) and Evangeline for girls. But since moving overseas and being closer to England I'm loving Poppy, Oliver and Jude!
ReplyDeleteI have three children, two boys, Mitchell and Spencer and a girl, Caroline. I'm expecting my fourth, another girl, and am thinking we'll name her Brynn or Claire. Also, another great baby name book is The New Baby Name Survey. It lets you know how other people perceive a name. For example, when people hear the name Vanessa, they picture an attractive brunette. It's a fun read.
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought of Lion but I kinda like it! I really like Eleanor, Olive, and Violet for a girl and Owen, Charlie, and Henry for a boy.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many great ideas in these comments! Here are my picks:
ReplyDeleteGirl: Eliza
Boy: Rohan
I love this post, and the comments are great! I've always been a fan of Joakim for a boy (pronounced in the Swedish way yoo-a-kim), but my husband wouldn't go for that one. Darn!
ReplyDeleteI love names & name meanings - will bookmark this for potential future children ;)
ReplyDeleteI imagine I'll choose something in the middle of traditional and Bear. I'm a female "Jay" and I love my name. I loved that I didn't know a single other 'Jay' although always hated when people shortened Jason to Jay.
I believe that naming a baby is a serious responsibility. It's not the time to get cute and highly creative. When I found out I was having a daughter 14 years ago, I spent so much time researching and thinking. We finally settled on Virginia Elizabeth, and haven't regretted the choice.
ReplyDeleteMy fiance is from Peru and I'm from India so we've decided that if we have a boy, he will have a Spanish first name (that my fiance will choose) and an Indian middle name (that I will choose) and if we have a girl, she will have an Indian first name and a Spanish middle name. :)
ReplyDeleteOur daughter is Nell (nickname Nella), which obviously I love.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise these are my lists for names that I like.
Girl: Ella Beth, Arabella, Lillia, Ava, Greer, Carys,
Rubina (our daughters middle name), Margot or Margarita, Milly, Audrey, Delilah, Iris, Bess, Livia, Priya, Lola
Boy: Rory, Flynn, Jed, Jasper, Zephyr, Ned, Otis
We have a hyphenated last name, so prefer shorter names for first names.
Currently we are not aiming for any more kids, but if we had a boy it would be (first name, middle name) Jed Zephyr so we can nickname him JZ. A girl, I would probably chose Carys Margarita.
I always said I didn't want popular names for my kids. My son was born 2 months ago and we named him Ethan Edward. Ethan is in the top 10 for boys in the US, but my husband loved it so much and in the end it just felt right. We were planning on naming him Vance for a long time, but I'm glad we went with Ethan. If we have a girl in the future, she will be Annabelle or Clara.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend I met a girl named Pandora, but everyone calls her Panda!
ReplyDeleteI love my boys names - Eli and Sam but one of our neighbours just had a baby boy and called him Archer and I think that is pretty much the greatest name ever.
ReplyDeletelion ftw! my son's name is lav, which means lion in my language. when we thought of that name a couple years ago (a couple years before actually having our son, who is a month old now) we had never heard of anyone with that name, but funnily enough the it seems to be becoming popular in our country so instead of being super-unique our son now has a super-trendy name.
ReplyDeleteGenevieve, Lucy, Elise for girls
ReplyDeleteDean, Edgar, Alex for boys
My boys are Milo and Eliot, and my next one will either be Simon or Solomon.
ReplyDeleteI love Olive, Ani, and Esme for girls...and hope to be able to use one of those someday!
jack for a boy (and i tell all my friends my first son will be named that so they don't take it first! it's my grandpa's name so i REALLY want it!! lol)
ReplyDeleteand i LOVE LOVE LOVE the name olive for a girl (though i can't tell my boyfriend that since it's been our agreement that he claims the role of naming the girl since i have claimed the name jack!!)
i dont have many ideas for girls names, but i like Rebeca, Bárbara, Alicia, Aurora and my own name Isadora, nn Isa.
