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Naming your Babe

10K views 225 replies 31 participants last post by  bren94 
#1 ·
I didn't see a name thread so thought I'd make one. I am further along than most of this ddc but I bet some of you are already talking about names at home.


I have gone back and forth between feeling sold on a name and then...not. Mostly because DH isn't all in for the name I love so I've been open to suggestions.


Right we both really like Leif (American pronunciation like Leaf) for either sex, although it is traditionally a boy's name. It doesn't seem too masculine to name a girl to us, but I'm not positive about that.


I'm curious about your name ideas. Share away!
 
#3 ·
Writermama, get out of town! We had chosen Leif Anders for our previous 2 pregnancies, but pronounced the Norwegian way. I have finally convinced my husband no because everyone says Leaf. :) We have a strong Norwegian surname, and I liked the idea of giving a son a first name in keeping with his paternal heritage. For this baby, I like Kip Elliot and Theodore Jack. My grandfather is Teddy, and DH's is Jack... But really, everyone in my household loves Theodore Roosevelt, even my 4 year old daughter. Kip is my first pick... we'll see.....

We can only agree on one name for a girl, and the jury is out on a middle name.

I like to go into the ultrasound with names so I can leave knowing just who it is in there. :)

Thanks for starting this thread. I can't wait to hear what other people like/consider!
 
#4 ·
I already said this in another thread, but I really really REALLY want the name Jonathan for a boy, but my husband is outright refusing to name our son that. He says it's boring, and then I say that is not a good enough reason, so then he says he just doesn't like Jon, and I say I do like Jon, and it goes nowhere fast. But I keep recommending it, hoping to wear him down. Maybe after labor I will threaten to divorce if he doesn't just agree with me and put it on the birth certificate. Just kidding.

My second picks that he agrees with are Jeffrey or Julia. I'm really not into the letter J or anything, it's just a coincidence. But I am avoiding any names that start with the letters my other kids' names start with.
 
#162 ·
I already said this in another thread, but I really really REALLY want the name Jonathan for a boy, but my husband is outright refusing to name our son that. He says it's boring, and then I say that is not a good enough reason, so then he says he just doesn't like Jon, and I say I do like Jon, and it goes nowhere fast. But I keep recommending it, hoping to wear him down... My second picks that he agrees with are Jeffrey or Julia.
So, after we found out it was a boy, my husband rethought Jeffrey and said that I can name him Jonathan, after all. He's okay with it. I am letting him pick the middle name. He's leaning toward using his late father's name.
 
#6 ·
I have a pretty short list for both sexes. We didn't find out DS's sex and had two options for each when he was born. So he's used one of our boy options, and SIL just named her baby one of our girl options (it wasn't my favorite of the two anyway), so at the moment we've got one of each.

Girl - Nell
Boy - Gus

Our last name is not long but somewhat cumbersome, so I like to keep first names short and simple. My very dear grandfather's name is Nelson, and I've always loved the name Nell. If it's a girl I might even use my grandfathers middle name as well, although it would be masculine (Nell Winston), but I kind of think middle names are fair game for anything. I might use Nelson as a middle name for Gus if it's a boy.

My only concern with Gus now is the potential rise in popularity after The Fault in Our Stars mania. I know it's a YA book/movie, but it seems like Gus/Augustus might surge because of it. Unfortunately there are very few boy names I really love. I like Oscar, but DS is Felix and enough people my age would still catch the Odd Couple reference.
 
#7 ·
Boys

William Anthony
Erik Anthony
Michael James

Girls

Charlie
Scarlett


No idea on middle names for girls yet. My dad's name is Anthony and we wanted to carry on my family name some how so that is the reason for that middle name for two of our boy choices.
 
#8 ·
I love Grace for a girl. It's a pretty solid runner.
Since I've been pregnant, Robin's (the bird) are all around me. I work in a mill yard, so I know that most of them coming so close is due to me rolling a log and uncovering fresh goodies for them to consume, but they are really unafraid of me, to the point where I bet I could feed one out of my hand with enough patience. I began wondering if this little one was trying to tell me something, but I don't like Robin for a girl. A friend suggested that Robin could be a boys name, too. I like it, most days. Sometimes I don't. My husband is not into it, but there have been no other boy names calling us.

