Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Name my kid. Please.

This baby still does not have a name.

Mr. C and I can not agree on a first name for this poor little baby. And never mind coming up with a middle name, that might drive us to divorce court. Or at the very least drive me to the funny farm. Mmm, padded walls sound pretty good right about now.

We've had 9 months to come to a decision on a name for this child, 9 fecking MONTHS, and we had, for awhile, come up with a name that we could live with. Truthfully, Mr. C had come up with a name and since I couldn't come up with anything better, I caved. I threw up my hands and said, Fine, you name her. And he did. Just like that he had at least a first name and was beginning to throw around middle names.

Show off.

But I never fell in love with the name. It was nice enough, we even passed it by family and friends and all seemed to like it. Not a sideways glance, a down turned gaze or an uncomfortable pause. No throat clearing. Not one, Really? You're going to name her that? It was a moniker everyone could live with. Except me.

Something was just not right.

It didn't sit with me as nicely as Chicky's name did. So I changed it this past weekend.

Well, not really. I didn't come up with a definitive name. I just came up with two or three other options that we are now considering. You know, just to make things interesting why not go from deciding on one name to choosing between four?

This sucks donkey balls. Seriously.

It shouldn't be this hard but it is. If left up to my husband the child would be named something very conservative, probably something biblical, and she'll be one of three or four little girls with the same name. She'll have to use her last initial for the rest of her life to set her apart from the other girls.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Ahem.

I want my kid to have a name that will set her slightly apart from other kids. Something strong that will grow with her. Something beautiful and poetic. Something that people will be able to spell without needing to ask, unlike mine.

(Not that I'm bitter, Mom. No, not me. Not bitter at all about being referred to by at least three other names all my life, none of which are right. Nope. Not bitter.)

There is one name we like but the pronunciation is something we're struggling with. And if you're wondering what it is, watch a recap of tonight's American Idol.

Although, after hearing that boy butcher the song I'm reconsidering. Oy.

I'm tempted to let my readers name my kid. Someone has got to intervene. Someone not hopped up on hormones and carrying extra water weight and totally irrational because they can't get their hands ON SOME TWINKIES NOW. And you can't do any worse than me right about now.

How's that for a vote of confidence?

So go ahead, name my kid. If you come up with something we love you win absolutely nothing except my undying love and devotion. Maybe a link every week from my blog. Possibly the role of God Mother. Hell, we could name you in our will.

Or maybe I'm just getting carried away.

Someone please save me from myself. And while you're at it, get me a Twinkie okay?

(And wasn't I right way back when, when I said this baby was a girl. Uh huh. I'm psychic.)

(Or psycho. I'm still working out which one is closer to the truth.)

95 comments:

S said...

yeah, archuleta couldn't handle it, could he!

let's see --
carson
julia
kate
josy (josephine)
lucy
lily

those are some of my favorites.

Crazed Nitwit said...

sorry I suck at girl names but have some awesome boy names. ;)

All Things BD said...

My current favorites are Daisy and Audrey. My middle name is Audrey, and I'm kinda regretting not giving it to one of my girls.

Anonymous said...

The same thing happened with my second. DH named him, and it was a nice name, a reasonable name, but just not a name that felt right to me. And, I was carrying the baby, so I decided we should change the name. We made the decision the night before I delivered. Good luck. The right name should sound right to you, not just as a name, but as the name of YOUR child.

Backpacking Dad said...

Cadence Arden

My daughter was almost Cadence, and almost Arden, but now that she's Erin I don't think we can name another one using these names, so you may have them :}

I like the way they look together even more than separate.

Fairly Odd Mother said...

Phoebe
Tess or Tessa (I just would love to sing "Tessie" by the Dropkick Murphys to her)
Sadie
Ingrid (I know, very old fashioned, but I luuuuuuvv it)
Zoe (a little trendy, but too cute)

If all else fails, just call her Twinkie.

flutter said...

josephine and isabella are my favorite girl names, followed incredibly closely by grace.

Her Bad Mother said...

Esmerelda.

Kidding.

Actually, I second all three of Flutter's names. Beautiful, all of them. I also love Charlotte, and Lily.