ReplyDeletefor boys name i really like jeremy in portuguese wich is Jeremias, i also like Paco (a spanish name) and Ernesto
I have three girls names that I *LOVE*, my number 1 choice is going to be kept secret and only her father will know until she arrives. However, it's swedish so it kind of gives the illusion of being "worldly" imo. Haha. The other two names I love are, sadly, pretty popular. Emma and Ava (but I've loved both since I was a child and Ava only recently became popular!). For boys, I'm extremely picky. There aren't many names that I LOVE, but there are some that I like alot and I would most likely use such as Julien, Bryson, Devin, and Wyatt. I think I'll just hand my husband a list of boys names that I'd consider and let him choose, because I can't make up my mind!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if choosing a girls name is easier than a boys name. Most of my friends now their girls choice!
Jude and Lucy are such great names! I really love Charlotte and Sophia. I'm also a fan of Ingrid, but everyone else seems to think it sounds really old. I think it sounds classy! For a boy, I love Adam and Alexander - they seem like strong names.
ReplyDeleteLion? Really?
ReplyDeleteI'm all for being creative in some aspects of life, but why would you give your kid a name that will cause them misery? I just don't get it.
I am sick to death of all the new invented names such as "Jayden" "Payden", etc. What's wrong with a good classical name?! I just can't take people seriously w. names like that. And there's a whole crop of them growing up :(
It's a nice thought to name your next kid after your sister, but keep in mind.. especially as she grows up, that it'll then get confusing when you're talking about Lucy. "Hey mom, Lucy wants this shirt for Xmas" (uhh is that your sister or my granddaughter you're talking about?). Etc.
I like Toby because it's cute for a little boy, but Tobias will be taken seriously. He could be a CEO. Skylar... probably not.
I like the name Rea (pronounced Ray) for a girl. I've liked Lincoln for a boy, but I recently caved and named my dog that ;)
ReplyDeleteMy parents combined their names to get mine. Joe & Ann. Thank god they added the A to the end =)
ReplyDelete-Joanna
When I come across a post like this, I do a little Ctrl F, type in the name and make sure it's nowhere to be found then I'm on my merry way. No offense y'all but I've had that thing on lock for like five years now and there's no way I'm giving it up. My husband is even sworn to secrecy : )
ReplyDeleteI love Wren with the nickname Birdie! clever.
ReplyDeleteThose same authors have a newer book, as well, which we have, and is really fun: "Beyond Ava and Aiden" (2009).
Our first girl is due in a few weeks, and her name's a big secret, but for future girls, we love old-fashioned names like Rosemary (my grandmother), Penelope, and Polly (maybe as a nickname for Polyhymnia, muse of poetry).
Boys' names are harder! But a formula I kind of like is an English king first name (real and legendary): Arthur, James, Henry, Edward; with an Old Testament prophet middle name: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea.
Juliette Lucia
ReplyDeleteand
Graham Alexander
I've seen that Elliot is super popular for a girl- and calling her "Elli"
Eat Cake
We have an Amelia. We call her Milly.
ReplyDeleteOther names we had on our list were Moira and Lucinda for girls and Elliot, Jeremy and Quinn for boys.
I prefer traditional names that are under used.
As for strange names I have a friend who named her son Kool. For real. It has grown on us. He's now a teenager and is pretty darn cool.
Marin, Kool in Dutch is "cabbage" so it's not a name we could have!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I have had names for our kids picked out since we were dating... It'll still be a couple years before we're ready to have any, but I love that we know their names anyway. I won't give away the full choices, but we do love "Gemma" for a girl and "Jude" for a boy... I also really love Ruby, Jackson, and Griffin.
ReplyDeleteFor a girl, my bf's niece is called Toscan (french for Tuscany) cos she was 'made' there! Their second daughter is called Eugénie!
ReplyDeleteI love these 2 girls' names!
I'm an Anna and I love my name, even when I found myself to be one of 4 Anna's at a toddler group I didn't mind (they were all pretty cool people!). I like old fashioned, grandparent names - I agree with the King thing! We have Matilda (Tilly), Arthur and Florence. We also used Alice, Charlotte, Agnes, Rose, Joel and Howard (after my late father in law). They seem to work as both baby names and grown up names.
ReplyDeleteI am a teacher so I definitely have a strong opinion about names that are weird or hard for a child to deal with. My current favorite girl name, which I hope to get to use since I'm almost 37 and not married so no children here, is Sydney. I'm a big fan of Jake for a boy, or Harrison.
