The Great Big Thread of Names

laurad75 · February 2021

@sgrn18 another vote for Archer. That was on our list if this was a boy.

Maggie1202 · February 2021

@sgrn18 And another vote for Archer!

sgrn18 · February 2021

Lol thanks guys! I do LOVE that name! It’s probably my top choice, now to get MH on board!

mrs_massie · February 2021

I had posted a few weeks ago that we were struggling with names and finally came up with one name for a boy, Wesley....Luckily, we are having another boy, but my MIL has not been shy about letting us know how much she dislikes the name. So much so, that she consistently sends us lists of other names to consider.

My husband and I went on a weekend trip this past week and during the car ride we added Miles to our list and its a top contender with Wesley. Well, yesterday my MIL called my husband just to ask him if we thought about any other names and he told her we had, but didn't want to tell her and she wound up nagging him into telling her that we like the name Miles. Well, she says she LOVES it and started send him lists of middle names to go with Miles. Now I feel like I hate the name just because she is pushing it and a part of me feels like shes pushing it because she hates Wesley soooo much...am I being petty about this?

Maggie1202 · February 2021

@mrs_massie I'm so petty that I would choose Wesley over Miles simply because MIL is so enthusiastic about Miles lol. FWIW, I love both names so much! Two of my faves!

akoros · February 2021

Oof...I'm so bad at naming. I didn't even name my cat (my friend thought up her name so I just went with it...but mostly call her "cat").

I wouldn't mind something like my name (Natalie), in that it's sort-of ethnic (my family is Ukrainian, my husband is a mutt and doesn't care) and not very common, but common enough that people don't have problems pronouncing it. My husband's last name ends in "y", so prefer something that doesn't end in "ie" or"y". I could get behind a "ie/y" name if it has a good shortened version that doesn't.

Current musings: In the past I've liked Emma or perhaps Emilie (using Emma as the nickname). I saw someone talking about Eliana earlier, which I kind of like (Ellie could be for short...I do have a cousin who goes by Ellie but I never see her). I like Christine as a middle name (it's my mom's middle name), or Anne (my middle name, my grandmother's name). My MIL is anti-family names (too much pressure, picks a "favorite"), though there's a part of me that wouldn't mind honoring one of our grandparents with a middle name (they're all dead) like Anne or June. Amelia, Ayla, Mara are all out as they're the same or too similar to other names in our close family/friends.

sgrn18 · February 2021

@mrs_massie yeah I refuse to tell either sides grandparents because I don’t want to hear anything about why they don’t like it or trying to get me to change anything. I will only tell people I absolutely trust to keep it to themselves. I do really like Wesley and Miles though.

@Maggie1202 I am absolutely petty enough to change a name if my mom or MIL suggested it. Lol

MH almost told his mom of some we were thinking of and I shot him this look that was straight murderous. Then she told me I needed to make LOs middle name Michael since that’s MHs middle name and I needed to carry it on. I shut her down saying their last name is enough to carry on. Like who the f thinks they get to have ANY say in what you name your child?

I think MH is on board with Archer so we may have named baby!!

marebear15 · February 2021

Does anyone else have no clue what they are going to name their baby? We've gone through all our contenders and nixed them all for one reason or another, and we are back to nothing. Not even a list of possibilities.

Edit: Just caught up on the Randoms thread. I see a lot of us are in the same boat!

akoros · February 2021

@marebear15 I mean, we haven't even started this time around. I'd thought of it a little bit in prior pregnancies (which is where I pulled those names from), but nothing this time so far.

ramfam2507 · February 2021

We’ve decided on Isabela for this baby. She has no middle name yet, the options I like are a no for some reason or another.

Isabela Rose - my ex husband has a sister and grandmother with Rose. 😤

Isabela Marie - it’s just ok, I don’t LOVE it

Isabela May/Mae - ehhh 🤷🏻‍♀️

Our other daughters Arianna Ivelisse and Elena Olivia

laurad75 · February 2021

@mrs_massie your MIL is annoying me. I would kill my husband if he told his mother the names we are discussing. I like both Wesley and Miles but it would be hilarious if she thinks you are moving forward with Miles and end up naming him Wesley.