Cakabaker said...

Shiloh
Angelia
Athena

Blog Antagonist said...

You can have my fantasy names. I won't be needing them. Did you read that post? But no, that won't work, because they're only first and last names, and well...you already have a last name, I'm guessing.

I'm not much help at all, am I?

JJ_West said...

Alexiana
Tallyn
Lily
Sophia

Heather said...

I know what you mean about naming babies. I *think* we've decided what our daughter's name will be, but I'm not totally sure. It took us until about 2 weeks ago to really decide (sort of). Gah!

If it turns out to be a boy we're REALLY screwed.

But here are some names that I still like but we decided against for whatever reason:

Marina
Audrey
Elise
Fallon
Rachel
Hannah
Lily
Addison
Ruby

Anonymous said...

How about

Carrington

Mayberry said...

swistlebabynames.blogspot.com to the rescue! try it!

Or here are a couple that come to mind...

Greta
Ada
Elinor
Nora

AnnetteK said...

If I had had a girl she would have been Emma Marie. Since I am never having another kid you can have the name if you want it ;)

motherbumper said...

Clemintine
Madeline
Sadie
Snuffleupaguess

Just checking to see if you read these things or if you have my IP blocked ;)

ali said...

avery
signe
esme
chloe

Tania said...

Since I may or may not be having a girl, I can't give up my names. I know the sex of our baby, but my husband doesn't want to know until the birth, so we had to have the same argument twice, for both sexes. Fun!

Jacki said...

I like:
Tegan
Addyson
Kylie
Mikayla
Kirah
Victoria
Bailey

Whirlwind said...

What about:

Sophia
Tori
Sarah
Emily

Velma said...

Here's my "Love 'Em" list, which happen to be mostly family names, past and present, and which I am shocked to see so many of already listed above!

Josephine
Nora
Lucy (getting very common)
Clarah
Arden
Scarlett
Charlotte
Clementine
Tess

These are the ones that are still not so common, you know?

RubiaLala said...

If you go to Nymbler.com and enter names that you do like it will generate other names that you might like.

I like these girl names:

Josephine (Josie)
Isabella (Bella)
Sophie
Liv
Victoria
Molly
Jaylen
Jade
Chloe

Good luck!

Christina said...

You can have the ones we didn't go with: Ophelia, Regan, and Bianca. Actually, I still think Miranda would have been better named Bianca.

OK, seriously though, I'll give you the name my mother wanted to name me, but my father refused because it wasn't a good "Christian" name:

Carina

It's a pretty name, not common, but not made up in the past 5 years.

NotAMeanGirl said...

Fairly Odd... I LOVE Tess or Tessa Heheheh.

Renee is also one of my faves with a lil accent over the 1st e. :)

Tessa... ahem

foop said...

I like quasi-androgynous names myself (although before I found out there was a boy in my belly I swung toward - and still love- Isabella and Colette and Claudia).

There is something inherently wrong with asking a hormonally impaired woman to come up with a name that a child will be stuck with FOR LIFE.

I'm so with you about not wanting to have a kid be the umpteenth kid with the same name in their class.

Moon Unit is taken, right?

Anonymous said...

Definitely do not go with something super popular. I made that mistake with my first.

I love the name Sydney for a girl, probably because I know an amazing woman named Sydney. She is strong, smart and beautiful. My husband did not like it so I never got to use it...

I also really like Claire.

kittenpie said...

Oh,naming is HARD. I'm with you on all the things I'm looking for, and Misterpie is like Mr. C, so I know how much harder that makes it. I like some of the above, and also Jessamyn (my fave, but since I have a BOY in there...), Amelia, Adeline (a family name in Misterpie's bunch I was considering), Georgia, Willow, Macy. There are names like Isabella that I love, but have become way too popular in recent years, so I would think those are likely out for you for her not being one of 4 in her class?

Restless Ink said...

Names I love, but can't use cuz I'm (East)Indian...and well - it's a family thing. Here it goes...

Avery
Aubrey
Peyton
Ava
Greta
Anushka (I would totally use, but reminds me of someone I don't want to be reminded of)
Hawaiian names are beautiful and melodic

I totally understand your dilemma. Good luck to you and your family!