Oddly, we don't really discuss names. My hunch is this is a girl, and her name is Grace. So that's what we've been going with.

Both of my other kids "told" me their names. My oldest, Owen, came to me in a dream. My youngest, Caleb, came like a bolt of lightning in the shower one day. I was planning on giving him up for adoption at that point, and he said so strongly to me one day his full name. And when asked today if he could change his name to anything, he tells me he loves his name, and wouldn't want to be anyone else.

I love thinking names, though, and hearing what people are thinking for their little sprouts.
 
#9 ·
Girl names are so hard for me. The middle name has to be Whitney. And the first name has to ha e Ann in it. For example "LeeAnn". But not that name heheh. I like Annie but Annie Whitney doesnt seem to flow right. Arrggghh I'm stuck lol.. But for a boy the name is Ryder gene. So that's set.. If only girl names where easier.
 
#10 ·
I know that I'll be using Brooks for the middle name, boy or girl. It was my grandmother's last name, and what everyone called her.

The first name will depend on if I decide to give baby my last name or the dad's. My last name is german and sounds a bit clunky with a lot of names that I like, his last name is much easier to pair up with.
 
#11 ·
We haven't even discussed names yet, which is par for the course. Our first born was named after DH (we started dating in high school, and I knew then that I wanted our first son to have his name), so his was easy. However, we have agreed on very few boys names since then. Our second boy was nameless for four days, and our third for sixteen! Our daughter was easy because she also has a name we agreed upon for our first girl, long before it mattered.

We are team green, and will likely keep multiple options open until after the baby is born. Well, for a girl, anyway. We have a large number of girl names to narrow down before then, but if it goes like last time, we won't have a single boy name lined up.

I'll have to come back tomorrow with my list.
 
#12 ·
I think about names constantly but rarely share my thoughts with Dh.
For all our previous children he has said No to any suggestions but is like putty to anything I say immediately after the baby is born! So I've actually chosen all 4 of the previous children.
However, I'm struggling this time because we are expecting a boy and I've already used up 6 names on the previous 3...
So I'm happy to see all your suggestions on this thread.

Some names in my little handbag book so far are:
Peter
Reuben
Max (maxim - French name)
Arthur
Axel

But none of them scream " the one" yet.

If the sonographer is wrong and this s a girl then she will be
Hazel or Daisy with a middle name of Anne or Amelia

My other children are
James Alexander
Andrew David
Naomi Isabelle
Leo Michael
 
#15 ·
I used to know a guy named Emir. That's more masculine and sorta similar.

With out first we likes Isaac, Eli, and Isaiah and I feel like any combination of the two are too similar!

Leah ... My husband hated every name I picked so I made him pick it.

We will start talking after we know the sex but for now I will just think of some on my own.
 
#14 ·
Great Lists Ladies! I am feeling less sold on Leif for a girl, as I don't know how the greater world will react when she is grown and out in it-- so for the record

the other names on my girl list are: Heron, Wren, Peregrine, and Phoenix.
Alt boy names: Peregrine, Larkin, and Aspen

My other boys are Ethan, Caelan, and Rowan.

@Valerie11 , I have read that Leif is traditionally pronounced "Lyfe" or "Layf" in other languages but "Leaf" is quite common to hear in the US, and is the only way I've heard it said here, so we'd go with that way.
 
#16 ·
I love names, so it's actually slightly to my chagrin that we've always settled on names quickly and easily, way in advance of the baby's arrival!

It's very important to us to preserve family heritage, so we try to have each name reflect part of that. We usually go for Japanese first names (with the exception of our daughter's, which we found out after the fact isn't archaic Japanese but Arabic, WHOOPS!--but she's still named after her grandmother so whatever, it's still family heritage so we love it) and Anglo middle names, to go with their Puerto Rican last name. We figure if they ever get tired of having super-unusual first names (that don't necessarily match their outward ethnicity, particularly in our blonde, blue-eyed son's case!!), they can always go by their plain-Jane middle names. The first two's first names were settled on before we even got married, and their middle names required only a little more fine-tuning.