@ramfam2507 Isabela is beautiful. Keep working on the middle name you will find something you love.

I think I've already shared this but we are mostly settled on Quinn for baby girl. I love it and it is pretty much the only name we are agreeing on so we have just stopped talking about it. The only thing I question is that I'm sure we will call her Quinny sometimes and I'm not sure I love that. I'm hoping we come up with another cutesy term for her. DS is Duke and we call him Dukey sometimes and I think I had the same concern when we were choosing that name,

I threw out Tessa for her middle name because we visited the winery Quintessa on our honeymoon and H thought I was kidding but we haven't come up with anything else and I kind of love it so I think we're done.

_orchid_ · February 2021

@mrs_massie I love both names but would pick Wesley over Miles if MIL was asking that to me. LOL. We were thinking about Miles but I have a student this year that killed the name for me.
@akoros we would've done June for a middle name if this were a girl... Honestly not sure it's off the table for a boy. I have a June in my extended family that I'd love to honor, plus baby might share a birthday with her.
@marebear15 we have no idea what we're making baby boy. Ds1 has been calling him "Avatar" and we keep telling him no. Honestly I think we'll end up naming him in the hospital, I'm just hoping we can go in with 2-3 names as possibilities.

mrs_massie · February 2021

_orchid_ we went into the hospital with a list of some names for DS2 and wound up going with a name that wasnt even on the list. We may wind up doing the same thing this time, but so far haven't recycle any of the names from that list.m

ellieemc26 · February 2021

So we had a front runner but now its gotten sort of strange. We have/had August William picked out. August is after mh's grandfather and William is after his dad, both of their middle names. But then out of nowhere my dad comes out and starts talking about how we can have the 6th generation Charles, I had no intention of using Charles but now it seems awkward that we're using two family names from mh and none from mine, I sort of feel bad. MH is adamant about William as the middle name, his dad passed away about 10 years ago so he really wants to us it and I'm fine with that. But I actually quite like August and I think the nickname Auggie is super cute. Then mh also throws out that August is already his brother's middle name after his grandfather as well. Is this just getting too strange? We both like the name but maybe we've got too much family stuff going in it.

We are definitely not telling anyone in advance either way, sorry so many are having drama with that!

it_is_a_baby · February 2021

@laurad75 my niece is named Quinn. My MIL may have referred to her as Quinny when she was a baby, but I think everyone just calls her Quinn now. I call her Q.

We have decided on Beckett for our daughter.

mindyb2019 · February 2021

DH and I haven't discussed names for a long time now lol We have narrowed it down to two different boy names complete with middle names (that he came up with) and those are the 2 names we are going to choose between. All the other names on our list are out! DH wants to wait and see what he looks like first and what he suits the most when he's born, so we won't have a definite name picked until day of in the hospital. Least its only 2 names to choose from which makes it easy and I like both names so I guess we will see. *I do secretly hope its one name over the other cause I like it just a bit more * LOL 🤫🤭

disgruntled_pelican · February 2021

@ellieemc26 - we had August as our boy name picked out! August is a special month for our family and we also loved Auggie as nn. My H actually suggested using it for this baby girl because we loved it so much. (That’s a no from me). I like August William better than August Charles, and at the end of the day- you are the authority on your own baby’s name! I don’t think it matters that it’s also BIL’s middle name.

@mrs_massie - omg at your MIL. My mom is overbearing with names as well, and she totally ruined a name that we were all but set on because she weaseled it out of our 9yo. She has also sent names she likes and has called our babies by some of those names. Long story short: I would have no problem going with your first instinct and putting Miles aside. (Although they are both cute).

We are leaning towards Anya June right now. I’m hesitant because I really wanted a Polish or Irish name to honor my heritage (especially Polish) and I wonder if Anya is too trendy. I have a very very popular first name and I can’t stand it! I vowed to never let my kids have popular names, and although Anya isn’t by any means “popular”, ‘A’- names are right now. It’s the one that has felt the most right and I think I’d be relieved to solidify it. We are also playing with the idea of Olive.

ellieemc26 · February 2021

@disgruntled_pelican I agree August William sounds better. MH made a comment last night that made it pretty clear he has accepted this as the name so I guess we're settled one way or the other! I really am good with this name, I just need to get over the family stuff!