Jacquie said...

I have 3 girls Morgyn, Kamryn and Jillian. By the 3rd round names were tough, middle ones ugh!

So far we have not encountered alot of my girls names in school etc.

If I were to have a girl now, I like Zoe
Addison
Isrielle
Isabel

I too beleive that when you hear "the name" you will know. It was like that with Kamryn.

Good luck!

P.S. Just a quick funny. My BFF is a nurse and had a little girl that was named this:

Cherish Mia Beaver

Great names as long as your last name is Beaver!

Anonymous said...

I've always loved Janella or Janell.
My daughter is named for our mother's Patricia Ruth. She goes by Trisha. It meets your criteria and since we live geographically far enough apart, I don't mind sharing :)
Audrey is another favorite of mine.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Woo hoo! I haven't named a baby in 13 years! (sigh)

My daughter's name is Chloe. So that's a perennial fav.

I think that if your favorite name "might" have the masses calling her "lynn" instead of "line" then you make a point of having her know it, and she'll tell the world and Chicky will help her!

But, of course, if you're desperate, there's always Amy.

;-)

Amy Urquhart said...

I was "Amy H." all through school. I've always liked names that are one-syllable, like Jude. It reminds me of a woman I know and admire. It's not a very child-like name, though, is it?

Why not just do away with the middle name? My husband doesn't have one!

Anonymous said...

I love love love the name Anne-Marie. As an Erin-Marie myself, I think it's nice how your loved ones can shorten it to one name, like a nickname you can actually live with for the rest of your life!

Fine For Now said...

My favorite name is Meredith. Do you like old-fashion names like this?

tracey said...

oh i do so love the name caroline. you got my vote 100%.
it is definitely hard coming up with names. my little one wasn't named till she was 3 days old in the hospital. she was going to be sydney lane but last minute, we decided not to that.

so if i had a girl now i would name her margaret lane and call her maggie lane.

i wonder if you will tell us what you do name her once she is born? i hope so!

Anonymous said...

Avery Arlette

Anonymous said...

Rosie's real name is among those listed by commenters above. But if she hadn't been that, she would have been Paige. I still love the name.

One of my girls' friends is named Cady Rose (Cady pronounced like Katie.) I think it's a very cute name.

Elleoz said...

We wrestled with girls names as well. But since we aren't having any more girls, here were mine:

Zoelle (Zoe)- we named our daughter that and it is unique and hip :)

Chelsea Rochelle

Josephine(Josie)- looks like alot of posters like this one :)

Mandy said...

Sophia

Kate

Meghan

Penny

Kizz said...

Would you feel OK about taking your 2 or 3 choices and waiting until you lay eyes on her? Maybe seeing her in the flesh will help.

Bon said...

mmm...names. i have a names addiction. below are my favourites, which you are free to loathe. :)

maybe slightly different but still pretty familiar...
Juliet
Eleanor
Leila
Ivy
Louisa
Josephine
Tess

a little further out there...
Isla
Ione
Bronwen
Eloise
Esme

if - on the slim chance that we are actually able to MAKE girls over here - my bebe is female, her name will be some combo of the above.

but hell, i'm pretty sure it's a boy.

Anne B. said...

I'm with Kizz, I'd come up with a few names and choose at birth. The problem with girls names is that there are so many great ones--to hard to make a choice and not feel like there is something better out there. If I someday have a girl I am going to name her Elaina. There is just so much to do with it nickname wise: Elle, Ellie, Lana, Lainie, Ella.

karengreeners said...

dove may have been clara, india, sage or sadie. i do love what we named her, but somehow it went from 'short list' to 'the one' thanks to the huz as i languished in a post c/s morphine haze.

so make syre you love all the names on your short list.

SJINCO said...

Charlotte is a beautiful girls name....if I would have had a girl that's what her name would have been. And I would have called her Charlie for short.

I also like Sara(h), Gwen(Gwyneth), Nell and Sydney.

Good luck!

karengreeners said...

oh wait, i forgot one - princess consuela bananahammock.

you're welcome.

the mama bird diaries said...

