Some interesting names I've come across in the credits of movies and TV lately:

Muse Watson - had a part on Cold Case (it's a man, the name seems feminine to me and I assumed it would be a woman).

And here's a beauty I saw in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The character of Tizzy was played by:

Mahershalalhashbaz Ali.

From Wikipedia it says: Ali was born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore in Oakland, California. He is an Ahmadi Muslim. His name is derived from the Biblical book of Isaiah 8:1-3, where the name is usually given as "Maher-shalal-hash-baz." It is Hebrew for "To speed to the spoil, he hasteneth the prey" and is thought to be the longest given name in the Bible.

I find it amusing that saddled with the moniker Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore he changes his LAST name :)

Penny-I wonder if his nn is now Ali instead of Gilmore. I don't see too many people attempting that name on a minute by minute basis as far as directing him.

Good job on the -n to -ey names everyone!

I saw a movie last night ("The Devil and Miss Jones") and one of the co-stars (born in 1886) was Spring Byington. Summer and Autumn (and Winter) I've seen as fn's, but never Spring. I kind of like it. Today I also saw "Whip It!" and Ellen Page's character's name was Bliss.

I knew a Steve, he was suppose to be Stephan but for whatever reason Steve ended up on the Birth Certificate and he was known as just plain Steve for the rest of his life. Really interesting article.

I'm sadly very late to the conversation, but I had to comment on 2 subjects.

1) Apropos the topic of misspellings, my middle name was going to be Lee, but then my mom saw an alternative spelling in a baby name book that she thought was prettier: Leah. Years later, she was telling her friend Leigh that my middle name was also "lee", but spelled Leah. Leigh then informed her that this was not pronounced "lee" but "lee-ah". So I've always been torn about the "correct" pronunciation of my middle name, but I usually say "lee-ah", as it's spelled.

2) re: Stacy Leigh - I am Stacy Leah (see above). As a child, I was always glad I wasn't an Anastasia, the only pronunciation of which I was familiar being the Anna.STAY.zha one. However, as an adult living in continental Europe, where Stacy is relatively unknown and very difficult to pronounce, I go by Ana (for Anastasia, but with the Ah-na-stah-see-ah pronunciation.) Few people here even know my real name is Stacy.

As for your baby's name, Stacy, I like Anastasia, then Annika (one of my best friend's names), then Anneliese.

Our son's name is Simon Elliott, and I can't begin to count how many people have complimented us on the combination. We considered Theo, but ruled it out for the same chipmunk reason, and liked Oliver, Dexter, and Alexander. Our daughter's name, incidentally, is also Amelia - Amelia Esther.

sorry - previous comment for goldenpig, in relation to post 61.

Guest#206-It's amazing at what a small world it really is-isn't it.

Stacy Leigh-I was jsut thinking after reading LanaSimone's post above (what made you pick that sn btw??) that maybe a somewhat made up version on Annaliese would work. I still don't get he Anya pronunciation from that one like I do the others. I was thinking of a sort of smush for you like Anyalise. Although typing it out makes me wonder if you might run into some "non-NE's" who separate it oddly and say "Is that pronounced Any Alice"?

Anya is a common nickname for Ana/Anna names in Poland, Russia... Eastern Europe. So, if it's OK to borrow names from other countries (which you may or may not agree with) is it also OK to borrow nicknaming patterns? Then Anya would be a perfectly legitimate nickname for Annalisa, Anastazia... Ana-everything, actually.

guest 206,
add me to the list of people who love simon elliott. excellent!

Another interesting name from a movie! Norval. Sound's like Norville (like Orville) which is how my dad and I thought it was pronounced for a while. Lol.

Guest 206,
I like your children's names--charming! Perhaps I should find out what else is on your boy list, since we have such similar tastes :)

I was under the impression that in Russia and Eastern Europe Anya is typically a nickname for Anna, while Anastasia is shortened to Nastia. Not that there is any reason why Anya wouldn't be an equally logical nickname for Anastasia, but if that's true you might that some people expected the other nickname.

My personal ranking is Annika, Annaliese, Anastasia. But I think they are all nice choices that would work fine - as does Anya by itself.

