Baby Name Chat Thread « Back to Group Discussions

[BabySmurf]

Here is a place we can chat about names and ask for advice about names, etc.  We just found out we are having a girl, so I am excited to get down to business!

When I was pregnant with DS, before we knew he was a boy, I came across the name Isla and really liked it.  I haven't been able to shake it, and it's been on my mind for a while, and DH likes it too (yay!).  So it looks like that is our front runner.  Not sure on a middle name yet. It's also similar to my grandmother's name, so it would kind of be like a family name as well, which is nice. 

OTOH, my other grandmother was devastated when I was named after my great grandmother instead, and she has been giving my dad a hard time about it ever since.  The only way that he can be redeemed is if me or one of my brothers names a daughter after her.  My brothers aren't having babies anytime soon, and my grandmother is in her 90's and sick right now...so she expects that this baby should be named after her.  And she has a pretty name - Charlotte Anna.  She also has been a live wire and has some nice qualities....but she is also incredibly narcissistic and manipulative.  And she has been in rare form lately, which unfortunately makes it really hard for me to consider that name.  I feel really bad saying that, but it's true.  It's also one of those things that she has been putting pressure on me since I was, like 3, to name my first daughter after her, so the name has always had a strange taste in my mouth. 

Besides that, here is the list I have been pondering so far:

Rachel
Natalie (DH vetoed)
Isla
Arielle/Ariella
Luciana
Gemma
Eloise (Lucy)
Chiara
Gianna
Vaera/Vaira
Charlotte Anna

Ashley/Ashlynn (this was one of our girl names last time)

We have a Scottish last name, which is also a first name, which makes things interesting.  Oh, and DS's name is Nickolas, which is just a name we liked - he's not named after anyone. 

Any idea for middle names that sound good with Isla?

[Tenk]

I love your list of names, and we seem to have similar taste!!  I like names such as Ava, Sophia, and any ends in A sound but they are all SO popular nowadays that DH has vetoed them all as well.  I think Isla is beautiful!!!  And DH likes Charlotte and while I like it I just don't want to use it.  My reasons a super weird though.  My 12 yo DD had a friend while little sister was Charlotte and called Charlie and the family personalities kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

Eloise aka Ella was our favorite last time but my mom had to put her 2c in and demand that we not name baby that.  We ended up keeping the name quiet until baby came so no one could give their opinions (thanks mom :().

How about Isla Everly ...  it has a beautiful ring to it :)

Also, all we can come up with here are girl names which probably means we'll have a boy.  Great list, and I WISH I could use those names too <3
 

[BabySmurf]

Isla Everly IS really cute!!

It's crazy how different experiences can affect our name choices.  DH really likes Sophia too..I loved Ava, but my IL's named their daughter Eva already. There is a website that can help predict how popular a name will become..but I forgot to bookmark it :/  Isla wasn't even listen in the top 1,000 names 5 years ago, when it appeared it was in the 300's and is hopping up by 50 and 100 names each year that it did appear, so that's what makes me nervous about using it...at the same time it's so fitting for us.  Eh, we will jump back and forth between a few before she gets here, I'm sure!

I'm with you too that girls names are way easier than boys!
 

[kitteh]

Originally Posted by Tenk 

Eloise aka Ella was our favorite last time but my mom had to put her 2c in and demand that we not name baby that.  We ended up keeping the name quiet until baby came so no one could give their opinions (thanks mom :().

Why did your mom veto it?! I like that name.

My DD's name is Graciela Rose, but we call her Ela (spelled with only one L so that the in-laws and everyone down in Chile don't  pronounce it "Eh-yah" which means She in Spanish!)

She calls herself Ela Rose.

If we have another girl we really like the name Amelia and would use Maureen for a middle name, which is my great-aunt.

Boy names have been tougher for us. DH really liked the name John, but that is my estranged father's name so I vetoed it. I honestly don't have any strong opinions about boy names, nothing is really striking me. But DH is named after his father, even though he isn't the first-born son. His older brother had a stroke at the age of 10 and is permanently disabled and living at home, so he may never marry or have kids. So we have been talking about passing on the family legacy, so to speak, and naming our boy Gustavo Adolfo (Surname) III. I like the name Gustavo well enough, no more or less than I like any other boy names we've discussed. I think Gus would be a cute nickname for a baby, but for a grown man it makes me think of a fat hairy plumber or something. Is that horrible of me? And I HATE the middle name of Adolfo, but DH really likes the idea of having our son be "The 3rd" and you can't really do that unless you keep the entire name intact through the generations, right?

