The Baby Name Wizard

HiLaura...hope you can help...i love your blog!! my husband and i are having a problem choosing a name for our daughter..traditionally my husband's family they name the baby after a recently departed family member..in this case; his aunt who was named mary-rose(not my favorite name!!!!) we can name her(we know it is girl) any name begining with the initial r or m..what is new and distinctive yet timeless? the baby is due 11/06(estimated arrival!)and i am getting desperate...thanks...Harmonie

Harmonie -
I realize I'm not Laura, but what about Megan Rose? Megan was 40th on the popularity chart last year and it's on a downward slope, but it's pretty and classic and you could honor your husbands relative by the first initial, middle name. There's also Michaela (with it's various spellings available) that is very popular but has a wide range.
At least his aunt wasn't named Eunice! Good luck!

What about Rosemary or Rosemarie? I think they are both timeless and a bit of a twist on Mary-Rose.

thanks guys for responding~ i really appreciate it!! my husband and i have different opinions of names for the baby..i am sure we are not the first couple in the world to disagree; but..it sure is stressful...he likes traditional names like megan..i love your name christiana!! so beautiful!! my parents are hippies hence my flower child name..i am used to it now but it dates me( i think anyway) so; either one of us gives in; or we find a way to comprimise...i appeal to all who read this blog..HELP ME!!p.s. what do you think of frederica? too out there? thanks again ; harmonie

Laura, I've been waiting and waiting for the results, and I want to see more ballots! What exactly were the names and numeric scores for, say, the top 10 entries? What about the lowest 10? What names were most frequently picked (I picked "Ava" as well)? More data, please!

Harmonie - I actaully thought of your name as fairly modern - As a child of the 80's I missed the hippee days for the most part and I always think of the name Harmony associated with a character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the show, not the movie). Funny how the generations see things differently, huh? I told my mom I was considering the name Madalyn and she said "that sounds like an old lady!" Ah, the sociology of naming children! Good luck with your naming discussions, my husband and I have had a few and we're not even pregnant yet!

Frederica is nice - incredibly old-fashioned, but isn't that the trend now? I'd think about a nickname though - it's awkward for a baby to carry around "Fred" when she's a girl and the full name is a lot for little mouths.

The name Sophia has gotten a lot of pop culture notice in the last few years - accoridng to the name voyager, it made a fairly significant jump recently. Do you think this is in relation to the pop culture references of a main character on the popular teen show One Tree Hill (I actually know more 20-somethings that watch it than teens) and the main female in The Da Vinci Code? Opinions?

Harmonie: I sympathize, you're looking for the elusive grail of names -- "new and distinctive yet timeless"! My crystal ball says you want Rafaela. Your runners up are Mara, Melina, Renata, Rhea, and Rilla.

Nicole R.: Take a look at the Feb. 9 '06 post for some more stats on the pool entries. (And psst...you scored in the top 20!)

-Laura

laura..you must be prescient!! i was just thinking of raffaella this morning!!we have agreed on the "r" initial(his choice) and i can choose her name.YAY!! what do you think of romy? or rosamond...p.s. what is the nickname for raffaella? thanks again laura for a wonderful site and for your dedication to the "name" cause..h

Harmonie,

Romy is traditionally a nickname for Rosemary so Rosamond nn Romy would work nicely, I think. I love them both. Ella could be a nn for Raffaella. Good luck.

Laura, can you post the top 20 rising names and the top 20 falling names? You had the predictions from February, would like to see how they compare.

Thanks

Wendy (who can't remember what I guessed in the pool)

Harmonie, how about my name, Romilly, its pretty unusal (even more so in the US i think then it is here in the UK) but doesn't sound too wierd and i often get complemented on it. As nicknames i've been called both Romy and Milly (which fits the r and m initials!), also i love Rosamond, very elegant! good luck

What about Rosemarhea (Rose-Mar-Hea)You could use Rose, Rosey or Rhea for short...or just Marhea on it's own is cute...It's kind of a variant of Maria

I like Rafaella - Ella or Fae for short. Romy makes me think of a ditzy blonde (Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, anyone?) I see where the Rosemarhea is coming from, but personally I would choose to go more traditional with the spelling (playground nn of Diarhea is what comes to mind)I like Rhea or Reyna - once knew one of the most beautiful women I've ever met and her name was Rhea. Reyna means "Peaceful" or "Queen."