My fave girl name is Harper. You can steal it because I couldn't convince my husband.

By the way, I caved and went with my husband's favorite name with our second child. But it never felt right. And at 8 months, we change her name. So stick to your guns. :)

rachel elizabeth said...

okay so... i just stumbled onto your blog and i feel obligated to leave my suggestions. hope you don't mind!! :o)

i have always loved the name aubrey after the song by bread. but other then that?

callie
charlie
annalise
anden
kate

damn i had a whole list of really good ones in my head before i started typing... xoxoxo

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth (there are tons of nicknames and it is Biblical)
Lisabeth (sounds like above without the first syllable)
Piper
Meg
Nora
Abigail
Savannah
Laura
Corrie (Corey)
Samantha
Allison
Serena
Hope
Kelly
Bethany
Joellen
Gabrielle

Carmen said...

Charlotte

Ivy

Josie (Josephine)

All names for girls that I wanted to use and didn't.

My girls names, which you are free to use, are Allegra, Mackenzie, Emma and Riley. Emma is the only one who has to use an initial at school.

Angela said...

Ah yes, choosing the name. Fun times.

You want feminine, classic, beautiful and unique? Is that all?

;)

Some we considered for our first child:

Elizabeth (nick names Beth, Liz, Bethany)

Gwendolyn (nick names Gwen, Gwenny,
Wendy)

Lily

Emily

Rhiannon (you know, from the Stevie Nicks song. My husband would NOT give up on this name. He LOVES it!)

Oh, and our actual choice for the girl name was a combo of one of these names with Elizabeth as the middle name. But then, we have a short last name, so long first names are nice.

Good luck!

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah said...

I really like the name Sarah, plus then I can tell everyone you named her after me.

We used Claudia and she is the only Claudia at her school.

(Crap. I wish I could remember Chicky's name so that I don't repeat, but...)

I loved Chloe, but it rhymes with Zoe and I have a niece named that.

We were going to use Marin, but Gabe said it rhymed with Ian.

I still like Paige and Grace.

Sarahviz said...

Hands down: Lydia

My runners-up:

Tessa
Presleigh
Nora
Lauren

Unknown said...

oh oh! I love the name game!

Bergen
Erin
Caroline
Mia
Ava
Madeline
Emerson
Charlotte
Isabel
Greer
Claire
Sophia
Eleanor
Megan
Cameron
Rowan <--what Declan would have been had he been a girl

Kelly said...

Vivian is pretty, in an old school kind of way. But hell, my second born is named Lillian, so I'm partial to old-lady names.

Also, Esme is very pretty, and original.

Anonymous said...

Chicky. Now there's a name.

Or make her a Junior. Start a new trend in girl's names.

Seriously, I like Elise -- it's Quinlan's middle name though so we can't use it if we have a girl.

I can think of a ton of girl's names I like -- many of which are up there, but boy's names? God help us.

Jeff and Charli Lee said...

What about Jenny? That one never seemed to be very popular.

Bird said...

Abigail, Ellie, Emanuelle, Lucy, Isabella. What fun!

Mrs. Schmitty said...

Katie Rose
Eden
Kyleigh
Corrina
Ciara
Maura
Shayla
Shea
Alexis
Evie
Danica
Brynn
Kendra
Reannah

Just a few I'd thought I'd throw at you. Good luck!!

Lara said...

my favorite is pairing is annabelle rose. this comes from a beautiful lullaby that i love called "anna rose". but i just think "annabelle" is beautiful.

also alexa, frances (old-fashioned, but i like it), elinor (yeah, gotta be that spelling, not "eleanor" for me), and ella.

oh, and lara. most folks who've read me know that it's not my real name, but rather a name i chose to honor my dad (whose name was larry). i think it ended up being a good choice - a nice name and it's pretty unique too. :)

Tara B said...

I want to name my child after my Grandmother who passed recently. Her name was Frances which is pretty old fashioned but I think a more modern yet classic alternative is Francesca. And you have options on what to call her (Fran, Frannie, Frankie, Chesie, Chesca)

Anonymous said...

try http:www.therightbabyname.com it's great for getting name suggestions if you have a few that you kind of like...

Binky said...