And Anya is a very pretty name! I don't feel like I hear that one often at all.

akoros · February 2021

@disgruntled_pelican I do like Anya, and agree that it's not one I've heard much. Anya June sounds lovely!

Googled some Ukrainian names...Alina sounds nice, I could get into that one. I've always liked Irena, but only when it's pronounced a particular way: ee-REH-nah (not "Irene-ah") and usually it's not pronounced the way I like.

laurad75 · February 2021

@mindyb2019 H will be so in awe of you after the birth that you will be able to name him whatever you want.

wanderlustsoul · February 2021

@akoros I love Alina. I contemplated Alina actually but I have a friend named it and i just thought of her every time I heard it (which I like her but too close of an association).

@ellieemc26 , August William is so cute! I saw that Mandy Moore named her kiddo August recently and I was like awww!

@disgruntled_pelican, Anya is such a nice name and I love it.

@sgrn18, I would have also said Archer! Solid name.

wanderlustsoul · February 2021

We have first names chosen and then 2nd middle names. We decided we will choose the full name after the baby is born as I don’t feel like discussing it again. We are telling nobody this time.

akoros · February 2021

@AKuzReve Agree with you on keeping it to yourselves and choosing the full name after the baby is born. Most of our families are fairly respectful, but even still I don't want to discuss it. We'll probably pick a short-list and then choose after seeing her.

wendy838 · February 2021

@disgruntled_pelican Anya is such a pretty name. Only time I’ve heard of it was the girl from the Queens Gambit series.
@sgrn18 I would’ve said Archer as well, the vote seems pretty unanimous!

We have our name picked out and we’ve been test driving it by calling my belly that. So far so good!

sgrn18 · February 2021

I had DS repeat names to me a few nights ago and Archer sounds adorable when he says it lol.

@disgruntled_pelican MH is polish too! Is this baby was a girl he already had her name in mind as Emilija (pronounced Amelia) idk where the j comes from but he was adamant on the spelling because it’s polish. I love Anya though. I don’t think it’s very popular at all!

@ellieemc26 I like August William! Plus the nn is adorable!

@laurad75 Quinn is such a sweet name!

legallykate · February 2021

We are still set on Jacob and are going to use Harry as the middle for MIL’s late brother. We’ve mentioned the name to both our moms and DH’s dad and thankfully everyone seems to like it!

@disgruntled_pelican we have a niece named Anya, Ani for short, and I think it’s super cute and not very common!

mamakate2011 · February 2021

@disgruntled_pelican I love Anya!! I feel ya on having a popular name and not wanting to go popular/trendy on names! I have three boys and named them all (real - not made up) uncommon names and now all but one of them are kinda “trendy”. I want to name this baby (my first girl) an A name also, and I too worry about how popular A names are, even though the name I want to use is extremely UN-popular. So much so, that I wonder why it’s so unpopular, because I think it’s absolutely stunning. I have a hard time letting that go and worrying she will hate her name or people will talk behind our back wondering why we named our little girl this name. Worst part is, I’m very superstitious about names so I don’t say name choices to anyone - even to people on the web, lol. So, I can’t get opinions from you guys either. DOH!

akoros · February 2021

@sgrn18 The "j" in Polish is pronounced as a "y", particularly when used just before a vowel. That's why it'll be thrown in to a name like Emilija to show that the pronunciation is "em-eel-ee-ya". Sometimes Ukrainian names are also transliterated that way from Cyrillic, my mother's maiden name starts "Ya" but we've seen the same name spelled "Ja". In Cyrillic there's a specific letter for the "ya" sound, which I'm guessing was replaced by "ja".

MelissaMay82 · February 2021

@sgrn18 I really like Sam

@mrs_massie I like Wesley and Miles but I like Wesley better. I would totally be petty and not use Miles because of MIL 😆

@akoros I really like Emma

@marebear15 no clue what we are naming this baby, we have a list but nothing feels quite right

@ramfam2507 I love Isabela

@laurad75 Quinn is such a cute name

@ellieemc26 that’s tough. Would you want to do 2 middle names? Or if your H is set on William for his dad, how about William Charles?

