Baby names

flantastic

I'm on board with the "name them what you plan to call them" if you're intending they go by their middle name, but with nicknames that are primarily for kids, I figure people should have some foresight. I'd like to give my kid a few options for nicknames, such that even if I always call him "Jimmy" he could choose to go by "James" when he got to high school or college or the workplace or whatever.

jenna8984

cupcait927 said:

@littlepep (not quoting because boxes are nuts) - because it's important to H. He really wants to do that and I love the name Jack so I'm compromising. He wants to carry on the tradition of William from his dad's side but also honor his mom's side. He also grew up having the same name as his dad and grandpa (both very well-known in our town) and it's a giant PITA. So he wants to spare our hypothetical child the pain of having the same name as his dad, grandpa and great-grandpa but still preserve the memory - he's incredibly close with this family. It's a thing he wants to do and it's not worth fighting over. But like I said, we'll probably never have kids and never have to worry about it. And he could also change his mind by the time we do have kids and just want to name him Jack.

 

ETA - I would put my foot down on doing the same with any other hypothetical children, however.

But you're not sparing him....he does have the same name. (hypothetically). Every teacher is going to get roll call and say "William", the baseball or cheerleading coach is going to get his sign up roster and say "William", the job is going to get his resume and say "Thanks for coming in to interview, William". So as much as you would like to think his name is Jack, he will have to correct every person he ever meets that his name is Jack.

southernbelle0915

Yea, we're on the "name your kid what you're going to call them" bandwagon.

But we are also avoiding first names that get shortened, like Benjamin, Joseph, William, etc.

For example, I really liked the name Madeleine (when we were thinking girl names as well). But it would likely get shortened to Maddy. And, IMO, "Maddy" doesn't really pass the President or SCOTUS test.

Its hard for people to change from a kid name to an adult name. We have a friend whose legal name is Benjamin. Since he was little, everyone has called him Benny. He's trying to get people to call him Ben but its not working very well.

Kahlyla

lolo883 said:

emmaaa said:

littlepep said:

lolo883 said:

Our boys are Malcolm and Dexter.

We're not planning on having any more, but if we did have a third boy, it would be William (I've since learned that that is my biological father's name - I'm adopted - but it's always been near the top of my list). I like James/Jamie, but I'm a Jaime so I probably wouldn't go there.

Our girl list includes Charlotte (and I LOVE Charlie for a girl), Anna, Fiona, Willow, Sophie, Lila, Isobel, Veronica, and Katie (yes, Katie - she can still shorten it to Kate or Kat!).

I don't understand this. I know this is a hypothetical person, but why not name her Kate and use Katie as a nickname?

My grandpa's legal name was Billy. His mom thought "if that's what I'm gonna call him, that's what I should name him!" Buuuut... then he wasn't a baby anymore, and it was super embarrassing for him, and a hassle whenever people got it wrong on official documents. He HATED it.

THIS THIS THIS. Please just name your kid what you are going to call them. 

My parents named me Julia and have NEVER NOT ONCE in my whole life called me that. They never intended to; they just wanted that as option, just in case. I have and always will be been Julie. Totally FWP, but it was always so annoying to have to correct the teachers in school.

DH and I are very adamant about this. DH is James but goes by Jay. My first name is Mary but I go by my middle name, Emma. It's kind of annoying. So we're naming our hypothetical children with what we intend to call them. Obviously, some nicknames can develop over time and that's fine. But both of us were named knowing we wouldn't go by our legal first name. 

There's a big difference though between planning to call your kid by their middle name (in which case I agree - just make it their first name) and naming a kid Billy. I think that was super dumb. It's a diminutive and he hated it as a grown man. Look FORWARD a little to what your kid might be called as an ADULT, apply the "Supreme Court Justice" or POTUS test to it. President Billy ain't gonna happen.

But couldn't he just shorten it to Bill (a la Clinton, after all)? I like leaving the kid some options, but I don't think you necessarily have to go all the way back to William (for example) if you don't want to.

theartistformerlyknownas

Kahlyla said:

lolo883 said:

emmaaa said:

littlepep said:

lolo883 said:

Our boys are Malcolm and Dexter.

We're not planning on having any more, but if we did have a third boy, it would be William (I've since learned that that is my biological father's name - I'm adopted - but it's always been near the top of my list). I like James/Jamie, but I'm a Jaime so I probably wouldn't go there.