This baby's name has traveled a little further, but we're no less firm on it, which is nice this early on. First name will be after his/her great grandmother, who is very elderly and certainly beginning to fade away. Middle name is a bit of a departure; my husband's dear friend died suddenly a few years ago, and his absence has really changed all of our lives. So we're going to use his name for this baby's middle name, whether boy or girl.

So, for a girl: Yoshiko Afran
And for a boy: Yoshi Afran

...and we're basically just trusting that our glowing, loving stories of both namesakes will innoculate this child against being resentful of such unusual names.

Plus, our older son's nickname is Ryu, so if we have another boy, I am sheepishly looking forward to having accidentally named both of our sons after video game characters. What can I say, we like a good theme. :)
 
#17 ·
Tee, I love Japanese names, too. I love Tomoyoshi for a boy. We hosted some japanese students several times, and one of them was a Tomoyoshi. Loved the name, loved the kid.
While my husband always thought he'd marry a japanese woman, he's not sold on the japanese names...
I also love Arietta for a girl...
 
#18 ·
Tee, I love the name Yoshi! So cool.

we've only agreed on a couple names so far but I really like the ones we have. I won't pick one for sure until I meet the baby though.

Girl:
Guinevere
Charlotte
Rowan

Boy:
William Christopher (possibly shortened to Liam)
DH loves Ezra but I really don't think I can do Ezra!

Guinevere and Charlotte are just gorgeous names we both love and William would be after DH and his father, Christopher is after my dad and DH's cousin who died in Iraq. I don't have any middle names picked out for the girls. I like Vita after my grandmother but I'm not sure it fits well with everything so we'll see!

P.S. Arietta is such a beautiful name.
 
#19 ·
Valerie-- Leif is like the Hawaiian Lei- plus f. I grew up around a lot of Scandanavians so that is the first way I heard it. it wasn't until recently I heard people say "Leaf." Either way, it is an awesome name.

My family is French Canadian, and my father is Richard (pronounced Re-shard). His spelling has the accent over the 'a' and everything, but NO ONE can say it. I felt so sad the day I overheard him introduce himself as plain old Richard.

TeeThatsMe-- Why Japanese names, by chance? My first daughter was born in Japan. Her name is Lark, which apparently is a brand of cigarettes there. My neighbors would say, "Lak-u?" while doing a vigorous smoking gesture. Finally one sweet neighbor translated it into Japanese for us and we call her Hibari-chan to this day.

Luckiest-- I love both Gus AND Nell. We're fans of single syllable names.
 
#21 ·
Duchess: I love Theodore!

Writermama: I vote for Peregrine. He is the patron saint of cancer patients and is looked at as a pretty powerful intercessor in the Catholic faith (which I suppose doesn't mean much to those who aren't Catholic... but there's a bit o' trivia for you!)

For a girl, I really want Zelie. Unfortunately, someone we know is due in August and that's one of their picks for their baby. I hope they don't use it! It wouldn't matter so much if it wasn't such an uncommon name. They might think we were copying, which is silly because we are barely even acquaintances. Sometimes people are just weird about names... like they own them or something.

For a boy, looks like he would be names after DH. As of now, at least.
 
#22 ·
Cagnew, that is interesting to know about Peregrine. I am not religious, but I'm glad it is a good name in that realm. And this was my first choice name for either sex for months, but I opened up to suggestions since DH wasn't sold on it. I chose it because it means pilgrim/ explorer, because it is my oldest son's favorite bird, and because I love the NN potential of Pippin/Pip, which is just too adorable to me.


But I am not 100% on Peregrine for a girl and I do like Leif. I don't know. This process is hard.
 
#23 ·
Bren- my sons name is Mayson Leeiam.. I LOVE the name lliam. my grandmother is from Ireland and my dads name is William. and my grandpas name was Lee.. so we gave our son the middle name Leeiam to honor my grandma, dad, and grandpa... although in Ireland its traditionally spelt Lliam. we went with Leeiam because it was a mash up of Lee and the end of William..

