Just for fun name thread~!

[sesa70]

I am antsy as I wait for a match, so to help pass the time and make us feel like we are actual expecting a baby in the not too distant future, dh and I have been slowly getting things together (really slowly! LOL!) but we have been talking about names. Thats always the tough question!

So I thought it might be fun to discuss names with all of you. What are some of your favorites? For those waiting for a match or just starting the process, what are some of the names you have in the running? For those with finalized adoptions, what are some of the names you had in the running but ultimately did not choose?

[pumpkingirl71]

My favorites that we didn't use are Rose, Luka, and Clara.

[Momily]

Oooohhh, I love baby names.

For girls names that I like include Eve, Sophie, Maya, Claire and Natalia. I also really like Caroline, Miriam, Adrianna, Elena and Meredith but can't use those for various reasons, such as they sound really awful with my last name.

Some adoption related name thoughts: I feel really lucky that my last name (also my son's last name) is quite common in both my culture of origin (WASP) and DS's (African American). His first name is very common for white boys his age, and somewhat less common for black boys his age. I dance up and down inside when I meet another AA boy with his name, but it isn't that often that I do. I sometimes regret not choosing something more equally distributed, maybe James, Dominic, Christopher, or Gabriel (I like common names, if you can't tell). I also love the name Nathaniel, but it's another one I can't use. A few names I love but probably wouldn't use for an AA child are Ethan, Matthew, and Jacob.

I also really really wish I'd put my son's birth name second on his birth certificate. I put it as a second middle name on his adoption decree, but only used the middle name that I chose on his birth certificate because, well I can't think of a good reason to be honest. His birth name is very uncommon and I worried that someone at school might know birth family and recognize it -- but now that we have an open adoption I look back on that as pretty paranoid thinking. Anyway, he wishes the same thing and says he's going to legally change it at 18 which is fine by me.

Tell us what you're thinking!

[sesa70]

I am also trying to keep names that work for many cultures, as our family is pretty diverse I am Cuban, dh is Jewish, one dd is most likely Mexican, and our new baby is going to be AA.

Personally I want to stay away from popular names... both my girls names rank somewhere around the 350-450 mark in popularity according to the ss website. Unfortunately for girls names for this upcoming adoption we have a big fat nothing! I can't believe it. Dh likes Sarah and Rachel, but again IMO too popular. For boys I am in love with the name Noah. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! But unfortunately its becoming really popular. It ranked I think 15? Plus I hear it all the time So I think because of that it is probably not one we would choose. We have a list of about 4-5 boy choices that my dh and I are both very happy with... I know it is pretty meaningless but I just *feel* like it will be a boy I have nothing whatsoever to back that up with by the way! LOL!

I think it would be nice if the name we choose could be said in english a well as spanish, so my grandmother won't be as likely to butcher it but it is not a requirement. I like Mercedes as a middle name for a girl because it was my great grandmother's middle name. I am also toying with Eileen as a middle name after a very dear friend. For boys middle names it is between Samuel (dh's grandfather) Francisco (my grandfather) Martin (dh's dad) and Lawrence (dh's middle name).

All that to say, we really dont have anything solid! LOL!

[crl]

Well, we use my last name as a middle name. DS actually has 4 names. His first name (very typical American name) we gave him when we adopted, his first middle name from China (the names the orphanage gave him pushed together), his second middle name is my last name and then his last name, same as DH.

This time around we're planning on a newborn and the expectant mother we are currently matched with does not want to participate in naming at all. So we're debating three names or four. She's having a girl, but we had talked about boy names before we knew.

We're weird about names. I am very insistent on names that work for kids and adults (there are some adorable baby girl names out there that I think would be horrid to have as a grown woman). My test is that you can yell it out the front door to call the kid home for dinner AND you can say, "the Honorable John Doe" without cracking up. I don't like girl's names that end in the long e sound. I like names that are very recognizable as names, but prefer not in the top 20 or so. DH likes unusual names that are distinctive and memorable. I ruled out 2 syllable names because both our last names are 2 syllables and it sounds bad if all three names are the same. DH has strong negative reactions to names for no reason he can explain. You can imagine how much fun our naming conversations are!

So our boy's list was Theodore, Harrison and Atticus. (DH looovvvvesss Atticus. I worry a bit that it's too unusual.) Our girl's list is Amelia, Josephine and Cordelia. Middle name possibilities are June, Teal and May.