Our girl list includes Charlotte (and I LOVE Charlie for a girl), Anna, Fiona, Willow, Sophie, Lila, Isobel, Veronica, and Katie (yes, Katie - she can still shorten it to Kate or Kat!).

I don't understand this. I know this is a hypothetical person, but why not name her Kate and use Katie as a nickname?

My grandpa's legal name was Billy. His mom thought "if that's what I'm gonna call him, that's what I should name him!" Buuuut... then he wasn't a baby anymore, and it was super embarrassing for him, and a hassle whenever people got it wrong on official documents. He HATED it.

THIS THIS THIS. Please just name your kid what you are going to call them. 

My parents named me Julia and have NEVER NOT ONCE in my whole life called me that. They never intended to; they just wanted that as option, just in case. I have and always will be been Julie. Totally FWP, but it was always so annoying to have to correct the teachers in school.

DH and I are very adamant about this. DH is James but goes by Jay. My first name is Mary but I go by my middle name, Emma. It's kind of annoying. So we're naming our hypothetical children with what we intend to call them. Obviously, some nicknames can develop over time and that's fine. But both of us were named knowing we wouldn't go by our legal first name. 

There's a big difference though between planning to call your kid by their middle name (in which case I agree - just make it their first name) and naming a kid Billy. I think that was super dumb. It's a diminutive and he hated it as a grown man. Look FORWARD a little to what your kid might be called as an ADULT, apply the "Supreme Court Justice" or POTUS test to it. President Billy ain't gonna happen.

But couldn't he just shorten it to Bill (a la Clinton, after all)? I like leaving the kid some options, but I don't think you necessarily have to go all the way back to William (for example) if you don't want to.


It's a lot harder to "just shorten it" when that's your legal name. Sure people just called him Bill, but legally he was Billy. The military, his career, financial institutions, hospitals, etc. all go by your legal name. I don't think she needed to go all the way back to William either but just naming him Bill and calling him Billy while he was young would have been much easier. He was only Billy for about 8 years and Bill for 70.

I've already started calling my baby Jojo but that won't be her full legal name! Neither will H's nicknames for her, "The Sequel" or "The Outlaw."

louxnoelle

southernbelle0915 said:

Yea, we're on the "name your kid what you're going to call them" bandwagon.

But we are also avoiding first names that get shortened, like Benjamin, Joseph, William, etc.

This was a big thing with my parents. My mom liked a (really long, pretentious) name, that had two potential nicknames. She was adamant that I be called one and not the other, so my dad was finally like, "Then why don't we just name her the nickname?" So, my legal name is a derivative of a "full name."

That being said, it's a derivative for a thousand others (similar to the "Kate" discussion), so I'm always getting asked, "But what's your real name?"

ETA: FWIW, my name isn't Lou Noelle. FI sometimes calls me First Name-Lou, and I named my ring Noelle. (Don't judge, I was really excited ...)

hellosweetie1015

littlepep said:

lolo883 said:

emmaaa said:

littlepep said:

lolo883 said:

Our boys are Malcolm and Dexter.

We're not planning on having any more, but if we did have a third boy, it would be William (I've since learned that that is my biological father's name - I'm adopted - but it's always been near the top of my list). I like James/Jamie, but I'm a Jaime so I probably wouldn't go there.

Our girl list includes Charlotte (and I LOVE Charlie for a girl), Anna, Fiona, Willow, Sophie, Lila, Isobel, Veronica, and Katie (yes, Katie - she can still shorten it to Kate or Kat!).

I don't understand this. I know this is a hypothetical person, but why not name her Kate and use Katie as a nickname?

My grandpa's legal name was Billy. His mom thought "if that's what I'm gonna call him, that's what I should name him!" Buuuut... then he wasn't a baby anymore, and it was super embarrassing for him, and a hassle whenever people got it wrong on official documents. He HATED it.

THIS THIS THIS. Please just name your kid what you are going to call them. 

My parents named me Julia and have NEVER NOT ONCE in my whole life called me that. They never intended to; they just wanted that as option, just in case. I have and always will be been Julie. Totally FWP, but it was always so annoying to have to correct the teachers in school.

DH and I are very adamant about this. DH is James but goes by Jay. My first name is Mary but I go by my middle name, Emma. It's kind of annoying. So we're naming our hypothetical children with what we intend to call them. Obviously, some nicknames can develop over time and that's fine. But both of us were named knowing we wouldn't go by our legal first name. 

