The Baby Name Wizard

Oh, I will need time for this one!

As for the Duggars, if I had a say, I'd go with Jared or Jacob for a boy. In fact, I'm surprised that they haven't had a Jacob yet! Jocelyn or Julianne for a girl. I'd stay away from Julianna though, given that they have a JoHanna and Joy-Anna already!

I don't have a list of names (I can barely pick for #1!).

I did want to comment on the statement "assuming each may be your last" because on both mine and my husband's sides of the family, the youngest son ended up being "Jr.". This always intrigued me. If you wanted a son named after you, wouldn't you go with the first? Did this mean they "ran out" of names and figured "Jr." would be good enough for the newest baby? What would have happened if they'd had another? What if they had had a girl?

All questions I don't have answers to, but interesting nonetheless.

Well, the trouble with picking is coming to agreement with DH. Some of these would never make it by him...and some rather surprising ones would--Philomena, for example. These are all names that I actually would use. (I'd love to have a listing of our "wish I could, but better not" names sometime. My list of those includes such forgotten gems as Peregrine and Perpetua.) :-)

Cecily
Susanna
Felicity
Philomena
Charlotte
Sylvia
Elsa
Mary Rose (or Mary Pearl or Mary Grace…)
Miriana

Gerard
Clement
Paul
Thaddeus
Peter
Raymond
Thomas
Leo
Matthias

As you can see, I don't mind the simple Paul and Elsa alongside Thaddeus and Philomena.

For the Duggars, I'd recommend Jacinta (which didn't make it onto my girls' list because I had to stop at nine), and Joachim, which would also be on my list except I really can't stand the nickname "Joe"--at all.

I had a cousin sibling set all starting with T. Trent, Troy, Travis, Tyson, Tyler and Terrilee. I always thought it was interesting that they had the Tr- going for a while, then switched to Ty-, then gave up on the one girl. Of course, that isn't the order of the kids, so maybe it just ended up Tr- and Ty- on accident.

I could definitely NOT come up with 18 baby names...planning for this first one has been interesting, especially when my brother's wife is having her second baby 6 weeks before me, and totally stole my name! :)

I have a disturbing urge to root for Jezebel. It's even Biblical!

This is easy for me because I stared a list in high school and have been tweaking ever since. I could name 18 boy AND 18 girls (assuming of course that I don't have to consider DH's opinion) In no particular order:

Serenity Rhiannon
Divia Undomiel
Isolde Rainey
Fiona Morrigan
Alianora Bryony
Constance Elara
Briana Ysabet
Aramantha Celynnen
Catriona Rannath
Siobhan Eilis
Phoebe Duvessa
Sophia Eleanor
Niniane Medea
Cerridwen Zhalara
Alyssa Carielle
Minerva Andine
Xoria Cassabdra
Sorcha Elbereth
Emer Bianna

Geoffrey Quinn
Tristan Sage
Tyr Amond
Cirdan Ioreth
Riordan Nwyvre
Bran Rhigaerd
Miach Ilmarinen
Timias Cillian
Hadrian Aeolus
Peregrine Alioth
Even Bereg
Morgan Indra
Phillip Ulfric
Sebastian Oberon
Aidan De'Shay
Glyndon Alec
Tiernan Aethelwulf
Eliun Narsil

Wow, upon counting the names on my list, I have exactly 18 for each, what a coincidence. Of course this doesn't include the two female that I've already used.

There was a "K" family that lived in my hometown:
Kimberly, Kevin, Keith, Kristine, Kelly and Ken

18 names!! This will take some time.

c.Elizabeth - Your name list is so exotic...now I am curious to know the names of your two children, if you care to share!

I could barely come up with a fantasy triplet set when we did that a while ago, but here is my best shot at 18:

Caroline
Eleanor
Hazel
Amelia
Coral
Genevieve
Evelyn
Katherine
Violet

Oliver
Emmett
Theodore
Calvin
Marshall
Owen
Mitchell
Duncan
Gabriel

Rachel, do you mind sharing the name your SIL took from you?

Ugh, I strongly dislike one letter sibsets. I find them repetitive, dull, cutesy, and illogical. What about the other 25 wonderful letters of the alphabet, crying out to be used?

What, beyond a kitschy idea, motivated the Duggars to name their children all J names? And bad, often indistinguishable names at that? Jedidiah and Jeremiah (names of the 9 year old twins) sound painfully similar--and worse when one considers that both their middle names are Robert! (I guess the Duggars still adhere to the mid-century practice of naming your twins rhyming, sing-song names: Jan and Nan, if you will.) Joseph and Josiah, while both good names in their own right, also run together.

The girls names baffle me even more: our lexicon contains many beautiful, feminine J names(including Josephine, Julia, and June) and they selected Jinger? Really?

I guess you can tell I'm not really a fan of the Duggar family. Or same-letter sibsets in general. My (much older) cousins were named Brooke, Brad (either Bradley or Bradford, I'm not quite sure which), Barton (a family name, I presume; called BJ), and Becka (Becky). As a child I frequently puzzled over this naming quirk and frequently mixed the cousins up.

A much more interesting (but no less strange) trick for parents seeking some sort of alphabetical hinjink would be to name their children alphabetically, starting with A. The 1954 Hollywood musical, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, features a family of rough and tumble brothers, each given Biblical names for the first seven letters of the alphabet, a compromise between their parents. They are...
Adam
Benjamin
Caleb
Daniel
Ephraim
Frankincense (called Frank, the Bible apparently having no F names--although according to Wikipedia, Felix, Festus, and Fortunatas are all mentioned in the Bible)and
Gideon.

Interesting concept. I'm not sure I like it, but it does offer more diversity than a string of J, B, or K names. If only the Duggars had considered this. They, at least, could reach 26!

I LOVE Judah and Jonah, and would love to see their next boy with one of those names.

For a girl, what about:
Jade
Jadis
Jemma
Japera (ja-PARE-ah)
Jaslia
Jasmine
Juliana
Jessamine

I heard an interview with Mrs. Duggar, where she basically explained the J name obsession. She said that when they had their first child (I believe that's Joshua) that was just their favorite name. Then came the twins, Jana and John-David. They liked one of the names, which happened to begin with J, and decided to go with a J name for the other twin in case those were their only kids (haha!) and that child wouldn't be left out. Each kid, they continued to name a J because "what if this is our last?," and they wouldn't want that kid to be left out. It's well...interesting to say the least!
Still you would think that after, oh I don't know, the 7th or 8th kid, it would hit them that they aren't stopping with the baby-making anytime soon, and maybe it was time to move on to a different letter.
Oh, and little Jennifer is their youngest (for a while longer anyway). One of my friends said "It took them 17 J-names to finally get to Jennifer!?!?!?"

Ohh...I just re-read my last comment about the Duggars and I'm afraid it may have come off as a little catty and b*tchy. Sorry about that. Let me explain, I actually have no problem with the Duggar family themselves! I was just trying to make comments (without judgment) on their naming style. Sometimes things just come across wrong in writing.....

Mari--My daughters are Xe'Nedra Damara and Gwynneth Ariadne.

I just wish I would get to use more my names. DH says we're done, and even if we aren't, I only get to name girls. (sigh for all my boys names going to waste)I think I'll have to get an aquarium full of fish.

I grew up across the street from an "R" family. mom was Roxanne, kids were Raelynn, Renee, Rebecca, Ronalee, and Rachel Rita.

c. Elizabeth-I know you have exoctic tastes and I know your girls names from the last thread (which are too different for me to use but lovely). I just hope you have a short last name though with as many syllables as some of those names have.

As far as the Duggars go, they have a voting spot on their website which I posted on a fe w threads ago I'll have to find it but I know that Julianne/a and Jocelyn were a few of their choices.

As far as 18 kids to name-first of all would NEVER, EVER happen-2 in reality is just fine to take care of. However, for fun I will post them. Starting with what I have already and working on in order: Eric Matthew and Natalie Renee then choosing accordingly some input from dh is included.
Boys:
Jeffrey Tanner nn Jeff
Brian Elliott nn Brian
Joshua Conner nn Josh
Gregory Michael nn Greg
Andrew Mitchell nn Andy
Alexander Nicholas nn Alex
Girls:
Samantha Nicole nn Sam
Stephanie Rhiannon nn Stevie
Kimberley Elizabeth nn Kimmie
Cassandra Alexis nn Cassie
Jessica Noelle nn Jess

I would love to NAME 18 kids as long as I don't have to RAISE them. ; ) This was a nice exercise while driving to work...