Zoerhenne,
My screen name is basically my alter ego on the web for sites where I prefer to keep some anonymity. It's a name I came up with because I think it's a nice combination of femenine (without being flowery) and a bit sophisticated.
I think the topic of how we choose screen names is something similar to the discussion on pen names, isn't it?

LanaSimone-I do like your sn that's why I was asking. I was just curious. I've stated in the past that mine is a similar thing. I just happened to like the combo Zoe Rhenne (pron like Renee). At one point I had the R capitalized like you have done with yours but something happened and now I don't. I suppose the topic of how we choose sn's is a bit like the pen/porn name discussion but I feel like it has a bit more substance.

My church provides space for an no-cost/low-cost daycare for at-risk families. Today I walked through their facilities and was fascinated by the names I saw on the cubbies. I should also add that we are in the middle of the midwest and the kids at the daycare range in age from a few months to 4 years. The variety is astounding, I thought, especially given the socio-economic context.

Here's the list:
Tricia
Fatima
Eyad
Alina
Ivy
Leo
Cordell
Deija
Caleb
Raven
Heith
Jaquise
Neala
Rashiya
Zoe
Amina
Solomon
Elektra
Luis
Ashley
Betty
Ahmad
Noah
Charon

@ Guest #216: That is an interesting list!

A friend of mine is teaching some younger kids, I'm not sure of the ages, soccer and she doesn't know all the names but told me one that stuck out to her. Nelo (I'm assuming the spelling because I knew a Nelo and that was how it was spelled.) I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about the name.

@Anna, #181 - I have a real life evil bulldog who is actually the sweetest thing ever. Bulldogs get a bad rap, but they are nothing like some of their meaner cousins. They're actually very gentle in a lumbering kind of way. Pretty much my dog sleeps, drools, toots, and snores.

Our bulldog is named Philburgh. My husband is from Philly and I'm from Pittsburgh, and the dog goes by Phil. I was pretty proud of myself when I came up with that one.

His middle name is Horatio, bestowed by my husband. The full name, Philburgh Horatio C@ll@n, comes out when he stubbornly refuses to come back inside.

RE twin names: Heard a pair of identical twins today: Ethan and Nathan. They will constantly be confused!

Guest @ 216- thanks for that list- totally fascinating!

Guest 206: Simon Elliott is a great name. My dh and I were discussing names again after a little hiatus, and it seems like he's really not going to go with Simon (my very, very favorite boy choice). He thinks it's just not masculine enough and is a little nerdy. I think it's strong, serious, and smart-sounding. So, now I need to think of alternatives that I like as much.

My top runners right now are:

Nathaniel (Like this one, and actually like Nate as a nn, but it's more popular than I would have preferred). Do people run into tons of Nates, Nathans, Nathaniels IRL? Or are they being squeezed out by Wyatts, Henrys, Quinns, and Phinns?

Also, I have good friends with a son named Nathan. He's in middle school, but would it be weird for them if I picked a name so close to their own son's? Like I'm copying or namesaking?

I also really like Everett, and frankly like the fact that you can't shorten it to a nickname. I really dislike the fact that really good names like David instantly become Dave.

A Rose: You posted early on asking if there are certain names you always confuse for another. This often happens to me. I say it occurs because the names are "kept in the same box in my head". Matt/Chris/Dave/Dan are common culprits.

Mirnada, I hate to tell you, but I had a friend named Everett who was known by all and sunder as Ev.

Elizabeth T.& Mirnada: True, I also thought of the nn Rett, but the point is that people will not automatically shorten Everett to anything, as they do with David/Dave, Michael/Mike.

A Rose: I also screw up Renee & Paige (they are both hairdressers at the place I go and I always ask for Renee when I mean Paige). also, If someone is a Pat or a Pam, I can never remember which they said.

mirnada,
that makes me so sad that your husband doesn't like simon! i'm with you: strong and serious and intelligent. i feel like we had this discussion once before...someone pointed out that if it was once a nerdy name, it's shaken those connotations, i believe.

however, both of your other choices are good too; i like your style. :]

Went to a free festival this weekend in Baltimore, heavily populated by kids that I so desired to find out names of, but here were the only ones I heard with my age guesses:

Lorelei (3) and Olive (6) (cute!)
Hannah (5)
Julia (2) and Logan (4)

Stacy Leigh-- my neighbors just had a baby Annika 2 weeks ago. I think it is becoming more and more popular. It is also on my SIL's short list, and she is on the other side of the country! I do like it though. My neighbors pronounce it ANN-ika.