ReplyDeleteI just don't think boys should be given names they can't be taken seriously by in the business world when they are adults. I have a friend who named her son Haven, which is cute as a kid, but it's hard to picture when he's a CEO or trying to do marketing. :)
Urgh, anyone remember Tiger Woods voice messages to the girls he cheated on his wife with: 'Hi, it's tiger'... I would never.
ReplyDeleteFor girls I love
ReplyDeleteNoelle
Reagan
Hanneli
& Ruby
For boys
Nathan
Liam
Penn
& Aleph
Although I'm no where near having a baby haha
I was a nanny for triplet girls who's father was a pilot and their names were Amelia (like Earhart), Charli (like Lindeberg) and Skylar! And they had a little brother named Jet!
ReplyDeletei always had more ideas for boy's then for girl's.
ReplyDeleteFor boy's i'd always loved león, that's spanish for "lion" and nicholás.
for girl's it always seemed harder but i love olivia or olive.
Amelia, Emilia, Antonia, Isabel, LucÃa, Clara, Colomba for girls.
ReplyDeleteBenjamin, Martin, Nicolas, Emilio, Diego for boys.
My sister named her daughter after me. She asked me before (in person) if I'd be fine with it, and I said "yes" without really having time to think about it? In retrospect, I wish I had said I'd be honored but I'd prefer if it was her middle name. It was jarring at first (and sometimes still is) when people in the family say my name and are not referring to me. As a child, I had to fight a bit to have my own identity separate from my siblings, and having another person in the family with my same name felt like taking my identity away a little. I'm still honored and don't want to sound ungrateful for her gesture, but wanted to bring this up for you to consider because it's really hard to say "no" when someone wants to name their child after you.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's name is Eden Lanier, and my sons' names are Steven Augustine ("August")and James Titus ("Titus"). They each have a Biblical and a family name :)
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's name is Piper Grace, and our name for a future son is Caleb Austen.
ReplyDeleteWe're not even close to being pregnant yet, but my husband and I talk about baby names all the time. I hate when people try and make their baby name so unique it ends up being hard to spell, really weird, and something the child eventually dislikes.
ReplyDeleteWe've found tons of cute names for girls (we have 4 we adore) and very few for boys (we have 3 that are okay, but we're still on the shelf about).
I know it sounds terrible, but I try not to share mine because I'm afraid of someone stealing that. Isn't it silly? I know the name I pick will be something someone else will use, but I try and keep it secret!
BUT names we probably won't use but I still love: Jack, Lucy, Eleanor, Emerson, Dagny (from "Atlas Shrugged"), Manasseh (I had a coworker with this name, and he was such a great man) and Jameson.
Also, I think it's good to have two or three baby names before your baby comes. My mom always had a plan B and C for when we were born, and she ended up picking wonderful names for me and my siblings.
I'm not planning on having a baby, but my two top options would be Magdalena and Vicente (I'm Argentinean, so they're in Spanish- the English version would be Madeleine and Vincent)
ReplyDeleteI have two sons, Marlowe and Theodore. Like your friend's daughter, Theo's nickname is Teddy.
ReplyDeleteFor a girl I like Leah and Camille. I also love Rex for a boy.
Wolf has a couple other online buddies named Hawk and Fox! seriously, these kids need to form a pack.
ReplyDeletegirl names I'm loving right now are Wren and Lark, to continue the animal names, and Elise - always a favorite. hopefully we have a girl the next time around because I'm always lost when it comes to boy names!
I really like Fiona for a girl, and Fons for a boy, but we'll probably end up with Rosa, after my grandmother :)
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who named her son Wolfgang Von, So that his full name could be "Wolfgang Von'Kuder" :)
ReplyDeleteKELLY for a BOY.
ReplyDeletethe hottest guy at my high school was a kelly. H-O-T.
Nadia ;)
ReplyDeletewww.lipoooo.blogspot.com
I do love the name Lucy so much so my little mini me was given that name. Lion is well....different. To name a child is a huge responsibility and choosing one that isn't "picked on" prone is tough
ReplyDeleteI already have an Oliver and we're expecting another little one this winter. I don't know why but I love the name Charlie for a girl and Max has come up it it's a boy. We'll see!!