If my baby had been a girl, she'd still be without a name. We were in the same situation wherein my husband thought we had the name picked out, but I was much more ambivalent on the matter. I mean, it was a fine name, but my feelings about it were just...eh. The name was Cecilia, by the way. Lovely. Everyone liked it. But I felt just like you described. Luckily, we didn't have to worry out it when the baby popped out with balls. Anyhoo, here are some names I love (but my husband doesn't):

Daisy
Sidonie
Lila

Unknown said...

My girl's names are Celia and Moira. I can't give you my third name until I figure out if the next kid is a girl. By then, I think you'll have figured out what you want to name your new bundle of joy.

Woman in a Window said...

What do they know? Don't listen to them. So predictable. Listen to me...whatever...
Emma
Leigh
Maeve
OHH, those sound great together just like that. That's it. I'd use it actually, if I was having another and I just came up with it. lovely, really.

Piscesmama + One said...

I named my daughter Lilly, and I can see how popular its getting, sadly. I kinda wanted her to have a different experience than all the Jennifers and Jessicas, but oh well.

I like hippie names like Willow, Glory, Luna, Indigo and Grey.

www.JusticeJonesie.com/blog said...

I'm all about helping the cause. It sounds like you are really nesting here. And it can drive you bonkers. Not that you sound like you're gong bonkers, but because if you can't cross things off your list, you get really ansy. So here are my suggestions...

Names I like for girls,
Cydney
Dakota,
Isabella "Bella"
Skky

Mayberry said...

I forgot to say: Louisa. I like Antonia too, but I would loathe the nickname Toni.

And I cannot believe how many times my daughter's name is listed above.

K said...

I just found your blog and I can't wait to read more. I hope you don't mind me throwing in my name suggestion. I have 3 boys so I never got to use it but I really love the name Maeve Katherine.

Anonymous said...

It's hard to suggest a name without knowing your rules. My husband and I had two rules. First, we didn't want names that could be shortened into nicknames. That ruled out names like Thomas and Katherine. Second, if the name sounded like a stripper it was automatically off the list. This was our test..."Coming up next on center stage...SAVANNAH!" Hence Savannah was off our list. We ended with a Brandon, Aidan, and McKenna. McKenna is strong be feminine. It is cute enough for a girl, but mature enough for a woman. And the spelling is relatively easy.
Good luck!

Barb said...

How fun to have a little baby girl to name and love!!

I have to second whoever said you should try Swistle's Baby names blog. It's a lot of fun!

I love these names:

Tabitha (call her Betsy)
Avery
Edith
Catherine
Sarah
Mary (simple but very sweet)
Julia

Anonymous said...

Victoria
Devon
Rachel
Marci
Jaclyn/Jacqueline

And I loove this one:

Dareth

Stimey said...

Perhaps someone has already suggested these but:

The name we were saving for a girl but finally gave to a boy: Quinn

We never got to give this name to a girl, and it's the only reason I'm sad we didn't have any girls: Carlisle, Carly for short.

Consider your baby named. (They work well together too: Quinn Carlisle.)

mamatulip said...

I am so happy with the names we have for our kids now, that if we got pregnant again, THE MOST STRESSFUL part of the pregnancy would be deciding on a name for the kid.

Hmm. I always liked Victoria, and really considered it for a long time before we knew Oliver was a boy. I also love the name Charlotte.

Girl names are hard for me. For every one I like, I can think of about seventy thousand boys names I like better.

Good luck. I'm quite sure I haven't helped at all.

Anonymous said...

A name I really like lately is Emily and funnily enough, it never occured to me when I was pregnant with my son. For some reason I just like it.

Anonymous said...

Sophia (means "wisdom")
Amanda (means "lovable" or "beloved")
Andrea (means "courageous")
Jocelyn (means "light hearted")
Alexis (means "protector of mankind")

Yes, I'm a big believer in the meaning behind names :)

carrie said...

Caroline is my given name, so of course I think it's sweet.

I also like:

Juliet
Lauren
Catherine
Abigail
Zoe

Good luck! I know you'll pick the perfect name!

Anonymous said...