My only "style" is no names in the most popular 100. So if I named all 18 kids based on the 2007 list they would be:

Suzanna (my one and only)
Lorelei
Eliza
Phoebe
Avonlea
Junia (A Duggar name perhaps?)
Analia
Jewel (seems out of place, but family name...)
Felicity

Boys are harder...

Alec
Josiah
Bryce
Micah
Zander
Robinton
Chester (family name that is growing on me...)
Shane
Grant

The girls names were easy. The boys name were more difficult because the names I liked in the past have become too popular!

Laura, what would you name 18 kids?

Looking at the Duggar names, I have to wonder about Johannah and Joy-Anna.... way too close in pronounciation for me, but to each his own!

Here's hoping for Joel or June!

Zoerhenne--LN is two syllables, easy to spell and easy to pronounce.

On a side note, when Xe'Nedra was born wehad comments from our parents on what a long name it is. We thought that was particularly funny considering those same people named US Elizabeth and Jonathan, which are longer.

What fun, I thought... and then found it is harder than I first realized. I decided to write down the names as they came to me, and my rule was that I couldn't go back and change them later (as Laura says: "remembering that you pick names one at a time, assuming each may be your last"). I did allow myself nine of each, although I know that wouldn't necessarily be the case. I'm not giving my dh input on this (too hard) but am factoring in his last name, which rhymes with -eek, as this is definitely a factor, as I don't feel comfortable choosing a first name with a strong ee sound (goodbye, Serena, Selina, Nina) or a -k sound at the end (farewell, Frederick :( )

So here goes:

Violet
Linnea
Susanna
Clara
Rosalind
Francesca
Caroline
Flora
Lucia (Loo-SEE-a)

Oliver
Marius
Nathaniel
Theodore
William
Charles
Raphael
Christian
Gabriel

Guess it looks like I had a religious conversion near the end! Oh, have just realized that Theo and Lucia both have strong ee sounds...oh well!
Also very sadly had to omit Louis (Lou-EE) and Miranda, as these are my cats.

sme- notice we have some overlap!

Here's the link that was posted previously. We had a slight discussion on this on the May 4th thread.
She's got youngest to oldest=Jennifer Danielle, Johannah Faith, Jackson, Justin, James, Jason, Jeremiah +Jedidiah (twins), Joy-Anna, Josiah, Joseph, Jinger, Jessa, Jill, John-David +Jana(twins), Joshua. So what should they name the next one? They have a poll going (on left side of link below) but we could post some names here too that maybe then haven't thought of.
http://health.discovery.com/convergence/duggars/duggarfamily.html
I thought of Jordan, Jeffrey, and Jayden for boys, and Jasmine, Janet, Janice, Joelle, Jolie, Jalia, and Jalissa for girls.

With some effort to expand my current "liste du jour", and to organize them alphabetically, I ended up with an 18 child family of:

Athena Grace (g)
Asher Aaron (b)
Celeste Cassia (g)
Eris Danae (g)
Finnigan Axel (b)
Gideon Luke (b)
Helena Marie (g)
Isobel Anne (g)
Joah James (b)
Lillian Isis (g)
Maia Rose (g)
Noam Mathew (b)
Ophelia Louise (g)
Quinn Anthony (b)
Sebastian Caleb (b)
Tristan Andrew (b)
Xavier Ian (b)
Zara Claire (g)

It wasn't easy to come up with so many names, and especially ones that work together... though admittedly not all mine do work together THAT well.

I just went back to look at the number of syllables. They range from 5 to 8, but over 3/4 are 6. I wonder what it is that makes me arrange names in 6 syllable sets.

also I apologize for mis-spelling Cassandra

Can't play--because I can't even wrap my mind around birthing and raising more than the two I've already got. It ain't happening. So the only names I'd be able to come up with would be Figment, Vapour, Wraith, Chimera, Fantasia (oh, wait, people actually use that last one, don't they...).

I agree with Lorien that in REAL life, there's usually a partner's tastes to consider in all this--and a surname--both of which usually require more compromises than the pre-existing sibling names. The best sib "match" isn't any good, if the other parent hates the name, or if it really doesn't work with the kid's surname--because the other parent and the full name are realities the kid'll be dealing with long after the sibs are living on their own.

And I also agree with Lauren in having an intense visceral aversion to same-initial sib sets--they send me running, sorry, every time. Not the kids' fault, though: I was part of rhyming sister names, just a pair, but we both hated that our very identity was an advertisement for our mum's sense of "cute" (which neither of us shared, even remotely). My name wouldn't easily be adjusted, but she retreated to a different non-rhyming nickname as soon as she was able to enforce it.

Moonie--I love your list, it's got a lot of names that match up with my style, but you managed to make your shorter. I may have to pilfer.

Oh, this is fun! I'm long past baby naming days, but a life-long name enthusiast. These would be my picks:

Katharine
Jerusha
Elizabeth
Georgia
Caroline
Suzanne
Margaret
Cynthia

Benjamin
Matthew
Stephen
Gregory
David
Michael
Spencer
William
Jonathan

I generally prefer traditional names rather than creative names...they have staying power, and always sound classy and classic to my ear. Many of my choices will sound, I'm afraid, dull to younger women...but,take'em or leave 'em, them's my choices. Jerusha, by the way, was used occassionally by 18th and 19th century ancestors of my husband. It's definitely unusual, but I've always loved it. I wanted to use it for my daughter's middle name, but my oneness vetoed it.
The Duggars and the Quiverful movement are to say the least, unusual, but not un-interesting.
Very religious, I think, which I am not. Overall I find their life style fascinating. It's very structured and controlling, but it appears they are rearing some decent kids...not an easy thing to do in this day and age. Whether you like them or not, you have to give them credit for that.
Their naming style is unusual and I can't say I love all their choices, but hey, that's what makes the world go 'round.

A little aside, last evening, our son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter were visiting for Father's Day. Granddaughter asked me if she could borrow a book, and went to retrieve it from my office. Guess what she wanted?...The Baby Name Wizard! At 14 she's already a name aficianado. I'm so proud!

I do consider LN, but I don't have to consider DH (at least for females) and he doesn't have to consider me (for males). We mostly cannot stand each other's name preferences. I've posted mine. DH runs to Jennifer, Mary, James, William, Andrea, and John.

Only 18? I would go with all word names:

Girls:
Aspen
Birch
River (I used to think of this as a boys name - ala River Phoenix, but a character on the show Firefly changed that for me)
Autumn
Winter
Peony
Poppy
Sky/Skylark
Ember
Timber
Saffron
Apple
Brier/Briar
Cricket
Lark
Wren
Tansy
Amethyst
Sequoia
Willow

Boys:
Birch
Oak
Fox
Leopard (cool nn Leo!)
Talus
Ridge
Peregrine
Kestrel
Canyon
Dusk
West
Cedar
Sorrel
Lake
Slate
Ash
Orion
...

Maybe it's a good thing the Duggars chose J. While it's limiting in a way, it's also a letter that's got tons of naming options for boys and girls.

I knew a family that were Jim (dad), Jeanine (mom), Jenna, Jill, Jerry (kids). Now they also have grandkids (Jara, Jolene, Johnna, Jemma, and maybe Jessa). At one point there were also J-named dogs. Sheesh!

I could only come up with 15. Dh would likely not agree with most of these. And some of them I might actually have trouble using IRL, but since this is all hypothetical ...

Penelope
Beatrix
Matilda
Agnes
Bronwen
Linnea
Tess
Imogen

Pablo
Solomon
Abraham (nn Abe)
Vincenzo (nn Enzo)
Edmund (nn Ned)
Leopold (nn Leo)
John

Okay, 9 boys, 9 girls?

Boys:
Calvin*
Frederick
Theodore
Laurence
Alistair
Geoffrey*
Leopold
Philip
Everett

I'd work Declan in somewhere as a mn, as it didn't really fit once I got started. Asteriks (sp?)denote family names.