ReplyDeleteI love the name Oryx for a boy. We have chosen the Hebrew version of it, Re'em.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Rory. We seldom meet another Rory but I guess we've not been to Scotland or Ireland much ;) It's cute as a boys name but quite manly too. My friends husband is named Rory and when she talks about him I can imagine my Rory's future wife talking about him :)
ReplyDeleteWe are expecting baby 2 in 10 weeks. Our boys name is Jude and girls name Gabriella. Jude is Hebrew and means Praise or Thankful. What a lovely meaning.
I love last names as first names.
ReplyDeletefor a girl: Kennedy, Bowie, Darcy, Alexandria, Capucine.
for a boy: Grover, Allen.
I should think more about boys names.
I love the idea of naming babies.
I have two boys with no desire to procreate anymore. However, I always wanted a girl named Megan Elizabeth. If I had another boy I liked Loring Scott. I also have an affection for Ainsley for a girl.
ReplyDeleteI love names that are different, this may come from my name being not a common one. For girls I like Nora, Grey, and Libby
ReplyDeleteFor boys Lioness, Beckum, and Jude
Julia or Elise for a girl and Harrison or Russell for a boy. My guy's family has a tradition where the oldest boy takes his father's first name as his middle name. I love that and we will continue it.
ReplyDeleteSorry but Lion and wolf are terrible names. Those are not names, and I feel like parents are just trying to be cool and not thinking that an actual person will have to live with that name. Lucy and Porter, however, are adorable.
ReplyDeleteThis post is so timely! We're expecting our first baby in the new year. We have a couple of boys names we both like but cannot agree on girls at all! Our last name is short (and boring) and I like long, pretty girls names that are not so common (Clementine, Flora, Cecilia etc). My husband is very picky and only seems to like names that are all really popular (Isabella, Sophia, Emily etc). Whilst I don't mind them I would rather choose something less common. We are not finding out the sex of our baby but I have 3 sisters and 4 nieces so chances are we'll need a girl name! Any tips?
ReplyDeletepeople try SO HARD these days to come up with something unique...it just ends up sounding like they tried too hard! classic names win every time in my book.
ReplyDeleteWe're having a boy, but keeping the name hush hush until the little guy arrives.... just to avoid anyone passing on an unwanted opinion. However, in the mean time we've given him the nickname Baby Quinoa. It's a joke on new-age-y baby names and started back when he was probably only the size of a cooked piece of quinoa. I think it might stick.
ReplyDeleteMy sister did an amazing job naming her two girls: August and Franky May. My brothers also have names I really love: Silas and Nevan.
xo
My mum always wanted to call me Araminta but didn't because my dad didn't like it. I love it though, and it's definitely what I'd like to call my daughter.
ReplyDeleteThe comments are great in this post!
ReplyDeleteWas just talking about this last night with my boyfriend after watching Away We Go. (Although no where close to baby time for us :)
My name is Aja, pronounced Asia after the Steely Dan album. I have always loved having a unique name, I would want the same for my kids.
Love boys names for girls too - like Stevie or Frankie
Bruce is a favorite for a boy, may or may not be after a favorite musician.
One of my son's middle names is McCartney. Of course, The Beatles are our all time favorite but I love how dignified it sounds.
ReplyDeleteI was named after my mother's sister-Laura. So, then my family started calling the elder Laura "Lolly" as her nickname to distinguish from me, the new kid on the block. As an adult, I've gotten the feeling that she kind of resents sharing a name with me. She passive aggressively brings it up all the time - like "mom, you know my name is laura too, right" ? It's been uncomfortable for years. Not to dissuade, but it's not always the perfect/honoring/flattery situation that you imagine it.
ReplyDeleteTo Charlotte who posted at 12:00 PM my name is Ivy. I say go for it! I love my name, and don't hear it often.
ReplyDeleteYou won't hear a peep from me; oh-no! My names are under strict lock and key. Each time a friend tells me she's pregnant, I quietly take her aside, congratulate her, and tell her what names she absolutely cannot give to her child. Should any choose to share my secret or -- heaven, forbid -- steal the name, they will be disowned faster than they can say "Benedict Arnold".