A request: can someone with the 2nd edition of BNW tell me some of the brother name suggestions for Ava? Thanks in advance!

sdh,

brother suggestions for ava from bnw2:
owen, eli, logan, aidan, noah

Mirnada, I like Nathaniel/Nate and Everett very much. Also, if you were actually considering David, I know several Davids (including my brother) who have always been David and never Dave. I don't think it would be hard to convince other people to always call your son David, but I guess the risk is that your son himself might actually want to go by Dave. Same with Everett/Ev/Rett.

By the way, whoever mentioned upthread that they always confuse Donna and Brenda -- perhaps that's because they were both characters on the original Beverley Hills 90210.

Stacy Leigh - I like Annika pronounced ann-ih-kah actually, then Anastasia (a childhood favorite of mine), then Anneliese, which are all beautiful, but the latter is the least distinct sounding to me.

Kimberly - I'd vote for Hazel, although I don't really like Beatrix but I have to say Beatrix Ruth sounds great.

A Rose: I think I get Melissa and Michelle mixed up, more coz they're the same generation, and the M doesn't hurt.

Mirnada - While I do love the name Simon, I can see where it may not pass the test for guys. It's serious and intellectual to me, but not strong, which is strange since the last one I met was confident, charming, and attractive.

I just noticed a set of siblings on facebook, little girls MaKaly@ (a typo? typed multiple times?) and Nikit@

..and an interesting set I'd forgotten about, maybe 4 and 2 years, something like that. R3mbrandt M@stin Reev3s (nn Rem) and M@ttia Indic@ R@in. Gorgeous kids too.

Thanks emilyrae!

Kimberly,

chiming in a little late here, but I wanted to respond. First of all, sounds like we have the same DH problem--mine also hates the naming process. Very frustrating. I have been thinking of trying the sweet 16 bracket process the next time around--if I could actually get him to sit through it, I think it might make the process more organized, which he would appreciate, and also allow us to discuss a large number of names without it feeling overwhelming for him, but being more like a game. It's worth a shot, anyway.

For the LN situation, I like the suggestion of giving the next kid another meaningful family name as a middle, but not necessarily your LN. Because your LN is Rowan's middle, right? Not part of a combined LN? In that case, I definitely don't think you're "stuck" with doing the same thing for the next kiddo.

I love both Ruth and William as middles (or firsts), so it sounds like you have a good start. Since you know our lists are really similar, you probably know that I love a lot of your choices. For girls, I love Beatrix, Hazel, Isla, and Zinnia. Isla seems a little hard to say with "Ander-lee", though, to me. I'm not sure I'd heard Juna before, but I like it--I think I prefer "just" June, though. Ceridwen, Jilanis, and Azure are a little more unusual than I'm comfortable going, but they're all nice. I prefer Carys to Ceridwen as a name to actually use--I think it has the same effect, but is a little less "out there", if you know what I mean. Some other girls from my list you may or may not have already considered this time around: Ivy ;), Sylvia/Silvia, Willa, Rosalind, Philippa, Hyacinth, Laurel, Juniper, Holly, Averil, Vera, Anthea/Althea, Geneva, Clara, Lena, Clementine, Sorrel.... There are lots on this list, but those are the ones I thought might appeal most to you.

For boys, I love most of your choices. August is at/near the top of our boy list, and Sylvan would be too, if I could get DH past the Sylvan Learning Centers association (I've also seen it spelled Silvan, which I'm going to run past him next time to see if that helps). I think Sylvan has the benefit of being different without being odd--I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone else discussing using it. From your list, I also love Hollis, Everett, and Cormac. The only thing that puts me off about Calvin is its meaning--otherwise I think it's very cool. Dashiell and Oscar don't appeal to me as much, and I like Aidric, but again, it's a little past my comfort zone for unfamiliarity. Silas is my favorite boy name that I can't use, and has the same root as Sylvan, so I thought I'd throw it in here for your consideration. From my current favorites list, I also thought I'd add Oliver, Callum, Calder, Shepherd, Drake, Leo, Alistair, Leander, Orson, Solomon, Graham, Frasier, Merritt/Merrill.

