- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Northern California Babies
Baby naming woes... advice please (longish)
We find out in a couple of weeks which team we are on this time around. DH and I have agreed on a name of we have another boy, it's not too you-neek but I don't hear it everyday either. My list for girls' name is about a mile and a half long, and DH doesn't like most of them. The ones that we both like seem to be more popular than I realized, and moving up on the SS name list every year. Since I grew up always knowing several other Sarah's I've always wanted my kids to not have to deal with that. Do I just suck it up and say oh-well we really like this name, or continue looking for others?
FWIW the name I love love love is Dakota, DH says no way no how. Leah was always one of my favorites too, but now I only think of that lovely mother on Teen Mom who named her daughter that. The ones I'm struggling with the most are Avery and Emily. Everything could (and really probably will) change before this baby even comes, but I just feel really anxious about it now.
WDYT?
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Baby naming woes... advice please (longish)
I say that unless you find "the name" you always keep looking. Maybe even if you do find "the name" you still keep looking until the little one arives.
As for the names you mentioned, they are all pretty. As for commonality, I'm not sure what SS say about them exactly, but I know two Avery's within the last year and one Dakota, just in my circle of friends, lol. Emily is ALWAYS uber popular. Or at least has been for the last 20 years so you are going to get tons of Emily's, like you have with your own name growing up. MY SIL is Leah, lol, but more importantly, if you have negative connotations with a name, don't do it. The right name with come to you and your DH. just my thoughts.
Hey, it might be a boy and this is all for nothing.
We went into the hospital with four possible names for T. We were pretty sure we would go with T, but not 100%. At this point, I would try to not stress. You've got lots of time to figure out what names feel good for both of you and R is right, you might find out baby is a boy and have all this worry for naught.
I don't think popularity matters nearly as much to me as feeling like a name "fits"...that said, we're team green and have only in the last week or two agreed on a name for each. And, I'll be honest - I still don't think those two are set in stone. We are ALWAYS talking, reflecting, changing, adjusting our name options. STILL. You have lots of time. I'd just keep the communication open until you stumble onto something you both love. And, if you're gonna find out the sex, I'd save yourself the trouble of worrying too much for nothing about a whole 'nother name. It is BY FAR the hardest thing about being team green, IMO. I honestly don't think much about what this baby is...but trying to come to total agreement on TWO names, when only one even applies, is a total pain. AND, I find myself feeling like, "oooh, I hope it's a boy" or "oooh, I hope it's a girl" just depending on which name I feel more affinity towards in any given moment. It's a total PITA. haha.
GL!
Thanks girls. I don't know why I am losing sleep over this, we have plenty of time. I'm not concerned about LO #2 knowing other people with their name, I just don't want them (or me- haha) to be surrounded by it. I never realized Emily was so popular until recently, I don't know a single one, and only knew one growing up. When I lurk on my birth month board, most are choosing like 1 of 5 girl names, I just think it's a little odd.
I had basically no say over DS's name, it is a family tradition on DH's side to name the first Cee boy after the grandfather. I don't love his name, and some how I lost the NN battle too. (He is Rosario, I wanted Ari as a NN, but he is Ross(i) like DH) That's probably why I feel extra pressure with this one.
Stef- lol "Leeeeee-ah". I just wish that dumb TW used a you-neek spelling.
I would ask yourself how important it is that your daughter (if you have a girl) not have to go through the experience of having a common name like you did. I knew many Sarahs, Jessicas, Jennys, and Ericas. I was SO glad that I wasn't "Marianne M." every year in school, which was really important to me when we were naming DD (but who knows... Haley/Hailey is more common than I originally thought).
FWIW, I loooove the name Avery and didn't choose it specifically because it was blowing up on my birth month board. I was seriously unhappy about it. I love that name but didn't want to have my daughter be Avery W. her entire life.
Re: Leah... this is how I feel about reality "stars." They evaporate as quickly as they appear these days. Think of all the bachelors and bachelorettes (Jen Schefft, anyone?), Survivor and Big Brother contestants, geez even Heidi and Spencer are falling off the radar. My point is that Leah is a beautiful and timeless name, and NO ONE would say, "oh... she named her daughter Leah, just like that trashy teen mom..."
PM me for our family/baby blog
Haley Beth ~ March 3rd, 2011
I am considering this a compliment because I like to think I'm artistic - and while the only thing I play is the radio, I'm a fair dancer :-)
Speaking as an Emily I say it's a name you can't go wrong with. You can always call her Em or Lee or Emmie...or her initials (EJ, EB, E*)
re: Dakota - I used to babysit a little girl named Montana and she was awesome. I loved it.
We didn't realize how popular Ryan is until we named ours that. It wasn't anywhere near the top 10 at the time. But somehow 4 of the 6 boys in his preschool class were named Ryan and there are two Ryan's in his current class. His best friend (although the actual person has changed) has been named Ryan for the last 3 years. It doesn't phase him at all, in fact, I think he likes it. His name also suits him pretty well. Unlike his brother, I can't even imagine him with another name.
NorCalMOMS bio* NorCalBOTB* babywearingBIO
Harmony Doula
Thanks for all of the input. I asked my SIL how many Emily's she knows (she has 3 girls ranging in age from 2.5 to 6.5), she could only think of 1 or 2. Maybe it's a regional thing with those name lists, and it's popular on the east coast or something. I dunno... I just have to stop obsessing and over thinking. We'll have a better idea in 9 days of who this little person will be.
EmmieB: one of the reasons I love the name Emily is the NN Em. :-)
Growing up, my best friend in high school was Emily. After that, there was an Emily in my teaching program and one in my classroom this last year.
For us, we wanted to come up with names that were unique but that would be okay, if you have a child who needs a professional name as an adult. I would come up with tons of names and DH would be like...meh. He actually came up with both names and I liked them a lot. For middle names, we are naming them after his grandparents. We like the idea of giving them their "own" first name and then a "family" middle name. We decided on DH's grandparents (Anna Belle and Robert), because my grandparents have names we don't like (Ruth and Phyllis for girls, Leslie and Edward for boys). I actually like the name Edward, but now it's all Twilight-y!
So, unless something changes, we will be naming our LO Donavan Robert or Lorelai Anna Belle.