Unique Baby Names

mdogan29 · September 2014

So I did a search for this topic in this board and hasn't been mentioned since 2012, so I thought it would be safe to start a new thread.

How come there are so many cool baby girl names? Pretty and unique! But for boys, if they're 'cool' or 'unique' they're either a little too weird/over the top or sound kind of feminine...

Please help me! I've been working w/ my DH on names and he's shot down everything! He has so many rules (like can't rhyme with or sound like his first name or our last name, can't start w/ the same letter as our last name D, can't be a name used for both boy & girl (like Aidan), etc.). I've brought home numerous baby books and we've searched a ton of websites, even ones with 'unique' names and he doesn't like anything!

I have a list of names that I like and think are cool and he's scratched every one off... he told me he liked them, but when his parents visited this past weekend, they didn't like them either so then he said it's back to the drawing board.

I know I have 6 months to go before I have to decide for sure, but the fact he doesn't like 1 single name has me worried! Did anyone else have this problem? :-S

morningbeam · September 2014

Yep - boys names are more difficult for us too. We have one we both agree on and two more that we feel "Meh" about.

Mrs.McIrish · September 2014

My girls are still nameless... Mine says no to names but doesn't really suggest anything. I did make him promise not to share any contenders with his family bc I don't want their influence. I figure people are less likely to tell me they don't like a name if it's already on an actual baby...

NeonNoon · September 2014

My H shoots down most girl's names because they remind him of someone or something, real or fictional, whom/that he doesn't completely approve of. I called him out on it today and he finally conceded so we can move forward. We have one boy's name, but no middle name, that we've agreed on.

Have you considered something ethnic @mdogan29? Many websites let you search by origin of name so you could come up with something that fits your/your hubby's heritage that might be less common. Some websites also tell you how common or popular a name is. I guess your bigger problem is getting your H to agree. You do have a lot of time though, so don't worry.

It's funny how the grandparents assume they have a say in the matter. We've been trying to push back on their intrusiveness. My MIL actually sent us her list of preferred names for females when I lied and said we hadn't thought about it yet, that it was too early.

harmonicbabe26 · September 2014

I don't know... Do you mean unique as in not overused or unique as in yoo-neek...you know what I mean... Personally I wish there were fewer yoo-neek named kids or kids named after objects, food items or natural phenomena... I love traditional names and lists of those are endless. Not every boy needs to be Will or girl Emily...

marijaa333 · September 2014

I don't have anything unique to offer, I'm afraid. It's so much harder to come up with something interesting yet bully-proof for a baby boy!

Mrs.McIrish · September 2014

Yeah I don't want anything "you-neek" or "Hollyweird"-- just don't want there to be 5 others in their class with the same name.

chucktgirl · September 2014

I've also got a couple good girl names, and zero boy names lined up! I don't know what's wrong with me. I just don't seem to like any of them. Hoping something comes up before too long. ...Or, maybe I'll get lucky and have a girl!

mdogan29 · September 2014

Yes, exactly @Mrs.McIrish! I remember when I was in elementary school there were 5 Michaels in my class and 3 of them had a last name that began w/ H., so the teacher couldn't just refer to them as Michael H. and Michael B. or whatever.

@NeonNoon - we searched those boards too, a lot of those names are too out there for him too (he's worried people won't know how to spell some names, which can complicate things). I'm of English/French/Canadian heritage and DH is Irish/German, so a lot of the English/Irish names have become very popular now and some of the Irish names are being used as boy/girl names which he hates! A lot of French names sound to feminine and I'm wasn't a huge fan of the German names. So, we're still struggling there. He did like some of the mythological names, but those were the ones that I thought were too over the top, like Maximus! Ha!

mdogan29 · September 2014

Yep, I was hoping so too @chucktgirl and that didn't work for me! Haha!

harmonicbabe26 · September 2014

I bet you if you named your boy Michael now, he totally would be the only in class. I really feel like if you pick an old fahioned, traditional name you are almost guatanteed to be the only one among peers since virtually eeeeeeveryone is trying to be so super unique these days...