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to the some savvy searching through these comments, it looks like my top 5 are still safe. :)
I named one of my daughters Marnie, which is unusual but not weird. But people assume it's a nickname for some other name (it's not) -- Marnie finally got tired of the question and now says it's short for Marnielicious. :)
ReplyDeleteI already have my future hypothetical children's names picked out -- though I honestly don't know if I ever will have children! Seville for a girl, Dante for a boy.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite baby name is Ella. It's elegant and so classic.
ReplyDeleteUh, Lion is a completely idiotic name. I knew someone called Bear, even as an adult, but that was a nickname.
ReplyDeleteNumerous studies have shown the strong links between traditional names and others' perceptions of the intelligence and success of the person with the name in question. Even people with traditional names with less traditional spellings are considered less intelligent.
Despite the current surge in the popularity of "old time" names, too many parents still try to get creative with names. Please, do not saddle your child with a ridiculous name. Choosing a child's name is not the time to "express" yourself.
Your name is your brand.
Lion? Are you for real? Wolf? Bear? Parents are ridiculous nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThe inkwell, are yu serious? You dictate to a pregnant woman what she can name her child? You don't own names. I'm surprised you have friends.
ReplyDeleteI like classic, but rare names. Names that you hear in books or movies, but don't meet someone with that name everyday. I really like my own name (Stella). My parents did such a good job! I get compliments all the time. (And people yelling "STELLLLAAAA!" at the top of their lungs haha)
ReplyDeleteI love the name Atticus so that is what we named our first child a boy. I also love the name Clementine and Penelope. For a boy I love Thatcher.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of the comments above -- I'm tired of made up names.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think boys have a tendency to have it harder on them when they're older and have unusual names.
I was a camp counselor for many years, and the kids with unusual names get picked on. Some may say it builds character, but when you have to comfort a kid named Sailor/Blaze/Archer at eight years old because of his name, it's not very fun.
Also, people shouldn't give their children middle names which are last names unless the name is a family name. Otherwise, it's completely pretentious.
ReplyDeleteIt's so sad when parents try hard to be unique and cool and end up naming their kids Lion or Wolf. It's pretentious and transparent and their poor kids have to live with it. Don't give your child a name that people will confuse with a pet.
ReplyDeleteWe named our first daughter Selah (pronounced Say-la) and our second arriving in October will be named Fallon. I like unusual names that hopefully won't be a curse later in life. I like Cash for a boy, but it would sound ridiculous with our last name-Cash Nickles. Lol. I"m not too fond of Lion...I appreciate the uniqueness, but I'm just imagining him introducing himself during an important board meeting as an adult and saying "I'm Lion Jones". It just sounds silly. Hope he doesn't decide to be a lawyer. ;)
ReplyDeletep.s. I definitely wouldn't name my baby after myself, but I always suggest it to others!
ReplyDeleteThis post is so timely! I'm pregnant with our first child and my husband and I are having trouble agreeing on names. Thank you thank you! Just ordered the book!
ReplyDeleteI recently heard of someone naming their daughter "Lake". At first I thought it was too weird, but it kind of grew on me.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I like the classic names better. Porter is adorable! I also love "Ruby" but my husband nixed it.
i love the name jude! that's in my top 5 for boys. theodora is great too, especially love the nickname teddy!
ReplyDeletemy favorites are mila and malaika (pronounced mah-lie-kah) for girls and ian and lucas for boys.
i'm african, but grew up in america so i have favorite names from both of my "homes"... should be interesting!
With all due respect, I think the name "Lion" is ridiculous. I suggest when picking baby names, people think about how it will sound on a resume when the child is an adult. Is someone going to take an applicant serious if his name is Lion? Would someone want to hire a person with the name Lion to interact with his or her clients? Not to mention that the kid is going to be made fun of in school his whole life and will probably resent his parents for naming him that. Save names like "Lion" for your pets.
ReplyDeleteMy boys: Kyan and Luca.
ReplyDeleteWe named our son Fausto! We jokingly started calling him that in utero (after Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi) and it just stuck. I never thought I'd name my kid something so unusual, but I love how unique it is. And that it is a real name...I'm not into names that are just made up. If we ever have a girl, we plan to name her Penelope (and call her Penny) but have no idea what we would name another boy. I do love Toby :)
ReplyDeleteI named my daughter Kinsey and she is sometimes called "kiki". I love both.
