# Chlidren's names...



## ProtoLawyer (Apr 16, 2007)

How would you characterize your kids' first names? Check all that apply.

I'm just curious about this--I see so many unique names here.

For the record, my stepdaughter has a long, unconventionally spelled, not-from-her-ethnicity name that is inspired by a movie, but she uses a nickname. (Out of respect for her and her mother's privacy--because she is literally the only one with her name I have ever known-- I will not be sharing her name.)


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

I need an other.









My oldest son has an unusual name that I haven't heard anywhere else. Its a spinoff of his grandfather's names. My youngest has a name I've only heard a few times and they were girls. His is from a movie.


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## ProtoLawyer (Apr 16, 2007)

Heh--I ran out of choices.

We have a girl's name picked out (no, I'm not even pregnant)--Lyla.
Acronym for "love you lots, always," which is how my partner and I signed our emails when we were long-distance. So, I guess, if I ever have a daughter, she'd have a consistent-with-ethnicity (I think), semi-common-these-days name but a variant spelling (but I'm not sure what I'd check), maybe a nickname in itself (Delilah?) and my mom would probably tell people she was named for my late grandfather (my family often names their kids with the same first letter as a deceased relative).

So, yeah, this is a tough poll.









We don't have a boy's name picked out, though.


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## birdie22 (Apr 1, 2005)

Jack is actually John William Jr., and David is David Thomas. I'm sure some would think they are boring names, but I think of them as neutral-- ready to be filled in with my boys' unique personalities.

And of course, we have a difficult-to-spell last name, so I didn't want to saddle them with difficult first names as well.


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## LaLaLaLa (Oct 29, 2007)

Okay, so DH and I both have unusual names (not, like, made up but also not in the top, say, 500 of our birth years). Both of our names are spelled in slightly unconventional ways.

We have both spent our entire lives spelling our names for people, constantly seeing our names misspelled anyway, and wishing we could walk into stores and find stickers/pencils/zipper pulls/whatever with our names on them.

We decided to give our kids normal names, spelled normally.

Wouldn't you know it, normal names have gone out of fashion. We can't find stickers for our DD, even though every other person I meet my age has her name. But we walked into a store and found stickers with Shiloh and Dakota and Sierra on them. And MY name, for goodness sake. Which has recently vaulted to the top of the lists.

Big plan backfired. At least people recognize our kids' names and spell them correctly, though, so half of our victory is won.


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## sunnmama (Jul 3, 2003)

I love Lyla, and what it means!

My ds's name is an English date-type word, not traditionally used as a name (but not unheard of). It is traditionally spelled.

Dd's name is more unusual, but she is named after a public figure. The public figure just happened to have a very unusual name.


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## ProtoLawyer (Apr 16, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *birdie22* 
And of course, we have a difficult-to-spell last name, so I didn't want to saddle them with difficult first names as well.









Heh...I've got the long, difficult last name -- and a common first name for my generation, with one of the less common spellings.
My partner's last name is four letters, hard to screw up. Any children we have can have his last name.

His daughter's nickname + last name is actually very simple and elegant. It would not surprise me if she changes her name legally to her nickname at some point--her full name sounds pretty when properly pronounced, but it's so rarely done (I don't even get it perfectly, and her paternal grandmother mangles it).


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## Honey693 (May 5, 2008)

DD's name (Eleanor, we call her Ella) is old fashioned and common around here, but not really common. Ella is though b/c it's a nickname for a billion names.


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## Miranda2r14 (Jan 20, 2008)

My son's name is Braden. We named him after DH who is Bradford, a very English and formal name we wanted something a bit more modern and casual but still similar.

I voted:

"Unconventionally spelled" (It's conventionally Braedon)
"Inconsistent with my child's ethnicity" )it's Gaelic and as far as I know we are not but I don't know my family history all that well either, and
"Popular amongst my child's peers" (The conventional spelling is in the top 50 for his birth year)


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## mamabeca (Oct 3, 2004)

We have a Rebecca, who is calling herself Beckey. So does that count as conventional spelling (official) or not conventional (nick name)? And we have an Orin. Very unconventional name overall -never actually popular lol, as well as a less common spelling (orren is more common, if you can call any spelling of this name common). In Hebrew it means Pine Tree - my husband and I are both foresters. So job related lol! Anyway, I wanted Hebrew names for both my kids. I didn't choose Rivka only because it was too ethnic, even if we are Jewish! So I chose their names fit w/their ethnicity, but there's more to it than that. Orin's middle name is Clarence, which was his paternal grandaddy's name, and his great grand daddy's before him. He's the only great-grandson w/that name, out of more than 30 cousins (granddad was one of 8 kids, and dad is one of 4). Rebecca's middle name is Lou-Belle. Lou is for both my Grandpa, Louis, and my dh's Aunt LouElla. Belle is for my MIL's maiden name, Bell. And that's the story here lol!


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## ProtoLawyer (Apr 16, 2007)

Oh, for completeness--
My partner has one of the three or so names that if you shout it into a room full of men in their 30s, half of them turn their heads.
If you google his full name, he is the first hit, only because he does a lot on the Internet. But only the first hit out of the top 20 is his--and maybe 15 people make up the top 20 hits.

Google me, and I am 8 out of the top 10 hits--the other 2 are different spellings.


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## Miranda2r14 (Jan 20, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ProtoLawyer* 
Oh, for completeness--
My partner has one of the three or so names that if you shout it into a room full of men in their 30s, half of them turn their heads.
If you google his full name, he is the first hit, only because he does a lot on the Internet. But only the first hit out of the top 20 is his--and maybe 15 people make up the top 20 hits.

Google me, and I am 8 out of the top 10 hits--the other 2 are different spellings.