Samuelismomma · September 2014

I'm the opposite like a lot of boy names can't think of anything for girl! Boo...the one we liked every one in family shot down so back to drawing board. My H isn't helping to much, he thinks we have all the time in the world...um no since I will probably go early! It's getting frustrating! Lol

mandyreads · September 2014

We had James Rodney picked if this one was a boy. ..only bc his dad and my dad (which both have passed within the last 3 yrs). But when we learned it was a girl it was harder. We like old fashioned names. But when we named out middle DD about 12 yrs ago on Sept 11 apparently 2 other moms (in a very small AR hospital had the same idea). We named her Emma Grace...so did those 2 other moms. And we found out that Rachel on Friends had named her daughter Emma (not sure about the Grace part). I wouldn't have named her that had I known.

marijaa333 · September 2014

Samuelismomma do share the boys names!

BeckyP005 · September 2014

MH keeps calling the baby Felix. Yep I'm hoping he is joking lol which I'm sure he is.

I'm not sure how we will both agree! I love Danica (Dah-nee-tsah), Mia, Milica (Mee-lee-tsa) for girls and maybe Noah for boy. He said no too all haha. I would like Rose for a MN. Like I said this is going to be hard. I'm no help!!

Samuelismomma · September 2014

@marijaa333‌ you might not like them! Lol...Lucas, Sebastian, Solomon, Malachi . I was thinking another s name to go with DS Samuel. Plus I didn't want 5 others with same names in class! My H tends to like albanian, Italian names.

marijaa333 · September 2014

Samuelismomma I do like them! Malachi is quite cool in particular. And I love Samuel. A friend's baby is Silas, which I also quite like.

Samuelismomma · September 2014

@marijaa333‌ Yeah I like Silas too:) feel free to steal Samuel too if you like in albanian we pronounce it samueli ( samwelli..I suck at phonics ! Lol..but here normal. I don't call him Sam , just my H preference!

jcdorsey74 · September 2014

My son's name is Rafe Andrew. Rafe is the English version of Ralph. My husband's paternal grandfather's name was Ralph. We didn't like the name Ralph, but wanted to honor him. Since his middle name was already taken by my nephew, we went with Rafe (sounds like safe, but with an R). Andrew was my maternal grandfather's middle name. Growing up in the 80's, we got a kick outta his initials... RAD! He's like totally RAD! Corny, I know! I don't have a clue about names for this one...

mdogan29 · September 2014

@Samuelismomma - I love Sebastian and Lucas! I knew a Malachi in elementary school, but I think he's the only one I've ever known, so that one is definitely more unique. Sebastian is actually my #1 name! That's one of the names DH dropped when his mom & dad said they didn't like it! But I may be able to win him over again... we'll see!

@jcdorsey74 - I think Rafe is pretty cool too! I like the name Rafael too.

DH said yesterday now he likes Vincent and Victor... I do not like Victor, but Vincent is all right... but with Vincent and Rafael, even though I like them, does that work when you're pale (almost translucent) with red hair? I guess so, right? I just have visions of people messing w/ him saying 'Yo Vinnie!!'

2ndGeneration · September 2014

I like Samuel! I was actually thinking of it before we knew we were having a girl, because of a Bible verse that has meant a lot to me this pregnancy- 1 Samuel 1 2:7 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him.

But yeah, what is it with the men and their name likes or dislikes? Dh didn't even like Samuel, or my other choice Josiah. I had said I wanted a Biblical name and he goes, I like Jackson. Um hello is that Biblical LOL.

Sebastian is a pretty popular name in my area (for religious reasons) and I know little blond ones. Here the nn is always Sebby, but you could use Bash.

Samuelismomma · September 2014

@2ndGeneration‌ Samuel from the bible is who my son is named after because like Hannah I prayed. I knew his name before I got pg;)
@jcdorsey74‌ my daddy's name was Ralph

MsMacual · September 2014

Naming is hard. We have a list of zero names for our son and he'll be here in about a month. LOL! Our first is Michael and @harmonicbabe26 is right- he'll probably be the only one in his class along with 5 Aiden's and 3 Logans. We are more traditional name people and I've given up on caring if a name is "popular" or not b/c every name seems to appear on a list somewhere.