Girls:
Josephine
Dorothea*
Vivian
Margaret*
Frances
Florence*
Estella
Millicent
Philomena*

And again, asteriks are family names. I actually had more girls names to put on there, but ran out! If I were making combos, it would be much more difficult. Oh, and none of the names are in any order.

Girls:
Eve
Sophie
Marie
Caroline
Helena
Alicia
Ivy
Veronica
Claudia

Boys:
Paul
James
Tobias
Henry
Thomas
Dean
Lucas
Grady
Dominic

Just a spontaneous name list, 9 boys and 9 girls.

Boys:
Flynn Ambrose Grey
Leon Emerson
Theodore Sullivan ("Theo")
Kipling Truman ("Kip")
Rowan Arthur
Simon Alexander
Ivan Marlowe
Cedric Warren
Edwin Hawthorne Graham

(Yeah, my naming style is a bit of a hodgepodge: literary, Russian, and surname-heavy. I like double middle names, but could only come up with two on the spot.)

Girls (without middle names, because girls names are much, much harder for me:
Harper
Violet
Matilda
Iris
Alice
Vivianne
Felicity
Virginia (Ginny)
(I'd have to fit Hazel, Sylvia, Ingrid, Cora, and Eloise in there somewhere as middle names)

So, we've been disparaging same-initial sibsets, but what if you *had* to give your children names beginning with a certain letter. Maybe your SO insists or its a family tradition. What do you do? Demand a divorce? Grin and hope the letter isn't X? If you had the momentous Duggar Eighteen and had to give them matching initials, what would you name them? Pick any letter.

It's quite a quandary. I'll have to think about this one.

One of my good friends in high school was one of 5 siblings: Kelly, Kimberly, Katherine, Kristen, and Patrick. I always thought Patrick should have been Keith or Kevin or something. It drove me crazy. But I personally don't care for alliteration in sibling names, especially twin names.

a family from my burb had Sh4riah, Shil4h, and Sh4uston.

(4 = a to prevent googling)

also a lot of the time in high school the situation was like this for me: oh sh!t, is it jennifer or jessica? is it keith or kevin?

Ok, here goes - very Russian/Jewish heavy, with a dash of Danish, Greek, and pretension thrown in. I took our surname into account (think Pudspovsky), but not my husband's taste (he thinks that an Oberon or Augustus is destined to get beat up, and he's not too on board with Tzipporah, either):

Aletheia Eve
Tzipporah Elinor
Irene (ear-RAIN-uh) Sigrid
Elena Maria
Ilsa Corinne
Catharina Esfir
Magdalena Patrice

Aleksey Ivan
Oberon Elias
Augustus Israel
Isaac Emil
Demyan Felix
Dmitri Eduard
Gregory Vladimir
Konstantin Gennady
Vadim Lev
Soren Nicholas
Dov Emmanuel

My older sister is Wendy. When my mother was pregnant with me, she told her parents that their new grandchild would be either Wanda, or Cindy, to match.

My grandmother became CONVINCED that her new granddaughter — me — was Wanda, and told her entire village, had baby towels specially embroidered with the name, etc., etc.

When my father picked her up from the airport and announced that mother, big sister Wendy, and new baby Tessa were all okay, instead of being happy that the new arrival was healthy, she was LIVID that my mother had joked about it and even more upset that there would be no matching.

She, a Helga, had named her children Heinz and Heidi, so I suppose nobody should have been surprised...

Matchy-matchy is apparently serious business to some people.

Finally made my list. Some are family names and some are just names I've always liked.

Girls:
Charlotte
Olivia
Violet
Naomi
Miriam
Isabel
Rosemary
Elisabeth
Chloe

Boys:
Alexander
Robert
Daniel
Andrew
Matthew
James
David
Paul
Samuel

And just for the record, DH nixed virtually every one of the names on the girl's list. :(

Girls' names are easy, but i had to really reach for 9 boys' names:

Margot
Stella
Esme
Leora
Augustine
Ruby
Meredith
Rosemary
Saskia

Eli
Judah
Leo
Jasper
Felix
Dexter
Owen
August
Monty

Someone suggested naming A-Z. That would be more difficult than naming from one letter I think-there are just some letter sounds that are not pleasing to my ears in the beginning position. B, P, F, I, U, V, and Y come to mind and Q and X are tough no matter what. Here is my list though because this is too much fun compared to housework.
Alexis;Andrew
Brianna;Brian
Cassandra;Colin
Dianna;David
Emily;Eric
Florence*;Finn
Gabrielle;Gregory
Hailey;Harold*
Iris;Issaac
Jessica;Jeremy
Kimberley;Kyle
Molly;Matthew
Natalie;Nathaniel
Olivia;Oscar
Pamela;Patrick
Quinn;Quentin
Rhiannon;Russell
Samantha;Steven
Tatianna;Travis
Ulanna;Ulysses
Valerie;Victor
Wendy;Wesley
Xylia;Xavier
Yanette;Yuri
Zoe;Zachary
*Family names.

c. Elizabeth-- how funny, my husband always says he needs to get me some fish so I can get out all the names I'm constantly proposing to him :)

Wendy-- Avonlea! I'm guessing you're an L.M. Montgomery fan. Always had a liking for Kilmeny.

Okay, taking husband's/future children's last name into consideration (it ends in -ick, so no Frederick, Patrick, or Benedict) but NOT taking husband's taste into account, the list is as follows:

Josephine Eliza
Eloise Rebecaa
Agnes Kinvarra
Georgianna Clare
Edith Kelly (family name)
Sylvia Maeve
Henrietta Rose
Cecilia Kate
Dorothea Elinor (Dot or Dottie)

Simon Isidore
Alastair William
Edward John
James Harrison (family name)
Charles
Reginald
Oliver
Nigel
Malachy

The boys' mns are hard! And I would have had George as a boy's name, but I went with Georgianna. Choosing Eloise also necessitated losing Louisa.

Oh no! Sub out Oliver and add in Jasper in above list.

Julia
Diana
Lucia
Dorothea (Thea)
Maria (Ria)
Vivian
Evelyn
Mary
Alice

Abram
Miles
Evan
Everett
Elijah
Christopher
Oliver
Leo
Gabriel

Alternates: Athena and Xavier

That didn't take me too long! I can't use three of the names due to my last name, but it wasn't too terribly hard to come up with 18 names. If I thought About it longer I could probably come up with a nice list. Fun!

Oh my, that was difficult. I tried to come up with names I would *actually* give my children. All middles are family names (hard enough itself!), and Lucy is a family name also. My kids' names are included (*'ed), and had we had 1 more, the next name on each list was what we would have used (+).

1. Eric Steven*
2. Kevin Louis*
3. Jack Thomas+
4. Malcolm Riley
5. Grant Morris
6. Ian Patrick
7. Zane Joseph
8. Declan Russell
9. Branick Christopher

1. McKenna Marie*
2. Lucy Caroline+
3. Daelyn Catherine
4. Spenser Christine
5. Rowen Alessandra
6. Skyler Yvonne
7. Mikah Jean
8. Madigan Nicola
9. Cadence Rafaela

I think I posted this before but I know three sisters named Rocio, Rosana, and Rosina (nn's Cio, Sanie, and Nina). I made a polite comment to one of the sisters about it being "cute" and she said something about her parents lacking imagination.

There's no way I could come up with 18 names, even without taking daddy's opinions into consideration! We've got a son and are hoping for another child soon. I'm hoping for a daughter, primarily because I can't imagine there's another boy's name out there that we both like!

