B names for boys and girls

We are expecting our first child, we do not know yet if it is a boy or a girl. My name is Blayne and my husband's name is Blair, and our last name also begins with B, and is long and slightly challenging. I really like that both our our names are somewhat unusual, and since we have all the Bs going on we decided to just go with it and stick with B names. I find that it is a pain that both of our names work for either boys or girls, as people we meet for the first time have a hard time figuring out who is who. So our main qualifications would be that it starts with B, is somewhat unusual, has a masculine or feminine identity, and is something the child won't have to spell every time they meet someone (which I find that i have to do often). The names that we have agreed on so far are Briley and Bryce or Bryson. Beatrice/Beatrix have been firmly shot down. Middle name for a girl will probably be Marie and for a boy either Mathew or Thomas (all family names). What suggestions do you have for us?
Thanks,
Blayne

Hi Blayne! I think I have a good list of names for you with their current ranking on the SSI. Let me know what you think.

Boys:
Barrett (609)
Beckett (480)
Bennett (361)
Benson (n/a)
Braxton (202)
Breckin (n/a)
Brennan (263)
Brooks (601)

Girls:
Belinda (629)
Belle (n/a)
Betsy (n/a)
Bianca (204)
Brenna (420)
Bridget (357)
Brielle (338)
Britta (n/a)

I really like Beckett Mathew, Brennan Thomas, Bianca Marie and Britta Marie. Good luck on your upcoming ultrasound! Keep me posted.

Big News from the Snob

I'm back. Again. Posting at work has become tricky as I've been temporarily moved from my nice, quiet office upstairs to the loud main desk downstairs since we're short a few employees. I'm trying to keep this on the down low--only my boss at work knows as do some of my mama friends. We're surprising our families at Christmas so those of you that know me in real life--hush! Keep it off facebook please.

I ran out of things to pee on.

We went back home in the beginning of October and apparently we had a stow away and I didn't know it. One the drive back I started to think about freaking enormous my tatas were and how I feel crazy bloated, so we stopped at Target and I threw a 3 pack in for fun. I got a BFP at 11 PM that night, CD 27! Eeek! I had my first appointment this past Monday and my eggs must have been itching to get out of there since my ultrasound showed me at 8w 4d and not 8 weeks exactly. They bumped up my due date to June 10. Woot!

The lil' Junebug says hello.

And thank goodness for this blog, I already have all my favorite names in one spot. I know this is nerdy, BUT the Social Security site will have the 2009 names up by May so I can have an even more accurate idea of naming trends and popularity. I am thinking if it's another boy we'll do a more surname-sounding name and if it's a girl, well shoot. Girl names are the best!


No J, C, B or W names though. My husband tattoos our kids' initials on his shoulder and I don't want the same letters over and over.


We still have 11 weeks until we find out! But with Christmas coming up and everything in between, I am hoping it flies by. My semester ends December 7, thank goodness! It's truly amazing how 6.5 hours a week in class manages to utterly destroy any semblance of free time. I can't go to the gym; I have to read for class. I leave work early to get the boys from school/daycare and then somehow make up the time later in the week. I timed this pregnancy perfectly though--I can take the summer off from grad class AND work and just enjoy the sunshine with a new wee tiny baby.

I'm already feeling like I have a pooch--perhaps because it's the third baby in 5 years? I wore maternity pants to work yesterday, which was hilarious. They are so comfortable with the band but they are huge in the butt/thighs so I sagged all day. It's back to the regular pants with a rubber band trick.

An Apology and Irish Names

I have not touched this blog in months. I went to post the link on a board today and freaked out because I thought it had been removed. I couldn't even remember my own link. Fail. As if working full time hadn't been enough of a time sucker, I'm taking 6 graduate credits this semester. I've been slowly but surely working on this MA in English for three years now and I still have at least two years left of part time classes. However, by the end of the semester I shall have an awesome list called Faulkner names since we are reading NINE William Faulkner novels back to back. I really liked Quentin, Cash, Candace/Caddy and Cora (from The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying). It's sad that while I read these novels I make little notes regarding names. Ah hell, I have a paper due Monday. There goes what little weekend I had.

Anyway, I've been playing around with Irish-Celtic names lately and here are some of the more unique but definitely usable ones I've found, along with their SSI ranking.

Cara (463)
Deira (pronounced dare-uh, n/a)
Maeve (638)
Mairead (Maw-reed or may-reed, Gaelic form of Margaret, n/a)
Miren (n/a)
Neala (n/a)
Neave (n/a)

Arden (n/a)
Declan (347)
Desmond (413)
Eamon (n/a)
Finn (368)
Keane (n/a)
Kian (pronounced like Ian, but with a K, 607)
Malachy (n/a)
Quinlan (n/a)
Teague (n/a)
Vaughn (846)

Baby Update!!

Hello Theresa-We had our baby girl June 9th she weighed 6lbs 1oz and was 18.5 inches long. We named her Aleah Kay and just out of curiousty I went back to the blog to see your suggestions. And sure enough Alia was on there. It took a few days but we finally got her named. I was happy to see you did suggest it too. We decided to spell it Aleah, because I found out my mom was going to name me Leah. I guess my daughter was meant to be an Aleah! Thanks for your name help. I also added her picture along too.

Abbey

Congratulations Abbey! I am excited I helped pick a winner. ;) Aleah is beautiful.

Names for baby #3 for Tracy.

Hey Baby name snobs! I think we're getting close to needing that list. Eric and I are already going back and forth with names. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that we are on the same page...again. We, of course, don't know the gender, yet. But, with as long as it takes us to name a child, we better start soon! We tend to like less common names for the middle name. I prefer names that aren't in the top 10 (of course, we didn't plan that well for Olivia...) but we're still open to those, too. Names that end in a "b" sound are kind of hard to say with our last name (i.e. Caleb).

Our other two children's names are

Olivia Breanne

Austin Davis

I tend to like old fashioned names. Here are some names that *I* like:

Charlotte

Amelia

Adeline

Caroline (though this one is edging on too popular for me)

Eva

Emmett

Elliot

Benjamin

Eric tends to like names like:

Micheal

John

Ben (not Benjamin)

Nathan

of course, I can't remember any of the girls names he likes. Most likely, I'm blocking those out.

Can't wait to see what you can come up with!

Tracy


Hey Tracy.
Here are some for you to take a look at. I didnt go into middle names too much just because my list is so big. With you and your husbands taste being quite a bit different it would be cool if you narrowed down what I have here or lemme know if Im on the right track. Then we can go on too middle names. :)

Boys
Andrew
Alexander
Asher
Simon
Julian
Adrian
Carter
Charlie
Oliver
Russell
Henry
Bryce
Wesley

Girls
Louise
Avery
Francis
Abigail
Lillian
Hazel
Evelyn
Camille
Lena
Clara
Lydia

Hope some of these help you guys out!
-Jessica

Name Updates

Camille, who was one of my very first posts, named her sweet little girl. She is due any day now with Elena Lorraine Aerin.

Also Kim, who we did two lists for (one with C/K names, one without) had her baby boy! AND she picked one of my names! Quentin Lee was born 6-22-09 and weighed in at 7lb 5oz 20 in. Congratulations, Kim! I think Quentin goes great with Colin, Claire and Keegan.

My friend Krystal is due any minute and will be naming her babe Dexter. Send her lots of labor vibes!

Ashley picked Ryder for her little boy. Ryder will join siblings Reileigh Marie and Reece Gavin.

Thanks for including me on your path to baby naming. <3

Tara's wee little baby hippie

Tara is one of my Alabama mamas. She has two girls, Trinity and Journey, and she's pregnant with another darlin' girl. Here is her dilemma:

He doesn't like Liberty cause Libby sounds werid (he chuckles every time I say it). But when I said Story he said, "Surprisingly I don't hate it." But he said it doesn't go with Trinity and Journey. We have pretty much agreed that the name will end in the long e sound. We also like Amy's idea of sticking with doubling names (using names that are also words) since we have that so far. Personally I like Stormy. We don't like Harmony, Destiny, Epiphany, Serenity (too much like Trinity), Ivory, Ebony, Ivy, Paisley, Charity, Sidney, Clarity, Marley, there's more but it's early...Anyone have any names that end in the long e sound and double??? The middle name will most likely be Diem.

I suggested

Amory
Cecily
Divinity
Everly
Greylie
Jolie
Kenley
Mercury (I really like Mercy)
Merrily
Novalee
Polly
Roxy
Serendipity (too wild?)
Verity

I personally am opposed to Stormy (as well as Dusty and Misty) as well, I just don't like them at ALL. I like Sunny but Sunny Diem? hehe

It's looking like the front runners are Story, Serendipity, Genesis and Felicity. I like Felicity but it doesn't quite work with Journey and Trinity for me. Of my suggestions I love Merrily (so happy!) and Everly. We need suggestions!

Quite possibly the most detailed email ever, but we like that around here

My husband and I have 3 biological children and are now adopting a fourth child, a baby girl from Ethiopia who we have recently been matched with. We want to keep her Ethiopian name, but since we think it will be a bit hard to carry as she grows up in the States, we will use it as her middle name (sorry…we cannot share it with others). So we are considering names as we hope to bring her home in the next few months. There are several limitations to our search.