Oh, I just googled myself to see and I'm six of the listings on the first page, the top 3 are all me haha







:


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## EFmom (Mar 16, 2002)

I like names that are traditional, recognizable and a bit uncommon. I also like conventional spellings and names that aren't impossible for your average person to pronounce.


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## RebeccaWo (Apr 1, 2008)

Great thread! DD's name is "Inspired by a book/movie/other media". Annalee Austen: Annalee is from the The Band song The Weight; Austen is, of course, homage to Jane Austen.


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

I checked:

Conventionally spelled
Consistent with ethnicity
More common in GP/GGP generations

Our kids' names are old-fashioned but easy to say and spell.


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

I'm a fan of classic names, names that everyone knows, traditional spellings... I would prefer to stay out of the top 50 but if a name really calls to me then I'll use. One of my DD's is Madeline which is a little more popular then I'd like but that's ok.


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

My kids have their every day names that are on their birth certificates and their baptismal names which are um on their baptismal certificates. they are very much both the "real" names.

#1 is Madeline (lyn not line)/Magdalini, he godmothers dd calls her Ni for short. very funny. we are not greek and this is a very greek/eastern european name. weather or not Madeline is spelled conventionally or not I suppose is open to interpretation. And Madeline was insanely popular even though I had never heard it before. I believe it was in the top 5! Top frickin five!

#2 is Lilyka (not just a clever screen name.) it is an unconventional name spelled unconventionally. the proper spelling is Lillica. I have only met one other and after much digging found it in a baby name book once. Her baptismal name is Angelyka. not popular, not weird, spelled funny in keeping with her every day name. Ethnically neutral I think.

#3 - Ava. you owuld think this is the most complicated name in the world because no one is sure how to pronounce it. maybe it is because none of our other kids follow properphonetic rules but Ava is pronounced according to the rules and laws of phonics. Long A, v, short a. very onsanely popular. again, never met one but within a year it shot from obscurity to the top 10 I think. her baptismal name is Ketavan (all short vowels). Obviously this is not a popular name in the states but i think it is fairly popular in Eastern Europe, specifically Georgia (Queen Ketevan was a martyred queen of Georgia. Much loved. Much honored. at least by the Christians.)

I guess weather or not their baptismal names belong to an ethniticity that we do or do not belong to is actually sort of debateable. I mean we go to a church that has a heavy Greek and Eastern Europe population (as well as East African) and thechnically we are part of that culture as in they are our family and that culture is what defines as we go out from there. We chose names that were cuturally significant even though we are not that ethnicity.


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## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

Conventionally spelled: for the most part. I've also seen it spelled Brody.
Consistent with my child's ethnicity: It is Irish, we are part Irish (among many other things)
Inspired by a book/movie/other media: 10 points to anyone who can guess the movie


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## ani'smommy (Nov 29, 2005)

Our kids are Anneke and Jonah.

Conventionally spelled, yes
Biblical (Anneke, Anne derivative, Jonah, obviously)
Ethnically fitting, Anneke is, our family is Dutch. Jonah not so much


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## ShyViolet (Dec 2, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamabeca* 
Orin's middle name is Clarence, which was his paternal grandaddy's name, and his great grand daddy's before him. He's the only great-grandson w/that name, out of more than 30 cousins (granddad was one of 8 kids, and dad is one of 4). maiden name, Bell.

I am crawling out of lurkdom here.

My FIL's name was Oren Clarence - he was named for the doctor who attended his birth and his father.

The baby we lost would have been Felix Oren.

Back to lurking now....


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## phrogger (Oct 16, 2006)

My kids are more just conventionally spelled. I guess it could be ethnic since they both are Italian and their names are Vincent and Victor, but it is more the American versions of the Italian names. I am naming the new baby Shane. Again, more conventional, not over used but not unusal and I am Irish so it fits.

Honestly, we all have kind of boring names. I am Erin, again, not unusual at all.


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## mamatoablessing (Oct 17, 2005)

DD#1 was named for a character on Law & Order: SVU (Olivia)
DD#2 was named for a Dave Matthews Band song (Jane)


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## mamatoablessing (Oct 17, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *frontierpsych* 
]Inspired by a book/movie/other media: 10 points to anyone who can guess the movie









There are two movies I know had characters named Brodie. The first is Jaws and the second is driving me nuts cause I can't think of it! Is it Jaws???


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## emaye_to_2 (Jan 16, 2008)

I voted: from the bible, from another spiritual tradition, conventionally spelled and consistent with my children's ethnicity.


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## funkymamajoy (May 25, 2008)

My kids have classic, conventionally spelled names.


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## burke-a-bee (Jan 8, 2005)

Mine don't fit in to any of these options.


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## ProtoLawyer (Apr 16, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *frontierpsych* 
Conventionally spelled: for the most part. I've also seen it spelled Brody.
Consistent with my child's ethnicity: It is Irish, we are part Irish (among many other things)
Inspired by a book/movie/other media: 10 points to anyone who can guess the movie









Mallrats?


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

Mine are:

*Denae* -- Danae is from greek mythology; form of Hebrew Dana. But I changed the spelling. Some people assume it's made up.

*Nathan* -- Biblical, but we are Atheist/Agnostic so this wasn't the reasoning behind choosing it.

*Jayden* -- Jadon is also Biblical, but we changed the spelling. I've heard of it as being a made up name (on MDC and other places) but since it's pronounced the same, to me, it's a 'real' name... so whatever









*Lincoln* -- an English name, obviously more likely a surname. There is a character on Prison break w/it as a first name, but it's not why we chose it so I didn't vote that way.

I voted a few ways on the poll -- too lazy to list them


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## FreeRangeMama (Nov 22, 2001)

My first 3 all have names that are not their ethnicity. Uncommon, but spelled correctly. The fourth is named something that is an English word, but not typically a name that has religious significance (but not biblical/Christian). We chose their names based on how the name sounded as well as their meanings.