This is off topic, but after reading bill's post where he substituted 4s to prevent googling, I looked my girls names (I do this regularly anyway just to keep track, it's how I found out my SM thinks Ned's name is the most ridiculous ever). Anyway the 2000 Alberta Canada registered girls name list always pops up, so I finally went to look at it. That year there was one occurence of each of their MN spelled the same, one of Xe'Nedra's with the Ce' spelling (also used by the author), and 6 Gwynneths with 3 different spellings -- Gwyneth, Gwenyth, and Gwynnedde (which I almost used but my Welsh grandfather said not to burden her)

This is one of the reasons I love this blog -- where else would someone actually ask me to take the time to write down my 18 favorite names?!!! Certainly not in my house! Thankfully my husband is good enough to tolerate my name discussions ... I tried for 18 of each (since one wouldn't be able to count on having an even 9/9 split), and very nearly made it (in no particular order except for the asterisked):

Thomas Roblee*
Gabriel Stephen*
John Dominic**
Matthias
Caleb
Benedict
Sebastian
Bram
Micah
Thaddeus
Tobias
Charles Augustine
Clement
Philip nn Finn
Simon

Susanna Carine**
Juliet
Mariah
Jacinta
Caroline
Therese
Lydia
Eleanor
Sara-Kate
Genevieve
Gemma
Natalia
Josepha
Philippa
Emilia

*My sons' names
**The names we've decided on for our baby due in three weeks (gender unknown)

I'm very impressed with those who have mns for each choice!

I'm also surprised at how many of my picks were in others' lists (like Susanna!). Though I wouldn't do the all-the-same-letter thing, I've often enjoyed coming up with lists of same-letter names that I like. There's something I find pleasing about seeing a grouping of names all with the same letter ... and I find doing so allows me to consider names I normally wouldn't, because they're too "out there" ... but when you're bound by one letter, you *have* to dig deep! Like, some favorite "S" names: Susanna, Soren, Scarlett, Sinead, Sasha or Shasta, Simon.

I noticed someone had Stephanie nn Stevie on their list -- that's my sister's name (she's 20), and it suits her perfectly.

Tessa: I loved your story -- too funny!

I agree with cc's assessment of the Duggars. My husband and I are also open to a large family, and I really enjoy seeing how great the Duggar kids seem to be.

I knew an all-C family: Caitlin, Cory, Cameron, Camilla, and Cara; there's also some celebrity family whose kids are (I think) Rocket(b), Rebel(b), Racer(b), and Rhiannon(g) (I admit -- I'm impressed with their creativity!).

Coll -- Yes, of course Avonlea is from Anne of Green Gables.

Robinton is also out of fiction -- the Pern books by Anne McCaffrey.

I can not do names with one letter -- tried with M, but not enough to get to 18. Will try the alphabet this evening.

Well, I lost my last post and now my DH is sitting beside me and I have explained the task, so here is our agreed list...

Girls
1.Zara
2. Alexandra
3. Felicity
4. Elizabeth
5. Helen
6. Gemma
7. Tamsin
8. Octavia (if she is the 8th child)
9. Sophie

DH vetoed Rosa, Xanthe, Milly, Martha, Amalie and Bridget. I vetoed Amy, Jennifer and Melissa.

Boys
1. Jonathan (Jonty)
2. Elias
3. Thomas (as in Tom Brady)
4. Samuel
5. Jack
6. Andrew
7.Cese (as in the footballer Cesc Fabragas)
8. Henri (as in Thierry Henry the footballer - spelt the French way even though Thierry Henry spells his with a "y")
9. Simon

DH vetoed Liam, Angus, Hugo, Hugh, Jeremy, Stuart, Robert. I vetoed Jason (apparently my husband is having his children in the 1970s).

Yes, I have a sport mad husband...I am actually surprised that I haven't ended up with boys named after various All Blacks. I seriously think that Cese may question his parentage though!

DH's comment after compiling the list was "this was actually fun, perhaps we should have more" and "let's go make one".

I should also say that I prefer Simeon to Simon (which I have on my list), but as much as I like it, I can't get past "simian" ... does anyone else feel that way?

OK, I have a list of names, assuming a 9/9 split and no husband to say yay or nay.

Boys
Gr4dy William (my only son's name)
Theodore (nn Theo)
Neville
Cormac
Glen
Jerome
August/Augusten/Augustus (nn Gus)
Cullen
Elliot

Girls
Louisa
Alice
Margaret
Charlotte
Penny
Audrey
Harper
Ivy
Madeline

DH and I have already discussed that middle names will always be family names. I haven't taken the time to match these up with first names, but they would include for boys, Robert, Philip, Charles, David, Gregory, Ray, Dale, Thomas, Richard. For girls, Erin, Lee, Mary, Marie, Irene, Elaine, Chace and Brooke. hmm...that's not enough middle names, I'll have to dig deeper into the family tree!

Oh Fiona, I should add that I LOVE your sports-mad list. I have a small (OK large) crush on Thierry Henry :) The Jerome from my list is after Jerome Bettis. It was very high on our list for Grady, but we had such negative feedback from it that we felt like we couldn't name our child that. But I could definitely name one of my fictional 18 children Jerome if I want to!

I tried to come up with 18 names, but the stumbling block for me is the rule of putting yourself in the "this child could be my last" mindframe. This would inevitably result in the first 4 or 5 children of each gender having names my husband and/or I genuinely love, followed by names that just aren't offensive to us. I KNOW I'd use up some of my favorites as middle names, as well.

Zoerhenne, I'm intrigued by the letters you chose as your least favorites, as most of those are my favorites! Two of my most beloved female names are Ursula and Barbara, and I certainly have a soft spot for Ferdinand and Frederick. In fact, the only two female names both my husband and I really actively adore are Ursula and Yvonne (although not together).

Then again, I compiled my favorite male names long before discovering name enthusiast sites (and this blog), and somehow managed to choose not ONE male name that ended in N. I suppose I've always been an instinctive contrarian.

Nikki - my husband says "yes, I know of 'the bus'" He also commented that the Red Sox's and the Celtics don't have very many good names.

Oh, what fun!
So, I flipped a coin each time, to let chance decide for the boy/girl order!
Here is my list:

Clara (already have that one!)
Oscar
Alistair
Josephine
Violette
Madeleine
Louisa
Gabriel
Eliot
Rose
Theodore
Celeste
June
Colin
Arthur
Iris
Elisabeth
Leopold

The advantage of having eighteen children is that I could give my three favorite flower names (violet, iris and rose) without sounding too cutesy, with them being spread out like that :)

Ruby Catherine*
Verity Anne*
Dorothea Elaine
Maeve Elizabeth
Beverly Jane
Rebecca Suzanne
Isla Marie
Nicoletta June

Jonathan Marvin
Wilson Robert*
Quinino James*
Timothy Lawrence
Lawren Proctor
Adelmo Charles
Stewart Kemps
Lewis David

I lean heavily toward family names, using surnames out the family tree for boys. I also used Ellis Island names from Italy that I love as well as some names from songs. That was more difficult than I thought it would be. I starred the ones I think my husband would be down with.

I really love the Duggars. We would like to have a big family, too (though I'm pretty sure not *that* big), and I just think they are a family to emulate.

DH and I actually have a rule, too (lots of them, actually, but this one's pretty firm) that none of our children share the same first initial, and I've commented to him that if we had 18, that would become harder than having all of them have J names.

In any case, I will stick to that within each genger, and start with the three we already have. I think the Duggars have 10 boys and 7 girls - let's say this one's a girl too to help even the score, and two sets of twins. Let's see:

Philippa Violet (Pippa)
Romilly Alice
Beatrix Joanna
Barnaby Munro (Barnes)
Graham Simpson (Gray)
Simon Merit \
Honor Matilda / virtue twins :)
Milo Asa
Thaddeus Dickson (Thad)
Callum Goodburn (Cal) \
Angus Gilbert (Gus) / Scottish named twins
Oliver Murray
Julian Waudby
Westley Cornelius(West)
Daphne June
Imogen Audrey
Felicity Christine (Fliss)
Evangeline Harriett (Evie)

Whew - that was harder than I thought it'd be! I could name 18 girls easier, I think. Thankfully, that's all we've had so far :)

Thanks for a fun (if time consuming) exercise, Laura!

I don't mind the theme, but by the time you get to #18, that's too much. My DH's family is all M names - including the pets!

So, 18 names...

Starting with the 1 daughter we have, and continuing (with coin flip for sex):

Sarah Bradley Ellen (Sarah Bradley)
Marshall Odell IV (Mac)
Laura Christine
Patrick Gus
Wesley James
Theodore Joseph (Teddy)
Roland David
Alice Melissa
Mary Anne Rebekah (Mary Anne)
Jeana Lucille
Catherine Olive (Cate)
Simon Victor
Caroline Tess
Graham Nicholas
Natalia Joelle
Elizabeth Willow (Betsy)
Harvey Brian
Miriam Estelle

Many are family names, others names I like.