First of all, our 3 kids are named Tate, Emma and Jack. We want a name that fits well with their names. We did not intend to have a “theme” in naming our kids, but they each have 4 letters and now it is very important to our kids that their sister has a name with 4 letters in it. It wouldn’t have mattered as much to me, but since we are adopting her, it is a way for her to be part of our family identity. There is flexibility as our daughter is Emma, but we call her Emmie. And our son is called Jack, but his given name is Jackson.

Secondly, the meaning of the name is important to us. We wouldn’t want to have the original meaning of the name being “bratty child who wipes snot on others”, for example. We kind of thinking naming a child is pronouncing a blessing on them and so we want their name to represent something significant. That’s why we would like to keep her Ethiopian name as a middle name.

Third, our oldest has an unusual name. I love it. Had I known that the names Emma and Jack would be EVERYWHERE when I named them, I may have chosen ones slightly more unique. We don’t like strange spellings or names that make you go “huh?”, but I have thought it might be nice if our daughter had a name that every 5th child in her class wasn’t named. As far as the kind of names we like, usually more feminine is better than androgynous. Our other names are kind of cute and preppyish. I prefer short vowels to long ones and nicknames that end in the “y” or “ie” sound for some reason.

Finally, we are white people who will be raising an Ethiopian daughter. We will be a blended family and want to embrace her culture and help her find her place as a part of our family. We still have no idea what that will all look like, but my point is that we don’t want her to have a name that seems decidedly “white” as I think Lily might be. We are proud of her heritage and skin color and don’t want to make her something she is not.

My husband is usually easy going, but Luci is the only name he likes. For some reason, though I like the name more than any others we’ve considered, it doesn’t seem perfect to me. I also like Eden, Eliza (Liza), Aubrie or Cambrie(Brie…who wouldn’t want to be named after cheese?), Tess, Iris, Ivey, Lila, Desi(meaning “desired one”) and Quincy (Quin). But none of those fly with him.

Can you help? I know you can’t help convince my husband to be a little less high-maintenance, but can you offer us any others or offer input on the current choices? Thanks!

Missy,

First off--congratulations on your new daughter!! This must be such a very exciting time in your life. I think adoption is a such a wonderful thing and I think it's great that you are putting so much time and thought into your new child's name.

Secondly, let's talk names. I stuck with shorter names since that made more sense than to look for long names with short nicknames i.e. Samantha 'Sami'. I did put the definition next to them so you wouldn't have to thumb through 30,001 names to look it up. :)

Alia (ascender)
Aria (lion of God)
Cora (maiden)
Dara (compassionate)
Elle (light)
Evie (life)
Gwen (white wave; new moon)
Iola (dawn)
Jane (God is gracious)
June (born in the sixth month)
Kira (light)
Leah (weary) --maybe not the best meaning, but pretty
Lena (illustrious)
Macy (sea of bitterness/it comes from Macia, which comes from Mary)
Nora (light)
Rory (famous brillance)
Rosa (rose)
Ruby (precious stone)
Vera (true)
Wren (songbird)
Zara (dawn)

Any winners? I really like them all, but with Emma, Jack and Tate I think of my names, Alia, Cora and Lena are my favorites. They are short but they sound like full names. Lucia is one of my favorite names right now--Luci for short.

For those of you interested in following Missy's blog and her path to becoming a mother of four, here is the link!

Boy names for Amy

We found out we are having our 2nd boy, figures since I had several good girls names I loved! Anyway, my husband and I are having some trouble agreeing on names, and I just haven't found much that I really like. We don't like really trendy or ordinary names, but we dont' want anything wacky either! Our 17mth old son's name is Bryson middle name Charles-after daddy and gpa, (i wanted Bryce he wanted Mason, so we compromised) anyway, we want something that will sound good with it, but nothing that would be corny he suggested Tyson, umm..Tyson and Bryson, love the name but, no thanks, sounds like rhyming twins names, which i am TOTALLY against being an identical twin myself.

A few of my favorite names currently are Blayne and Brenden, my husband likes Carson and hasn't mentioned much else worth mentioning, he usually just shoots down names I come up with, lol. The middle name will be Edward (family name) if it helps, also our last name sounds like 'moss-man', I know that is a factor when thinking of names. So, thanks so much for any help you can give me, we need it! :)

Hi Amy,

Bryson is currently 178 on the SS list so other names that are similar in popularity are Garrett, Miles, Hudson and Leo. Brendan is right there too.

I do NOT recommend Tyson, lol. Tell your husband that I said no way. You could do something like Tyler but otherwise it's just too rhymey.

I like Blayne a lot and Blayne Edward has a nice ring. What about Blaze? Blake?

Brendan is one of my brother's names so I am partial. I also like Brennan.

Carson is definitely climbing up the charts at record speed, in the '90s it was 282 and it's currently at 89. I like the 'son' names better than the 'aden' names so that's good news to me. ;)

Other 'son' names I like are Dawson, Samson (Sam) and Wilson. Do you call Bryson Bryse?

Hopefully that gave you more ideas! You were headed in the right direction, we just need to get your husband to agree. :)

Shannon's baby girl's names

Shannon is in the home stretch and is due in just a few weeks. She and her husband like names like Sophia, Caroline, Emma, Camille, Claire, Isabella and Olivia. Jane may be a middle name option--and Stella is also a contender for the first name as it is a beloved family's members name. Because they have a difficult last name, they want something that is easy to spell and pronounce.

I picked names that are very feminine and just a titch more uncommon but are inspired by the names you like.

Sophia---Lucia
Caroline--Georgia
Emma--Emery (nickname Emmie)
Isabella--Isla (pronounced eye-la)
Olivia--Violet
Claire--Clara
Camille--Elise

What about Estella/Estelle/Stellan for a middle name in honor of your grandmother?
Of your name choices, I like Sophia Jane, Stella Claire and Olivia Jane a lot.

Of my options, my favorites are Lucia Jane, Violet Jane and Stella Elise.

Is anything jumping out at you? Good luck! Please keep me updated. <3

sorry for the delay, folks

Hi guys! Sorry my posting has been pretty sparce--I started a new job about a month ago so right now I am learning how to balance working 40 hours a week (which in the car industry, they refer to as part time--nice, eh?), erratic babysitters, housework, etc. I also was pretty burned out by the whole April Rose nonsense. If you don't know what I'm talking about google April Rose, Beccah, Trisomy and Illinois and you can read the sorid details. This was my first 'wtf' in the blog world. I never realized that so many people on blogspot were connected and worked together. I also never realized that you could make up to $50k a month. I know this is very, very uncommon but I've pretty much decided to stick to babynames. I am over kid pimping (see: Jon and Kate plus 8).

Back to your regularly scheduled (happy) blogging!

Kim's List, take two

Ugh- We are still trying to figure out names...Husband really doesn't like Cal and I really don't like his number one pick Liam. Any suggestions? Tyler Lee (middle name of my brother and father) T___ sounds awfully cute to me but it doesn't go with our unintentional "c" or "k" name choices for the sibset. But your recent blog about matching sibling names together has allowed me to be a bit more open. It had some good points!

What do you think of Carter Elias/or/Carter Elliott??? Thanks again for your help! I check every day now for updates on your blog! Like Cameron and Camden but not sure of middle names. I like your suggestions but we haven't agreed on any of them. I really like Keifer, Kenley (old boyfriend named ken so that is out ) hubby doesn't like them either...

Where does Carter rank? I tried to figure it out on the website but didn't.
(P.S. Thanks again for any help... we are running out of time and the drs say i should go any day- already dialated to 3!!!
I had the girl name all picked out...Keira Ann... but this is def a boy to be here soon.)


Hi Kim! A brief summary for the readers: Kim's other children are Colin, Claire and Keegan. She wrote in a few months ago looking for a K or C name.

Alright, let's get to work. Carter is 65 on the SSA list. I'm not a superfan of Liam either. Tyler is definitely a little more trendy while Colin/Claire/Keegan are of an Irish/Celtic background. But if you love it, do it. I like Carter Elias.

Since you are open to breaking away from the C/K, let's throw some new names out there.

Ambrose
Beckett
Chandler
Connor
Duncan
Dylan
Finn
Henry
James/Jameson
Lewis
Malcolm
Oliver
Pierce
Quentin
Rory
Sean

Names for our friend Jackie!

Hi girls!!

I've talked to Jessica about names and hoping you can compile a list for me??? Pretty puhlease??!!!

Here's some information... if you have time, let me know what you girls can come up with!!

Likes & Dislikes:
-I like traditional names, but not overly traditional and about every traditional boy name out there has been used in our family.
-I don’t mind popular names, but not really popular names since I already have an Aidan.
-I also don’t like really weird, unusual names.
-I don’t like weird spellings of any kind.
-I don’t like weird celebrity names like Apple & Moses.
-I like really girly names.
-Not really a fan of Mc girl names.
-Boy names for girls don’t bother me, but it’s really not what I’m digging right now.
-Also, I’d like a name that doesn’t necessarily stand out and goes okay with Aidan & Cameron….doesn’t have to be Irish though.