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## SAHDS (Mar 28, 2008)

Both spelled conventionally (I abhor unconventionally spelled names like "cutesy" spellings).

Both aren't "popular" but well known - although, DD's name is wildly popular now (but not when we picked it 10.5 years ago).

DD's is semi-long, but we use a nickname most of the time.

As for middle names, DD's is long and more popular way back in the day and named after myself, my mom, my grandmother. DS's is named for my brother and dad and is fairly common. Both spelled correctly. Neither are shortened.


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## Logan's mommy (Jan 19, 2007)

Ds1's name comes from "The X-Men", his dad's favorite comic. His favorite character is Wolverine, whose real name is Logan. I couldn't think of anything better, and really liked it, so that's what we went with.

Ds2's name comes from LOST, one of me and dh's favorite characters is Desmond David Hume. One way or the other ds2 was going to end up with a name from that show, I really wanted to name him Sawyer, but dh said no. Desmond was a good compromise.

So, we have a Logan Andrew, and a Desmond Alexander.

ETA: We have a HUGE last name- 12 letters, poor ds2... his name is 28 letters long!!
I'm not sure what my family's ethnicity is and I believe dh's family is from the Nordic area, but I'm not sure. I don't think our kids names fit with their ethnicity







:


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## Avecilla (Jan 24, 2008)

Old-fashioned, conventionally spelled, inspired by books/family/historical figures.


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## Liquesce (Nov 4, 2006)

I said from another religious tradition (more my daughter than my son), common among their peers (also more my daughter), and consistent with their ethnicity, but I can't really say about conventionally or unconventionally spelled ... in the English alphabet neither really have a strong convention so much as various muddled attempts at phonetic spellings. In Arabic both are totally conventional -- people would look at me like I have three heads if I attempted otherwise.


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## onlyzombiecat (Aug 15, 2004)

My dd's name is pronounced exactly like a name that does belong to our ethnicity but we chose a spelling that is from an ethnicity to which we do not belong.
The spelling is not conventional where we live.
She was not named after anyone or anything.


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## angelamariebee (Jun 20, 2008)

I picked "Long, but uses a nickname", among others, because DD does go by a nickname. Her name isn't really LONG though, so I wasn't sure. Her name is Lucille.

I also picked "spelled conventionally", but I hadn't planned on it. I wanted to spell her name "Lucielle" when she was born but my husband had put "Lucille" on all her paperwork. I was spelling her name wrong for three months. Now I'm glad he did though, I like it better spelled the normal way. lol


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## Mama2Bug (Feb 18, 2005)

My DD is Cassandra Maureen Lastname. So-

First name:

-From another religious or spiritual tradition
-Conventionally spelled
-From an ethnicity to which my child does not belong (It is Greek and we are not at all.)
-Long, but my kid uses a nickname (She's been Cassie from conception.)
-More common in my generation than in my kids' generation

Middle name:

-From the Bible (Gaelic for Mary, though we are not Christian.)
-Conventionally spelled
-Consistent with my child's ethnicity (I am of Irish descent.)
-More common in grandparents' or great-grandparents' generations

Both names were chosen because they have special meaning to me. I've known her name since I was 12 years old. I have names for the next 4 or so kids too. (If we should be so lucky.) My kids seem to name themselves. I never had to think too much about them.


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## straighthaircurly (Dec 17, 2005)

I needed some other categories like a family name and also that he goes by a nickname completely unrelated to his given name (and I mean COMPLETELY unrelated).


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## melijack1 (Nov 18, 2008)

Colton Steven-Michael Lastname

Colton - we liked Cole very much, but wanted more, and then my bff who was also pg suggested Colton. I had never heard that name before, but apparently there are several because I hear it often now.

Steven-Michael are after his two grandfathers.

Unless you count the hyphen in the middle name, everything is traditionally spelled.

DSD is Mona - uncommon for children, and her two middle names are also uncommon, but please forgive me if I don't share her whole name, out of the same respect as the OP.


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## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

Ds' name is definitely Biblical (one of the 12 apostles), though that's not why I chose it. It's conventionally spelled, and consistent with our Irish-German-Danish-?? ancestry.

Dd's name could be considered Biblical, but not for English. It's generally considered Hispanic, nowadays, but it has been used in Anglo-Saxon families too.

I like traditional names. Our last names are difficult and I wanted at least one name that my kids could say and people would know how to spell and say, because they are going to spend their lives correcting people on their last name.

I also wanted names that could easily be pronounced in a variety of languages, as dh and I both like to travel, and we hope to live abroad the next time I have a sabbatical (if we can afford it!).

I don't mind untraditional names on other people's kids -- dd has some classmates with some really interesting names that I would never have thought of, but like. Growing up in Minnesota, we had a neighbor with the last name Johnson (there are something like 30 pages of Johnsons in the Minneapolis phone book), and they deliberately gave their kids unique first names because their last name was so common. That, I understand.


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## cappuccinosmom (Dec 28, 2003)

I voted with the caveat that my answers apply only when living in America.







Here, my kids names are extremely unusual, oddly spelled and "ethnic". For business/health stuff, when someone asks for my kids names I now say "You know what, it's difficult, I'll just spell it for you" to avoid the 10 rounds of "What? Be-what? Rook? Ruk? Roof?"









In Ethiopia, though, where dh is from, two of the boys names are very common. Our oldest son has a name that is commonly given to first sons. The baby has a name that is Biblical, and also relatively common. For our middle son, dh made up the name out of whole cloth because he wanted a certain meaning, but it still follows the tradition of naming there, using the language and shooting for a particular meaning. There is a particular ethnic group within Ethiopia that is really expert at combining the grandfathers, fathers, and child names to come up with a really clever meaning or play on words, and it works because instead of firstname-familyname, people go by firstname-fathersname, and occasionally tack grandfather's name on there too.