[BabySmurf]

That's the tough thing about Jr's and III's - they are package deals! I think that's a nice name, and I tend to like family names a lot (although we didn't use one for DS, who is Nickolas Brian - Brian is DH's middle name).  I wanted to use Ryan (a big family name on my side) for a middle name this time around (well, I wanted to last time, but DH really wanted Brian and I wasn't going to argue)...but it just doesn't flow the way I would like it to with most of the names I have picked :/  At least if I use Isla for a name, I will get my family in there somehow!

And Graciela Rose and Amelia Maureen are beautiful names too! Plus they complement each other nicely. 

[shanna-cat]

i LOVE talking about names, it is so amazing to me that we as parents get to decide on a name that will carry our children through thier entire lives and be so much a part of who they are.

That said, we have two boys and they are both rather uniquely named after Portland Public Parks that we frequently visit. Portland has beautiful lovely parks and it started out as a joke but has now morphed into something real.

Our first son is named Creston Grey and our second is Tabor Bleu. (Creston and Tabor are both parks in SE Portland). However, if we have another boy there are not really any other boy name parks we like... my DH likes the name Errol which is not a park but a natural area and I like the name Milo which is not a portland park but in the nearby city of Estacada and which we visit regularly (Milo McIver Park) but neither of  us likes the other one's pick!!

It will be easier if it's a girl, for a park name will probably be Berkeley, or if we skip park names all together will be after DH's grandmother and Emilia (Emmy)- both with a middle name of Rae (DH's mother's middle name). So Berkeley Rae or Emilia Rae. I just wish Emila (or Amelia) wasn't becoming so popular...

Other names I love:

boy: Emmerson, Ellis, Archer, Charlie, Jameson (Jaime), Jude, Judah, Juelah (pronounced Jewel-a)

Middle name possibly David, which is both our fathers names

girl: Hadley, Charlise, Margot, Ainsley, August, Trillium

Middle name probably Rae

Kitteh- I have a friend who just had a baby girl and named her Graciela Rose! Small world...

[kitteh]

Wow, that is random that your friend named her daughter the exact same thing we chose! Also, I didn't realize Amelia is getting popular :( 

Also, it has occurred to me that if we have a boy then everyone in my family but me will have a G name. And I don't want people to think we're like the Kardashians or something, trying to name all of our kids G names. Ugh.

[shanna-cat]

Originally Posted by kitteh 

Wow, that is random that your friend named her daughter the exact same thing we chose! Also, I didn't realize Amelia is getting popular :( 

Also, it has occurred to me that if we have a boy then everyone in my family but me will have a G name. And I don't want people to think we're like the Kardashians or something, trying to name all of our kids G names. Ugh.

Girl name Amelia (from US census)

 

U.S. Population

YEAR	RANK
2011	#30
2010	#41
2009	#55
2008	#68
2007	#77

[jr'smom]

We had no idea the names we picked for our children were popular names, but found out afterward just how popular they are!  Our first was Jacob (#1 name!  Had no idea!) Then, I really thought we were out there with the name Max.  Now we see Maxs everywhere!  Ella?  Yep, popular.  Zoe, yep.  Oh well. So now, whatever...I'm just going to pick what I like and not worry!  I end up picking popolar names anyway.

So here are our front runners this time (yeah, popular names.)

Zachary

Molly

No idea on middle names.  I feel obligated to use a family name from my MIL's family.  So far we've used DH's middle name (also his dad's first name, and his maternal grandpa's middle name); my middle name (also my maternal grandma's middle name); my father's middle name; and my mother's given name.  So it's kind of MIL's turn.  The only problem is there aren't any names that I really like.  I asked DH to get a copy of his family tree.

So in case I don't use MILs names, what names go well with Zachary and Molly?