Thanks girls! And I love ya!
Jackie.

Jackie!!
So Ive been working on this on and off for awhile now. And really I was hoping Id have more then I do at this point. But I really just want to get my suggestions out and over to ya so I can get more of a idea if Im on the right path. :)

So for girls names I have:
Camilla (been suggesting this one a lot lately. I LOVE it and its #634 on the SSI website what a wonderful yet totally accessible name!)
Maura
Julianne
Courtney
Rory
Cora
Charlotte

And Im almost tempted to say Kirsten hehehe. (as in Kirsten Dunst because our friend Jackie looks a lot like this gorgeous actress)


Boys:
Beckett
Cullen
Everett
Ewan

Hopefully T will add to this list soon! your due date is quickly approaching! Eeeee! so exciting! I cant wait to find out what your having!

xoxo-JJ

I know we have readers

I know people read this blog, I have a handy little tracker on the side that shows me where people are reading it come from. If you were to look at our comments you wouldn't think that people are submitting requests or reading. But they are out there! Not surprisingly, many readers hail from Michigan (our home state!), some dally in from Florida and Alabama, mostly friends I've made as we moved around the country but there are a lot of baby namers in Minnesota, Ohio and even the UK that read this blog. Come out come out where ever you are. ;) There is another name blogger out there, her name may rhyme with Whistle, and DANG does she ever get a lot of comments. I don't even think her name suggestions are that great. But then again I'm totally a snob and a little bitchy depending on the day so it might just be me. I still like that Laura Wattenburg though.

Even if you don't like the suggestions, or think that Madison is the best name EVER, we still want to hear from you. We need validation from the internets. Jessica is a half step from emailing ya'll personally and asking what you thought about the names. It's just that oftentimes we spend a decent amount of time brainstorming (that list of East Indian inspired names took hours, literally) and we want some love. We're not too proud to beg.

At least tell me what your kids' names are. We might steal them for our cool name vault.

Peace!

Girl names for Robyn.

Hello Baby Name Snob!

My husband and I are expecting our first child.. We don't know what we are having yet but are having a hard time coming up with girls names. If it's a boy we will name his Austin Brady.

Right now Mackenzie is leading the pack but we are not 100% sold on it. We also like Hailey, Alexis and Kendell. Our last name is C***** and the middle name will be Ann. Would prefer a not too trendy name (which is why we are not sold on the ones I mentioned).

Thanks for your help!

Hi Robyn.
So Im thinking how about a variation of Mackenzie? if your thinking you would like to head away from overly trendy I think Kinzie is a super cute name that is still pretty close to the sound of the original front runner.
and here is a list of some others that I think are up your alley yet still not too overly used.

Keely
Brinley
Evelyn and very cute nickname 'Evie'.
Charlotte
Macy
Avery
Margaret nickname- Maggie.
Camilla
Felicity

Retro but unique for Jennifer

I found you on the nest. :) I thought it would be fun to toss our names around with you and see what your thoughts and suggestions might be.It's very possible we are having a girl but it was our unofficial ultrasound and they didn't want to give us false hope. So I am still throwing bothboy and girl names around to be certain. Our last name sounds like Ree - See- Me - Us. Our first son is Broderic Scott.

I am like many of your readers. I like retro names, our names that sound like names but are still unique.So for girls we have Selah as our leading name. (SAY-LAH). We are throwing around Ashlyn, Rose, or Ann for middle names. Ashlyn is to honora family member. Other girls names are Daphine, Calista (Callie), Maggie, and Stella.We definately like names with nicknames and that is my struggle sometimes, if I can't get a nick name out of it I go a bit buggy. With Selah we were thinking of calling her Seely.

Boys are interesting. One of our favorite names is Bennett. :) However, my husband and I recently thought of the name Thorsen and we would call him Thor. We were made fun of a little bit. I am wondering what you think, is it to over the top?? We also like Quinton (Quinn), Byron, Larson, and you suggested to someone else the name Blaise... how do you pronounce that? For middle names I would like to use Donald or Robert and that makes it quite a mouthful with our last name. This is one of my setbacks with Bennett, as you can imagine Bennett Robert R_ is a little long.Well, that's it for me. Looking forward to hearing back from you,

Jennifer

Hi Jennifer! I like your style. Selah is a very cool name, it may have some issues as far as pronounciation. I love your girl names. Stella and Calista are beautiful names with cute nicknames. Selah Rose is very feminine and pretty. For Maggie, what about Magdalena for the first name? Following your vibe I also like

Cora Ann
Evangeline Rose
Lydia Ann
Viola Rose

Well Bennett is a great name. ;) Thor may be a little over the top, with the namesake being the God of Thunder or whatnot. But if you love it, use it! Of your names I like Quinton/Quinn a lot followed by Blaise. You pronounce it like 'blaze' but that's the French spelling. I think the name list it was on was for someone that wanted more European style names. Legend has it that my name was going to be Blaze if I were a boy, but I find that hard to believe since my mom named her sons with traditional names like Shaun, Ryan and Garrett.

Quinton Robert has a nice ring. Do you have a nickname for your oldest? Broderic is a good one, I may have to steal it for my blog. Some random other fun names to think about:

Dashiell (Dash) Robert
Finnian (Finn) Donald
Lennon Robert
Wilson (Will) Robert

Keep me updated! Happy naming.

I'll have a western-world boy's names with an East Indian twist please!

Hi there,

I came across your blog and thought it was terrific. I did a few searches on your blog but could not find this topic.

My wife Pooja and I are about to have our first child. We chose not to find out the gender. I am Indian Catholic and she is Indian Hindu. In my family, we have always had Christian names and vice versa for Pooja. Choosing a name that is appealing to both of our sides is proving to be a tough compromise.

Our ideal is a name that is not too Indian for our western world, yet not too western for her East Indian culture. We were able to get a handful of girl’s names that made us happy, however, we are severely stuck on the boy’s names and there’s less than 3 weeks to go!

HELP!!! Thanks in advance for any advice,

Ian & Pooja

The title of your email made me laugh out loud. Since you are due to meet your little person so soon, I bumped you up in queue. Since you already have some girl names picked out (which I'd love to hear, if you didn't mind sharing), I focused only on boy names. I used a plain old 60,000 baby names book and went through it alphabetically, looking for names that worked phonetically for westerners but also had a neat east Indian meaning. The names are Sanskrit (S), Hindi (H), Indian (I) and Punjabi (P). I'm also including their homophones or not quite homophones for your reading pleasure. Here we go.

Alok (S) victorious cry; Alec
Ashwin (H) first; Asher, Ashton
Brahm (H) creator; Bram
Dandin (H) holy man; Daniel
Deven (H) for god; Devin, Devan
Kavi (H) poet; Kavin
Kiran (S) beam of light
Malik (P) lord; Malachi
Rohan (H) sandalwood; Ronan
Sam (short for Sameen, Sambha, Samuel)
Sandeep (P) enlightened; Sander
Shyam (I) dark; Shia
Sunder (I) handsom;, Xander, Sander
Tanvir (I) strong; Tanner
Valin (H) from Balin/mighty soldier

Of these names, my favorites are Ashwin, Deven and Rohan. I think they are easily pronouncable but unique and ethnic. We have a friend named Vijay but my son writes his name as "VJ" and I can't convince him otherwise. I've always loved the name Sachin (Sach) since college when I had a good friend by that name. Good luck choosing the perfect name for your babe. Please keep me updated!

quick personal post

Hi friends!

I want to apologize for the delay in the posting, I promise to finish answering the few emails I have in my inbox as soon as I can. I just got back from a long weekend in Colorado with my college girlfriends and I'm wiped! We only get to see eachother every few years so when we do make it (or most of us) there is very little sleeping involved. Since this is a name blog, I'll give you their names since a) they have cool names b) it's fun to see where we've all ended up.

Jane--blonde, modern with a twist from Michigan, aunt to twins Jack and Nora

Margo--tiny, gorgeous Korean living in Denver, maternal and organized

Kari--semi-hippie with a love of fashion living in the mountains in CO

Kelly--our marathon runner with a heart of gold (and Greek alter ego Kelitis) in Denver

Gretchen--hilarious San Diego dweller that uses expressions that are not appropriate for this blog but freaking hysterical.

Brooke--my Floridian piece of sunshine, the happy go lucky mama of the often talked about Cleo (she's in the pic, taken in Grand Lake)

and we greatly missed Frances Tania Ramos (two more last names), our Filipina bundle of love, living in the Chicago 'burbs.

Also, I need to say that in my excitement I may have screwed up medication that, ahh, keeps my uterus egg-free. And those few days enough hormone escaped for me to think "Ah, screw it...what's the worst that could happen? You'd be due in February..." EEEK. Talk me off the ledge. I'm supposed to be starting grad classes (again) in the fall and working at my husband's store since the boys are big (4 and 2) and in preschool. Yet here I am debating bringing up the "let's just see what happens" subject with the husband. Exhibit 1: James Ciaran.