Penny in Australia- Muse is really interesting, I totally agree with you that it sounds like a girls name. As such I think it would totally work on a star, but might be kind of a lot for a real little girl (similar to our talk about Lovely).

meppie- Love Philburgh, so funny.

hyz- How do you say Geneva? Like the city. I like all those names like Ginevra, but I'm not always sure how to say them!

Geneva is pronounced jen-EE-va.

Thanks, Valerie, that's what I assumed (and I wasn't sure there really would be another way to say it) but since I've never heard it said as a name and not a place I wanted to be sure!

Mirnada-I like all the names you have in the running. Simon, Everett, and Nathaniel are great. I only know 1 Nathan (he'd be about 8 now) brother to Jacob nn Jake. Nymbler helped me find a few others you might want to suggest:
Patrick Forrest
Daniel Aaron
Preston Andrew
Reginald Alexander
Mark Curtis
Stuart Wesley

Russell Spencer
Brett Carter (if the clothing line association is ok)

I have some advice for those who struggle with naming with a husband who isn't interested:

Go easy on the lists. A short list will work better than a long list here, since it reduces the time he needs to spend dwelling on it. Make the list too big and intimidating and the easiest way to deal with it is just to veto everything without thinking.

If you want to learn more about what he looks for in a name, and he gets uncomfortable discussing names, talk more about his aspirations for the child. Perhaps he hopes for a star quarterback but you're hoping for someone more bookish, for example. That will affect what the "best" name looks like, and can be used as a guidepost for what names he'll show more interest in. (In the above example, try Eli.)

If he's just running around saying no, and we won't talk about it, give him some space. It's likely that he fears giving the child the "wrong" name, but he doesn't know what "wrong" looks like, so all names are suspect, and commitment to any one is a grave mistake. In this case, he'll want to delay the choice until either it's too late to delay any more (don't let this happen if possible), or he feels comfortable that one choice, whatever it is, isn't wrong. So, the goal is to understand what "wrong" looks like to him, and come up with at least one choice that meets his hopes and avoids his fears.

So, if he's very resistant to names, don't think too much about giving him the right name, but concentrate on giving him the confidence to choose.

Just encountered a fantastic name on a list and had to share:

Ch@uncey Felb@rt De L0s Sant0s

Not my normal style at all, but I find the combination irresistible!

Oh, yeah, and one more entry to the -n to -y game:

Lachlan -> Locksley

Linnaeus- thanks for sharing the process of naming from a man's perspective- it gives me a lot more understanding, and therefore compassion!

Hi everybody,

I’ve been following this amazing blog for months as my husband await the birth of our first child. Even though I’ve been very shy and have never posted before, I’ve loved the personalities and insights you all bring. I'm a little afriad this is coming too late in this thread, but...

Our baby is due in just two weeks, so I’m now in dire need of your help! We’re struggling to find names that work with our last name, which is Pr@nglee. (Using symbols here ‘cause it’s our real last name.) It’s kind of a mouthful, and with the ee on the end, I’d like to avoid any names or nns ending in -y, -ie, -ee, etc.

If we have a girl, we have narrowed it down to two options. Both incorporate my mom’s name, Jud!th:

Ion@ Jud!th
Jud!th N@ledi (nn Jun@)

But for a boy, we’re really stuck! We love:

Abr@ham, Abr@m, or Br@m (pron. BRAHM)

Yet… with the first two, I’m afraid that the (inevitable?) shorter “@be” doesn’t work: (“@be Pr@anglee” – say it 5 times fast). Ditto with Br@m. We like it for someone it honors. But “Br@m Pr@nglee” is awkward to me. What do you think?

So other options include:
So1omon
Dunc@n
Hugh
Rodr!c
Lew!s
Munr0
or …? (Neither fast-rising nor in top 300?)

I’d prefer the middle name to be Willi@m (to honor my dad). But we could go with another family member: J@mes, Lee, Er!k, Rich@rd, R0dney, Edw@rd, R0bert, Wils0n, Lew!s, @ndrew.

Can you think of combinations… or other names that would work with our last name? Your thoughts are really appreciated!

Linnaeus, very interesting thoughts, thanks. (BTW, I raised Geneva casually with DH over the weekend [we happened to pass a street sign with the name], and got a flat no).

