Is this boy name just way off or is it a classic? Bonus girl name. We find out gender Friday.

noconalove

We have our girl name: Andie Love  Andy is my father in law and Love is my middle name and our due date is Valentine's Day. Too cheesy? It could possible be Leigh since it's my MIL and Mother's middle name. 

Should I spell it Andy or Ande? I don't really know and I'm not a huge fan of weird spellings. I like Andy, but as a girl name would that be confusing? 

Finally, the boy name in question is Redford. It would be Redford Wayne( Wayne is for my father who passed when I was 10).

Is that just too country sounding? I thought maybe call him Red when he is younger and he can use his full name when he gets a little older. 

We find out Friday so it's weighing on my mind. 

Last name starts with a W. 

noconalove

There are lots of Reids around here and Reid Wayne sounds kind of funny to me. I def want a 3 syllable first name with Wayne as the middle. Not set on Redford so that's not an issue. Also like Harrison could be a Harry for short, but Wayne is such a country name as it is lol his middle name was no better. Eugene. As for the girl name we will probably just keep it Andie not short for anything. I don't see the need if she will be called that her whole life. 

Scarlett&Gatsby

I do think the combination of two of the most famous Western movie stars in one boy's name is a little much. I don't even dislike Redford, I just think it sounds like you guys really, really like a good Western. I think Andie Love is fine; Love is a little cheesy for my taste, but it's a MN so it doesn't really matter. Andie works fine as a standalone. I never, ever endorse alternative spellings, but here I think Andie makes the most sense spelled this way. Perhaps because I've encountered other women with the name, and that's always how they spelled it.

JaysonandKristin

Harry Wayne just sounds too close to harry wang for me.

FWIW, I really, really dig Eugene.  Gene is such a great NN!!  

In any event, when it comes to the LN turned FN trend, I prefer it to be of your own family tree.  So, the random McKenzies and Lincolns just confuse me.  

I agree with giving Andy a longer name to fall back on.  And, Love is fine given the family connection.  

queenbone

I would recommend Andria with the NN Andie.

Redford Wayne does sound very country to me. If the MN were something else it wouldn't.

noconalove

I think we need to do some more brainstorming. LOL Thanks for the honest opinions, we have a while to think it over. Maybe one of us will have an epiphany. 

Barbercharm

I like Andie.. I think she'd do just fine in life without a longer more "formal" name.. And I actually like Redford. It's different and Red is a great nn!

mm&es

I think Red is adorable, and Redford sounds more distinguished than country, to me.  Harry Wayne, Harry Wang--I don't think thats a great combination! 

I am also a fan of giving a child, espeically a girl, a formal name in case they want to sound more professional later in life.

catahoulatte

As an Andrea, here's my 2 cents. Andi (my spelling) is a cute nickname but I do not use it at work. I rarely used it in high school because there were several guy Andrews that went by Andy. Give her something she can use as an adult. I'm thankful that as a working professional I can use my given name and sound adult, as I'm over 30.

noconalove

Ok maybe we will look into a longer name for Andie, Ande or Andy. I still like Redford too, but I know my MIL will wrinkle her nose. She loves Turner, which I also like so I guess we need to know the sex first

Mego04

Idani said:

If you are using Andie, I would give a full name that she can fall back on professionally and it a familiar female name.  Andrea possible?

 

Redford is a bit country especially paired with Wayne.  HOwever I love that you are using to honor your father.  It's not awful.  Another close name would be Reid.

all of this! Very country but that is not always a bad thing, I love a good ol country boy

jnnfrrose6

Redford Wayne only sounds country if you're going to use both names when you're calling him, but since you'll only be calling him Red or Redford for the most part, I think you're fine, and really, who cares, since it all has meaning.

Andie Love is lovely, also because you're using family names for it, though I agree Andie should be a nickname for something.

Scarlett&Gatsby

noconalove said:

Ok maybe we will look into a longer name for Andie, Ande or Andy. I still like Redford too, but I know my MIL will wrinkle her nose. She loves Turner, which I also like so I guess we need to know the sex first

A longer name for Andie isn't a bad thing (Andrea, Alexandra, and even Cassandra all work), but don't feel like you have to. Some people prefer the amorphous concept of a "formal name," others don't. I've been "just Allie" all my life. I'm a SAHM now, but I've worked as a professional as well. Just because your name ends in -ie doesn't mean you're unmarketable. Name nerds tend to over-project just how much "real world" people give a flying damn about names. Don't name a kid something stupid or made up or vastly misspelled, but you can live a perfectly normal, successful life with a NN as a full name.

diamondduck13

I'm surprised how I kind of like Redford, because it's not my typical style. As far as Andie, I'm not so disturbed by it being a NN as I am it being a boy NN without a female full name for her to fall back on if she chose.