Just wanted to say -- I love the name Romilly and have been considering it as a middle name for my baby girl (due late summer).

I just had a little girl on the 16th of this month, I named her Trista Lynn.

thanks christiana..i love the nickname fae..so pretty and it matches our last name of Fox...but...do you think it is too wierd? i want her to stand out and yet fit in...my mum loves the name susannah what does everyone else think? this is our first so i want to get it right..this is my first gift to her and the most important as you carry your name for life and it shapes who you are..thanks again harmonie

Harmonie,
Here are some ideas
These names sound "distinctive yet timeless" to me (I'm 25)
Maris
Mirielle
Meredith
Ruth
Regina
Regan – like in King Lear, My English teacher pronounced it REE-gan (not like the president)

Here are some more uncommon ideas
Mangena which in Hebrew means melody, I think this fits well with your name
Mathea (MAH-teh-ah)
Marisha
Radella
Rhiannon Pronounced like Brianna minus the B, its Welsh

If you use and R name for the first name will the middle name start with and M?

Harmonie,

I love the name Susannah. In fact my daughter is named Suzanna. (I call her Zanna or Zan for short). While there have been predictions that it is about to become popular, it is way down on the popularity chart. (Susana ranks around 800 at the moment) However, it is not a weird name that sticks out. Suzanna goes to school with girls named Sierra, Sierah, Sabrina, Sarah, Samantha so it fits well. There is the song. But so far at age 4, Suzanna LIKES that there is a song with her name. Don't know if she will feel the same later.

Wendy

How about Rosalind? You can call her Rose, Rosey, Ros, Lindy, etc.

It has the "rose" reference, it obviously starts with an 'R' and it's Shakespearean!

I think it's beautiful. I like how it feels when it's pronounced, which is a big thing for me, as silly as it may sound!

thank you all for your input..we have narrowed it down to two names ..susannah or raffaela..please write in your votes!! thanks again so much..harmonie

Susannah for me. But I'm biased. My sister's middle name is Susanne, plus I'm Southern! "Oh, Susannah, don't you cry for me ..."

I think we need a seperate forum to discuss baby names! Is there any way to add something like that on here?

Rhiannon was very popular in Wales when I was a child (in the 1970s and 80s). I went to school with countless Rhiannons and Rhians - it had a simialr sort of appeal to "Jennifer" in 1970s America!! It has now been superseded in popularity for female babies in Wales by names such as Ffion and Seren (Seren is not actually a traditional name but the Welsh word for "star" which has lately been adopted as a name)

Older Welsh names like Blodwen and Gwynneth don't seem to be coming back!

I agree. We need a place on this site to discuss baby names.

I do have a friend who just named her daughter gwynneth...

I am about to have boy/girl twins and my hubby and I are stuck on the boys name. Would you all mind giving us your input? The girl is Caroline and the boy is either Thomas, Henry, or James...we are traditionalists as you can tell... Which boy name best suits Caroline. (I also have a son Samuel and a daughter Lillian (nn Lilly))

Sarah- I have a son named Henry, so of course I love that. Our 2nd & 3rd choice names were Thomas and George. If we have another boy, we'll go with George, which I think is timeless and not used often these days, although I wonder if it is poised for a comeback like Henry? What do others think about George? By the way, did you know that Thomas, James, and Henry are all engines on "Thomas and Friends"? :)

Also, we started calling our Henry "Hank" due to the large number of Henrys we have been running into. We've gotten a lot of positive feedback on that nickname.