ReplyDeleteGideon is a favorite for a boy.
I like Aleks - classic name, offbeat spelling :) This is the correct English-Slovenian spelling.
ReplyDeleteMy 1 yr old is named Lucy. Love it. We call her "Lulu" a lot of the time. I also loved Eliza. If she were a boy, she was going to be Max.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not, at this point, plan to have children, I often dream of names for them. My sister did awesome by naming hers off-beat names and those boys are truly fitting to their calling. Finn and Frey (pronounced like The Fray) are perfect.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to have a girl tomorrow, she would be Scarlett (Scar) and my boy would be Henry (Hank). I thought I loved the off-beat but these two are clearly classics.
Harper and Margot are my faves for girls. For boys, I'm particularly fond of Oliver (Ollie) and Sebastian.
ReplyDelete"Ilhane" is how my parent calls me ans i really like it.
ReplyDeletewe like old fashioned names, although--AVA my oldests' is now one of the top 5! boo. still love it though. our youngest is GEORGIA, named after our song georgia on my mind (the willy nelson version.) georgia is also growing in popularity. oh well. if we have another girl, i'd like to name her amelia. our boy name is will. my husband is the 4th and i won't mess with tradition. =)
ReplyDeleteI always said as a kid that I would have twin girls and name one Julie and one Anne. Of course, now that seems ridiculous. To the commenter who said their child needs the first initials RG, my late brother was named Russell Gray. I love Roscoe though. I also love my great-grandmother's, name Josie Pearl.
ReplyDeletenot a fan of the animal names. Cute as nicknames for a baby, but not a true name, IMO.
ReplyDeleteI think your choices are cute. I'm not generally a fan of last names as first names, just because it is so trendy now, but Porter is a distinguished, handsome name. I know several little Lucy's and they are all super cute. :)
I like classic names that are not overly used. Something timeless, that cannot be pinpointed to one era. Not overly old fashioned, but also not anything too current or trendy.
And, please, please, spell names correctly!! Look up the original spelling of a name and use that!
Girl: Jennifer, Jamie, Marcelina
ReplyDeleteBoy: Dave, James, Kurt
My nephew (the son of MY twin sister) is named Jett. His full name is Jett James Johnson. It's just about the coolest name I have ever heard & fits him perfectly.
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, though, was the name definitely spelled LION, and were the parents Americans (or from another English-speaking region?) It occurs to me that that name could potentially be normal in a difference language. In English? Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteLucy is a cute name. I am anti-Porter only because it is one of those "last names as a first name" pretentious preppy-wannabe names. And that is too bad, because it could be an elegant name.
Trends have ruined so many names. My sister-in-law named each of her 3 kids Top 10 trendy names (as opposed to any of the perennial top 10 names, like Michael.) Her daughter is named Sophia and Sophia used to be such an elegant name. Now, though, you can bet that when she enters school she'll be one of at least 5 other Sophias. The name to me is now the Tiffany or Ashley of the '80s.
I chose unique names for my kids and wouldn't have it any other way
ReplyDeleteRyann Elizabeth
Kessler Bane
If we have another girl we're thinking of Tatum and if it's a boy we're thinking of Boon
My 23 month old is called Meadow!
ReplyDeleteI also loved Luna but people kept saying she would get called Lunatic which means next time, I will not share names until after the baby is actually here :)
baby names are probably my favorite thing to daydream about. my personal taste leans towards the classics (or spins on them) but i am all about different, interesting names. i recently heard a little boy called "Legend"!
ReplyDeleteI love "Olive" and call her "Liv." I also love "Violet," calling her "Vi."
ReplyDeleteI have a baby Peter, who is the cutest thing ever! However, we mostly call him Smooch!
My daughters name is Evelyn Mae and if we have a boy next it will be Amos Leo Baker. I love old fashioned names and family names. Those are both. If we have a girl I like Mabel, Millie (Milldred), Bonnie. A weirder one I like though is Starling, but I don't like Star as a short name.