Talk me off the ledge. Or. Talk me into a baby with a really cool name.....LOL

an AJ for Laura

Hi, I got your blog site from a friend of mine, that I met through a parenting forum. I am currently pregnant with my second child, due end of November, begining of December. I don't know what I am having yet. but I would like to have a name picked out for when I do find out. Me and my husband have a couple of names we kinda like but don't LOVE....

Our son's name is Alan Joesph Jr... so he and his dad share a name. I would like to have a name that has the A and J in it. so far we have Aaden for a boy, and maybe Alexis for a girl... I really would like John for a boy middle name after my grandfather....I would really love it if you could help.

Thanks! Laura

Hi Laura,

Right off the bat I veto the spelling of Aaden, it is just too Gosselin-y to me. If you really love the name (and Aidan John has a nice ring) I'd go with the Aidan/Aiden spelling. For boys I picked out some cool A names for you

Adrian
Aiken
Amos
Anderson
Andrew
Anthony
Archie (Archer)
Arlo
Auden

and they all sound good with John. Arlo John is my favorite of the group.

Here are my AJ names for girls.

Adriana Jade
Amara Joy
Amelia Jane
Anabelle Juliet
Annalise Jane
April Jolie
Arella June
Ariel Joy
Audrey Jane

I think Jane is a spunky middle name that works with almost any name. Also it's the feminine version of John so it still is a tribute to your grandfather.

Happy naming!

Ashley's List

Baby is still "John Doe D." as we call him, lol. He's nameless and will most likely remain nameless until he is born since mom and dad DO.NOT.AGREE on names at all. Any suggestions? I'll give you the names he refuses to let me name him... Nolan James, Charlie, Zachary James, Ethan James. I could go on and on and on....

His favorite names are:Micheal, Dalton and Grant Jordan.

The names we semi agree on: Christopher Joseph III and calling him Trey (This is pretty much our back up plan, He always wanted a III, Im not a huge fan of having a III but naming him Trey is better.) Trey is a common name for 3rd child in generations that's named as a III. Jack (We both like this name but not in love with it)So feel free to give suggestions, we both are not in love with trendy common names such as Holden, Carter, Conner, Aiden type names. They are all WAY too popular right now and I had a popular name growing up and hated it. (P.S, I have NOTHING agaisnt these names) We like classic, solid names more so in top 100-200 lists. If this boy turns out to be anything like his father, tall and huge with size 18 foot, he can't have a wussy or trendy name. It.Just.Wont.Fit. Let me know if you can help,
Thank You, Ashley

I feel your pain in regards to the III. My husband is a Jr but technically the third Donald in his family. Just the other day we were driving and he blurted out "If we have another boy can we name him Donald?!" We ended up with James because it's my husband's middle name and that was as far as I was willing to budge. At least Christopher isn't an awful name like Donald. I love my husband but I refuse to call any child Donny. With Bennett we were literally arguing while I was on the table (c/s) over his middle name, he wanted Donald and I wanted Jude. I won.

So I racked my brain and looked through the books to find names that were masculine and suitable for a very large man. hehe!

Abram (Abe)
Austin
Ben (Benjamin, Bennett, Benson)
Cade
Calvin (Cal)
Clayton
Jackson
Jake
Miles
Nicholas
Samson/Samuel (Sam)
William/Wilson (Will)
Weston (Wes)
Wyatt

Any winners? I think most of them would work well with a middle name of Christopher, Joseph or James. I like Austin Joseph, Miles Christopher and Weston James. Nothing wussy about them.

Special thanks to Jessica W for her input on non-sissy names. :)

Names for Krista

Hi,

I am a member of Baby Center and came across a post that had your blog.. I have to say that I LOVE your suggestions and thought you may be able to help us out.

We are expecting Girl #3 at the end of September. I've been going crazy trying to find a list of names to even suggest to my husband, who seems to shoot down nearly every idea. I feel like I have no ideas left.

My daughters are named after family members. Their names are Stephanie and Delaney. Now that we have used the family names that we wanted to, we are left trying to pick a name from scratch and it's incredibly difficult. My favorite name right now is Cassidy but it doesn't go well with our last name at all and my husband isn't crazy about it at all so there goes that idea. I also like the name Piper quite a bit and while I think it's adorable on a little girl, I'm just not sure how well it would carry over into the professional world when she gets older.

I am open to all suggestions. I feel like I am revisiting all the same names over and over and can't come up with fresh ideas. I am looking for a name that is not heard every day, is feminine, yet strong. While I do like the old fashioned names such as Katherine, Ruby, Olivia, etc., they just aren't for me.

Any ideas you could come up with would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!!!

Krista


Hey, Krista
Hope some of these are new and fresh for you!

Macy
Aria
Rowan
Teagan
Avery
Kendall
Molly
Blythe
Eliza
Cecily
Brynn or Brinley
Ashlyn
Harlow.

-J

Amy's names.

Dear Snob,

My husband and I are expecting our third child in June. I heard about you on IVillage. We are having a girl and cannot agree on a name. We currently have a boy Carter and a girl Delainey. Our last name ends with -son so we are trying to avoid -son endings but aren't completely opposed to them. We will take any advice you have to offer. Thanks in advance!

Amy

Hi, Amy

So here is a list of more vintage sounding names. I love these and they are not overly used.
Cordelia
Prudence
Maggie
Ayla
Rosemary
Dalia

these are the more modern ones I thought that went well with Carter and Delainey.
Corrigan
Everly
Kinsey
Tatum
Cadence
Drew
Larkin
Maya
Connolly

And these last two are the names I associate with princesses for obvious reasons. And I too love them both!
Aurora
Anastasia

Interesting article

I ran across an article tonight called Why Your Baby's Name Will Sound Like Everyone Else's. Clearly the author has not heard of the Name Snobs yet. ;)

They mention how names right now, especially girl names, are very vowel heavy and rhymey--Emma, Emily, Bella, Ella. Even with Emma being the number one name will only be 1% of the new baby population as opposed to the olden days when names like Mary could be up to 10% of the new babies in a year. How many of us have an aunt Mary or grandma Mary?

The article quotes name guru Laura Wattenburg, creator of the awesome baby name voyager. I love Laura's dedication to studying the psychology and social trends of baby names but she just isn't snarky enough for me. Girlfriend needs to lay down the law and post blogs telling readers that Neveah isn't really a name and Skyy with two y's just looks ridiculous. She's much more polite than I am.

Anyway, it's a good read and something I thought you all would like to read. Also, I've been told I need to post pics because this blog is boring. So here you are.





Bennett Jude, William David and Maddox Oberon last fall.

Names for Jan & Jason

Hi Baby Name Snob,

This will be our first child (due in early November). We do not know the sex of the baby yet. If possible, I would love to use the middle name LouRee for a girl (after my Grandmother) and Chapin for a boy (after my Grandfather and pronounced Chape-in). We're not dead set on having to use these as middle names, they were just a starting ground for us. We're not much for traditional names, but don't like anything too off the wall like Rain, Summer, or Pheonix. We want a strong name that will sustain into adulthood, but yet unique enough to not blend in with the crowd. Some names that we've thought of but not yet agreed on are:

Girls: Adleigh, Ainsley, Ashlyn, Brylee, Brinley, Reese, Renna, Riley
Boys: Avery, Braxton, Bryson, Jaxton, Brody, Caden, Gavin, Greyson

None of these names are popping out to us. This will give you an idea of what style of names we like though. We don't care what the name starts with. Both my husband and my name start with a "J" and my husbands whole family all have "J" names. Not sure if that is the route to go or not (us all having "J" names too). Our nieces and nephews are Abby Lynn, Andrew Todd, Alexis (Allie) Grace, and Parker Graeme Thomas (all too traditional for us). We'll be the oddballs on both sides of the family and are ok with that.

It's so hard to pick out a name that will stick with your child for the rest of their life. *sigh* We need your help!

At A Loss For Names,
Jan & Jason


Hey, Jan and Jason.
You have a lot of great ideas to start with so that helps a lot as far as what you guys like. So Ive come up with a big list of both boy and girls names for you! Plus I really love the family names you guys are thinking about using for middle names. They are unique and cool. (thumbs up!) I mostly picked names I felt would sound good while keeping the hypothetical middle name's in mind. And I just decided to stay away from the -J -names for now.

these are in no particular order.

Girls~
Embry LouRee
Riona LouRee
Laney LouRee
Maisy LouRee
Rory LouRee
Teagan LouRee
Kerrigan LouRee
Piper LouRee
Madigan LouRee
Ellery LouRee
Annika LouRee
Reagan LouRee
Claire LouRee
Brynn LouRee
Emerson LouRee
Kendall LouRee
Quinn LouRee
Lorelei LouRee

Boys~
Cohen Chapin
Harrison Chapin
Eli Chapin
Harlan Chapin
Thurston Chapin
Rowan Chapin
Gannon
Langston
Ezra Chapin
Mckinley Chapin
Callum Chapin
Brecken ( I think this one is great tho Im not so sure with Chapin as the middle name)
Emery Chapin
Brennen

-Jessica.

