Name help! Vote in my poll.

[DrBrockBaca]

So we don't know whether we are having a boy or a girl (we want to be surprised), but we have the boy names narrowed down to a few that we really like that we can choose from after the baby is born if it is a boy. We are having a much more difficult time with girl names, though. Before we got married or pregnant, we had picked out Olivia and Sophia as our top girl names, but both of those names are extremely popular right now, so we have nixed those from the list. 

We want a name that sounds smart and professional, but I also like names that are feminine and have cute nicknames for when she is a child. No trendy, top 10 names (or names that are likely to be top 10 in the next few years).

The baby's last name will be Baca, so keep that in mind. 

Please vote and reply below with comments and suggestions as well! If you have any other girl names that you think we would like, please post!

[chewynotcrunchy]

I love Lucienne!!! 

Nora is really popular right now as well (I know of 3 under 1).

[SouthernStormy]

Dropping in from another DDC.

I really like Everleigh!

I was going to say the same thing about Nora- I know several, its becoming pretty common. It was #197 on the SSA name index last year. I also know a few Ariannas- it is #52 on the SSA index ( I didn't realize it was that popular). The other names you've selected aren't in the top 1000 though, so very very small likely hood of them becoming trendy popular names during you little ones childhood.

[artekah]

I voted for Arianna as most professional, but Everleigh is my favorite by far!

[zinemama]

DDCC to say that they all sound professional except Everleigh and Avrielle.

Everleigh sounds like a kree8tyv version of Everley, and as such it has a lower-class, uneducated vibe to it. (Not to sound like a snob, but that's the way most people I know react to "creative" spellings.)

Avrielle, while it may be a real French name, kind of screams stripper.

The others are great!

[SuburbanHippie]

I like Lucy, but not totally sold on Lucienne.  I think Lucy could be the name of a professional by itself.

[lovelylisa]

I voted for Lucienne but then I read your last name. Everleigh Baca sounds professional to me without being too stuffy. I dig it :)

[CarrieCo]

I think Everleigh is a FINE spelling! Girls are named Leigh all the time ... so I get it!   What I don't like is that she might be called Eve as an adult.  But, I do like Evie!

I like Lucienne as well ... but I want to name my next girl Lucille ... so I don't want Lucy to get too popular! lol That's my selfish reason for not voting Lucienne!

Hope that helps, and I hope that none of the names were ruined for you by other people's opinions!!!  That's why we don't share our names .... because I had liked the name Lana with the middle name Lee ... and my step mom said 'that sounds like a stripper name' ... so it was forever ruined for me!

[DrBrockBaca]

I know Nora is becoming more popular in some areas (not where we live), but I don't know that it will reach even close to the top 10 any time soon - same for Arianna. I think the benefit of those names is that they are easily recognizable, but not so common that there would be three other little girls in our child's classroom with that name. I kind of like unusual names (like Avria or Avrielle), but they can also be a burden because they are mispronounced and misspelled so frequently. 

As for the name Lucienne, we had originally picked out Lucia (loo-see-uh), which kind of sounds better with the last name Baca. But I think the French version sounds much more sophisticated and professional for an adult, and you can still use the nickname Lucy for a child, which I think is adorable. 

Does Nora or Arianna sound too "rhymey" with Baca? I think the 2-syllable names that end in -a don't sound as good with our last name.

I really like Everleigh (or Everly/Everley), but I'm afraid people would hear Beverly (which I do NOT like). I like the spelling Everleigh better than the others because I think it makes it visually more distinct from Beverly, as well as more feminine. 

Any thoughts?

[DrBrockBaca]

Everleigh sounds like a kree8tyv version of Everley, and as such it has a lower-class, uneducated vibe to it. (Not to sound like a snob, but that's the way most people I know react to "creative" spellings.)

Generally speaking, I agree with this. I hate creative spellings, but I don't think that Everley/Everly/Everleigh is common enough that people think of it being spelled one way or the other. Most people have never heard of the name, so I think they would be neutral towards the spelling variations. The Everleigh spelling may become more popular than the others, though, because some celebrity named his daughter that and spelled it with the -leigh ending. I'm actually somewhat turned off by the fact that there is a celebrity baby out there with the name, but I still think it's beautiful. What do the rest of you think? 

[kellykap]

I like Linley (Lin) and Lily Anne (Lily) for a girl.

Jonah or Asa for a boy.

[mayakas]

Originally Posted by DrBrockBaca 

Does Nora or Arianna sound too "rhymey" with Baca? I think the 2-syllable names that end in -a don't sound as good with our last name.

I was just about to say that Arianna is very pretty too but seems too rhymey with your last name.  I had a friend named "Ariane" - pronounced "Ary-Anne". Perhaps that is an alternative that you can consider?