ReplyDeleteFor a girl I love Juliet or Julianne. My mom and I both have the same first and middle initials so I'd love to continue that tradition. Boy names I have a pile but top five are: Henry, Derek, Thomas, Frederick, Nathaniel.
ReplyDeleteIn hebrew animals name are very common. Lion is Arie, Bear is Dov and Wolf is Zeev.
ReplyDeleteUsually hebrew names have meaning, biblical or real life stuff. for example Tal is a common name for boys and girls and it's meaning is Dew.
Oskar & Tallulah are my favorites (also what I named my 2 kids :)
ReplyDeleteI have a Hal Donavon and a Tate Nicole. We have a long last name. I love that their namea have significant personal meanings, are real names yet not super popular.
ReplyDeleteWe named our daughter Hazel Bee Sweet. I'm sure she will kill us when she is older! Our twins are named Oliver and Charlotte. I love porter! Never thought of using it! Teddy is too adorable for words as well!
ReplyDeleteA pet peeve: Naming kids nicknames.
ReplyDeletePlease, do not name your child "Dave." Name him David and call him Dave.
My brother has a name which is, in English, a nickname (and a childish one, and spelled like a girl's name, at that.) But, he was named after a close (first-generation American) relative and the name, in its language of origin, is the actual full name (and is not traditionally pronounced as it is in English, but our family has anglicized the pronunciation.) Our last name is Irish and so his first name definitely appears to be a nick name rather than the "ethnic" name that it is. People are forever assuming it is his nick name and it seems weird that he would put it on his resume. He doesn't feel he is taken seriously because of the name.
Another pet peeve: Giving your kid an "unusual spelling" of a traditional name because it is correct in another language, but that language is not your language or the language of your ancestors.
well i was named after my moms late best friend sister!! very glad i was. i am into asian names.I love emiko , aoi for a girl and heero or amuro for a boy. i named my little sister honi and my niece name is reyn. my nephews names are monte,prince,justice, my nieces names are mahogani and monet ther3s only one who has a regular name lol. my niecs also have cute middle names like cinnamon and breeze. we are a fun filled family oh and my cousin was named after all of her aunts her same is nijevah ( ni-g-va)
ReplyDeleteI have Luci (girl, short for Lucinda), Griffin (boy) and Eliot (girl). My neighbor has a son named Porter, love that. We also know a Palmer (girl) and I love that too for a girl.
ReplyDeleteI was a ballet dancer growing up and loved the name Odette from Swan Lake for a little girl. I also love Wyatt for a boy.
ReplyDeleteMy l11 year old daughter is Saylor Bleu....and my 15 year old son is Sawyer Wilson! I also love the name Sunday for a girl:)
ReplyDeleteWe named our son Desmond Wolfie. Desmond was always on the short list, but Wolfie was sort of a last minute decision that we both wound up loving too much to pass up.
ReplyDelete11 year old
ReplyDeletei love dreaming up baby names though i won't be having any more of my own. taking an old fashioned name and shortening it to something sweet seems to be the "in" thing... theodora to teddy is adorable!!! i love the names everlyn and benjamin. i dislike when people try to use a funky spelling just to make the name stand out. ughh... makes it hard for both the child and their teacher.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Wren and an Ellie!
ReplyDeleteI love the names Carpenter,Duquette, and River for boys. Wystan, London, and Hadley for girls. Deckland, Smith, and Parks for either/or!
ReplyDeleteAnother blogger just had a baby and they named HER
ReplyDeleteBowie Andromeda. Bowie after David as they are huge music fans and the middle because they are Trekies!
This is so helpful right now...expecting boy no 2 in dec and picking out the first boy name was hard enough. Lots of great ideas here. Thanks joe.
ReplyDeletesomethingus.blogspot.com
My favorite names are Nell, Tait, Pimm, Clementine, North, and Frances for girls and Warren, Walter, and Todd for boys.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I totally had Johanna picked out for a girl, but went with Alex when we found out we were having a boy. I promise (!!) that we didn't pick our baby names off your blog (Johanna was my grandma's middle name), but hilariously, our son Alex and his possible future sister Jo are actually going to have not one but TWO uncles named ...wait for it...Toby. (We have one Tobias on each side of the family.) Ha!
ReplyDelete