where are you getting your name ideas from?

[dfunk98]

i'm having a really hard time this time around.  i know i still have plenty of time, but since we don't find out the gender, this is my little thing.  anyone have suggestions?

[zjande]

Is there a certain type of name you like? If you can narrow it down, then you can surf sites with those particular name types.  Like, do you love the sound of Hawaiian names? Or Japanese? Or Welsh? Greek gods? Nature names?

My all time personal favorites are Tolkien names, and Welsh. I can get lost surfing Tolkien & Welsh name sites forever, plus a little Hawaiian on the side.  ;)  I jot down whole names & name parts that I love. Then I play around with all the name parts, rearranging them until I put together names my husband & I both love. :)

[rareimer]

i've been using babynames. com and nymbler.  nymbler is cool because if you put in a few names that you like, it will make suggestions of other ones you might like.  it's pretty cool.

[dfunk98]

well, my two kiddies are avery and linus.  our last name is irish, so i'd like to do something super irish and not that common, but not with a weird spelling.  also something with 5 letters is preferable bc my other two have 5 letter names and i'm a little neurotic like that.  i didn't intend for it to work out that way, but it did and now i feel something else would just be "wrong", lol!!

[mistiblue02]

We have no clue as far as names- we have a couple books but nothing has stood out to us yet. I'll check out the websites suggested because I'm clueless this time!

[Coonifer]

We got ideas the first time around by taking a walk in a cemetery! 

[rareimer]

Originally Posted by Coonifer 

We got ideas the first time around by taking a walk in a cemetery! 

wow, never thought of that!  a good idea!

[Lisa1970]

Most of my children were the names of other little children I had known. I just thought the names were cool. I am not sure how my dh picks names. I think he picks them based on someone he knew as a little kid. I do not like his names at all.

[ArtistMama28]

We really like the Baby Name Wizard book. It has enough names that you'll find one you like, but not enough to make your eyes glaze over. And each listing has great information like popularity over time, and "brother" and "sister" names.

[Phineasmama]

Nameberry.com is also a great site, we actually picked our son's name (phineas) from one of their books. they have tons of lists and even forums where you can ask for opinions and get help on first and middle names!

[apple o' my eye]

thanks for all the great suggestions! I really struggle with names, our 1st daughter we named after we left the hospital, much to the staffs dismay. I don't want to do that this time, it was too stressful to pick a name while all the other new changes were happening.

I am getting on these suggetions asap!

[kathrineg]

My over-eager friend who calls my partner at work to tell him her ideas? Maybe I could sic her on you ;)

[philomom]

ddcc to say that we looked at our family tree. Each child has a first name and middle name from either side of the family.

First baby my grandma's name and his grandma's name is the middle name

second baby his great uncle as first name and my great uncle for middle name.

Both families love the names of the dead ancestors coming around again and feel good about it.

[redpajama]

Originally Posted by Coonifer 

We got ideas the first time around by taking a walk in a cemetery! 

Us, too!

[apple o' my eye]

Hahahahaha! We get our fair share of those helpful suggestions. So awkward, how many ways are there to politely say, "yikes!"

[AllisonRH]

I love these ideas! My DH just found some website that had a bagillion names on it and started yelling out ones he liked to me. He's WAY pickier than I am so it worked out well. They were listed alphabetically, and for each letter he'd yell out maybe 3 names tops so it wasn't too bad. We had already picked a girl's name together but we couldn't agree on a boy's name yet. Figures we ended up agreeing on a boy's name that started with an "A" (Austin) after going through the whole alphabet! But I feel better knowing that we have a name for the baby whether it's a boy or a girl. Middle names are a different story though...

[mcacat]

I read the birth announcements in the paper every Saturday.  This gives me a sense of which names are really popular as well.  This sounds a bit morbid but I also really enjoy the obituaries (though not so much for baby name ideas).  The outpouring of love for those that have passed away moves me to tears.

[sweetestday]

Our two oldest are from the family tree. William and Friederich. Our third, Reuben, is from the meaning. Everyone was sure he was a girl, so "Behold, a son" seemed like a good meaning for his name. We have a girl name picked out for this one so far, and it's by the meaning and a family name. My grandma was Evelyn, and we're thinking of Evie Quinn. It means 5th life, and seems a good way to remember our little one we lost last May. This will be our 5th little life we've had together so far. If it's a boy... We are thinking of Quincy for a first or middle name for the same reason. It means 5th.