[BabySmurf]

Okay, so here is my updated list (top 4).  I have a couple of ideas for middle names, but I don't think that I am going to be able to decide any time soon! In terms of names becoming popular, I think there is a difference between a trendy name and a classic name that has become more popular...I want to avoid trendy names, but I guess I can't help it if a more traditional I like gets popular.  That's how I am trying to approach it.  These names are names that I have liked for a long time, and they all happen to be climbing the charts right now.  Oh well!

Isla
Gemma
Eloise (Lucy)
Vaera

For middle names I think we will try to go with some kind of variation of a family name...I'll throw out mine, maybe they will work for you, jr's mom ;)

Loise
Rose
Mae
Ryan
Naomi
Josephine
 

Everything except Naomi is a family variation somewhere...I just really like Naomi, but DH didn't want to use it as a first name. 

[SweetMama34]

Originally Posted by shanna-cat 

i LOVE talking about names, it is so amazing to me that we as parents get to decide on a name that will carry our children through thier entire lives and be so much a part of who they are.

That said, we have two boys and they are both rather uniquely named after Portland Public Parks that we frequently visit. Portland has beautiful lovely parks and it started out as a joke but has now morphed into something real.

Our first son is named Creston Grey and our second is Tabor Bleu. (Creston and Tabor are both parks in SE Portland). However, if we have another boy there are not really any other boy name parks we like... my DH likes the name Errol which is not a park but a natural area and I like the name Milo which is not a portland park but in the nearby city of Estacada and which we visit regularly (Milo McIver Park) but neither of  us likes the other one's pick!!

It will be easier if it's a girl, for a park name will probably be Berkeley, or if we skip park names all together will be after DH's grandmother and Emilia (Emmy)- both with a middle name of Rae (DH's mother's middle name). So Berkeley Rae or Emilia Rae. I just wish Emila (or Amelia) wasn't becoming so popular...

That is SO COOL! I know those parks well. I'll think of you and your kiddos when I go from now on. :)

[SweetMama34]

I loved Lily - from the minute I was pregnant, and even when I was SO sure it was a boy, Lily just stuck out in my mind. However, it's not DH's first choice and both him and the boys love my second choice name, so I think we'll skip Lily. Besides, it seems to be VERY popular right now and I'm not really into super popular names. I like traditional, easy to spell and easy to pronounce names - but not top ten, necessarily.

[BabySmurf]

Originally Posted by shanna-cat 

i LOVE talking about names, it is so amazing to me that we as parents get to decide on a name that will carry our children through thier entire lives and be so much a part of who they are.

That said, we have two boys and they are both rather uniquely named after Portland Public Parks that we frequently visit. Portland has beautiful lovely parks and it started out as a joke but has now morphed into something real.

Our first son is named Creston Grey and our second is Tabor Bleu. (Creston and Tabor are both parks in SE Portland). However, if we have another boy there are not really any other boy name parks we like... my DH likes the name Errol which is not a park but a natural area and I like the name Milo which is not a portland park but in the nearby city of Estacada and which we visit regularly (Milo McIver Park) but neither of  us likes the other one's pick!!

It will be easier if it's a girl, for a park name will probably be Berkeley, or if we skip park names all together will be after DH's grandmother and Emilia (Emmy)- both with a middle name of Rae (DH's mother's middle name). So Berkeley Rae or Emilia Rae. I just wish Emila (or Amelia) wasn't becoming so popular...

Other names I love:

boy: Emmerson, Ellis, Archer, Charlie, Jameson (Jaime), Jude, Judah, Juelah (pronounced Jewel-a)

Middle name possibly David, which is both our fathers names

girl: Hadley, Charlise, Margot, Ainsley, August, Trillium

Middle name probably Rae

Kitteh- I have a friend who just had a baby girl and named her Graciela Rose! Small world...

That IS really cool! I think it's fine to incorporate natural "areas" or any other places then that are special to you guys.  I like all of your name options

[Sassicaia]

Babysmurf - I love Isla, it's so pretty. Your other top names are nice too!

Shannacat - the park connection is so awesome! I'm a pdx native, I miss that town. Seattle's not too bad though. :)

jr'smom - getting the family tree is a good idea. I wonder, if you still don't find something that clicks, you could take a cue from the parks idea and look at place names associated with MIL's family somehow?

kitteh - boy names are hard, aren't they. I have a friend at work with a baby Gus, and it is really cute now but...lol at your fat plumber association. Gustavo makes a nice adult name though, sounds sexy ;) 

We're having a girl, and I think we've settled on Briana Cady Ruth (lastname). I'm not sure about the double middle name though. I like both Cady and Ruth, and might just go with Cady, except that Ruth is the name of both my last surviving grandmother who is awesome, and DH's only known grandmother who was also awesome. I'd really feel good about using it. So maybe both? Too much of a mouthful?