As far as professional settings, I think that the associations people have with names can have unintentional, subconscious affects on people's responses to a person, in hiring and other settings.

This is one reason I like girl names on girls. I once walked into a business meeting and the male client looked at me and said, with what sounded like disappointment, "I thought you were going to be a man." I want someone to know what they're getting when they hire/meet with me, and heaven forbid they hired/met with me because they preferred and thought they were getting a male, because that would really anger me!

Helenahhandbasket

Idani said:

If you are using Andie, I would give a full name that she can fall back on professionally and it a familiar female name.  Andrea possible?

 

Redford is a bit country especially paired with Wayne.  HOwever I love that you are using to honor your father.  It's not awful.  Another close name would be Reid.

 

idani hit it out of the park.

blu-eyedwife

Another vote for a formal name with Andie as a nickname.  And another person who goes by their formal name in a professional setting (and still gets called by an -ie nickname by many men in the field, it definitely shows that women still aren't taken as seriously as men in many professions.  You would never think to call a man named Fredrick "Freddie" or Robert "Bobby" if he introduced himself as Frederick or Robert.)

The Love I can get behind, but my mom was a St. Patrick's Day baby who has the middle name of Patricia.

I don't like Redford or the nickname Red.  Given that Red is typically a nickname for people with red hair, I think it would be a little weird if your son ends up with dark hair/skin/eyes.

KatFCo

I agree with the formal name option. As a child, I went by a nickname from birth, but when I got older, I enjoyed having a more formal name to choose from.

As to spelling, I would go with Andie. Andy is more associated with Andrew and Ande just looks like the i is missing.

emmy236

Well I guess I'm in the minority here but I love your names. I think you can get away with Andie, but I like it spelled like this. I think Love is adorable especially if LO comes on Valentines Day! Redford is pretty cool IMO. I mean how can you not be the cool kid with that name plus Robert Redford is like 80 and hasnt made a big movie in awhile and by thd time the kid is in middle school no one will associate that. Wayne is your Dad so nothing will take away that importance. But as for PP suggesting Reid I named DS that (spelled Reed) after my Dad so I obviously love the name but not with Wayne as a MN. Definitely agree first name needs to be at least 2 syllables.

Scarlett&Gatsby

 

diamondduck13 said:

I'm surprised how I kind of like Redford, because it's not my typical style. As far as Andie, I'm not so disturbed by it being a NN as I am it being a boy NN without a female full name for her to fall back on if she chose. As far as professional settings, I think that the associations people have with names can have unintentional, subconscious affects on people's responses to a person. I mean, if there's a name on a professional resume that sounds like the stereotype of a cocktail waitress to the manager, it seems plausible to me the hiring person can subconsciously discredit that person - maybe just a bit, but that bit can make a difference in competitive hiring. This is one reason I like girl names on girls. I once walked into a business meeting and the male client looked at me and said, with what sounded like disapointment, "I thought you were going to be a man." I want someone to know what they're getting when they hire/meet with me, and heavin forbid they hired/met with me because they preferred and thought they were getting a male, because that would really anger me!

This is a fair and reasonable point, but I think we have to remember that most people really don't spend as much time thinking or categorizing names as those of us on this board do. If your name is Trixie, Princess, or Starlight---yeah, it's probably going to impact your hire-ability. But beyond the blatantly stupid, you'll find most people really don't care that much about your name is if you're qualified. A wide variety of names are being used right now. A wide variety of people are in the workforce. It's not 1964. Your daughter isn't competing solely with white men for an employment position.

Briley and Braxton are going to be going to work in 20+ years, folks.

I'm all for careful and thoughtful naming; I think people need to put more thought into it than they do. But I also think we need to get real here. The recession is going to end. We can stop vilifying the all-powerful employer.

If we're going to talk employer-preference (which we so, so often do), perhaps it's time to take an honest look at our much beloved old lady names. Because frankly, if you sound like you're five years away from retirement it's probably a greater detriment than sounding like you're fresh out of college. Just because shorter, nickname-y names don't get a lot of love here doesn't mean they're "more damaging." There are some major cons to the trends we endorse here, too.

laurendom

I like Andie and I see no issues with it.  I know several successful woman whose whole name is a "NN", Katie and Nikki are 2 of them, both have achieved VP level positions. PP makes some good points about name trends.