There's a big difference though between planning to call your kid by their middle name (in which case I agree - just make it their first name) and naming a kid Billy. I think that was super dumb. It's a diminutive and he hated it as a grown man. Look FORWARD a little to what your kid might be called as an ADULT, apply the "Supreme Court Justice" or POTUS test to it. President Billy ain't gonna happen.

So President Stormageddon Dark Lord of All is a no-go then?

I rather think that would be the presidentiest of names. I mean it says. It right there - "Dark Lord of All". An honest politician hey!

(Please be advised that is a JOKE. I'm sure there are honest politicians. Alabama just doesn't seem to have too many of them.)

kaos16

My obsessions for awhile have been Wren and Beau.  I love Beau because we have a B last name and sometimes alliteration rocks.

I always find in interesting how people can love or hate a name based on associations.  I see Elena becoming a popular name choice lately. . . . I know an absolutely dreadful person by that name, so would never see it as a good baby name choice.  I simply can't disassociate it from her!!!

southernbelle0915

lolo883 said:

Kahlyla said:

lolo883 said:

emmaaa said:

littlepep said:

lolo883 said:

Our boys are Malcolm and Dexter.

We're not planning on having any more, but if we did have a third boy, it would be William (I've since learned that that is my biological father's name - I'm adopted - but it's always been near the top of my list). I like James/Jamie, but I'm a Jaime so I probably wouldn't go there.

Our girl list includes Charlotte (and I LOVE Charlie for a girl), Anna, Fiona, Willow, Sophie, Lila, Isobel, Veronica, and Katie (yes, Katie - she can still shorten it to Kate or Kat!).

I don't understand this. I know this is a hypothetical person, but why not name her Kate and use Katie as a nickname?

My grandpa's legal name was Billy. His mom thought "if that's what I'm gonna call him, that's what I should name him!" Buuuut... then he wasn't a baby anymore, and it was super embarrassing for him, and a hassle whenever people got it wrong on official documents. He HATED it.

THIS THIS THIS. Please just name your kid what you are going to call them. 

My parents named me Julia and have NEVER NOT ONCE in my whole life called me that. They never intended to; they just wanted that as option, just in case. I have and always will be been Julie. Totally FWP, but it was always so annoying to have to correct the teachers in school.

DH and I are very adamant about this. DH is James but goes by Jay. My first name is Mary but I go by my middle name, Emma. It's kind of annoying. So we're naming our hypothetical children with what we intend to call them. Obviously, some nicknames can develop over time and that's fine. But both of us were named knowing we wouldn't go by our legal first name. 

There's a big difference though between planning to call your kid by their middle name (in which case I agree - just make it their first name) and naming a kid Billy. I think that was super dumb. It's a diminutive and he hated it as a grown man. Look FORWARD a little to what your kid might be called as an ADULT, apply the "Supreme Court Justice" or POTUS test to it. President Billy ain't gonna happen.

But couldn't he just shorten it to Bill (a la Clinton, after all)? I like leaving the kid some options, but I don't think you necessarily have to go all the way back to William (for example) if you don't want to.

It's a lot harder to "just shorten it" when that's your legal name. Sure people just called him Bill, but legally he was Billy. The military, his career, financial institutions, hospitals, etc. all go by your legal name. I don't think she needed to go all the way back to William either but just naming him Bill and calling him Billy while he was young would have been much easier. He was only Billy for about 8 years and Bill for 70.

I've already started calling my baby Jojo but that won't be her full legal name! Neither will H's nicknames for her, "The Sequel" or "The Outlaw."

This.

And it's not just the "legal to shortened" issue either. It's picking a name (whether legal or just-what-you-call-them) that transitions well from childhood into adulthood. Absolutely no offense to the name Billy but it sounds more like a cute kid name than an adult name. Same with Maddy (Madeleine) Joey (Joseph), Benny (Benjamin), Quinny (Quinn), etc.

cupcait927

jenna8984 said:

cupcait927 said:

@littlepep (not quoting because boxes are nuts) - because it's important to H. He really wants to do that and I love the name Jack so I'm compromising. He wants to carry on the tradition of William from his dad's side but also honor his mom's side. He also grew up having the same name as his dad and grandpa (both very well-known in our town) and it's a giant PITA. So he wants to spare our hypothetical child the pain of having the same name as his dad, grandpa and great-grandpa but still preserve the memory - he's incredibly close with this family. It's a thing he wants to do and it's not worth fighting over. But like I said, we'll probably never have kids and never have to worry about it. And he could also change his mind by the time we do have kids and just want to name him Jack.

 

ETA - I would put my foot down on doing the same with any other hypothetical children, however.