Wow, I'm really loving this! Several of your lists were absolutely up my street and gave me some ore inspiration.

Zoerhenne- loved seeing your alphabetical list... but what happened to L? Are you boycotting it ;)?

Ok - I can't even come up with a name for my 3rd child (due in 5 weeks)! My current children both go by C names (one is a mn and one is a nn) and I think that the third should NOT have a C. I feel that I would be moving into the arena of "too cute."

I think that if I had 18, I would just wind up with a hodgepodge of styles.

I also think the people on this board would have much more attractively named children than the Duggars - at least to my ears.

Oh, this is so fun. I have to think. But I wanted to weigh in before I forget to say how much I am enjoying everyone else's lists. Jodi, I think yours is my favorite.

I posted this on the last thread but not sure people were still reading it when I did. Real triplets -

Scarlett
Genevieve
Penelope

Older brother named Rhys.

I think I may finally have 18!

Penelope
Beatrix
Matilda
Agnes
Bronwen
Linnea
Tess
Imogen
Paloma

Pablo
Solomon
Abraham (nn Abe)
Vincenzo (nn Enzo)
Edmund (nn Ned)
Leopold (nn Leo)
John
Joseph (nn Joe)
Ambrose

So mine is clearly a mix and I'm not sure how well they would go together IRL, but ...

I didn't take dh's preferences into it, but I did consider our LN plus names already used by friends and family and those that would sound weird with our daughter's name.

Kate-I was the one who had Stephanie Rhiannon nn Stevie. My dh is a big Stevie Nicks fan so that was his choice. Although it is a name I would consider there is already a Stephanie in the family.
Trish-I like your name choices. Actually many people had some interesting lists!
Tessa-I don't even like "words" that begin with those letters LOL! My 2nd grade teacher's fn was Ursula and my 5th grade was Freida-Can you tell those weren't good years for me? If I had to use any of those letters I mentioned I would have to think long + hard about it as I did when I posted my list. Plus my dh has more of an old classic style Sarah, Elizabeth, Rebecca, etc.

I'm pleasantly surprised at the numbers of lists with Agnes (my own included). We have identified the next hot name! Or, given the reaction of my family to Agnes this past weekend when we were talking about favorite names (in a word: yuck), we are all similarly touched in the head.

Having completed my list I'd hope I wouldn't end up with a Pablo *and* a Paloma. That doesn't really work.

I think I'll switch Paloma with Wren. That's better.

OMG Valerie thanks! My "L" names Laura/Lauryn;Logan although the names Leslie and Lucian are family names.

I am also really enjoying reading everyone's lists. I too took our LN into consideration and while I didn't consult dh (he just rolls his eyes at me, lol), I don't think he'd object TOO much to any.
My only cousins are Ricky, Randy (Randall), and Rhonda (although Ricky is his middle name, it's what he used to go by). My neighbors' children are Kayleigh, Courtney, Kelsey (dec.), Coen (b), and Kenzie (g). A friend used 2 J names for her first kids- they were just her favorite names, then when pg with her 3rd really fretted about whether she "had to" use another J. She eventually just used the next name she loved, NOT a J. And then ended up with a 4th child, and again used the name she loved (not a J). She broke the mold! But SO many people told her she HAD to use Js.

That's harder than it looks! Generally, I steer away from hard C sounds and -er endings for first names due to our last name. But I made exceptions for Walter and Camille. (Otherwise, I would've had only 16 kids instead of the requisite 18!) I went ahead and split the genders nine and nine.

Edward Jude
William Zane
Gilbert James
Owen Lindsey
Walter Berry
Elliott Graham
Simon Clark
Henry Wilkerson
Jasper Miles

Violet Caroline
Nora Jane
Beatrice Mae
Alice Grace
Camille Elisabeth
Charlotte Eloise
Adelaide Rose (Addie)
Margaret Icelin (Daisy)
Amelia Iris

Sarah--

My grandmother's name was Leora, named after her father, Leo. I love it, and plan to use it. I always wonder (but am secretly glad) that it isn't more popular.

I enjoyed seeing it on your list!

Valerie--love that spelling 'Isobel'!

Cat--you list two of my favorite for girls: Josephine and Millicent.

Lauren--I love your taste! To me, a nice balance of classic and unexpected.

Fiona--Octavia for the 8th is adorable!

I'm fascinated by everyone's lists. Thanks!

Now I need to go work on mine!

Joni--I am strangely drawn to the idea of Leopard, nn Leo. I have a beloved Leo in my family history and am freakishly in love with big cats. It will be a hard sell, all around, but it's pretty cool! Thanks for the idea!

Jodi--'virtue twins'? That is just too great. It sounds like something I would come up with, in one of my more lucid moments. I had no idea there were more of us. I meet you with respect and awe, fellow NE!

Oh, and from my list, Camille's nn would be Cami.

Assuming half girls and half boys:

Elise
Celia
Amelia
Audrey
Clara
Julia
Caroline
Lucia
Lia

Alex
Clayton
Benjamin
Everett
Jack
Wesley
Patrick
Reid
Owen

I had no trouble with the boys list, but the girls list was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have a full long list saved on my computer, but once I considered the sibling issue and the "treat each one as though its your last child" rule, it turned out very differently than I thought it would.

Beatrice (Bess)
Meredith
Susannah
Katherine (Kit)
Rosalind (Rosie)
Alice
Helen
Patience
Eloise

Henry
August
Charles (Charlie)
Gardner
Edward (Teddy)
Reid
Whitman (Whit)
Peter
Graham

Fiona - I am swapping my Evangeline out for Octavia! I had completely forgotten that has always been my far-fetched what-if plan for an eighth daughter.

KRC - Thanks so much :)

Caren - LOL! My real hypothetical virtue twin names are Honor and Felicity, but I'm a bit of a purist, and the Duggars don't have g/g twins, so I went with Merit, which was actually my grandfather's mn. Nice to 'meet' you, too. I think there are lots of us, we just keep our NE tendencies to ourselves when among normal people ;)

Here's my list - I've included my two girls (*)

Avery *
Rowan *
Harper
Carys
Junia
Piper
Honor
Neve
Hadley

Beckett
Griffin
Leo
Jasper
Truman
Cormac
Penn
Wyatt
Alec

My naming style seems to be quite different than many on this board - especially my girl names!

cElizabeth -- Your daughters have fantastic names! Go get some fish already.

Fun challenge! Reading other people's lists, with 18 names you really get a bead on what people's individual's styles are. Mine is a mix of family names, nature/word names, and some literary inspirations.

Boys:

Peter
Jack
Robin
Wyatt
Clark
Jonah
Oliver
Benji
Chase

Girls:

Anne-Jolie
Lucy
Elsa
Alice
Fiona
Lilah
Summer
Willa
Aria
Calliope
Juliet

Whoops! A couple too many on the girls' list. To cut it down to nine I'd take out the last two, Calliope and Juliet which are about in the whimsical state of mind I think I'd be in if I'd already named so many...

Alright, I'll join in the fun. It took me awhile to match them with middle names, and I'm still not sure I'm satisfied. But, here goes nothing:

Cecilia Fleur (Cecily)
Laurel True
Margot Alice
Eveline Ffion (Evie)
Freya Vivien
Hazel Calantha
Linnea Briony
Violet Mathilde
Maeve Amabel

If these were real children I might try to break up the flower names.

Milo James
Silas Oliver
Ezra Harris
Asher Tobias
Jude Ephraim
Charles Isaac (Charlie)
Owen Thomas
Henry August
Elias William

Again, in real life I probably wouldn't have Silas and Elias and Tobias, but for hypothetical children it's probably okay...

I'm still in high school, so I'm curious how much my tastes will change by the time I have actual children.

Coll -- When I read my list to my husband he said Agnes was the name of a person "who has no joy in her life." I countered with the image of a cute girl with pigtails; he responded, "One day she'll be unhappy." Sounds like he fits in more with your family's response to Agnes.