Have you tried Nymblr? It might give you some ideas.

itsmevkb · September 2014

I've had a boy name for quite a while now but wonder what I would name another girl. I've pretty much used up the girl names I wanted to use. I do really love the name Saavi for a little girl but feel like I'd have to pick an Irish name since all of my other kids have Irish names. I wouldn't want one to be the odd man out.

Oceanbreezy1 · September 2014

My DS's name is Vallen... (like Allen with a V, he says). If this LO had been a boy, his name would have been Varren.

ZooCrewMom · September 2014

We finally decided on our boys name last week, but I agree they are much harder. This is our third boy and we had nothing left, after naming the last two. We like more traditional names as well, but perhaps you could find something in your family trees that is unique. I know I have some very cool, unused names in mine that are more popular in different countries.

JilliansMoma · September 2014

jcdorsey74 said:

My son's name is Rafe Andrew. Rafe is the English version of Ralph. My husband's paternal grandfather's name was Ralph. We didn't like the name Ralph, but wanted to honor him. Since his middle name was already taken by my nephew, we went with Rafe (sounds like safe, but with an R). Andrew was my maternal grandfather's middle name. Growing up in the 80's, we got a kick outta his initials... RAD! He's like totally RAD! Corny, I know! I don't have a clue about names for this one...

OMG I love the name Rafe!!! My DH shot it down becasue our last name also starts with an R and he says it reminds him of Joey on Friends when he was Dr Drake Ramoray!!! Whatever it's a great name!!!

jcdorsey74 · September 2014

@JilliansMoma, thank you! I love the name too. It's not a top 100 name, so unique for sure. :-)

bleusimp · September 2014

My guy has shot all of these names down: harbor, crawford, luka, demetri, he liked tobias.

BeckyP005 · September 2014

@bleusimp‌ MH said no to Luka too

mattandlora · September 2014

We went to ancestry.com to research our family trees for name ideas. With baby #1, we ended up with a very traditional name. But you know what? It has a special significance for each of us for different reasons. And the middle name is more unique and also has major significance for DH.

Baby #2 will either be the back-up name for #1 (if the same gender), or ????? We're totally lost on girl names.

Samuelismomma · September 2014

@BeckyP005‌ boo I like the name luka!

amstevens78 · September 2014

My 12 yr. old son's name is Walker. We chose this name because my husband had an extended family member with that name who had died at war. His middle name is the same as his dad's and GF. There is no one with his name around where we live so it is definitely unique. Picking names is so hard. Good Luck!

Samuelismomma · September 2014

Well we agreed on baby girl a middle name! Miracles do happen! Haha...it is Neva(knee- va) it was a family friend of mine that I loved dearly and was so close to my heart!

lgsdesigner · September 2014

I have found the girl names are more difficult. Naming my son was much easier than naming my daughter. There are so many overused names, too. I did a lot of research to make sure I chose names that most kids don't have (ie: Aiden), and names that are easy to spell, and will work for both childhood and adult life without sounding silly.

My rule for name choosing: Place your name choice on the top of a resume. How does it sound?

joifulgrrl · September 2014

I've always prefered unique names to traditional. My daughter is Seri Echo and my son is Freedom Raine. I'm now pregnant with another son and have chosen Caius Elihu. Had he been a girl I was going to go with Seleias Fleur.

BabyBeanStandfill · September 2014

Ugh...struggling so much with this right now. Gender hasn't been revealed yet for my little "belly bean"...so we (at least I) have been trying to come up with name ideas for both...or preferably a unisex name that I love that can go either way with a gender appropriate middle name.

I am crossing my fingers for a girl, DH wants a boy. Originally loved the name Dylan for either...but DH is definitely not sold on a girl named Dylan...I've started to lose my love of the name, but haven't come up with anything else I really love yet. Good thing I still have a couple hundred days yet to decide.

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