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

I always go for:

Common spelling
Traditional (so perhaps grandparents generation)
Yet - Uncommon name
And my DS also happens to have a name that is part of his ethnicity

My DS name is Duncan
It is a traditional name with a common spelling and my fathers side is Scottish so its part of his ethnicity. Yet - it is an uncommon name which I like. (and at the end of the day, it was the only name my DH agreed to! hehe) I mean, John is a nice traditional name but how common is that? I don't like common and whilst I like unique uncommon names - they don't suit us. Which makes it rather hard actually because if you want uncommon - unique is mostly where it is at...but I like the traditional! lol


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## AllisonR (May 5, 2006)

I chose traditionally spelled and untraditionally spelled. Depends on which language, Danish or American. We chose names that were pronounceable in both languages, but that were clearly spelled to avoid confusion.

I think it is important a child can feel comfortable in their own name and not have to correct people all the time about spelling or pronunciation.

I would have preferred Leigh for my daughter, but danish people would have been constantly saying - what????







So we went with Lea, which is easy to say and spell in both. We went with Kristoffer for our son, which is very close to Christopher - and if he says his name American's can pronounce it - the accent is just moved. People do not use nicknames here - it is extremely rare. So Kristoffer will always be Kristoffer, not Kris, or Chris or whatever. (Except maybe 'stoffer, as a joke, which means drugs in Danish.)


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## lemurik (Jul 26, 2007)

Both kids have Biblical Jewish names, pretty common in traditional spelling. DD's however, is spelled untraditionally, after a movie character DH and I love







And it's more a transcription of how it sounds in Russian (our native language) than Hebrew (how it's written in USA).


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## graceomalley (Dec 8, 2006)

Cool poll!

They're
* from a religious/spiritual tradition
* conventionally spelled
* consistent with their ethnicity
* not common now and haven't been in the past
* not long, but both can be shortened (only one is called by the shortened form though).


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## Areia (Mar 5, 2009)

I love these types of threads!







: I would say my DD's name is from the Bible (but that is not why we chose it), consistent with her ethnicity and more common in other generations.

Her first name is Sara. We chose this name because we like how it sounds in both English (DH is American) and Portuguese and would "fit" regardless of which country we end up living. I also dropped the "h" at the end because that is how it is spelled in Portugal and although not as common in the States, you do see it often enough. We also liked that it honored both sides of the family. I have some great-aunts/cousins called Sara and there has been at least one Sarah in each generation of DH's family since the late 1600s. Recycling names is very common in my family. My name is fairly uncommon, but I have a cousin and 2 aunts with the same name.

Her middle name is more unusual. I've never heard it in the US, but you'll see variations of it in Europe. We chose it because of its meaning and also how nicely it flows with Sara and our last name.

If she had been a boy, her name would have been Jacob Morgan.


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## MaterPrimaePuellae (Oct 30, 2007)

Tradition is important to me (I teach Latin at a university), but I also like to be a little different-- so, right now, my plan is for all the children to have Latinate names that, somehow, reference virtues/characteristics that I think are important-- and they can't be too common, like "Bella" or "Carissa" which would be "pretty" (or "wars", ha ha) and "most dear". So:
DD 1 is Constance , middle name is family middle name (Constans is the present active participle of "constare", which basically means what Constance means in English)
DD 2 will be Vera Alice ("true"-- V is my G-grandmother's name and A is DH's grandmother's name)
I also like Beatrix/Beatrice or Beata

So we'll have constancy, truth, and happiness-- all of which I think are good









If I have boys, I'll probably be venturing into stranger territory. It's hard to come up with good Latinate boys names. Fidel (fidelis, faithful) would be great if it didn't have kindof a sordid association


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## karemore (Oct 7, 2008)

We didn't want a common or trendy name but didn't want an unusual name they'd have to explain their whole life.

We wanted something both german and north american.

We actually picked the nickname first (Susie) then the longer version, Susanna.

Nobody in our family approved of our choice but now they all think it is the perfect name for her.


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## muldey (May 8, 2002)

I need an other on the poll.My kids names are unusual,neither I have heard before.

Dd is Kasia(pronounced Kay-see-ah) Devlynn.I found the name Casia in a baby book,and loved it.Exh decided on Devlynn,we just chose to spell it differently than we have seen.Her nickname is K K.

Ds is Gabrion(pronounced Gabe-bree-in(or on)) Michael.Gabrion is a combination of Gabrielle and Marion,which were my grandmothers' names.Michael is extremely common,but it's my dad's first name.His nickname is Gabey.


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## AnalogWife (Sep 8, 2007)

I checked several of these, but DH felt strongly about naming DS after someone he had in mind for 20+ years, so he chose it for that reason.


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## Mal85 (Sep 3, 2008)

DD's name is Owyn Samantha. The only one I chose was unconventionally spelled... the only category that fit.

Not popular among girls, but it's #56 among boys with the traditional _Owen_ spelling.

She's not named after anyone. We chose Owyn as a compromise. I wanted something different, unique for her and DH wanted something simple, not too out there. He agreed to Owyn because he actually knows another girl with that name, so it wasn't too weird for him. Samantha came from my grandpa and was a spur of the moment decision. We wanted her to have a family name as her middle name, but couldn't agree on one for the longest time. My grandpa had taken to calling the baby Sam while I was pregnant because he does not like the name Owyn. He said we needed a Sam in the family... so in honor of him, we chose Samantha for the MN.


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## crunchymamatobe (Jul 8, 2004)

My child shares his name with a saint, but we are definitely not religious.


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## katiesk (Nov 6, 2007)

my little girl is judah, which is from the bible obviously, but that is not why we chose it. we just liked it for a girl. and her middle name is magnolia, which dp chose from the grateful dead, sugar magnolia.