It's a good thing we're not naming any more kids IRL because he nixed every single one of my 18 names.

Here's my list!

GIRLS

Afton
Simone
Leora
Pandora
Corazon
Maria
Gracia
Misha
Renee

BOYS

Rainer
Tristan
Bruce
Solomon
Rafael
Forrest
Diego
Emmett
Helio

Far from perfect, but an accurate start.

Amy3, I think beautiful Agnes needs a rehabilitation campaign. This is a fantastic name! Let's get these haters to stop dismissing it!

What about a lovely name no one has mentioned for the Duggers: Jethro? Too old-timey? Too weird-biblical? To classic rock? NMS, but very cool.

This game is super fun and not hard at all...I could keep going beyond 18. NOT including hubby's preferences, which would probably cut out half these normal-to-very-slightly-quirky names as "too out-there." Here we go, with coin toss for sex order:

Benjamin Arthur
Nicholas Ian
Iris Antonia
Gabriel Simon
Viola Isobel
Elliott Lucian
Audrey Wallis
Nathan Stone
Bryony Claire
Graeme Theodore
Ailsa Jean
Julian Stewart
Charlotte Rebecca
Elinor Faye
Irene Miranda
Edmund Lewis
Timothy James
Shana Rose

AK-Where is the name Icelin from? Is it a "real" name or did you just come up with it, I have never heard it before.
There are many more names I like but dh would not approve. I like Irelynne but its a bit kre8tiv amongst other things. He also says no place names-jeesh!

Mari - I love your list! With only a couple of exceptions they are all names that I have mentioned to my dh in the quest for names for my own children.

Oh, and my Viola is definitely pronounced VYE-oh-luh (as in Shakespeare) not VEE-oh-luh (as in the instrument) and Graeme is pronounced GRAME or GRAY-um, not Graham (like the cracker).

School yearbook season! Here are the Kindergarten names that caught my eye (so, beyond the Mayas and Mias and Hunters and Jonathans):

GIRLS:
Alina, Eliana, Sage, Kendall, Margarit, Liberty, Keala, Sandhya, Daphnie, Rayana, Ceceilia, Varduhy, Magdalena, Myriam, Raven,

BOYS:
Nikolaos, Marshal, Bryce, Bronson, Mikyl, Ezra, Nils, Ricardo, Zen

Oh, and there were two boys called Trevor in the same classroom. Just checked, Trevor hasn't been in California's top 100 for the last seven years at least (it's 136th this year on the national chart), so that's quite a fluke. Just goes to show, even with all the planning in the world, your Malachi or Giselle may still not be unique on his or her teacher's rolls...

Here's my attempt at filling the alphabet. Thank goodness there were only 15, I was really struggling at the end. Also looks like the majority is girls. Hummm....

Ailsa
Brac
C-
Danae
Eris
Fiona
G-
Henna
Iris
Jules
Kesia
L-
Minea
Nessia
O-
P-
Q-
Roan
Sisley
Tara
U-
V-
Walt
X-
Y-
Z-

Filling the alphabet sounds like fun!

Alice/Alistair
Bronwen (or Bridget)/Basil
Cecily/Calvin
Dorothea/Declan
Eve/Everett
Frances/Frederick
Gillian/Geoffrey
Hazel/Henry
Iris/Isaac
Josephine/Julius
Kit/Kit (as nns, of course)
Linnea/Leslie
Margaret/Miles (I have so many M names it's sickening, though)
Norah/Niles
Olive/Oberon (GP)
Philomena/Philip
Quinn/Quentin
Rosalind/Richard
Susannah/Sasha
Tzipora/Tarquin
Ulyssa/Ulysses
Vivian/Vivian
Wren/William
I don't really like any X names.
Yasmin/?
Zelda/Zvi

And yes, I did have to poke around my lists for some of those.

I just thought of a little piece of Duggar trivia that might be of some use in the name prediction game: Judah Benjamin was the name they originally had picked out for Jackson, who (I think) is their youngest boy. I remember watching the special about his birth and being surprised that they swtiched his name - they were all calling him Judah at the U/S when they found out he was a boy. Anyway, that's my pick for a boy's name.

I hope they go with Jocelyn if it's a girl, although, you know, if they picked Jodi, I'd be okay with that too :)

What fun! I'll catch up reading the comments after I post my 18 kids. (The ones with the asterix I already have. Cheap of me, yes ...)

The Girls:

Hazel Dawn *
Gwendolen Eve
Arletta Lucille
Georgia Helen
Rosemary Anne
Moriah Belle
Laurel Renee
Willow Amber
Freya Sage

The Boys:

August Lee *
Arthur Danel
Silas Baden
Phinean Clark
Duncan Hart
Lincoln Arel
River Enoch
Gideon Locke
Paul Orion

Wow *_* That was tougher than I thought it would be.

As for my personal naming tastes ... I like names from a lot of different styles. Each style has its good names, just like each genre of music has its good songs.

This is much harder than all you guys make it look. I was really struggling for the boys names. In fact, I couldn't come up with any middle names for them. This goes to show that I don't have a well developed style for boys. If my husband and I rolled the dice 18 times, we'd probably get mostly girls anyway. So far, there are six grandchildren -- ALL GIRLS.

These names are husband screened. (BTW, he vetoed Sage and Jade as first names because they are too common.) The first two names are my real girls.

1. Phoenix Rose
2. Indigo Faith
3. Eden Jade
4. Sonnet Grace
5. Aria Hope
6. Haven Iris
7. Zinnia Skye
8. Juniper Lark
9. Avalon Sage

1. Xander
2. Paxton
3. Griffin
4. Kipling
5. Flynn
6. Zane
7. Banyan
8. Zephyr
9. Canaan

Do you think it's bad that Aria Hope A____ has the initials AHA? I have to look out for my hypothetical kids. ;)

Also, did anyone see the episode of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE where the auditioner had 9 kids, and he only could remember the names of three of them. Very Sad!! (That would probably be me!)

I posted in on a previous thread about the family of noted Canadian author Pierre Berton and his wife Janet, with their alliterative offspring.

Quoting from thestar.com (Toronto Star) in his obituary, 02 Dec 2004:

"All the P-Bertons grew up in Kleinburg. That's Penny, Pamela, Patsy, Peter, Paul, Peggy Anne, and the adopted Perri.

"His explanation for the plethora of Ps was that since Penny and Pamela both had names beginning with P, so should the others or they would feel left out. Friends called Janet P-Janet, short for Poor Janet. A foster child, Eric Basciano, went to live with the Bertons, but he already had a name."

Marjorie, know you were quoting the Toronto star, but can I just say how much it bugs me that they felt the need to single out that one of the kids was adopted? Why did it matter how he joined the family?

So my commute home tonight was figuring out the names for the alphabet. These are the ones I came up with. The ones with asteriks are names that I would use only to keep the pattern not really excited about... wonder if the Druggers feel the same way....

Avonlea/Alec
Bryce (either gender)
Cecilia/Chester
Dylan (either gender)
Eliza/Eric
Felicity/Finnian
Genevieve/Grant
Harper/ Hudson (really hope it is a girl)Iona/Issac
Junia/Josiah
Lorelei/Liam
Mari/Micah
Nanalia/Nathan
Odelia/Oliver (really hope it is a girl)
Phoebe/Pierce
Quinn (either gender)
Rhiannon/Robinton
Suzanna/Spencer (really hope for a girl)
Tessa/Talan
Ulianna/Uzziah (can we just skip U?)
Valentine/Vaughn
Willow/William
Xandrea/Xander
Yvette/Yves -- (Let's skip Y too!)
Zara/Zane

Here are my 18, including the three children I have already had (*):

Girls:

Phoebe *
Matilda
Anna
Verity
Sorrel
Iris
Sasha
Jemima
Daria

Boys:
Daniel *
Judah *
Gabriel
Jacob
Alfie
Theo
Micah
Rowan
Elijah

Tirzah, I love the name Sonnet! You like a lot of names that I like too.

Actually I am surprised by how many of you have nature names on your lists. Maybe tomorrow I will 'cull' my list and narrow it down to 18...