Stephanie and Richard's hypothetical unconceived second baby's names ;)

I recently started following your blog, and am impressed. I am a baby naming nut. We have one son named Sawyer James. We originally were told we were having a little girl and then SURPRISE!, we had a little boy. We knew we loved Sawyer so that was easy, then we just sort of "picked" James because we were under the gun to fill out his birth certificate papers. It ended up alright, it flows nicely, but I tend to like more unusual names. We also lean towards nature and literary themes. I am Irish and American Indian and my husband is Polish and Irish. We are trying to conceive number two and will not find out the sex this time. Our original girl name was Harper, but it doesn't feel "right" anymore. Thanks for any help you can give. I look forward to seeing more of your blog.
Sincerely,Stephanie and Richard

I had too much fun with this name list. I love literary names. Some are from writers, some are from characters and all are undoubtedly cool.

For girls:
Alice
Camille
Esme`
Finley
Flannery
Gwendolyn
Josephine
Louisa
Mercy
Sylvia
Willa

For boys:
Alcott
August
Barrett
Beckett
Holden
Finnegan
Langston
Lennox
Marlowe
Oscar
Wilder

I think Harper is a great name. If you wanted to play on the Tom Sawyer-Huck Finn thing, Finley and Finnegan are names that would work. I have a friend with a little girl named Wilder and I think it fits her well. Let me know if any of them are keepers!

Names for Mary

Mary has three children--Hailey, Isaiah and Antonio. She is expecting her fourth baby in December so we don't know the gender quite yet. Her only request is that no names end in 'er' since her last name does. I looked for names that are pretty common, but not trendy and for a Latin or Spanish origin.

Atticus
Cassius
Cruz
Dominic
Marcos
Micah
Samson
Santiago
Quentin
Vincente

Carmen
Christa
Elianna
Gemma
Julia
Laurel
Lola
Maren
Marta
Reina

Amy's names

Hi,
I just found your blog...how cool!

My husband and I are expecting our first, and maybe only, child in early November. My name is Amy Rae. His name is Kevin Andrew. Rae is a family name and must be used for a middle name if it is a girl. Lee is also a family name we will use for a middle name if it is a boy. We are not finding out the sex of the babe :)

Kevin has two children Mikeala Lillian and Christopher.

I am of French-Canadian descent and Kevin is Irish. We would like something not too common but not too different. We both come from larger families so are having a hard time using names no one else has yet. Our last name is two syllables and starts with "N".

I like Sophie and he likes Claudia-Joy.
I like Finnegan and he likes Noah.

Amy

Hello Amy.
I like Claudia Rae a lot! Its not overly used and is also a wonderful French name. Keeping in mind what you like already Ive come up with a pretty decent sized list of ones to look over.

Girls-
Elsie Rae
Margot Rae
Corinne Rae
Avery Rae
Mina Rae
Coraline Rae (This is my favorite)
Clara Rae
Charlotte Rae. (tho Charlotte is getting to be quite popular I think its a very pretty feminine name)
Fiona Rae. (Fiona- Gaelic for 'fair')
Lorna Rae. (a cute poplar Irish name)
Mirielle Rae. (a pretty French name)
Laelynn Rae. (a very popular Canadian name that I have never heard here and like a lot)

Boys-
Warner Lee
Julian Lee ( a great french name growing in popularity at number 61 on the SSA list)
Quintin Lee
Jonah Lee
Harmon Lee
Ronan Lee (Gaelic for Little seal or Ronan king of Leinster) I really like this one!
Rory Lee (Gaelic for Red) super cute too!
Ansel Lee ( a popular French name)
Bryer Lee ( French Canadian)

Second Boy.

Just found your blog for the first time. So fun! My husband and I are expecting baby boy #2 in September. Our 3 yr old's name is Ryan William. We would like to use my maiden name, Clifton, as the middle name. I feel like I keep seeing the same names over and over again and we can't really agree on anything.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Brooke


Hey Brooke.
So Ive broken a list of suggestions down for you into two categories one being more classic names tho not overly used and the other being on the maybe not as seen as often.

For the classics I like.
Henry Clifton
Oliver Clifton
Andrew Clifton
Evan Clifton
Christian Clifton
Garrett Clifton
Reid Clifton

Ok Maybe Andrew is used a lot. But its a classic name I just adore. ;)

For the not as seen as often.
Taran Clifton
Eldon Clifton
Darian Clifton

of course your last name could make or break some of these depending on. Tho I hope you guys like a few of them!

-Jessica.

Beer snob

I just discovered your blog and have "catching up." You have such great name suggestions, so I've been reading everything trying to find the perfect girl name. I have a son name Lucas and am expecting a girl. I love the name Lucas, but am starting to realize that I may have "Jennifer'd" him...as I like to call it.

I'm having such a hard time finding the right name for my baby. My husband hates everything I love, so it's been really hard. I love Stella, Scarlett and Lola...however he thinks I'm totally insane. He likes Amelia, but I just don't care for it for some reason (I like it for other peoples babies...not that that makes any sense).

I've even resorted to using my "beer theory" about baby names since he is a total beer snob. I tell him good names are like beer. No one really likes beer the 1st time they try it. Once they acquire a taste they usually stick with something bland and boring like bud light (My hubby hates BL). Good names are like good beers...an acquired taste!

I know my analogy is a little strange comparing baby names to drinking beer, but I have to relate to him on his level. If you have any ideas for a baby girl I'd love to hear. Thanks!!
Jennifer

Hi Jennifer,
I'm Jessica, Theresa's new guest blogger. I hope I can help you shed some light on a few more possible likes for your soon to be new baby girl! With Scarlett I feel its kinda heading toward the -Jennifer- -Jessica- realm. on the Social security website in 2000 it was 941 and in 2008 it was 210 making a big move heading towards the top 50 quickly. And being a Jessica myself I like to keep a close eye on that ;).

I think Lola is a super cute name and goes well with big brother Lucas. Instead of Stella I would say Estella just to once again shy away from the growing popularity of Stella. Though I do appreciate the name a lot. Some others I think would go well with Lucas and your style while still keeping your husbands like of Amelia in mind are...
Lina
Cora
Camilla
Leona
Marina
Etta
Liza
Lillia
Clara

Zoe or Ainsley?

My husband and I are going crazy trying to figure out what to name our future daughter. I am 20 weeks along, so I still have time, but I would love to be able to call her by a name, rather than "baby".

Anyway, we have narrowed it down to two and I need some help deciding!

First choice: Zoe or Zoey Catherine (which way should we spell Zoe/Zoey?)

Second choice: Ainsley Catherine

Here is our biggest problem... we find that people have comments for each of the names. With Zoe/Zoey, the biggest comment we get is "Oh, that was our dog's name". lol. OR we get "Oh, like the character on Sesame Street?" OR "Like Zoey 101 on Disney?" Blech.

The comments we get about Ainsley are "Isn't that a boy's name?" (really? I could never imagine that being a boy's name!) OR "It sounds made up" OR "That is too popular and could be considered trendy" (I have never met an Ainsley in my life, so this is news to me!)

Anyway, enough of my ramblings... Which one is better? Please help! We are so ready to just pick a name!!!

Thanks, Hayley

Ainsley Catherine! I will put it to a vote for the snob readers and see what they say. Zoe is much more common (58, Zoey at 98) than Ainsley (441). I don't think Ainsley is trendy, I think it's very pretty and old fashioned. If she comes out and she looks like a Zoe, I'd use the without a y spelling. Good luck!

V. Exciting News

I'm back! We survived the trip to the North and it was actually quite pleasant. While I was gone the Social Security Administration released the names for 2008. I wasn't surprised to see the list since the top 25 girls names have stayed the same since about 2004. For boys it's also been consist ant with the mostly traditional names; Nicholas dropped from 15 in 2004 to 29 in 2008 and that was pretty much the only notable mover.

Some Snob favorites debuted in the top 100, Matilda sauntered in at 829, Kenley (thanks Project Runway!) is 998 and feisty Irish Sloane is 999.

I also want to announce that we will have a guest writer on the snob! Jessica, who has sons with awesome names Ashton and Dane, will be answering some of your emails and requests. So please welcome her to the Snob Team.

Leaving on a....mini van?

I have a bunch of requests, thanks to my friends and readers pimping me out on messageboards. :) However, I will be out of town for about 10 days. We're going to visit family and crash with friends for a few days so it should be fun. And by fun I mean incredibley exhausting and overwhelming and I am bringing wine with me.

It's about a 10 hour drive up to Lansing and we're leaving this afternoon and hoping to make it to Indianapolis. It's going to be crappy interesting since Bennett has an ear infection and a nasty cough from the EI. He's on an antibiotic and a steroid for his cough, which is awful because he hates the medicine and we have to hold him down to get him to take it. :( So sad.

Anyway, I am still in business but since I am not taking my laptop nor my four name books I will be limited in my research. I can't post from my phone (yet!) but I'll be back soon and I'll have a plethora of wonderful unique options for your unnamed little babes.

See you next week!

A sibling for Ryker

I found your website from Baby Center and thought it might be fun to get your opinion and any other thoughts you might have! I am due on July 25th and my husband and I aren’t finding out the gender. I have a two year son named Ryker Lee.