I also love some names that DH vetoed: Elizabeth, Caroline, Juliet, Margaret.

There's a baby name website where you put in names you like and it makes suggestions for other names you might want to consider: http://www.nymbler.com/

Catherine

[tiffani]

[hdeering]

Ooh, I love Cordelia Fae, but we chose Lorelei in the end. I still hope to use it though. My DH says we can't because we have Xander already.

I like Joss, short for Josefina, Hester, Drusilla, Clementine, Aurelia, Winnifred, and Yelena for girls. I loved Liam, short for William for a while, but it got very popular.

Have you been here? It's awesome.
http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager

[queenjane]

I really like irish names. I had really wanted to name Keegan "Declan" but somehow it didnt feel right once i began thinking of names for him. In fact, none of the names on my list (Declan, Eamon, Desmond) felt like "him"....it was really awful trying to come up with a name for a baby already born. I wanted to name him Oliver but my sister had a very strong negative reaction so i went with that for a middle name. Essentially Seamus named Keegan because he had liked the name alot ever since he found out it was supposed to be his own middle name before we decided on a paternal family name for his middle. Also on the short list before settling on Keegan, was William as its a family name (i would have nn'd him "liam" tho that is soo common now.) I liked "Oscar" with the nn of either Ozzy or Ossie but while Oscar is very hip and accepted now in many places it would be considered pretty weird where we live. That being said there is a kid named Maverick that goes to school w/ my niece and no one blinks at that.

I changed Keegan's entire birthname. If i adopt my foster son, i'd probably like to change his first name but i very likely will not. (Declan is so close to his birth name that i think i could "get away" with him not being confused,though.) If i do adopt, i plan on changing his middle though. If i am also able to adopt his sister, it will be odd because she has the same name as MY sister, and that might get tricky. i dont know that she would want to change it though. I'd give her the option but we'll work it out if she was opposed.

On an adoption msg board i go to, a mom was concerned about giving her kid a more "irish" sounding name (i think it was kieran or aiden or something) because he is AA. But i reminded her there are tons of AA people with those type of names...Keenan Ivory Wayans. Sean Combs. etc. So i'm not sure i'd worry too much about something like that. My AA foster son has an irish name given to him by his AA mother. I'm really glad i like his name.

[tiffani]

[RedOakMomma]

You might be sorry you asked!

My nymbler list from the boys' names: Desmond, Ezra, and Walter and the girls' names: Ingrid, Imogen, and Bronwyn:

Boys:

• Duncan
• Ellis
• Hugh
• James
• Bennett
• Arthur
• Emmett
• Xavier
• Vincent
• Dexter
• Ansel
• Charles
• Elias
• Rhys
• Isaac
• Emrys
• Atticus
• Alexander
• Cedric
• Caleb
• Walter
• Ezra
• Desmond
• Sebastian

Girls:

• Vivian
• Bronwyn
• Imogen
• Ingrid
• Audrey
• Amelia
• Diana
• Moira
• Dara
• Maura
• Willa
• Rowan
• Esther
• Rosalyn
• Celeste
• Corinne
• Maeve
• Amelie
• Nola
• Brynn
• Adele
• Hazel
• Adeline
• Cecily
• Cecilia
• Catherine
• Adelaide
• Justine
• Beatrice
• Astrid
• Danae
• Beatrix
• Clara
• Annabel
• Marion

[RedOakMomma]

Have you tried the Nymbler website? Or The Baby Name Wizard Voyager website?

http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager

http://www.nymbler.com/

[queenjane]

Tiffany, interstingly enough there is a little AA boy on our state photolisting with the name of your new son (with the R)....i think its probably so unusual at this point that little kids will think its new and unique, not old. LOL. And i like Mavin (though in my head i hear it more like "may-vin"??)....Moxon...hmmm...interesting choice..

At this point i think anything goes in naming. My teenage niece and her friend were practically rolling on the floor laughing at a "very strange" name in my yearbook...they could NOT believe that anyone would name their kid "Renee"....and thought Julie was pretty different too.

RoM....i love your name list! i'll have to "steal" some of those!

[MommyKelly]

Originally Posted by Momily

Oooohhh, I love baby names.