I am also surprised at how many classic/old fashioned names are on your lists. No Avas or Emmas amongst the NEs?

I once met a Scottish family with children Angus, Bruce and Cameron. I think they intended to continue with the alphabetical theme.

My choices for the alphabet:

Alison or Anouk/Anatole
Beatrix/Benedict
Cassandra/Constantine
Diane/Dexter
Emmanuelle/Ewen
Fillipa/Francis
Ginger/Gregory
Hazel/Hugo
Ildiko or Inez/Ignatius
Jocelyn/Jason
Kiko/Kieran
Louka/Louis
Mary/Michael
Narelle/Nilo
Oona/Oliver
Penelope/Pascal (though Prospero is tempting)
Quintana/Quon
Rhiannon/Rashid
Susan/Samuel
Tamsin/Theodore
Una/Urban
Valerie/Victor
Winter/Wolfgang
Xanthe/Xavier
Yolande/Yannick
Zara/Zorba

I admit I had to resort to one of those "baby names starting with" sites for some letters.

Phoebe
Aviva
Elsa
Harper
Seren
Alder
Zizanie
Eden
Faith

Seth
Elijah
Felix
Asher
Holden
Noah
Barnabas
Ezra
Taavi

This was really hard! I can't do middles too, at least not without a lot of extra thought.

For anyone who's interested in the more unusual ones:

Zizanie is French and means "dissent" or "disagreement" - which sounds like a nasty meaning, but I like it because I think of it as a good name for someone who would stand up for what she thought was right even if it was an unpopular position.

Taavi is pronounced to rhyme with Harvey, and is the Finnish form of David.

I love my grandson's name and haven't seen here.... Jaymen Joseph

Okay, I have to try the alphabet challenge.

Alice/Alistair
Beatrix/Blaise
Cecilia/Cecil
Dorothea/Donovan
Edith/Edward
Frances/Frederick
Georgianna/George
Henrietta/Harrison
Imogen/Inigo
Josephine/Jasper
Katharine/Kristoph (not much of a K person)
Louisa/Lawrence
Margaret/Malachy
Nora/Nigel
Odelia/Orlando
Prudence/Percival
Quinn/Quentin
Rebecca/Reginald
Sylvia/Simon
Theresa/Teddy
Una/Ulysses
Vera/Victor
Willa/Walter
Xanthe/Xavier
Ysolde/Yardley
Zinnia/Zebediah

I don't like all of these (the Ks are choices of last resort...I would always choose Catherine over Katherine), but I don't hate any of them.

Okay, lunchtime presented itself as an opportunity to get thinking on some middles for my list above... I don't LOVE some of them, especially the boys' ones. Finding a good four-syllable middle for Seth is one of the main drawbacks to it (his last name would have two syllables and I think it needs four in between).

Phoebe Genevieve
Aviva Margalit
Elsa Evangeline
Harper Rose
Seren Esme
Alder Ginevra
Zizanie Lux
Eden Clementine
Faith Adelaide

Seth Ezekiel
Elijah Samson
Felix Thaddeus
Asher Timothy
Holden Sage
Noah Matthias
Barnabas Luke
Ezra Theodore
Taavi Jonas

Alphabet challenge time:

Alicia/Alexander
Betty/Blaise
Caroline/Charles
Dominique/Dean
Eve/Edward
Fleur/Flynn
Greta/Grady
Helena/Henry
Ivy/Ian
Julia/James
--/Keane
Lucia/Lucas
Marie/Merritt
Natalia/Nathaniel
Olivia/Oliver
Poppy/Paul
--/Quinn
Reve/Rory
Sophie/Samuel
Talia/Tobias
--/-- (nothing for letter U)
Veronica/Valerian
Willow/Whit
--/-- (nothing for letter X)
Yardley/Yarrow
Zadie/Zane

Everyones lists are amazing, I love seeing how everyones naming style really comes through and I find it interesting how many people have a completley different naming style for each gender eg Boys classic, girls earthy
Here is my list

Ronan(2 year old now)
Callum*
Harrison nn Harry
Rafe
Gavin
Wyatt
Killian
Casey
Keiran

Lyra*
Keeva or Caoimhe
Kira
Sasha
Bridget
Piper
Katrina
Rhiannon
Cambrie
* names for our 2nd child
I love the name Isla too but Isla and Lyra rhyme a bit and not only do i not like how that sounds I am pretty sure I would Miss match the names when they were thowing a moody or somthing.

My generic 18 (as opposed to alphabetical, which I'm still working on), alternating boy/girl:

Timothy Charles (Timmy)
Mary Sadira (Maisie)
Leander Benjamin (Leander, Lee)
Elizabeth Rosalind (Libby)
Nathaniel Crispin (maybe Nate)
Arielle Eimear (Arielle)
Lucas Christopher (Luke)
Clio Alexandra (Clio)
Nicholas Asher (Nicky/Nick)
Laurel Anahita (Laurel)
James Theodore (James/Jamie)
Linnea Beatrice (Linnea)
John Vincent (John Vincent)
Julienne (or Julia?) Abigail (Julie)
Walter Louis (not sure)
Victoria Laine (Victoria, not sure about Vicky vs. Tori)
Tadgh Elias (Tadgh)
Sabrina Christabel (Sabrina)

And every boy born after James, I would kick myself for having used up Theodore as a mn.

I have so many more girls' names though...I didn't get to use Gloria, Leora, Anne....

Anyway, making this list has shown me that I've fallen out of love with Harriet...from now on I'll be posting as Sabrina.

Wait! I want to change Walter Louis to Columba Rowan. Too bad you can't do that in real life....

Sure you can, but it'll cost you $$ and people will ask a lot of questions.

I just wasted my whole morning. AWESOME.

Anyhow, this would be my dream team, assuming an equal number of boys and girls and no input from my spouse, arranged in the order we would likely use them. Middle names are mostly honoring loved ones.

Margaret (Greta) Louise
Jane Frances
Elizabeth Rose
Clara Ellen
Lydia Mae
Caroline Marie
Beatrice Lynn
Melanie Ruth
Matilda (Tilly) Anne

Henry Thomas
George Robert
Charles (Charlie) William
James Michael
Edward Mark
Nicholas (Colin) Reid
Oscar Luke
John (Jack) Drews
Graham Miles

Boys names were actually easier than girls names, I suppose because I had fewer to choose from. I only ran into a few pitfalls. I love Charlotte, but would never have a Charlotte and a Charles. I also love Felix, but would never have Felix and Oscar.

I tried coming up with 18 names using only one letter, but petered out on the boys' names.

This is hard!!

Some of these are family names. Possible nicknames follow some names in parentheses. I tried to keep in mind that each child would be named as if it were my last, but that was pretty difficult. Had to take into account our last name, which has two syllables – too many two-syllable names next to each other sounds sing-songy to me, so I tried to avoid that in most cases unless the emphasis was on a different syllable. Anyway, here’s my list:

Christina Reese (Christy)
Charlotte Rose
Rachel Stuart
Genevieve Anne (Genna or Evie or Vieve)
Katherine Jane (Kate or Katie-Jane)
Lyla Claire
Georgia Leigh
Meredith Joy
Elisabeth Afton (Elissa or Elisa)

Asher Harrison
William Austin (Will)
Eli Shane (go by Shane)
Callum Charles
Weston Scott (Wes)
Peter Julien
Henry Joel
Matthew Ryne
Jude Hudson

As you can see, I do like fairly traditional names.

>>Wait! I want to change Walter Louis to Columba Rowan. Too bad you can't do that in real life....<<

You CAN, but I'll ask questions. :D I test preschoolers for possible Special Education needs, and twice I've had parents provide 2 birth certificates- the difference being the child's name was changed. I asked both parents why:
(4=a, to continue the theme)
1. Boy, changed from Anis to Yaseen. Parents had just emigrated here from Pakistan (I think) when their son was born. A few months later, they visited friends who had lived here longer, and those friends said, "Oh, that name is very similar to the English word 4nus, you should change that." And they did.
2. Girl, changed from Katelyn to Samantha. Mom said, "I let her father talk me into Katelyn and I just couldn't stand it. I started changing it when she was about 3 weeks old."