Harmonie, if you are in an area where there are a lot of "new" and unique names, I'd go with Rafaella. In the upscale areas along the coasts, Susanna might fit in better -- the trend is more traditional. Ask someone in your area with young kids what the hot names are as a guide to whether Rafaella is too "out there" for where you live. (FWIW, the first names that popped into my head was also Rosalind). Of course, in the end what matters is what you are comfortable with and will love!

Sarah, I think all of those names go nicely with Caroline. FWIW, around here Thomas and Henry are very popular names, but I haven't heard James.

Angela, George is our son's name (family tradition). I was worried it would sound a bit fusty but it's worked very well. Around here "grampa" names are in - Max, Duncan, Henry, Andrew, Sam etc. I've found anyone over 50 are very lukewarm about the name and people under 20 are enthusiastic (in between they are pretty neutral) so my guess is that it may become more popular in a few years.

I'll give my votes to Susannah and Henry. Not that I want to see my kids' names (my son is Henry and my youngest daughter is Susannah) get popular but with Susannah/Susanna falling out of favor I think I'm pretty safe there. And Henry is never going to sound trendy even as its poised to break into the top 100.

Hey Laura,
Where did Talan came from?

hi guys....wow i never realized how hard it would be to choose a name...susannah is still the front runner; raffaella is out because everyone i asked kept pronouncing the name as rafee-ella..argghh..my husband likes the name katharina(he is a shakespearean fan) but i think it might be too cumbersome also i do not like the name kate or kat and kathy is way too common has any heard of unusual nicknames for katharina..ie..buffy is the nn for elizabeth..thanks..h..p.s. zelda the name talan comes from the show laguna beach which my niece watches faithfully..take care all...eleven days before the baby is here..we better decide soon

Here are my baby name list:
Amberlee Lynn
Samantha Shay
Leslie Ann
Joshlynn Sage
Matthew James
John Anthony
Christopher Thomas

it was hard finding a middle name for the name Joshlynn. and it'll probably change again. If you have any suggestions it would be great.

oh if you want to e-mail me on what you think here's my e-mail address.
claudajenna3@yahoo.com
thanks...

Maybe Joshlynn Marie??? Joshlynn Hollyn??? I don't know. But i do know I really love the name Amberlee

Harmonie -
I'm surprised you had a lot of people mispronounce Rafaella - that would have gotten my vote if I'd made it in time. :-) You could always call Katharina "Trina" or Reena or really pull something out and make it "Arin". I also like the name Meredith that someone mentioned earlier. What happened to your M or R thing? Did you give up? Susannah is also nice, and I could see it being used, but it always makes me think of old southern books/songs (Susannah of the Mountains or something, Oh, Susannah..., etc.) I suppose if you came up with a great nn, it would be great.

Claudia - I like Joshlynn Sage or Marie, but I think the Hollyn is a bit much with the first name. I also like the name Amberlee.

Sarah, I like Henry and Thomas best, but that has more to do with an overly popluated class of "James" boys growing up. And most of them I didn't like. Isn't it funny how everyone associates certain names wiht certain people/personalities?

On the subject I just mentioned - have any of you ever rejected a perfectly good name based on an association wiht someone you knew and didn't like? My sister and b-i-l had quite a time coming up with names for their kids because both of them are teachers and knew a lot of kids that they wouldn't want to name their kids after (or several kids that they would, but then it would look like they were playing favorites.) I know there are a few names I don't like based on people I grew up with or even celebrities that I'm not fond of, etc. Anyone else have that problem?

My biggest dislikes are
Christine (though my best friend is named Kristine and I might consider the K spelling)
Casey (for boy or girl, though my dislike was female)
Autumn
Jamie (boy)
William/Bill
Adam

They all have negative associations for me. What are yours?

Yeah, i'm a teacher and I have bad associations with some names and good with others.

Top names for horrible kids ;-)
Kayleigh (and all it's varients)
Connor
Jake
Demi
Kieran
Lewis

Top names for lovely kids:
Harry
Sophie
Emma
Charlotte
Nathaniel

To Harmonie: what about Suzannah? (Susannah with a "z") I think it's more mysterious.