We have a few names picked out for each gender for you to review. For a girl we like Halle , Kinley, Leyla, and Tegan. For a boy we like Braxton, Bryson, Carter, Jacek, or Maverik.

I really like the girl names and would be happy with one of those choices, but I feel we are struggling with boy names a bit more. I like the boy picks fairly well, but am not real set on any one. Also, my husband likes the girl name Callie, which I think is cute, but too close to my name, Kelli. What do you think? FYI, husband’s name is Tyrun. Last name sounds like hoo-wah. Thanks for any suggestions/opinions.


Hi Kelli,

With Ryker being such a strong and consonant heavy name, I think a name like Halle might be too soft sounding, especially with your last name. I like Kinley (Kenley?), Tegan, Leyla and then Halle. For the boy names I think Braxton sounds the best with Ryker followed by Bryson, Jacek, Maverick and Carter.

For Callie, are you open to using it as a nickname? What about using a formal name like Calla, Calliope, Calista (love this name) or Caledonia?

Keep me updated! Good luck with the last trimester. I wish you nights of uninterrupted sleep and no heartburn.

OMG I am famous! -or- Lindsay's names

Hi Baby Name Snob!
This is Lindsay, I am writing you from Calgary, Alberta, Canada and I love your blog! My husband (Gam short for Gamunu) and I are expecting our first baby this fall and need some more ideas for names. We have a few favourites but have trouble agreeing!

We like to stick to classic/retro names or new names but that aren't commonly used. Boys:Enzo, Jalen, Jaxon, Archer and Ari are some that one or both of us like. No idea on a middle name at all! Enzo is probably the leader at this time. Girls:Lucy, Georgia, Ruby, Presley and Sofia/Sophia are some that one or both of us like using Rose as a middle name for sure. Georgia and Lucy are tied in first for now. We have a very long Sri Lankan last name and our baby will be mixed race Caucasian and Sri Lankan. We would prefer a one or two syllable name, not any longer than that. I am interested to see what you might come up with! Thanks so much.

Hi Lindsay! I think you are my first Canadian request. I love Canadians! I spent every summer as a kid up on Prince Edward Island and I have family in Ontario and I think a cousin or two in Manitoba. Right on, eh? :)

OK let's get down to business. For your girl names I like them is this order: Lucy, Georgia, Sofia, Ruby, Presley. I think Lucy Rose is darling. If you care about popularity, it's quite a bit up there (135) as opposed to Presley (348). But really, it's nowhere near the top 10 and I've never met a baby Lucy. I think you're good. Other names I like with your style:

Cora
Eve
Hazel (I don't think it works with Rose though, it sounds like a country song)
Stella

Of your boy names, I like Enzo, Ari, Archer, Jaxon and Jalen. My issue with Jalen is that it's just too close to the 'aiden' names--Jayden/Jaden is all over the charts. Enzo and Ari are cool phonetic short names that will be hard to screw up. I can't really touch Ari and Enzo but I tried:

Alden
Cade
Jude
Milo

For middle names, do you have any family surnames that you can use? Or a song (Hey Jude) that means a lot to you? You can't go wrong with Ari Thomas or Enzo Daniel.

I hope I helped you decide on a name. Sometimes you just need to go in with two and then decide once you see that sweet baby face. <3 Good luck!

Katie and Brent's baby names

Hi! My husband and I are expecting our first in December. We don't know if it is a girl or a boy. We think we have three names that we love for a girl (Amelia Grace, Olivia Mae, or Annalise - no middle name yet, maybe you could help with that as well? lol). We are having trouble finding a boys name, however. We have a list, but don't know that "the one" is there. My name is Katie Grace and his is Brent Lambert.

So far, the names we DON'T agree on are: I like Levi and Alexander and he likes Charles.

The names we DO have on our list are: Shepard, Silas, Samuel, Everett, and Connor.

For a middle name we are considering Robert (after my Grandfather) or my husband's name Brent. We aren't stuck on either of these middle names either though.

Can you help us come up with some more names that we will love? Thanks

You have some great ideas. Of your girl names Annalise is by far the less common--as far as middle names go, what about something like Jane or Faith? Some other names in the same vein as Olivia, Amelia and Annalise are

Camilla
Cecily
Eleanora
Lena
Lilia

For your boy names, I think Silas Robert is a very strong name, closely followed by Samuel Brent. I love Everett but I think Robert and Brent are too 't' heavy with Everett. Other options:

Bennett
Ellis
Graham
Henry (too close to your last name?)
Vaughn

Keep me posted! I added a poll just for fun. :)

Names for Janet

Hi! I'd love for your input on what we should name our baby due in June. We don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl. We already have a daughter named Briella Eva. Our last name is LONG and ends in "er" so those types of names (ie Cooper, Hunter, Taylor, etc) are out and we also don't like super popular names.
Thanks so much for your help!
Janet and Travis

Hi Janet and Travis,

Briella is a pretty unique name, its parent name Brielle is still only in the 400s according to the SSA site. Since Brielle/Briella has French roots, I tried to find names with a similar background.

Arianna
Charlotte
Clarissa
Elaina
Emmaline
Genevieve
Josephine 'Josie'
Mercy
Rhiannon
Valentina

Of the girl names I think Emmaline would be lovely (and it's not in the top 1000) with Briella and Emmy is a cute nickname. Since you didn't list any middle names, what about Emmaline Hope or Emmaline Grey?

Boy names were a little bit more difficult but I think they always are.

Blaise
Elias
Emmett
Felix
Gage
Leo
Louis
Luka
Kieran
Vincent

Of the boy names I like Blaise the best. If you stick with the French spelling it ranks at 992 but the more phonetic Blaze is still only 876. If you were to go with an unique name like that, I'd stick with a more traditional middle name such as Michael, Thomas or William. Blaise Michael has a nice ring.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy. Please shoot me an email after you have the babe, even if you didn't use a name I suggested. Take care!

I have competition and her name is Jamie

hi baby name snob,

i too am a name nerd. i just LOVE names and coming up with the *perfect* combination! my son's name is beckett reed and we are constantly getting compliments on what a wonderful name he has. i love that it's unique without being obscure. it's a little bit of history with a little bit spunk. anyways...my husband and i are trying to come up with an equally unique and wonderful name for the next little one.

so far we have a girl name, penelope june (nickname poppy) but are having trouble with a boy's name. we've also played around with the girl name matilda rose (nn milly). i think we've tenitively settled on sutton cole or sutton rhys. we were also considering langston cole, but it seems like a mouthful. i like to use family middle names; reed is my great grandparent's surname, june is for my grandma, and cole is a variation of my maiden name. i was just wondering what you thought of our name choices, being a fellow name nerd! i would love your input or suggestions also.
sincerely, jamie

Hi Jamie!

You have wonderful name ideas. Beckett is one of my favorite names, if we didn't have a Bennett it would be on my list for my next boy. Your girl names are super cute and classic--Poppy and Milly are great nicknames for a little girl and Penelope and Matilda are excellent names for a business card.

I like Sutton, it's not in the top 1000 but it's not unheard of either. Langston is a good name, it does seem like a mouthful but it's only two syllables and Langston Hughes is one of my favorite poets so that gives it a bump. Other names that I think you would like if he ends up not looking like a Sutton or Langston are

Atticus
Deacon
Sullivan

and they all sound great with Cole. For girl names, I'll toss out a few in case you ever have twins or triplets. ;)

Gwendolyn
Lorelei
Rosalie (Rosie)

Milly, Poppy and Rosie...aww. I may have to borrow those when I finally get around to writing my great American novel.

Happy baby naming!

love, theresa moira

Third time's a charm (for Pamela)

Pamela and her husband are expecting boy number three. Her sons are named Hunter Ethan and Tanner Edward. She'd like something that is outdoorsy so it will match her sons' names as well as an E middle name. Originally she wanted a name ending in 'er' but nothing has made much of an impression-specifically no Archer, Fisher or Gunnar.

Is Forrest too obvious? That's the first thing that came to mind.

I do think I've found two perfect names: Sawyer (woodcutter) and Reed.

I made a list as well.

Cooper
Finn
Griffin
Heath
Hollis
Levi
Rafferty
Rockwell
Scout
Thatcher
Thayer

Eamon
Eli
Elias
Elliott
Emmett
Everett
Ezra.

My vote goes to either Sawyer Elliott or Reed Elias.

Any winners?

Names for Abbey

Abbey came across my site through ivillage (and I think through Camille, thanks girl!). Her requirements:

*I would like it to start with an "A" for the fact that Brandon (my husband) and Braxton (my son) are fairly close in nature.
*My husband does like "Ali" for a name, but I have it okayed by him that it could be used as a nickname.
*He also said if it comes down to it he is open to anything.
*The only name that we feel is ok with right now is "Alyse" pronounced Alease.
*The middle name will be Kay after my mom who passed away when I was in 5th grade.
*I do like names that aren't that common. I feel my son's name is different enough, but not too out there.