Carly, I knew a family who had an Alexander, Merric and Nathaniel. Pretty close! Their girls were Abigail and Jessica (all are grown up now).

I love how lots of us are picking Rhiannon and Zara on our alphabetical lists. Interesting!
Which letter should we use for same letter challenge or should it be our choice? M is the most common letter used for names according to that Nancy person on the blog I posted a while back. I think C,A and S are also ideas.

Here's my list of 18, even b/g split, taking last name into account (so, nothing ending in S), but not DH's tastes. Also, no MNs for me, since we use a Korean name instead:

Ivy
Eleanor
Sylvia
Rosalind
Adele
Laurel
Beatrix
Margaret
Hyacinth

August
Rowan
Oliver
Graham
Henry
Timothy
Alistair
Forrest
Isaiah

And actually, the hardest thing for me here was cutting out names that I like, not thinking of enough names. Maybe I need 20 or 25 kids!

Zoerhenne--

Icelin was my great-grandmother's middle name. And I'm sorry to say that I don't know the story behind it. But I think it's pretty! =]

My list, definitely assuming no input from DH as I know he hates a few of these names:

Eliot
Skye
Linnea
Miranda
Phoebe
Piers
Claire
Wren
Beatrix
Graeme
Jasper
Zane
Bryn
Beckett
Quentin
Lucy
Rhys
Blaise

There are a few others that I would like to use but honestly would probably never do irl, like Peregrine and Zebulon.

As a related question--I can't think of a middle name for Skye. Everything sounds kind of silly with it. Any ideas?

Oh, and I'm having some second thoughts about the naming of some of the girls on my list. Camille, Adelaide, and Amelia. But I don't have any replacements--guess I'd better stop after six girls!

Coll,

LOL. I don't like K either... in fact I dislike it so much that I subconsciously left it off my list. (The few K names I use to like are WAY too popular for me now).

My K names would be Kassandra and Kristopher.

Like Harrison by the way... exchanging it for Hudson.

*** My children's names

1 Ekaterina Joy **
2 Octavian James Abel**
3 Zachariah Thomas **
4 Mirabella Hope
5 Tiberius David
6 Eirlys Linnea
7 Lilia Magdalena
8 Gideon Luke
9 Tatiana Elizabeth
10 Malachi Everett
11 Solomon Joshua
12 Isla Kate
13 Dominic Josiah
14 Eowyn Annaliese
15 Ezra Matthias
16 Zofia Emmeline
17 Estella Marie
18 Julian Isaac

And an alphabetical list, because that seems fun:
Adele/August
Beatrix/Blaise
Calla/Casimir
Dorothea/Devon
Eden/Everett
Fern/Forrest
Georgia/Graham
Hyacinth/Henry
Ivy/Isaiah
Juniper/Jasper
Katerina/Kieran
Laurel/Linden
Margaret/Morgan
Natalia/Nikolai
Olivia/Oliver
Philippa/Peter
Quinn/Quillan
Rosalind/Rowan
Sylvia/Silas
Theodora/Thomas
Ula/Ulric
Violet/Valentin
Willa/William
Xenia/Xavier
Ysolde/Yvo
Zinnia/Zigmund

Whew. That was a lot harder than the 18 name challenge. Some letters had way too many good choices, some too few. C, K, N, Q, T, U, X, Y, and Z were hard for me, at least for one sex or the other, sometimes both.

Coll - Our lists have a lot of similarities! Needless to say, I think you have good taste. =)

I know of a real life Lucia born this week (pronounced Loo-chee-ah). She is to be called Lucy.

Here's a shot at my hypothetical 18 children (real ones Sarah and Peter come first):

Girls:
1) Sarah Bronwyn
2) Anna Grace
3) Stella Marie
4) Theresa Elisabeth
5) Rachel Kirsten
6) Caroline Hope
7) Colleen Violet
8) Leah Dorothy
9) Jessamine Catherine

Boys: (I had to throw out Gabriel since we have a Peter already and as much as I like the singer, I just couldn't do that to my kids)
1) Peter Joseph
2) Brendan Michael
3) Stephen Christopher
4) Christian Alex
5) Eric James
6) Benjamin Charles
7) Adam Matthew
8) Josiah David
9) Cole Nicholas

I secretly like the name Gaius even though it has some really dreadful historical precedents (Gaius Julius Caesar, Gaius Baltar--okay, I know that one's not real), but I could never use that for a real child.

The starred names are the kids I already have. A few of these I know my dh would NEVER go for... (I used the coin toss method)

g 1. Christiana*
b 2. Kylun*
g 3. Evangeline*
g 4. Ember *
g 5. Brier
g 6. Katriel
g 7. Willow (at this point I said "ANOTHER girl???? My poor son!)
g 8. Kess (another girl - I kid you not!)
b 9. Seraph
g 10. Aspen
b 11. Elias
g 12. Mirielle
g 13. Poppy
g 14. Tamsin
g 15. Lisel
b 16. Judah
g 17. Keziah
b 18. Talus

I ended up this list with *13* girls and only 5 boys.

Hello! My top 17... the trickiest part is the first, if we're not supposed to know at the time how many more will follow! I'll just do them in boy-girl order.

1. Frederic Laurie
2. Rosie Katherine
3. Felix Oliver
4. Marianne "M-J" Jessamy
5. Edward Stetson
6. Eve Lucie
7. John 'Johnny' Earl (I can't explain the attraction)
8. Amy Astrid
9. Cameron Joseph
10. Kathryn Anne (I think about here's where I'd get desperate enough to repeat names and regret having tossed Katherine away on a middle name!)
11. Charles 'Charlie' Francis
12. Felicity Violet
13. Eric Lorenzo
14. Cecily Hazel
15. Declan James
16. Liberty Christiana
17. Luke Arthur
18. Mary Bronwen

I'm clutching at straws towards the end, particularly for the boys... I guess in real life my husband would have his input and mix things up a bit!

Oh, I like Willow too, nice idea Joni! Maybe I'd have a little Mary Willow...

I couldn't resist the alphabetical list!

Astrid / Abraham
Beatrix / Benjamin
Calliope / Callum
Dorit / David
Elspeth / Edmund
Fiona / Frank
Gloria / George
Hazel / Henry
Imogen / Ivan
Juniper / John
Katherine / Keppler
Linnea / Laszlo
Matilda / Malcolm
Nora / Niles
Octavia / Oliver
Penelope / Pablo
Quinn / Quinn
Ruth / Rowan
Susannah / Solomon
Tess / Thomas
Uma / Ulysses
Vivian / Vincenzo
Wren / Walter
Xara / Xavier
Ysolde / Yvo
Zelda / Zane

Why thank you, Cat. I appreciate that very much, as this is the only place I get any positive feedback on the bulk of the names I suggest :)

And Bea Dee...I'm loving your list of 18.

Also loving the preponderance of Blase/Blaise on the alphabetical lists. What an unjustly underused name--it's short, and striking, and masculine. A true Why Not. Plus St. Blaise is the patron saint of throats, so he's an excellent namesake for anyone who enjoys singing (or talking, or simply having healthy vocal chords).

Oh poo, I should have put Agnes instead of Alice as my girl A pick. Stupid morning brain farts.

I set myself an additional challenge. From the alphabetized list I created I did 17 coin flips and then had to choose names from those (my daughter is in the first place):

1. Astrid Katherine
2. Penelope Wren
3. Beatrix Ysolde
4. Juniper Nora
5. Quinn Elspeth
6. Laszlo Walter
7. Abraham Thomas
8. Callum David
9. Edmund Yvo
10. Benjamin Frank
11. Matilda Ruth
12. Linnea Hazel
13. John Pablo
14. Solomon George
15. Imogen Fiona
16. Rowan Malcolm
17. Calliope Xara
18. Henry Oliver

I’m an avid reader of this blog but haven’t ever posted before. This post is way too much fun not to try though (even with my post-call mush brain). So here goes…

1. Susanna Constance
2. Vivian Kimsey
3. Helen Ashford
4. Lillian Jane
5. Julia Harper
6. Alice Claire
7. Florence Marion
8. Clementine Provost
9. Miranda Louise
All of these are one/both family names (all surnames are family). Other names that I just love but couldn’t think of great middle names