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## philomom (Sep 12, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EFmom* 
I like names that are traditional, recognizable and a bit uncommon. I also like conventional spellings and names that aren't impossible for your average person to pronounce.

Yep, that is us as well. My kids have names from my grandparent's generation. They all are spelled and pronounced quite easily.

My own fist name has a kr8tv spelling. I never forgave my parents for it.


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## tinuviel_k (Apr 29, 2004)

I chose:
From an ethnicity to which my child does not belong
A non-English word that isn't traditionally used as a name

but I also would have liked to see an option like:
*From a natural feature or landmark*

My husband and I are both climbers, and we knew we wanted a "mountain" name. We chose Denali because it is one of the "big seven" and is the tallest peak in North America. We considered going by its other name "McKinnley' but liked Denali better.
Other names on the table were Sierra, and Chelan (not a mountain, but a lake in WA where I spent a good deal of time in the wilderness. My favorite peaks in the area: Buckskin, Dumbell, and north Star just didn't quite do it for names







)


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## angelpie545 (Feb 23, 2005)

I choose "Destiny" for my first daughter's name because I loved the word, but also because I always felt it was my destiny to be a mom, and a young one at that, so to speak. I was 17 when I got pregnant with her. It was weird but I kind of knew I was pregnant right away. Destiny just seemed to fit. My second pregnancy with my younger daughter was a complete surprise. I wasn't expecting to have any more children soon or even ever (hadn't decided at that point) so it took me awhile to really get into that pregnancy and start to think of names. I wrestled with quite a few names but finally choose "Deanna" because 1. I just had a feeling it would be a good match, and 2. I loved, LOVED Counselor Deanna Troi on Star Trek (yup, major Trekkie over here-I'm a nerd). Turns out one meaning of "Deanna" is "divine goddess of the hunt" which is completely in line with her firery personality.


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## writteninkursive (Feb 22, 2009)

That's a hard one!

My oldest daughter's name is a name I always loved, and I originally met a foreign girl with her name (Sophie) when I was about 10 years old. I loved it and only after my daughter was officially named did it come to my attention that everyone and their mom and their dog was now named Sophie/Sophia.







:

My youngest is named Maya, for the Hindi word meaning "divine creative power". (It also translates in most languages into 'mother').

They both have really unique (and two each!) middle names, but this is a question about first names, so I'll stop there.

The most important factor to me in naming my children was the internationality of their names. When I lived in Europe in 2002 and 2003, there was _no_ translation for my name. Nobody had heard of my name and they had trouble with it. I learned then how important it was for my daughters, if they decided not to live in America forever, that their names be translatable into other languages. And both Sophie and Maya (especially Maya!) is known in nearly every language!

Our baby set to arrive in August will probably be named Alexandre, another very "international" name.







:


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## Ceinwen (Jul 1, 2004)

I have two daughters - Zoë (age six) and Rue (age sixteen months).

Zoë is just a name we liked and Rue is from my favorite flower.


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## cappuccinosmom (Dec 28, 2003)

Quote:

my little girl is judah, which is from the bible obviously, but that is not why we chose it.
You're the second person I know who used that as a girl's name. The first time I heard it I was so surprised because growing up conservative Christian and in the Bible it was always a boys name.

The other person also had a little girl named Asher, which is also a Biblical name, but a male one.


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## PiePie (Oct 2, 2006)

inspired by a song


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## Liquesce (Nov 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cappuccinosmom* 
In Ethiopia, though, where dh is from, two of the boys names are very common.

In general I love Ethiopian names -- such a nice mix of heritages to draw on in that whole region. I used to teach a couple of children named Meseret and Kasahun ... beautiful names, though I have no idea whatsoever what, if anything, they mean.


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## LuxPerpetua (Dec 17, 2003)

Our daughter's name is Cecily Juliana. Cecily is the medieval variant of Cecilia, who is the patron saint of music (dh and I are both passionate about music--that's actually how we met), and I'm a medievalist (or at least USED to be before dd was born). Juliana we chose to honor when she was born, a few days before Christmas, since "Jul" in Swedish means "Yule" or "Christmastide" (we figured that if she was going to be born near Christmas she needed a Christmas name). St. Juliana is also an interesting, kick-butt type of saint, so that's a pretty good role model for her. Juliana is supposed to have tied up Satan himself!

ETA: I chose *from religious tradition* and *consistant with ethnicity* (we're American WASPs for sure)


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## MaryLang (Jun 18, 2004)

The only one that applied was "Commonly Spelled".

Sabina

Basil

Philomena

Amelia

All spelled correctly. But very uncommon, at least IME.


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## Chamomile Girl (Nov 4, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MaterPrimaePuellae* 
Tradition is important to me (I teach Latin at a university), but I also like to be a little different-- so, right now, my plan is for all the children to have Latinate names that, somehow, reference virtues/characteristics that I think are important-- and they can't be too common, like "Bella" or "Carissa" which would be "pretty" (or "wars", ha ha) and "most dear". So:
DD 1 is Constance , middle name is family middle name (Constans is the present active participle of "constare", which basically means what Constance means in English)
DD 2 will be Vera Alice ("true"-- V is my G-grandmother's name and A is DH's grandmother's name)
I also like Beatrix/Beatrice or Beata

So we'll have constancy, truth, and happiness-- all of which I think are good









If I have boys, I'll probably be venturing into stranger territory. It's hard to come up with good Latinate boys names. Fidel (fidelis, faithful) would be great if it didn't have kindof a sordid association










How about Felix for a boys name? Its much nicer than its feminine equivalent Felicity imo.

I had to laugh at the Latin names because I do the same thing (I'm a medievalist). We are naming our child Beatrix (if its a girl) because I love the fact that its a name common in the medieval period but with Latin roots. Also, I love what it means!