Braxton is in the 200s according to voyager so your names are alphabetical, with the definition and current rank behind them. I figured I'd do a little extra work since I only had to research one letter. :)

Adair (beauty) n/a
Adaline (noble) n/a
Adora (beloved) n/a
Ainsley (my own meadow) 454
Alia (ascender) (n/a but its homonym Aaliyah is 84)
Alice (truthful) 346
Alison (form of Alice) 288
Annalise (from Anna) 676
Arabel (beautiful) n/a
Ariel (lion of God) 188
Arden (valley) n/a
Aria (musical term, solo song) 566
Ashlinn (dream) n/a
Audra (noble) n/a
Avril (April) n/a

I like your name choice, Alice and Elise are two of my favorite names. Of my list, I like Ainsley Kay, Annalise Kay and Alia Kay the best. Alison is closest to Braxton in popularity and Ali works as a nickname, too. Lots to think about! Good luck naming your little girl. I am a pale shade of green with envy over here.


p.s. I love that you and your husband are each using your letter for the kids' names. I know too many people that have a husband named John Thomas and name their kids Thomas and Jonathon. Where is all the love for the mothers? Rock on, mama!

Janel's names

[Dear Snob]
My husband and I are at a dead lock. We don't know if our little one is a boy or a girl. I like Aidan, Liam, Riley or Moses for a boy. My husband likes Alexander (but I hate Alex and I know the kid will be called that by our families), he doesn't mind Riley or Moses (but he is afraid Moses is too unique but I like unique). For a girl I like Emily, Gracie, Riley, Brianna, Beverly. He likes Helen (which I hate) and he likes Gracie. For middle names I would like to use our grandparents names Beverly, Grace, Rollie, Marie, Lee or Adam.

My husband likes history names, Helen of Troy, Alexander the Great, etc.. I like kind of different but not too unique like Moses, Riley, Liam, etc.

Hi Janel!
Aidan, Liam and Riley are all top 100 names right now while Moses is hanging out at 464. It's unique but it's not unheard of. With my son James I was bound and determined to not let anyone nickname him Jim, Jimmy or Jamie and it took some work but he's just James. Alexander is tough because it is a longer name and the urge to shorten it may be too much for your family. Is Xander an option? Since your husband likes names with a historical background and you like unique names, here's a boy list.

Adams
Beckett
Carter
Charles
Clinton
Cole
Desmond
Edmund
Grant
Henry
Hudson
Jackson
Julius
Lincoln
Louis
Magnus
Malcolm
Monroe
Raleigh
Theodore
Wallace
Walker
William
Wilson
Wyatt

As far as some extra girl names suggestions, we can come up with a few newer names just by adding or removing some letters. :)
Emily---Emery, Emme
Gracie--Gracen, Graciela
Riley--Ryanne, Rilla
Brianna--Brynn, Anna, Brenna
Beverly--Everly

I really love Beverly and I think it's posed to make a come back. It's been off the charts for the last decade and it peaked in the 1930s. I do like Everly as an alternative though.

And for your husband, I made him a list of historical women, most names of queens with some biblical names and the odd explorer or activist.

Anne
Amelia
Beatrix
Charlotte
Delilah
Elizabeth
Eve
Gloria
Isabella
Jane (Lady Grey)
Juliana
Lucy
Matilda
Rosa
Sofia
Victoria

Of the names from your list, Moses Lee is my favorite. Of your girl names I like Beverly Grace, Riley Marie--and I think Rollie is a cool name, too.

Good luck naming your sweet babe! Keep me updated.
Love, the snob

Names for Alison

This is a toughie! Alison and her husband cannot agree on a name for their baby boy. She likes Theodore, Ewan, Luke and Hugh while her husband suggested Edmund, Lawrence, Lee and Keagan--and he would really prefer it to not be in the top 100. They live in the DC area but Alison is from Thailand originally and she would also like a name that Thais can easily pronounce.They have a four year old girl named Maia.

I actually have several lists! First I tried nymbler but the eclectic mix of names from Alison and her husband had nymbler spitting out gems like Clifton, Leonard and Bertram. I did like

Basil
Cole
Eli
Ellis
Leo
Lewis.

Next I did some research on Maia: the name actually stems from three different languages. In Hindi it means 'God's creative power,' in Greek it's 'mother' and in Latin it's 'great.' Of the Sanskrit names I thought Ashwin and Rohan might be good matches with Maia. Then I went on to the Greek names and came up with

Ambrose
Apollo
Damian
Dorian
Jericho
Matthias
Nicholas
Peter
Sebastian
Thad
Theo
Xander.

Of the Latin names I liked

Adrian
August
Bennett (from Benedict)
Calvin
Dante
Dominic
Julian
Levi
Marcus
Maximus (so much cooler than Maxwell)
Miles/Milo
Silas
Victor
Vincent
Xavier.

And one random Japanese name: Kaemon.

Did I help or make it worse? ;)

Kim's List

Kim from Illinois wrote in for help with her fourth child's name. She has three children Colin, Claire and Keegan. She's looking for a K or C name that is uncommon but not too out there. She and her husband like the sounds of Cal, Caleb and Carter but they wanted something with a little more kick for their baby boy. It's a good thing you said you liked Irish names because most of the names that I thought worked with your sibset are Irish. :)

The number after is the current rank on the SSA's website.

Cade 293
Calden (Cal for a nickname) n/a
Callum (ditto) n/a
Camden 219
Clinton 755
Cullen 769

Keane n/a
Keaton 357
Kellan 882
Kenley n/a
Kevin 39
Kian (rhymes with Ian) 664
Kiefer n/a
Kieran (one of my favorite names) 571
Killian 836
Kingston 355 (jumped from 942 in 2006!)
Korrigan n/a
Knox n/a
Kylan 776

John and Georgine's List

Their baby girl is coming soon! The proud parents have three kids, Marshal, Gia and Blake. They like the names Nina and Gabriella but nothing has them sold yet.

I tried to play matchmaker with Gia since Marshal and Blake work so well together.

Angelica
Angelina
Bianca
Cecilia
Claudia
Ella
Eva
Daria
Gemma
Georgia
Jana
Johannah
Lucia
Magdalena
Marina
Mira
Mirella
Nicola
Orabella
Raya
Roma
Sofia
Susanna
Violetta

In Defense of Aidan

"You must hate Aidan!" I've had that reaction from more than one person after I told them that I write a blog about baby names and trends.

But I don't. I actually love the name Aidan. It's Irish, it has a good meaning and it's a strong name without being an overused classic (I know, James is an overused classic, I admit it).

Aidan didn't appear over night, in the 1990s it was at 311, with Aiden at 860. However by 1996 Aidan had shot up to 166 with Aiden trudging along at 474. By 2007 Aidan had peaked at 54 and Aiden surpassed it by landing at 27 on the Social Security baby names list. I won't even start with the Adans/Aydans/Aidyns. If you put them together it's still only at 40.5 on the chart, right between Evan and Isaac.

I used to think that Aidan only exploded after Sex and the City's Aidan but the charts don't back up my theory. My new theory is pretty simple: people like Irish names. With the mini explosion of Conners and Ryans in the '90s people looked for similar names that weren't as popular with their playgroup. The 2000s have been more open to foreign and unique names. Ava is a far cry from Amanda, which was the sixth most popular name of the 1990s.

I've belonged to several playgroups and messageboards in the last few years (Michigan, Florida, Alabama) and the majority of the members are +/- five years from me. I also have at least 15 friends with sons named Aidan/Aiden. I have no data other than my opinion but it seems to me that the under 30 year old moms tend to go for Aidan while the 40+ moms tend to go for George.

So I don't hate Aidan. If anything I think Aidan has helped jumpstart a new era of babynaming--we hardly bat an eye when we hear about baby Finn, Isla or Kieran. How could anyone hate Aidan after listening to the name said with an Irish accent?

Ashley's List

Ashley emailed me a couple weeks ago, our mutual friend Kimm hooked us up--at least if it's Kimm from Michigan, otherwise I have no idea.

Ashley has two children, Reileigh Marie and Reece Gavin. They are expecting baby in early fall. She likes the idea of another R name but they can't seem to find or agree on any R boy names. Her girl names are Reaghan and Reanna and she likes Dixon and Mason for boy names. I really like Dixon (it's not in the top 1000! Bonus!).

I tried to look for R girl names that were of English/Irish/Welsh origin to mesh with Reileigh and Reece but I only found a couple. I liked a ton of R boy names though.

Girl suggestions:
Raina
Rhiannon (good song by Fleetwood Mac, too)
Romy
Rowan
Ryanne

Adair
Ainsley
Bailey
Caitlin
Carrigan
Claire
Darby
Darcy
Delaney
Ellery
Finley
Kennedy
Madigan
Maeve
McKenna
Sloane

Boy suggestions:

Ralston
Remington
Rhett
Roland
Rollin
Ronan
Rory
Rourke
Ryder

Archer
Ardan
Carter
Declan
Donavon
Keane
Killian
Owen
Meade
Sullivan

I think baby #3 needs a strong 1 or 2 syllable name. It all depends if you like the sounds of all the names together, I suggest yelling "Reileigh, Reece and Seraphina!" and compare it to "Reileigh, Reece and Maeve!" :) Let me know if I came up with any names you may work with.