My "likes"
Olivia
Grace
Aridane
Nicholas
Thomas

My "dislikes"
Kayleigh (Kyles, Cailie's, etc.) -- way too many
Krissy
Tiffany
Daniel

Oops,

meant "Ariadne" not Aridane...

I was very disappointed not to win the pool. Better luck next year! I had hoped that Beatrice would crack the top 1000 since I know two little girls born in 2005 with that name. Alas. Next year I'll go with Shiloh and Suri and keep my fingers crossed!

Claudia, I tried e-mailing you but that address didn't work. I just wanted to suggest my middle name, Rae, to go with Joshlynn. I think the two names would sound very nice together. I absolutely love my middle name and always use it along with my first (although Jennifer is much more common than Joshlynn!).

You know what's funny? I can only think of one Kayleigh that I know and I adore her. She's a teenager (about 16), so maybe it's a generational thing, but I think it's funny that both Yelena and Elizabeth named Kayleigh in their dislike list! :-)

for a girls name i just love Azalea pronounced a-zal-ya wish i was having girl and not a boy lol boys names are so hard to think of

Harmonie, Please let us know when the baby's born so we can find out what you decided! All the best...

hi helen..our daughter is hopefully coming on june 11 although people say that your first baby is usually late.we still can not make up our minds arrggghhh!! today my husband came home and told me a co-worker just had a baby girl and named her grayson...i loved it as did he but maybe it is too male sounding...i don't want her to hate us for giving her a weird name.. i like marley rose..that way we have covered the aunt situation,but david (hubby) is not in love with it..also we tend to vacillate between very feminine names like katharina and more androgynous names like grayson..do you think it sounds to much like jayson? as a bearer of a somewhat unusual name i don't want to burden her with something uncool..yikes!! i wish we could just ask her!! in lieu of that we are asking all of you..i will definitely let you know when we finally decide..

I have an Arabella and an Adelaide and I was very disappointed to see them on the list for the first time this year. I was hoping they'd stay obscure. I also have a son named York and that name is nowhere to be found. Hooray!

Harmonie - there was an obscure Tv show called Models Inc in the 90's (a spin off of Melrose Place) that included a character named Grayson, played by Emma Samms. To me, Emma Samms is a very feminine actress and she was easily able to pull off the name and the character. I would say it's unusual enough to not sound too masculine. It's a great name. You could even create the nn Gracie (however you'd choose to spell it) if you wanted to ensure her name had a feminine option. I can picture a businesswoman 20 years from now, "Good afternoon, I'm Grayson _____"

Harmonie: Hmm, Grayson sounds VERY masculine to me -- don't do it! Also when I read Marley I immediately thought of Bob Marley -- anyone else? So that's masculine in my mind, too.

I actually liked the Rosalind suggestion . . . or just Rosemarie? I think those sound good with Fox. What else? There are a million nn's for Margaret . . . how about Rebecca? I guess I'm more traditional!

I would say not to use Grayson only because your husband's coworker might be annoyed if you also used a name she probably picked for its uniqueness.

Marley makes me think of the ghost of Jacob Marley in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".

How about something like Mari, Marin, Rowan? Still somewhat feminine names, but not so girly (although I hate to suggest these, since they're at the top of my own list!).

Personally, I like Rosalind a lot, but it sounds like that's a no-go.

re christiana...thanks for the info..i will have to google models. inc...funnily enough i look like emma samms!! if she is the actress who played fallon on dynasty....i also think it sounds sophisticated yet soft..i see a number of others do not agree but we can always give her an ultra feminine middle name.. the baby will share my husbands last name (i dont like hyphenated names ..way too long!) and his last name begins with a g o we have alliteration..so perhaps we have a name after all...i was getting worried we would call her baby g. harmonie

I agree that your husband's coworker will probably not be too happy if you use the rather unique name of her daughter for yours.

I also think Grayson sounds mascline. If you are still looking for a R name, how about Raven? Similar sound to Grayson, but more feminine and with a R.

Wendy