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## vegemamato (Jul 4, 2007)

Mine are Katie, Sophia and Soren..

as you can see, the naming progressed from very traditional to rarely heard, IME









We really didn't have a plan though..

I'd like the name Khai for our hypothetical fourth!

Also, you mama's have some beautiful names for your children! It's making me want a ton more just so I can steal them all


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## LuxPerpetua (Dec 17, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Chamomile Girl* 
How about Felix for a boys name? Its much nicer than its feminine equivalent Felicity imo.

I had to laugh at the Latin names because I do the same thing (I'm a medievalist). We are naming our child Beatrix (if its a girl) because I love the fact that its a name common in the medieval period but with Latin roots. Also, I love what it means!

Wow. Another medievalist! I never thought I'd meet one here at MDC! I love Beatrix, btw. We strongly considered Beatrice and that is our top choice should we have another. Gorgeous name!


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## lilya'smum (Mar 25, 2009)

Lilya Aurora, that's her name. Aurora is a spanish word, I've always liked that name, it's pretty. Another name that I liked was Clara, which is also a Spanish word.
And Lilya is the russian version of "lily", actually the whole name is Lililya, but it sounded a little bit tacky to me, so I went for the short version of the name.


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## SilverSage (Apr 16, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ani'smommy* 
Our kids are Anneke and Jonah.

Conventionally spelled, yes
Biblical (Anneke, Anne derivative, Jonah, obviously)
Ethnically fitting, Anneke is, our family is Dutch. Jonah not so much









Woohoo! Another Annekje, only ours is spelled Annekje. I've seen an Annika once or twice, but yours is the closest I've seen to the way we decided to go. Ours is the Norwegian variant.


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *vegemamato* 
Mine are Katie, Sophia and Soren..

as you can see, the naming progressed from very traditional to rarely heard, IME









Soren was on our boy's name list too. We lived in an area of the U.S. with a large Swedish/Scandinavian population and it was actually a fairly popular name. There were two Sorens at the preschool where I worked, and some adults in town named Soren as well. It's a nice name!


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## AutumnAir (Jun 10, 2008)

Conventionally spelled - Eleanor Rose. Though I did have a shot at convincing DH to spell it Elanor, like the flower in Lord of the Rings. Consistent with ethnicity - DH's English. Long but we use a nickname most of the time - Ellie or Elle. More common in grandparents or greatgrandparents generation - apparently its popularity peaked in the 1910s but it definitely seems to be making a comeback, in the UK at least.

I wish she had a less common name - both DH and I have REALLY common first and last names for our culture, and grew up with always about 3 other kids in class having the same name as us. But at least her name is quite distinctive, an has a nice elegant ring to it - at least to me!


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## artgoddess (Jun 29, 2004)

Luke, traditionally spelled, from the bible. We choose it because Paul Newman is his dad's favorite actor, and we love the movie Cool Hand Luke.


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## SunshineJ (Mar 26, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Logan's mommy* 
Ds1's name comes from "The X-Men", his dad's favorite comic. His favorite character is Wolverine, whose real name is Logan. I couldn't think of anything better, and really liked it, so that's what we went with.

ROFLOL!! DH and I just couldn't agree on a primary pick for a boy's name, and I suggested Logan because DH is a huge Marvel comic fan and his fave character is Wolverine - our DS is named Logan after him as well!!

DS is Logan Nathaniel. Logan for the above mentioned reasons, Nathaniel because we liked the meaning.

DD is Nichole Erin. DH has always loved the name Nichole (and he chose the spelling - not really different, but a less common spelling), and Erin was for the meaning as well as the Irish connotations. I did get a say in the names btw







DH really wanted to name the boy Khorbin (I wanted Thaddeaus Alexander), and I was pushing hard for Esmerelda for the girl, so those were our compromises. If dd had been a boy she'd have been Shane Michael.


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## EVC (Jan 29, 2006)

Quote:

I had to laugh at the Latin names because I do the same thing (I'm a medievalist). We are naming our child Beatrix (if its a girl) because I love the fact that its a name common in the medieval period but with Latin roots. Also, I love what it means!
My friend is a medievalist and her dd's name is Beatrix! Never realized the connection and never thought to ask









My dd's first name is long and difficult to spell. It is very uncommon in the US, but common enough in the part of the world her papa comes from.

Her middle name is very common in the US and was inspired by the poetry of Yeats.

.........


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## snoopy5386 (May 6, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Logan's mommy* 
Ds1's name comes from "The X-Men", his dad's favorite comic. His favorite character is Wolverine, whose real name is Logan. I couldn't think of anything better, and really liked it, so that's what we went with.

Ds2's name comes from LOST, one of me and dh's favorite characters is Desmond David Hume. One way or the other ds2 was going to end up with a name from that show, I really wanted to name him Sawyer, but dh said no. Desmond was a good compromise.

So, we have a Logan Andrew, and a Desmond Alexander.

ETA: We have a HUGE last name- 12 letters, poor ds2... his name is 28 letters long!!
I'm not sure what my family's ethnicity is and I believe dh's family is from the Nordic area, but I'm not sure. I don't think our kids names fit with their ethnicity







:

We are thinking of name our future DS (if we ever have one) Desmond. What nicknames do you call him?