[SweetMama34]

I'm having a hard time with the middle name also. We were thinking of Francis - it honors my grandmother, grandfather, my mother in law AND her late mother. That's a LOT of awesomeness....but it's also my dad's ex wife's last name. I don't love that. I also don't love the name overall...just love the connection. DH wants to use my middle name instead, which is just precious - but I'm not really into naming kids after parents. My boys have their grandfather's names as their middle...but maybe it's okay to give her mama's middle name?

[Sassicaia]

That's tough. Could you take a slight alteration on Francis (Frances? Frank? ...?) that would still honor the 4 relatives but would be a step away from that ex wife reminder?
 

[BabySmurf]

Originally Posted by SweetMama34 

I'm having a hard time with the middle name also. We were thinking of Francis - it honors my grandmother, grandfather, my mother in law AND her late mother. That's a LOT of awesomeness....but it's also my dad's ex wife's last name. I don't love that. I also don't love the name overall...just love the connection. DH wants to use my middle name instead, which is just precious - but I'm not really into naming kids after parents. My boys have their grandfather's names as their middle...but maybe it's okay to give her mama's middle name?

Well, depending on how awful the breakup was, I would just ignore that association.  There is so much awesomeness there to out shadow that one reference, IMO.  I think it's really easy to find reasons NOT to name your child a certain name (who doesn't want it to be "just right"?)...but if there is a lot of positives, then I might try to overlook the neg.  Or if you just don't like it, I think it would be neat to use your middle name! Namesakes don't have to be just after Dads and Family other than Mama!

Originally Posted by Sassicaia 

We're having a girl, and I think we've settled on Briana Cady Ruth (lastname). I'm not sure about the double middle name though. I like both Cady and Ruth, and might just go with Cady, except that Ruth is the name of both my last surviving grandmother who is awesome, and DH's only known grandmother who was also awesome. I'd really feel good about using it. So maybe both? Too much of a mouthful?

I don't think it's a big deal to have two middle names, especially since they aren't a huge mouth full, kwim? Most people aren't even going to know about it anyway - how often do we use middle names in day to day life? I think it's really cool to have a family connection like that, and for me it would be worth it to go with a double middle name. 

Annd, I think we might have decided on Isla Mae.  I don't know if I can tell people though, because I'm afraid that we will change our minds at the last minute! (I have definitely seen that happen before).  But I really like Isla Mae, so unless she comes out and really just doesn't look like an Isla, that's what we will go with :)  Yay!

[amlikam]

Wow I love this talking about names. We have kicked around a few but have been really wild and out of this world with name choices....

Wild name choices (thanks to the 4yr old):

Popcorn ball

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Expialidocious for short)

Chair and Table

Deer Rabbitt

More reasonable choices:

Luna (All of us really like it by DD1 is Lena and I wonder if when they are teenagers if they will hate me for names so close!!!)

Adora (we like it but may family has this whole tradition of names beginning and ending in A, and I don't know if I want to keep that going)

Soleil

Selena

Cecilia

Cerelia (Middle)

Harmony/Melody (one of the 2)

Abraham

Holden

Thaddeus

Kyson

Tobias

But still unsure...

[spotty4]

I am guilty for not reading all of the other responses yet, but Babysmurf, what about Isla Charlotte?  

[spotty4]

We already know our names.  LOL  We knew them before we were even expecting!

My husband picked the girl name and I picked the boy name.  So if we have a girl it will be Holly Ann.  If we have a boy it will be Christopher Ronald (Chris).  He likes Holly Ann b/c of the Boston song!  I've always loved Christopher but had a hard time w/ a middle name.  I like Robert the best and that is a long standing family name, but the most recent Robert is not so endearing.  Ronald is my husband's Uncle's name and he is now deceased.  Boys run rampant on his side so while they would love a girl, if we get a boy instead, I bet they will really like seeing Ronald as the middle name as a consolation prize. :-P