Keep it in the family??

Tabithalister

So DD should be here in less than a week and I am starting to second guess our name choice.

Aria is a musical name with Italian derivation as well as also means air and lioness. To me it's frilly and different. I thought it was pretty rare til I told my younger siblings who explained that name was a main character on the show "Pretty Little Liars".

Anyways FIL's family has a tradition of giving all the first borns Dowling as a middle name. FIL is Frank Dowling and DH is Eric Dowling. I wanted to honor the tradition because it's a grandmother's maiden name that holds sentimental value to the family.

So do we like Aria Dowling or does that seem too harsh.

bbiutmcph

Just so you are aware Aria is not actually different.  The increase in popularity is INSanE. 

In 2004 it was ranked almost 700.2011 it went to 157 then 2012 to 81 and 2013 it was 40. Those are some of the biggest jumps I have seen and expect 2014 was another increase.

THat being said, Aria Dowling is fine.  I am a mn anything tends to go. 

Tabithalister

Oh my I must be living under a rock!! My stepdaughter loves The Little Mermaid and wanted to name her Ariel so we played around with Ariel and DH loved Aria. How disappointing (

allthecheese

I think Aria Dowling is great :-) Aria is kind of on my list but I haven't decided how I feel about the GOT connection.

Tabithalister

I love that the mn would have meaning to connect her with her family. It's a shame DH couldn't talk his first ones mother into sharing the family name. But to each their own I am just fascinated with genealogy and meaningful names

bbiutmcph

Tabithalister said:

Oh my I must be living under a rock!! My stepdaughter loves The Little Mermaid and wanted to name her Ariel so we played around with Ariel and DH loved Aria. How disappointing (

Game of Thrones added to the popularity.  I personally love Aria but the trendiness of it puts it in the Guilty Pleasure category sadly.

Tabithalister

bbiutmcph said:

Tabithalister said:

Oh my I must be living under a rock!! My stepdaughter loves The Little Mermaid and wanted to name her Ariel so we played around with Ariel and DH loved Aria. How disappointing (

Game of Thrones added to the popularity.  I personally love Aria but the trendiness of it puts it in the Guilty Pleasure category sadly.


Oh my decisions decisions. I'm sure it's normal to get cold feet about a name too. I just don't feel as confident about it as I did at first

allthecheese

Tabithalister said:

Oh my I must be living under a rock!! My stepdaughter loves The Little Mermaid and wanted to name her Ariel so we played around with Ariel and DH loved Aria. How disappointing (

You know that the beginning "A"s in Ariel and Aria do not sound the same, right!?

Tabithalister

j&jNY said:

Tabithalister said:

Oh my I must be living under a rock!! My stepdaughter loves The Little Mermaid and wanted to name her Ariel so we played around with Ariel and DH loved Aria. How disappointing (

You know that the beginning "A"s in Ariel and Aria do not sound the same, right!?

Yes I am aware of that and should have clarified. We were keeping his LO involved in the name making decision so she felt like she had input but still made it what we liked.

LNic5

I really like Aria, yes it is characters name in popular TV shows but I don't think it's overly popular at this time. I know zero kids names Aria.It's very pretty and I think you should stick with it if you love it!!!!

whenwillieversleep

I love Aria. I don't know anyone with that name except for the girl on Game of Thrones. It's a great name. Dowling kind of ruins it though. Dowling is awful. I wouldn't use it. Find something pretty to put in the MN spot.

Tabithalister

I know I am so torn I want her name to have meaning but I feel like it makes it too masculine sounding

Tabithalister

I've never met anyone with the name either so hopefully there won't be 5 Aria's in her kindergarten class. Only time will tell I guess

allthecheese

Just had to check you were pronouncing it correct

whenwillieversleep said:

I love Aria. I don't know anyone with that name except for the girl on Game of Thrones. It's a great name. Dowling kind of ruins it though. Dowling is awful. I wouldn't use it. Find something pretty to put in the MN spot.

Didn't you read the op? Dowling is a family name and you just don't tell someone that their family name is awful (unless maybe it's Dung or something and they're trying to name their child that) I think it's great that they're honoring the grandmother! I'd say find out who Aria is in the tv shows and decide how comfortable you are with people associating your daughter's name with that character. Also how many of you friends and family, teachers, other parents at school are going to assume you got it from the tv show? Just something to think about, but I like the name, so if you're fine with all that, I'd say you have her named!