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## amynbebes (Aug 28, 2008)

I think I checked all but a couple








Anna-Rebekah Elizabeth - traditionally spelled, family name and friend's name, hebrew, she typically goes by Anna
Logan Benjamin (for the record, I totally thought that Logan was a really unique name when I chose it, now I hear it everywhere







) - Logan is definitely more popular now than ever, Benjamin is hebrew and from his grandfather (older name)
Christian Alejandro - both names are spanish, Christian is more contemporary while Alejandro is more traditional, Christian after Christian Slater, Alejandro after dh
Ethan Xavier - Ethan (now I knew this one was popular







) hebrew, much more common now than ever, just because we liked it, Xavier - another just because we liked it, also spanish
Adan Nicolas - Adan - just because we liked it, more contemporary but spelled the spanish way, Nicolas, bit of an older name, not named after Nicolas Cage per say but definitely inspired by

Quote:

Ds1's name comes from "The X-Men", his dad's favorite comic. His favorite character is Wolverine, whose real name is Logan. I couldn't think of anything better, and really liked it, so that's what we went with.
Ha! I didn't know anything about the xmen when I named my Logan and it wasn't until after we named my 6 yr old Ethan Xavier that it dawned on us that we have 2 XMen in our house


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## mclisa (Jul 26, 2004)

We used our family tree for names. One name is from the 1600's another from the 1700's. And several are from just 1 or 2 generations back.


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## calpurnia (Sep 26, 2004)

dd's name is nina.

i checked both consistent & not consistent with our ethnicity. one of the reasons we like the name is that it is found all over the world - swahili, india, russia, hebrew, hispanic etc... obviously we are not all of those things. but it is also consistent with our ethnicity.

it's conventionally spelled & it's a nickname in itself.


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## Logan's mommy (Jan 19, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *snoopy5386* 
We are thinking of name our future DS (if we ever have one) Desmond. What nicknames do you call him?

We call him Des or Desi, for the most part... he has many other nicknames that aren't related to his name (like Chubba Bubba, ect.







)


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## Birdie B. (Jan 14, 2008)

So many beautiful names! I love them all!

I chose 'English word not commonly used as a name' and 'Inspired by TV' - the only Meadow I know of is from the Sopranos. Not a huge fan of the show, but I loooooove the name! It took a lot of convincing to get her dad to agree, but he picked her middle name - Sofia. I love Sofia because it means wisdom, and it seems so timeless and classic. Meadow Sofia


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## MonAmiBella (Sep 30, 2007)

Mine have conventional names that are consistent with their ethnicity, youngest DD is also the name of a popular French movie, the girls have nicknames, DS does not. DS has a fairly conventional French/Scandinavian name overall. Older DD has a very typically French first name, her middle name is Rhiannon (DH's family can't pronounce it and are still put off by it.) and younger DD has a very French first and middle name (Juliette).

I wanted Genevieve or Elodie but DH hated both names, said they were names for old women in France.


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## seriosa (Apr 2, 2009)

I have a long name that is difficult to spell and impossible to pronounce for where I live. So given my constant struggles with it, I decided that my son's name would be:

1) Short. He already has a 12 letter surname. Also I don't like nicknames and I wanted something that didn't need simplifying or hastening.
and
2) Consistent with his ethnicity, with conventional spelling - no "duhs".

It is more common among his peers. We had wanted a name belonging no-one we knew personally. And though it is a rather popular name among his age-mates, we just didn't happen to know any at that time (I know 6 now, lol)

It also from the bible, but that is just coincidence.

To choose we shortlisted 5 names, and then "test-drove" them using them in rotation for a week at a time to refer to him when I was PG. That gave us the sense of what felt just right


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## tjjazzy (Jan 18, 2007)

I didn't know what to check off:

Sawyer is named for our friend who passed away (but it was the friend's last name)

Beau is spelled differently than most, I suppose. His middle name is to honour another friend who passed (his last name as well--Taylor.)


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## Rivka5 (Jul 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EFmom* 
I like names that are traditional, recognizable and a bit uncommon. I also like conventional spellings and names that aren't impossible for your average person to pronounce.

That sums it up for me, too. I think we hit that mark perfectly with Colin. Alexandra is more common, but we liked it so much that we don't mind.

We chose family surnames for middle names, but picked carefully among our options to find names that sound traditional and recognizable. It's Alexandra Calvert and Colin Randolph.


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## Channelle (May 14, 2008)

DSS is Jordan Andrew, both very common, biblical, correctly spelled, fairly short, and consistant with his ethnicity.

I don't have a baby yet, but we have our names already picked out.

If we have a girl, our top two choices are Beatrix Annora Maud and Fable Cornelia Bluebird
Beatrix-because of it's meaning, roots, and the fact that we love Trixie. It's not common at all (not even in the top 1000), easily spelled. Middle names are conventionally spelled and are family names or honor family members. Maud is a name used in older generations.

Fable-An English word that isn't traditionally used as a name. We love it because of it's meaning "A story with a moral". Short and conventionally spelled. Cornelia is a family name, and used in older generations (Though Cornelia might be changed to Mina, one of my other favorite names), and Bluebird is real meaningful to me (After the Bluebird of Happiness-It is the most universally accepted symbol of cheerfulness, happiness, prosperity, hearth and home, good health, new births, the renewal of springtime, etc. Virtually any positive sentiments may be attached to the bluebird. In magical symbology, bluebirds are used to represent confidence in the positive aspect. Many Native American tribes considered the bluebird sacred. Bluebird is a word/noun in English that isn't traditionally used as a name. Bluebird might be changed to Elspeth or Primrose though, as it honors family.

If we have a boy, his name will probably be Wynn Alexander Clint. Wynn is Welsh, which is in our ethnicity, and it's a family name for me, it's short, we love it's meaning (Fair, Friend), and it's very unusual. Alexander is a traditional middle name in my partner's family, every boy has it as a middle, and Clint is in honor of my late older brother who died 4 years ago. (Other boy names we love are August "Gus", Perrin/Percival "Perry", and Malcolm "Mal")


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## Avarie (Sep 8, 2004)

Spencer and Colin.

Conventionally spelled, consistent with ethnicity (generic mutt-American), more popular with a past generation). Classic, simple, and unmistakable. Except for the woman who thought I said "Holland" and not Colin.


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## JennTheMomma (Jun 19, 2008)

Common among peers.