But you're not sparing him....he does have the same name. (hypothetically). Every teacher is going to get roll call and say "William", the baseball or cheerleading coach is going to get his sign up roster and say "William", the job is going to get his resume and say "Thanks for coming in to interview, William". So as much as you would like to think his name is Jack, he will have to correct every person he ever meets that his name is Jack.

Meh, I've spent my entire life telling people that my name is Caitlin when they try and call me Kate or Katie. I've also spent my entire life telling people how to spell my name. My sister effectively got everyone at school and new jobs to call her by her now "feminized" name - she started correcting people and it caught on. It's really not that hard to correct people. It takes two seconds and once they know what to call you, it (usually) sticks. It's the same for people who choose to go by another name, other than their given name. Heck, I went to high school with a kid named Drew and didn't realize until years later that his full name is Richard Andrew. He never seemed to have issues with and still goes by Drew. And like I said, if our kid decides he doesn't like going by Jack, he can decide to go by whatever name or variation he chooses.

louxnoelle

kaos16 said:

I always find in interesting how people can love or hate a name based on associations.  I see Elena becoming a popular name choice lately. . . . I know an absolutely dreadful person by that name, so would never see it as a good baby name choice.  I simply can't disassociate it from her!!!

We both have a few names that are no-go's because of negative associations. when BFF and I go through our lists, we'll always be like, "Ugh, I know one of those. She's a bitch," haha. Bring teachers, we get a lot of baby name ideas for students, and their behavior often affects how long the names stay on the lists.

Is Elena popular because of "The Vampire Diaries?" I remember watching when I was in college. I can see some now-20somethings picking up on the name.

hellosweetie1015

louxnoelle said:

kaos16 said:

I always find in interesting how people can love or hate a name based on associations.  I see Elena becoming a popular name choice lately. . . . I know an absolutely dreadful person by that name, so would never see it as a good baby name choice.  I simply can't disassociate it from her!!!

We both have a few names that are no-go's because of negative associations. when BFF and I go through our lists, we'll always be like, "Ugh, I know one of those. She's a bitch," haha. Bring teachers, we get a lot of baby name ideas for students, and their behavior often affects how long the names stay on the lists.

Is Elena popular because of "The Vampire Diaries?" I remember watching when I was in college. I can see some now-20somethings picking up on the name.

I named a character Elena at sixteen. The TVD association makes me so so sad.

It's FASCINATING how visceral a reaction can come from a name. I'd say sometimes it's close to the reaction one gets from smells. Like, my mom's dad's name was Otis, and she ADORED him. She cannot watch that movie Milo and Otis because of it. She'll sit there and cry the whole time. And Nathaniel, for me. That asshole threw baseball-field dirt in my eyes. I've yet to meet another one, so I have NO positive associations with this name.

louxnoelle

hellosweetie1015 said:

I named a character Elena at sixteen. The TVD association makes me so so sad.

Yeahhh, it's not good.

Having a unique name that's gotten more popular in recent years, I always perk up when I hear it on TV or see it in a book. FI has a classic male name, and he says he barely notices it in media or literature because it's so common.

kaos16

louxnoelle said:

hellosweetie1015 said:

I named a character Elena at sixteen. The TVD association makes me so so sad.

Yeahhh, it's not good.

Having a unique name that's gotten more popular in recent years, I always perk up when I hear it on TV or see it in a book. FI has a classic male name, and he says he barely notices it in media or literature because it's so common.

DH's name is super uncommon. . . . I get excited whenever I hear it, which is rare.  I will say, however, that Starbucks NEVER gets it right when writing it on his cup!!

emmiejayne

For the girlies: Hazel or Saffron

For the boys: Edward, Alphonse (yes, we are Fullmetal Alchemist fans) or Dante.

Just realised how middle class we sound.

theartistformerlyknownas

emmiejayne said:

For the girlies: Hazel or Saffron

For the boys: Edward, Alphonse (yes, we are Fullmetal Alchemist fans) or Dante.

Just realised how middle class we sound.

What does that even mean?

princessbuttercup09

Boy Names:

Ezekiel Joseph and we'd call him Zeke 

Maximus William (or Gregory) and we'd call him Max

Girl Names:

Ava Grace or Georgia Grace.

I love Ava but FI doesn't enjoy it so we'll see... 

hellosweetie1015

Y'all, the SSA's name list dropped earlier this week. Noah reigns supreme again, but Emma is #1, and Sophie (last year's #1 for girls) dropped to #3.