For girls names that I like include Eve, Sophie, Maya, Claire and Natalia. I also really like Caroline, Miriam, Adrianna, Elena and Meredith but can't use those for various reasons, such as they sound really awful with my last name.

When we adopted our dd we changed her name to Elena, but spelled it Elayna. We were going to go with Lainey, or just Laine. But decided Lainey wont be as cute when she is an adult, and we have a male friend name Laine. LOL

Her middle name was Renee, But bio Mom spelled it wrong and it is Ranee. At her adoption the judge pronounced it like "Rainey" So it stuck. We added a new middle name, and pushed back the original so she has two.

[BeckC]

Oh I love hearing the names other people have picked out.

We have two girls names picked out and they're pretty final. Not sure which one we'll use if we have a girl, we might wait until we see the baby.

Elisabeth Mary - Ella after two of my great grandmothers
Mara Grace

Boys names are a little bit more changing. My favorite changes from day to day.

Zachariah
Elijah
Micah

Right now Micah is my favorite. For middle names we may just use James (DH's middle name) or something that sounds nice with it. I actually love the name James for a girl, it sounds so pretty. But I just can't, and DH is absolutely not on board.

[tiffani]

[Momily]

Originally Posted by tiffani

wow, after hearing the names that you guys, who I consider "the new generation" of parents are naming your kids, maybe our son's name won't be so dorky... all the old-fashioned names are making a comeback...

and while we're here, I threw out the idea of naming our son something closer to the way his name . . . . is pronounced in Uganda -- they don't say it the same way we would, and so I said to my dh "what about Mavin", pronounced like gavin -- in Uganda they pronounce it with a long 'a' sound, but there isn't really an 'r' in it at all, as it is spelled and as there would be with a north american accent. He laughed and said that isn't a name, but his cousin just named their kid Moxon, so I think he is slowly realizing that just about anything passes for a name these days... I still like the name . . . but I think I'm overruled here...

I see your son's name as fitting two trends that I see here in the predominantly AA community where I live and teach.

First, it is quite common for little AA boys to have names that would be considered out of date on white boys. I think it's because the strong family values in the AA community are often expressed by giving a boy his father or grandfather's name. While I don't don't personally know any children with your son's name I wouldn't bat an eye at it, they'd fit right in with the little Raymond's, Jerome's etc . . . that I see every day.

Second, I see a fair number of little boys named to honor AA musicians. I think of the little Coltraines and Mileses for example.

As someone who wishes they'd paid more attention to naming patterns in the AA community, I think your son's name is awesome!

[AndVeeGeeMakes3]

I'm always amazed at how these trends happen - it seems - almost organically. I really had no idea that VeeGee's middle name was SO common. There are a gazillion of them every time we go to the playground, though, fortunately she's the only one in her class right now.

I chose her first name because it was my grandmother's name. I was very close to her, and particularly wanted to give VeeGee a name from my family as she is biologically my husband's niece.

Her birth middle name was Marie, and while I didn't want to keep that, I really loved the idea of making her name Mary V. But, DH's family would freak out at the "Catholic-sounding" name (they freaked at us changing it anyway, but, well - another story).

So, back to the original question. I so wish I could have a boy and name him William Henry. I just LOVE that name. I also love the name Phillip, which is my FIL's name, so that would be cool too. Henry Hamilton is also a fantasy name. My great grandfather was name that, and he went by Hal, which I think is cool.

My husband's name is Indian, which has no relevance to our culture (he's a red-headed German) and mine has no family connection at all. So, I suppose that's one reason why I want so badly to have family connections in the naming!

[MommyKelly]

I think sometimes you never know what can happen with names. My 16 yo ds is named Jonas. It is heard a lot in the Amish community and I loved it, and had never heard it in mainstream society.

Well now with the Jonas brothers we hear it all the time, and I am seeing it more and more on message boards.

He is sick of being asked if that is his real name ever since the Jonas brothers came out. But I pointed out all the girls we see now wearing "I love Jonas" shirts LOL.

Before that everyone called him "Jonah".

[tiffani]

[RedOakMomma]

Some other M names (all name from various cultures in the "A World of Baby Names" book):
Marston
Martin
Marwan
Mason
Marius
Marcel
Marland
Marlon/Marlin
Mervin
Merwin
Marcin