As for Redmond, I really like the Red NN for Redmond, but I'm just not liking Redmond Wayne together.

annieravensfan528

Redford is a GP name of mine. I really, like it. I really dislike Andie Love. My DH is an Andrew nn Andy. So its very masculine to me. I prefer Andrea.

sweetpeace13

Andie is to nicknamey for me. Agree with Ppers, let her have a full name and call her Andie. I dig Redford though.

austenfan919

I would also use a more formal name for Andie (I like the pp suggestion of Cassandra if you don't like Andrea...Sandra or even Alexandra might work, too, though the connection to your FIL might get lost).

I think NNs can be standalone names sometimes, but since Andy is more commonly a boy NN, I would give her something more feminine to fall back on if that bothers her later in life. I don't think Andie as a FN is the same as Kate/Katie/Nikki, which are clearly girls' names.

Redford is NMS, but I think it could be cute.

noconalove

That's kind of the reason we chose Andie. After my father in law Andrew. Seeing as I don't have a father of my own he is what I would want mine to be like so I was thinking of something to honor him since he never gets any recognition. I'm not in love with Andrea so I may go a different route. I'm sure this Thanksgiving we will get a lot of family input.

Maybe love as a middle name is too romance novelly, but that's what they told my mother and father and I have never gotten anything, but compliments on my name.

I could just use Andrew as my boy name. Andrew Wayne sounds pretty strong to me. But Redford is still on my short list for sure.


Hell, come Friday this is a whole new discussion unless there are two in there!

JM1977

My concern about Redford is your last name starting with a W. I think it could be a tongue twister especially with a W middle name.

msronzio

austenfan919 said:

I would also use a more formal name for Andie (I like the pp suggestion of Cassandra if you don't like Andrea...Sandra or even Alexandra might work, too, though the connection to your FIL might get lost).

I think NNs can be standalone names sometimes, but since Andy is more commonly a boy NN, I would give her something more feminine to fall back on if that bothers her later in life. I don't think Andie as a FN is the same as Kate/Katie/Nikki, which are clearly girls' names.

Redford is NMS, but I think it could be cute.

Everything here pretty much stands as how I feel. But again -- you're calling her Andie for short, so that's obviously a great honor for the father you never had, no matter what her full name is. See what I mean? I'm sure she will love being Andie Love, but it's always nice to leave an option. 

There was another poster who was hellbent on naming her little girl Frankie to honor her dad. I think that's fantastic! But I'd rather be a Francesca with the NN Frankie than just Frankie with no other option. 

If you don't care for Andrea (as I don't really either) I think Cassandra is a beautiful option. Cassandra Love. Or Cassandra Leigh, because that's beautiful too. 

I see absolutely nothing wrong with Redford. It's classy and has a cute NN idea. I don't believe names can sound country, I believe people can look and act country. Besides, how often do you use your full name, middle included, in everyday occurrences? Me, I see it on my driver's license and that's about it. Haven't heard my middle name actually spoken in years (most places, like applications and the like, only ask for a middle initial now, even my credit card only shows the MI).

Whatever you choose will be amazing! Good luck and have fun on Friday.

Strongbaby2

I like your names. Andie McDowell is a girl Andie. And Redford is different but not strange. I think the nn Red is far more country than Redford though.

notreal2

I do some hiring and a slight confession, I often call the people with the odd names in, just so I can see what they look like.  We hired an accounts manager named Lucky last month because I was hoping he'd have a four-leaf clover birthmark on his head or something, and then he just kicked it in the interview, so, in the case of this person (me), a good resume and an odd name get you an interview, so mmv.

tenfour

Did yo find out!? Is it team pink??

mmb248

Might be too late but I wanted to say that I live the name Redford. I think the nn Red is a little too country for my taste but I LOVE the nn Ford.

Also, I think Andie needs a longer more formal name to use for professional purposes.

jh&kh

I like Andie. I don't think a formal name is needed. But my name is Katie (not a NN, my actual full name) and I've never had a problem with it!

katie6/26/04

Another full name could be Adriana which i love.

BC&LM

Hate Andie for a girl, sorry. It's a boy's name no matter how you spell it. And I think Love as a middle name is kind of tacky. I don't like Redford for a boy either. It's a last name to me.

You mentioned the name Leigh, and I like that. I also don't mind Andy on a boy.

noconalove

It's a boy so the girl name it out! Onto the boy name decision making

noconalove

BC&LM said:

Hate Andie for a girl, sorry. It's a boy's name no matter how you spell it. And I think Love as a middle name is kind of tacky. I don't like Redford for a boy either. It's a last name to me. You mentioned the name Leigh, and I like that. I also don't mind Andy on a boy.

Well I guess my name is tacky. Lol. I adore last names as first names they sound strong. I am from the South I guess that's one reason I like them.