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## AnutaCielo (Jun 28, 2008)

DS- from the Bible,conventionally spelled,consistent with child's ethnicity,common among peers.
DD-From an ethnicity to which my child does not belong (it's an italian name which we're not, conventionally spelled for italian name- not so much for an american)


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## octobher (Apr 19, 2009)

i checked off several..
we have Mahogany which i haven't heard anyone around here with and is consistent with her ethnicity (choctaw-blackfoot), Michael .. pretty conventional, McKenna consistent with ethnicity, and Myrhe (my-ree) consistent with ethnicity (gaelic for Mary). Our next one will either be Mandolyn (girl)...english word or Merrick (boy) ... ethnicity.


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## NinaBruja (Jan 19, 2004)

Conventionally spelled
From an ethnicity to which my child does not belong
An English word that isn't traditionally used as a name
Inspired by a book/movie/other media
Long, but my kid uses a nickname

cassandra lillian
elise lavender

conventionally spelled, which doesnt really help with not having to spell everything out since people are big on the 'unique' spellings these days people assume its kasandrya and elleise anyways.

cassandra is greek and were not greek, lillian is latin... were latinas does that count? lol
elise is...french? she might be a tiny tiny tiny bit french...
lavender is the english word not commonly used as a name.

i put long but uses a nickname but thats less true now that cassandra prefers the long version of her name and doesnt really use her 'baby name' of sandrel. elise lavender is my little liesl. i wanted to name her liesl, a german variant of elizabeth(i also liked erzabet and zabetta) but her dad bargained to let me 'give her a weird middle name' if i stopped trying to name her liesl. so i just gave her a name that let me call her liesl anyways. bwahahaha!

they come from media.
cassandra comes from the old story of the unbelieved prophetess. i named her that to remind myself to always believe her.

elise comes from my love of the songs 'fur elise' by beethoven and 'a letter to elise' by the cure.


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## Justmee (Jun 6, 2005)

My kids names here are relitivly common, everyone has heard of them, but they are not used all that often, if that makes any sense. Some of their names I know other kids with the same names, but not in the same classes, etc. They are names everyone has heard of and can pronounce, "classic" names, but not really common now and in this area if that makes any sense. They all happen to be Biblical, but we didn't specifically try to do that, it just worked out.


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## Jennifer3141 (Mar 7, 2004)

My children are both named after their great-grandparents so they have uncommon names for today's time but the names were common 100 or so years ago. We love the old-fashioned names and my DS is a IV.


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## AJohns (May 5, 2007)

_Lora Eve_ - My first pick was "Florence" & nobody liked it - especially DH! After many heated discusions, I suggested "Flora" DH still said 'no' but said he would meet me half way with 'Laura' spelling it L-O-R-A. I agreed. 'Eve' is a spin-off of my grandmother's name "Eva"

_Robert_ - Our son was nameless for 3-4 days. When presented with the paperwork for a birth certificate, "Untitled" or "To be filled in later" wasn't an option.







Rob is named after the lead singer Robert Smith of The Cure (DH's favorite group)

Had he been a girl, 'Ruby Elise' - Lora's pick.


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## Hey Mama! (Dec 27, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *frontierpsych* 
Conventionally spelled: for the most part. I've also seen it spelled Brody.
Consistent with my child's ethnicity: It is Irish, we are part Irish (among many other things)
Inspired by a book/movie/other media: 10 points to anyone who can guess the movie









Mall Rats

My girls' names are Ainsley, Bethany, Gabriella. They are all traditionally spelled, one is more common in my generation, one is inconsistent with our ethnicity, one is consistent with our ethnicity, one is biblical but wasn't picked for that, and two were based on characters from the media.

Bonus points if you can pick the two that came from TV/movies and what show/movie we got them off of.


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## williamsmommy2002 (Feb 25, 2003)

My oldest is named after his father. His father was named after his grandfather and an uncle. Their name does not go with their ethnicity. It does go with mine so I guess it makes it fit 50% of it. It is a very traditional common name. It isn't real common in our area of the country though so that is nice. Plus his name is William and that is what we call him. Most kids with his name use another variation.

Parker has a not common name but not an unusual one. His middle name (Holden) is from a book. I have loved the name Parker since I first heard it a long time ago. His name also only fits part of his ethnicity.


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## velochic (May 13, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Hey Mama!* 
Mall Rats

My girls' names are Ainsley, Bethany, Gabriella. They are all traditionally spelled, one is more common in my generation, one is inconsistent with our ethnicity, one is consistent with our ethnicity, one is biblical but wasn't picked for that, and two were based on characters from the media.

Bonus points if you can pick the two that came from TV/movies and what show/movie we got them off of.

I've known a few people with the name Ainsley, but they have always been male. I've never heard it for girls. I'm guessing you got the name from Ready, Steady, Cook, the BBC cooking show hosted by Ainsley Harriot.


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## Hey Mama! (Dec 27, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *velochic* 
I've known a few people with the name Ainsley, but they have always been male. I've never heard it for girls. I'm guessing you got the name from Ready, Steady, Cook, the BBC cooking show hosted by Ainsley Harriot.

Ainsley is traditionally a boys name. But, I have never heard of that show. It came from a US drama.


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## JamesMama (Jun 1, 2005)

I voted more common in my grandparents/great grandparents generation since my DS was named for his great-grandfathers. But it's fairly common even now. His name is James Clarence.

My DD, her name was inspired from a book and she is the only person I know with her name, I have never found her name in any baby name book or online....her name is Aldria (pronounced All-Dree-Uh)


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## BetsyS (Nov 8, 2004)

We have used family names. My second son's name is also Biblical (James).

But, they both have long names and are called by nicknames, as well. They have simple names that everyone can pronounce. My poor first son is one of a million Wills, it seems. But, my second son is usually the only Mac.


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