@disgruntled_pelican Anya is a great name, I don’t think that if is too trendy. Olive is also so cute. We are trying to fit that in somewhere because it was DH’s gram’s first name

@legallykate Jacob Harry is cute

We have tossed around a few names-

-Evelyn (nn Eve/Evie)- dh was calling my stomach this last night
-Allison (nn Allie)- I love Allie, Allison is ok
-Madison (nn maddy) -we probably won’t use this though because my sister’s step daughter is Madeline (pronounced Madelyn) nn Maddie
-Olivia (nn Liv/Livy)- DH isn’t a fan, he thinks Liv/Livy is to close a nn to Lil/Lilly
-Natalie (I really like this babe but would probably call her leelee which is so close to Lilly)

Middle name options at this point are Olive or Olivia, Louise, and May, all for DH’s family. I feel weird about May though because that is my middle name.

akoros · February 2021

@MelissaMay82 Just going to throw out there that Natalie is an awesome name. All the best people are Natalies.

MelissaMay82 · February 2021

@akoros it is a great name, I really like it. Do you go by any nicknames?

legallykate · February 2021

@MelissaMay82 DD is Evelyn (nn Evie) so I am very partial to that!

akoros · February 2021

@MelissaMay82 Mostly Nat, and there's one group of friends who call me Nattie (one started out with "Nattycakes" which was shortened to Nattie). Something I like about it is that it's unusual, in that I don't meet other Natalies very often, but common enough that no one has problems pronouncing it. It also works in a bunch of languages, which is kind of fun when I travel. They all put their own spin on it.

rvamom90 · February 2021

@akoros One of my good friends is Nathalie but we started calling her Natty Lite in college after Natural Light beer. 🤣

akoros · February 2021

@rvamom90 Haha, yup! It was never a steadily-uswd nickname, but there was one person who on occasion called me "Natty Lite".

mc0303 · February 2021

@rvamom90 😂 definitely also had a friend in college we called Maddie Light after the beer

MelissaMay82 · February 2021

@akoros I was thinking Nat or Nattie for a nn, my mind does go to nattie light though hahaha. Ugh how much of that poison did I drink in college hahahahaha so many good memories.

disgruntled_pelican · February 2021

My youngest SIL is named Natalie and we call her Natters sometimes. She’s tried going by Tully, but it never stuck.

MelissaMay82 · March 2021

@disgruntled_pelican Tully is a cute nn, I would have never thought of that.

akoros · March 2021

Fwiw, my friend developed a naming survey that might be helpful in thinking through names. In a spoiler since it's a little long:

Naming Survey:

Name Structure:
1. Sounds/Letters: are there any you love or hate?
2. Do you care about the length of a name or potential for shortening or nicknames?
3. Surname compatibility: Does your surname (last name) impact any names? (rhyming, initials spelling any words, etc.)

Name Inspiration:
4. Word Meaning: Do you care about what a name means? If so, are there any characteristics/words/ meanings you like or dislike?
5. Is there something (a book, movie, location, name meaning) that you would like to use as inspiration for your name?
6. Honoring Someone: Would you like to honor someone (family member, friend, hero, fictional character, etc.) with your name? Or are there names you wish to avoid because they would be interpreted as naming after someone?
7. Origin/Heritage: Is there a type of name origin or heritage you like or dislike? (for example: biblical, Japanese, Irish, French, native American)

Perceptions:
8. Is there a general category of names you tend to like? Or strongly dislike? (Floral names, nature names, vintage, trendy, etc.)
9. "Feel": Do you prefer a name that "feels" serious, creative, strong, cool, etc? What words best describe the name you are looking for?
10. Popularity: How popular of a name (from "I want to find it on a keychain" to "the only person I know named it" and anywhere in between)? Does the popularity over time matter (is it okay if this name was popular in a previous generation)?

Rating:
Which of these criteria matter the most to you? The least?

The Great Big Thread of Names

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