It's a girl!

Update--Rebecca H. and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world yesterday. I did a list for her back in January.

MOLLY LOUISE

Love the name!

Krystal's name list

Krystal is expecting a little boy this spring, she has a little guy named Hugh scampering around with her in Michigan. (Michigan people love my babynaming skillz...)

She wanted a name that sounded well with Hugh but wasn't common or popular. Hugh has been floating in the bottom of the top 1000 for the past decade, according to the Social Security site. It peaked in the 1890s at #80 but has fallen out of fashion, which ironically, is now in fashion, since uncommon baby names are quite the rage. The middle name will be Samuel. The names I found are definitely old fashioned but nothing that is obsolete or too wonky.

August (Augie, Gus for nicknames)
Baxter
Calvin
Chester
Dexter
Duncan
Ellis
Elton
Everett
Felix
Fletcher
Foster
Forrest
Gerard
Gilbert
Harlan
Jasper
Judson
Kent/Kenton
Lewis
Merritt
Murray
Olin
Otto
Palmer
Pax
Rufus
Rupert
Sander
Stuart
Theo
Vance
Willis (Will)

Any winners?

**UPDATE**
Krystal and her hubby have decided on DEXTER!! YES! I actually helped name a baby!! I can't wait to see pictures of little Dexter Samuel. <3

Obscure Names that I Love

I had some time this afternoon and I made a master list of names that I think are cool that are not really on the current naming radar. The first set of numbers is when they peaked and the second number is where it is now. I used the voyager site for most of this project.

Ada (1880s at 46, 646)
Adele (1910s at 202, n/a) I wonder if Adele will make a comeback due to the singer Adele, who is awesome--listen to Chasing Pavements
Agnes (1890s at 39, n/a) We seem to love Maggie, why not Aggie?
Aileen (1920s at 304, 500) There is an Aileen in my son's preschool class, she's adorable and the name has really grown on me.
Alma (1890s at 54, 713)
Antonia (1920s at 307, 996). My Antonia anyone?
Audra (randomly peaked in the 1910s, 1970s, currently n/a)

Beatrice (1910s at 30, n/a)

Cleo (1910s at 30, n/a) My BFF Brooke has a daughter named with this name and it perfectly suits a spunky, cute, feisty little girl.
Cordelia (1880s at 269, n/a)

Dara (not in the top 1000, ever)
Della (1880s at 68, n/a)
Dora (1880s at 5, n/a) If you can get Dora the Explorer out of your head, it's a great name.

Estella (1880s at 115, n/a)
Evangeline (1920s at 430, 459 currently!) Evangeline came out of nowhere in 2007, I blame Lost.

Fern (1900s at 180, n/a)
Flora (1880s at 155, n/a)
Frieda (1890s at 155, n/a)

Gemma (not in the top 1000 ever) I LOVE this name, it's popular across the pond and a great alternative to Emma, Emily, etc.
Gilda (1920s at 469, n/a)

Harriett (1880s at 194, n/a)

Imogen (never in the top 1000)
Iola (1910s at 345, n/a) My husband's great aunt (a spry 92) is Iola V. (no middle name, just the letter V)

June (1920s at 45, n/a) Juno, Junebug, Junie, all super cute.

Laurel (1950s at 203, 942 today)
Leona (1900s at 16, n/a)
Louisa (1880s at 151, n/a)

Matilda (1880s at 110, n/a)
Millie (1880s at 143, n/a)
Mona (1950s at 240, n/a)

Neva (1900s at 277, n/a)
Nola (1900s at 289, n/a)

Olive (1890s at 88, n/a)

Polly (1930s at 326, n/a)

Rosalie (1930s at 153, n/a) My money says Twilight boosts this name up quite a bit in the next five years.
Rosalind (1940s at 346, n/a)

Susanna (1880s at 344, n/a)

Terese (1950s at 643, n/a)

Viola (1920s at 301, n/a)

Willa (1920s at 301, n/a) If my married name didn't start with a W, I'd be all over this lovely name.

Zelda (1900 at 441, n/a)
Zora (1900 at 408, n/a)

There are so many cool baby girl names in this list. I am 2-2 for boys and I feel that even if we go for three I'll just end up growing yet another penis.

Michele's name list

This request was sent in by a reader in Grand Rapids, Michigan (my home state!). She found the link through my friend Willo's earth friendly site.

Michele has a little girl named Avery Roselea and it due with a surprise this summer. The new baby's middle name will be Michael for either sex so she wants a feminine girl name to balance it out. Names she likes are Lillian (Lily), Adeline (Addie), Carter and Everett.

Girl name suggestions:
Alia
Amelia
Annalise
Audrey
Carolina
Cecilia
Clara
Eleanor
Ellery
Eve
Gemma
Georgia
Hazel
Ivy
Juliana
Juliet
Lena
Lila
Nora
Olivia
Stella
Vivian
Willa

Boy names:
Anderson
Atticus
August
Blake
Camden
Carson
Chandler
Cooper
Dawson
Declan
Eli
Harrison (Harry)
Hunter
Merritt
Owen
Parker
Preston
Prescott
Sloane
Travis
Trenton
Xavier

Any winners?

Twilight Names

I have a confession to make; I didn't like it. I'll admit that I was biased going into it as I had read a million reviews and I knew the plot from hearing people talk about it. I kept waiting for my mind to be blown and I kept waiting to care about the characters. Edward bothered me with his PMS, Bella acted a fool and has self-esteem issues (I am so clumsy, I'm not pretty, I'm not good enough, etc). Maybe it gets better in the next three books.

I liked the vampire names though--Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie are all great names.I liked how the modern kids had names like Jacob, Jessica and Mike.

Is it true that Bella and Edward name their vampire baby Renesme? I know it's a combo of Renee and Esme but that doesn't make it right.

Flame away.

New lists coming soon--one for a reader in GR, an US Weekly compilation and names that I predict will make their way back onto the lists.

The History of the Snob

It all started when my mom had my little brother, and then my other brother, and other, and then my sister, and then another brother...I am the oldest of 11. There is an almost 18 year gap between myself and the youngest sibling. I remember being so upset that my first sister's name ended up being Bridget. I wanted something cool, like Samantha or Jessica because after all, it was 1989. And so my parents named her Bridget (for a great grandmother) Christena (my mom's name, also my grandmother's middle name, so sometime back in the 1920s the great grandmother balked at Christina).

If you recite our names fast enough, it sounds like a spell-- or roll call at your local Catholic school circa 1950. Theresa Moira, Shaun Michael, Ryan David, Garrett Patrick, Bridget Christena, Patrick Rory, Catherine Aquinas (after St Thomas Aquinas), Derek Daniel, Thomas Cormac, Rosemary Monica and Brendan Alexander.

With each pregnancy she would pull out the baby name book and start leafing through it. She was convinced that we all needed saintly names so out came the Saints of the Catholic church encyclopedia as well. I pushed for names like Cecilia and Rose while my step-father argued for names like Monica (during 1996, too!) and Tabitha.

I wore the name book out; the spine weakened, pages fell out and peanut butter grease stains dotted the pages. I decided my name was lame, Theresa means 'reaper' in Greek. What is that? At least I had two saints to claim as my own, St Therese the Little Flower and St Theresa of Avila. During Catholic school we celebrated feast days (which I just can't see happening nowadays with the plethora of Emerson/Addison/Madison/Jaden/Hayden names) and I got the pick which date I wanted, naturally I chose whichever one was soonest. Patience has never been a virtue of mine.

When I became pregnant with my first child I found BabyCenter which soon led me to the baby naming polls. You would not believe some of the names and the catty comments and fights that happen over naming babies--even the hypothetical not yet conceived ones. I made a poll with names I liked, mostly Irish, and braced for the aftermath. My boy picks were Roan Morgan, Finnian James, Jude Cieran and James Fitzgerald (my grandmother's maiden name). My girl picks were Sofia Jane, Meara Quinn, Aidan Elisabeth and Norah something. I think James and Sofia won. However, I remember someone making a comment on my poll saying that if I really wanted to use the proper Gaelic spelling of Kieran I should spell it Ciaran. This is what I was thinking when James finally emerged after a loooong labor with a c-section on top. They told me it was a boy and he had a head of black hair. So here I am, crying and exhausted and thinking about something a stranger said on my baby name poll in regards to the spelling of my child's name. And I took her advice.

With my second pregnancy I pulled the books out as soon as I found out. I spent the better part of nine months with my friend Jess, who was due two weeks before me, pouring over names (German for her, Irish/English for me) and eating my weight in bagels. She ended up being a week late and I was 10 days early, so our guys are only three days apart. She had a Maddox Oberon and I ended up with a Bennett Jude. We were both insistant that we would never nickname our boys. Bennett has more nicknames that I can count, the most used being Benny Boo, Benny Judy and Bennett Ciaran--all bestowed by James. Apparently James thought Ciaran W___ was a swear word because when he used to get ticked at me he'd scream "MOM CIARAN W___!!"

I like all names, I really do. I've never met a Sophia, an Emily, an Aiden or a William that I didn't like. I'm sure I'd even love little Bronx Mowgli.