4N6s

I like aria! I think the middle name is fine.

Tabithalister

j&jNY said:

Just had to check you were pronouncing it correct

whenwillieversleep said:

I love Aria. I don't know anyone with that name except for the girl on Game of Thrones. It's a great name. Dowling kind of ruins it though. Dowling is awful. I wouldn't use it. Find something pretty to put in the MN spot.

Didn't you read the op? Dowling is a family name and you just don't tell someone that their family name is awful (unless maybe it's Dung or something and they're trying to name their child that) I think it's great that they're honoring the grandmother! I'd say find out who Aria is in the tv shows and decide how comfortable you are with people associating your daughter's name with that character. Also how many of you friends and family, teachers, other parents at school are going to assume you got it from the tv show? Just something to think about, but I like the name, so if you're fine with all that, I'd say you have the her named!

I looked up the Pretty little Liars character and the girl is really cute. I know in my heart where the name came from so that's all that matters.

Ace226

If you love it I'd still use it! Popular names now aren't like they were before, IMO, and Aria is so pretty. It was a serious contender for us before we decided on all family names... And had a boy;)

kmvisioli

I only know of one Aria, so even though it's grown in popularity I don't think it's too overdone everywhere. If you love it, go for it! And I think the significance of a family mn is great - it's a good place to insert some heritage and the name really isn't awful.

whenwillieversleep

Tabithalister said:

I know I am so torn I want her name to have meaning but I feel like it makes it too masculine sounding

Is there another name to honor your grandmother with that doesn't sound as masculine? If your baby were a boy, I wouldn't think twice about using Dowling but on a girl I'm not so sure. If it's important to you, use it. People don't really hear/use middle names that often for it to be a big deal So you might as well honor family with it. But it sounds like you aren't sure you even want to keep it in the family because of the same reasons I pointed out.Even though a previous poster wanted to quote me for being too harsh, the name of the post is essentially " should I keep this name in the family?" I vote no for your baby girl and yes for a future boy.

Tabithalister

whenwillieversleep said:

Tabithalister said:

I know I am so torn I want her name to have meaning but I feel like it makes it too masculine sounding

Is there another name to honor your grandmother with that doesn't sound as masculine? If your baby were a boy, I wouldn't think twice about using Dowling but on a girl I'm not so sure. If it's important to you, use it. People don't really hear/use middle names that often for it to be a big deal So you might as well honor family with it. But it sounds like you aren't sure you even want to keep it in the family because of the same reasons I pointed out.Even though a previous poster wanted to quote me for being too harsh, the name of the post is essentially " should I keep this name in the family?" I vote no for your baby girl and yes for a future boy.

Well if we had a boy he was going to be named after both of our grandfathers so that name is set in stone. Gunner Roland my grandfather was a gunnery sergeant in the USMC and goes by Gunny and his grandfathers name is Gilbert Roland.

Again I agree that Dowling is masculine sounding but his family is from Irish decent and I think the actual original pronunciation is like Dawh-ling like darling without the "r". But they all pronounce it the harsh way. I am torn because I would rather her have a cutsie name but I just don't like Aria Violet the grandmothers first name. But it means a lot to hubby and his family and I hope LO won't be ashamed of it as she grows up I want her to be proud of her roots.

cindee92

I think it's a beautiful name - also think Aria Violet is nice! The fact the family name is for family reasons overrides the masculinity so go with whatever you like

lifeisapeach

bbiutmcph said:

Tabithalister said:

Oh my I must be living under a rock!! My stepdaughter loves The Little Mermaid and wanted to name her Ariel so we played around with Ariel and DH loved Aria. How disappointing (

Game of Thrones added to the popularity.  I personally love Aria but the trendiness of it puts it in the Guilty Pleasure category sadly.

^^^This!! But if you LOVE it then USE it!! Naming a child is hard!

Bluediamondgirl

I would definitely use the family name - that's much more meaningful than just something that "sounds cute". As far as Aria, I know 2 right now, but I think it's nice; if you really love it, then go for it!

housewifebecomesher

I like it! But I do think Aria is going to continue to be popular.