1.Alessandra= defending men
2.Amirah= princess;prosperous
3.Brielle= God is my might
4.Citlali= star
5.Kiran=ray of light
6.Jewel=Precious stone
7.Kiran=ray of light
8.Lourdes=Craggy slope
9.Maiya=Uncertain, perhaps mother or great one
10.Naiya=the dreamer
11.Johari=jewel

i hope u like one of these

TRS said...

Kara

mo-wo said...

Maude is way under-rated.

My great grannie was called Charlotte Minerva. I understand she really kicked ass.

A lot of your commenters like my daughters name. that's nice to know.

Noor means light. I call her that a lot.

mo-wo said...

You know I'm joking about Maude right?

Radioactive Tori said...

Olivia, Genevieve, Claire, Anastasia, Darcie, Daria, Julia. Those are a few of my favorite girl names.

Good luck agreeing on a name!

Anonymous said...

How about:
Georgia
Juliana
Jenna
Francesca
Louisa
Sabrina

Can you tell I like the names that end in a?

Good luck deciding! This is never easy... we had to change our choice twice because other friends took the name the husband & I had agreed on!!

Ali said...

we are done. but IF i were to get pregnant by accident and IF it were a girl, i would name her Aubrey. i LOVE that name!

Rusti said...

I'm a little late with this - but my very favorite girl name (which I haven't convinced my husband to love yet) is Aubrey Jean... and another favorite is Emma Grace...

I also like Isabella (would call her Bella).... and as the "Jean" is in honor of my mom & sister - I could compromise and go with Kristina in honor of Al's mom (Tina)... more info than you probably wanted or cared to know :)

Hey - you could always name her Rusti ;) nah... too much "so what's your real name?" going on there... yes, after almost 28 years - I still get asked this same question, in various ways... whatever! :D

Good luck!!

Jess said...

sweet names:
Laura
Avery
Rosemary (have one of my own!)
Willow
Raine

strong name:
Sawyer
Winter

and a couple of old ones that are popular among the older women in the church here:

AnnEstelle (which is awful when you look at it, but beautiful to say "Anna-stell.)
Pheobe
Glory
Calleigh

TheMama said...

Wow, that's a lot of names!

We made our "lists" before we knew what we were having, so I ended up with a short list and a favorite that I may or may not get to use.

Molly Kate is the fav.

Lillian
Claire
Clara
Sophia (Sophie)
Isabella (I want to call her Izzy!)

P.s. Love, Love, LOVE the shoes in your header!

TheMama said...

Almost forgot:

Chloe and Zoe

Crazed Nitwit said...

Medusa
Medea
Ophelia
My mother was Joan Yvonne
I like the name Faith
Suri(snort)
Ellora
Summer
Autumn
Diana
Aurora(nickname Rory)
Melora
Melody
Lynnette
Brynna
Aislyn(pronounced Ashlyn)
Mina
Quinlan

Anonymous said...

Okay, you have so many comments here that in the end I was just skimming. Still - I cannot believe that it only seems my own daughter's name is mentioned here just once!

I wanted to name her Elinor (I agree with another commenter - it had to be spelled that way!). But I admitted I'd never actually call her that, instead calling her Elle or Ellie or Ella.

My husband finally said - why don't we just name her Ella in the first place?

Done! We love her name, she loves it, and everyone she encounters loves it!

Other names I love:

Audrey and Gray

Good luck!

justme said...

i am all over the name evelyn ....check out my blog for a great mom to be giveaway !!!! congrats

Anonymous said...

Dude.

You gotta name her after me.

You know you want to.

Besides, EARLENE has a certain ring to it, don't ya think?

God I despise my parents.

Anonymous said...

I found this website helpful when naming my now 2 month old newborn:

http://www.babynamerant.blogspot.com/

Ryter said...

Dang....have never read your post before but LOVED the chance to name a baby.

Aribella just leaped into my head and outta my fingers. The world could ALWAYS use another Ari. And I am a Kindergarten Teacher so I have seen them ALL.

Amanda said...

My Daughter's name is Brinley, I don't know where my hubby came up with it, but we love it.

Anonymous said...

I'm late with this, but I think the name Adelyn is lovely.