Sooo Indecisive about family name

jmesue1030

We cannot decide on girl or boy names (baby is a surprise)

I have always loved the name violet for a girl. It is my grandmother's name and it sounds great with our last name. Generally I like more unisex names for girls and violet is very girly. I also recently read an article predicting violet to be a top 10 name in the next few years which makes me crazy since I have wanted to use this name since before Ben afleck used it!! We are trying to stay away from super trendy/popular names. On top of that, we recently moved to a city that is in Violet township and everything is named Violet this and that... Violet elementary, violet plaza shops, Violet center etc etc... I don't want my child to grow up with an ego complex! Lol. Am I overthinking this??

SmrBrd2012

The first part of your post didn't bother me at all, but the fact that you live in Violet and everything around you is called Violet, would be enough for me to nix the name. What about another V name to honor your grandma by?

satuttle1014

maybe use it as a mn? Living in Violet Township is a little much with the name. 

jmesue1030

I should clarify... The city we live in is called pickerington, not Violet, but the township and several things around town have Violet in the name... I realize I made it sound a little more extreme than it actually is. We also aren't sure that we are going to end up here long term so I would hate to nix it then move... I will think about other V names and we do have some other names we like... This has just been a long term fave.

SmrBrd2012

Maybe Violet wouldn't be too bad then. What about Viola?

Bringmemylongswordho

Viola could be a good work around. Only you know how much Violet is actually used around town.

LCRbelle

Pickerington! It's such a small word
I worked there for a year and live close to there!

Note on the name.. I don't think the violet township thing should be a huge deterrent. Since you have wanted to use the name for such a long time plus, it has family ties I think it's fine. Being in that area a lot I wouldn't have even thought about the township thing without you bringing it up. She will just think they have a festival just for her! Lol

jmesue1030

Thank you all for your input! @LCRbelle thank you, that is so helpful! I think I am hyper aware of all things Violet here because of this name thing... I was talking to someone else from pickerington about baby names the other day and she didn't make the Violet connection until I said something either... I'm sure there are plenty of George's in Georgetown etc haha
I also had the thought of using the spelling Violette so it would be a little different than the stuff around town.

LCRbelle

No problem! Don't get too hung up on that! Especially since you don't see y'all there long term.

SnarkasaurusRex

jmesue1030 said:

Thank you all for your input! @LCRbelle thank you, that is so helpful! I think I am hyper aware of all things Violet here because of this name thing... I was talking to someone else from pickerington about baby names the other day and she didn't make the Violet connection until I said something either... I'm sure there are plenty of George's in Georgetown etc haha I also had the thought of using the spelling Violette so it would be a little different than the stuff around town.

Violette has a completely different pronunciation than Violet (vee-oh-let vs. vie-oh-lit). I wouldn't change the spelling unless you plan on changing the pronunciation as well.

That said, it doesn't seem like a huge issue. If you're super worried about popularity, you might consider MNing it instead, but I don't like to put too much stock into those 'name popularity predictor' studies anyway.

Edited for clarity.

MamaWren919

I wouldn't worry about the popularity of Violet. Many articles are way off on the popularity thing. I read one the other day that said top 10 names for boys are Oliver and Declan. No they're not!

The township thing might bother me. I live in Madison County with a city called Madison and schools like East Madison. I think it's weird that people here would choose Madison as their daughter's name. Your case doesn't seem that extreme though. You're also just super aware of the name. You should ask some locals their opinion.

Sassenach1743

I agree with previous posters that the township shouldn't be a deterant. Although I do hear Violet a lot lately, it's not as popular as Sophie or Emma so I wouldn't let popularity be a detterant either. I love that it's a family name for you and I that you want to honor your grandmother (I plan to do the same). However, I think this is a perfect opportunity to use Violet as her middle name. 

I suggest choosing a new name for the first position. Something more unisex to appeal to your taste and pair it with Violet in the middle position. Here are a few unisex names to consider...

Ainsley
Aubrey 
Avery 
Bailey 
Blair 
Brook(e)
Cameron
Carey
Casey
Channing
Cortney/Courtney
Darby 
Darcy 
Devon
Erin
Finley
Frances
Gayle
Greer
Harper
Jamie
Jesse
Jocelyn (nn Joss)
Joyce
Kelly
Kelsey
Leslie
Lindsay
Shannon
Shelby