PS. why are boy names so much easier than girl names... if you ladies come across any names that have Ann in them please let me know.. im going insane... hehe...
 
#24 ·
@cowchick530, I feel like girl names are SOOOO Easy! lol. We have the hardest time with boy names!

We love old fashioned names. That is our "theme."

I already have a:

Lucy Abigail (a name I love and chose long before my pregnancy)
Charlotte Mae (named after my grandmother and my mom)
Graham Vincent (Loved the first name, second name after DH)

We, too, are team green and won't be finding out gender until the bday. Though, we both think it is a girl. :)

Our girl name: Mary Elizabeth (Mary means "wished for child")
Our boy names: Theodore Thomas (Theodore means "gift from God")
or Leo Thomas

This is all subject to change. We tend to go through the books over and over again and come up with the same lists of names but are not ever for sure until closer to the due date. I am REALLY attached to Theodore. I hope DH doesn't change his mind!!!
 
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#26 ·
I like some of the names mentioned and did consider them: Liam, Isaac, Evelyn. But something just isn't completely right, so I didn't stop at them.

cowchick530, I like the name Luanne or Leanne, but also wouldn't work for us since I already have a girl that starts with L.

Thinking I wouldn't have any more kids, I named my cats people names that I would have used on my kids, which is unfortunate, because now I can't bring myself to take them away from the cats to give them to a child. The cats names are Graham and Catherine.
 
#28 · (Edited)
@happyday8598, looooooove Grace. It is a family name that has been a bit "claimed" by my aunt's branch of the family, and it doesn't really fit with our last name anyhow (starts with S!), but I adore it all the same.
Robin, too! I love Robin for a boy--it is my dad's name, as a matter of fact. He loves his name, and has never had an iota of a problem shrugging his shoulders and rattling off lots of other male Robins when people give him grief about it. He is also the biggest bird-lover I know, and animals in general have a magnetic attraction to him--it's impossible to ignore. I wonder whether his name has anything to do with it.
And my own name came to my mom similarly to your sons'--I didn't necessarily tell it to her, but she literally saw it in a vision. It's a made-up name and you won't find it in any dictionaries, so her socially conservative family was upset with her choice, but she stuck to her guns and I'm glad she did!

@cowchick530, I totally agree with @dentonmidwife... I feel like EVERYTHING goes with Ann! Particularly two-syllable names, and even more specifically names that end in an E sound. Laurie Ann, Kelly Ann, Mary Ann, Susie Ann, Molly Ann... Do you specifically want the name to be one word, as you typed above--LeeAnn? I am partial to leaving a space between, or else leaving it uncapitalized, maybe something like Maryanne or Lauriann? Or maybe hyphenating--Susan-Ann Whitney Lastname? Anyhow, I feel like you have tons and tons of choices available to you.

@WriterMama, all your bird names are beautiful. A good friend's sister's name is Heron, and I just love it--it really suits her, too. She is very elegant and refined.

@DuchessTergie, your story about Lark's name is so cute! I love that she got a whole Japanese nickname out of it. Oddly enough, I am civilian DoD (now, although I wasn't when my son was born), and my kids went to daycare on base for several years. I was always surprised by how many people looked at him, looked at me, and went straight to "Oh, did you name him that because you were stationed in Japan when he was born?" I mean, it is true that he doesn't look an ounce Japanese, but it's totally fascinating to me that folks consistently came up with that explanation! I've never been stationed anywhere! :laugh:
I am really into Theodore right now too, but I suppose that's because my cousin and his wife just had a little baby Theodore two days ago. I think they are calling him Theo, although in my heart I might call him Teddy because a) TEDDY, AWWW and b) we've also got a family tradition of Edwards nicknamed Ted or Teddy.

@cagnew, Zelie is so beautiful! I LOVE that name! Had never seen it before--when I looked it up, I saw a lot of references to it being a nickname for Azélie. What is the name's meaning to you?
 
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