TheArtemisMoon

Girls:

Audrey (not Aubrey though), Ava, Astrid, Claire, Clara, Caroline, Cecily, Claudia, Corrine/Corinne, Diana (because that's my name), Gwendolen, Ivy, Lola (yes, I mean Lola), Madeleine, Nadia, Tova, Talia, Thora, Tessa.

Boys:

Brock, Carson, Carter, Cullen, Griffin, Ian, Jonathan, Liam, Nicholas (fiance's name), Owen, Parker, Slade, Sloan, Zachary.

lightningsnow

I love Anastasia, Natalia, Magdalena, Natasha, and Jocelyn for girls. And Aiden, Ethan, Jaden, and Micah for boys.

BF and I have discussed children names and I made a promise to him that if we ever have a girl her middle name will be Carol in honor of his late sister who passed before he was born.

lightningsnow

I also love Gwendolyn for a girl's name.

decembergrl2014

I've always loved the name Samantha and Angelina for girls.

For boys I've always loved Matthew and Nicholas.

If I ever went the family name route I would want Mary for a middle name (mine and my mother's middle name) and use James and/or Robert for boys. (Dad is Robert, my grandfather and brother are James).

mj8215

I love the Jewish tradition of naming after relatives who have passed. I think it is so meaningful. I know there are different views on this and can see why someone would not want it, but for me personally, I was very close with my grandmother and loved her so, so much. She was always my role model, the person I looked up to. She passed in 2006 and I really hope that I have a daughter one day to name her Rina (pronounced Rena - maybe I'll just spell it this way). I also do like the name, just esthetically speaking. I think if I didn't like the name I would maybe still use the same first letter or something though. 

Generally I'm a fan of 1. Names that are "international", and girl names that end with "a". Guess I'm a bit conventional like that. 

CMGragain

Woo-hoo!  Daughter sent me a pillow from Shutterfly with grandson's photo on it!  It is beautiful!  Daughter says I should hug it every time I think I want another grandchild.

lurkergirl

This is relevant: http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi

The SSA came out with their top 1000 names of 2014. 

Y'all.

The number 200 boy name is "Jayceon."  And we can weep for American baby names together!

hellosweetie1015

lurkergirl said:

This is relevant: http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi

The SSA came out with their top 1000 names of 2014. 

Y'all.

The number 200 boy name is "Jayceon."  And we can weep for American baby names together!

Oh. Oh my word.

I haven't had a chance to go beyond the top 10 yet.

That makes me absolutely heartbroken.

lurkergirl

hellosweetie1015 said:

lurkergirl said:

This is relevant: http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi

The SSA came out with their top 1000 names of 2014. 

Y'all.

The number 200 boy name is "Jayceon."  And we can weep for American baby names together!

Oh. Oh my word.

I haven't had a chance to go beyond the top 10 yet.

That makes me absolutely heartbroken.

For some reason that link goes to the top 10 of 2013, even though I copied it from the top 1000 of 14.  

Anyway, the top 10 are not too bad.  Very heavy on the "-a" endings for girls, but still pretty, normal, not youneek names, ya know?  I think I don't mind trendy names as much if they're at least still real names.

hellosweetie1015

lurkergirl said:

hellosweetie1015 said:

lurkergirl said:

This is relevant: http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi

The SSA came out with their top 1000 names of 2014. 

Y'all.

The number 200 boy name is "Jayceon."  And we can weep for American baby names together!

Oh. Oh my word.

I haven't had a chance to go beyond the top 10 yet.

That makes me absolutely heartbroken.

For some reason that link goes to the top 10 of 2013, even though I copied it from the top 1000 of 14.  

Anyway, the top 10 are not too bad.  Very heavy on the "-a" endings for girls, but still pretty, normal, not youneek names, ya know?  I think I don't mind trendy names as much if they're at least still real names.

Yeah, I did notice that. It makes me pretty happy - trendy names don't have to be youneek.

The ssa website is. Not great. BUT they have a literal wealth of baby name info. You can find state info, decade info, historical info back to the 1870s (or you used to). I put up with an annoying website because the info is so interesting.

kmmssg

20 years ago we did the POTUS/SCOTUS test for naming our son.  That is why Corey got thrown off the list of potentials.  DS is Michael, DH is Mike.  That is what they both have always been called - I didn't want him to be Mikey or Little Mike or anything else - I wanted him to be Michael.  95% of the time that is what I hear people call him but if we are out somewhere he might run into someone who says Hey Mike!