The way my DH described his frustration with the process before was that he felt like it was a puzzle with no right answer, so thinking and talking about it a lot didn't get you any closer to a "perfect" name, because there IS no perfect name. He's a math/science guy, and he enjoys laboring over problems that have definite "right" answers (whether it's medicine or DIY home projects or sudoku/crosswords or whatever), but he apparently doesn't like to spend any time on very important issues (imho) that have no clear right or wrong answers. He had a couple names off the top of his head that he liked--no research, no soul searching, really no thought at all (at least no thought that took more than about 2 minutes), and I think he would've been very satisfied to use one of those and call it a day, and never discuss/think about it further. I don't think he has firm criteria in naming--the only criteria seem to be that it sound good to him and not be offensive to him in some way (reminding him of someone he doesn't like, etc.). Luckily, we're in line about our hopes for our kids and what qualities we value, so that's not a major issue. So I guess my goal would be to make naming more like a puzzle where you come to an answer and are done--hence the sweet 16 process. I don't know if it would work, but maybe. I think he would appreciate the very short list, too, though. The only question with that is whether I'm decisive enough to come up with such a thing absent all his naysaying on the long list, lol.

Mbali,

welcome! I think both of your girl names are strong choices--can't go wrong there, I think. I'd lean slightly towards Judith (with or without nn Juna, which is nice), simply because Ion@ Pr@nglee makes me think "I own a Pr@nglee" and then wonder what a Pr@nglee is. Maybe that's dopey, but it was my first thought--she might get dopey jokes like that from people.

For boys, I agree that the Abe Pr@nglee thing is a bit awkward, and that would put me off the name, personally. Bram works for me sound-wise, but I like it better as a nn for Abraham than on its own. The problem with that one for me is that I think most people will pronounce it to rhyme with gram or pram, not to rhyme with bomb, and I tend to avoid pronunciation issues where possible. I love Solomon from your list, though--I'd definitely go with that, if it were me. I also like Duncan and Munro, and I think both sound good with the LN.

Good luck!!

Boys' names with Pr@nglee...

I see the problems with the @be names. It's in the ending hard consonant B leading into the hard P, or the quick repetition of BR and PR. But, if you like the sound of Abraham, you've already got a built-in source of a similar sound in the last name.

Quick aside from my experience. I have a short, common first name. An interesting side effect has been that I am not often referred to by my first name alone, but usually in conjunction with my last name in some way. With a distinctive name like Pr@nglee, you can use this effect for your son.

Now, it does mean using names in the top 300, but since the last name is distinctive and uncommon, your son won't be lost in a sea of others. You can also combine this with older family names, if you like. J@ames (nn J!m), Lee, and Lew!s (nn L0u) from your list above might work here:

J!m Pr@nglee
1ee Pr@nglee
L0u Pr@nglee

Other common, one-syllable names not ending in a hard consonant might work here, too: Tom, John, Joe, Jay, Ray.

I know this breaks some of the rules you were discussing, so I might be completely off base. Still, it's another way to look at the name. From your list above, for the reasons above, Hugh is my top choice, and Rodr!c is my bottom choice (the -c or -d, with the extra Rs, conflict with the ln).

Mbali: Juna N@ledi is gorgeous-- had to look up Naledi since I've never seen it before and I'm getting a little crush. I'm not a huge fan of Judith, but I like your nn.

I think you can easily stay away from Abe with Abr@ham, and Bram isn't that awkward. I also like Solomon, Hugh, Lewis (ok, I like ALL your names...) but if you LOVE Abraham, go with that!!!

Mbali-I second Solomon- that sounds great with your last name. I agree with hyz on the other issues. And I love Juna as a nn for Judith.

As Juna has come up twice today, I'll add a sibset that I know and like- Casey (b), Lila and Juna, all in their early-mid twenties. I think the girls' names were way ahead of their time.

@hyz:

Wow. Sounds like we have "cloned" husbands....

Mine has been the same way throughout the naming process - even after I let the argument over Aoibheann go, he's still been...shall we say... ambivalent and non-committal (thanks, Linnaeus, for the insight). This week (i.e. week #35), he's decided he likes Samantha, and is somewhat resentful because apparently I didn't give it enough consideration. Note that "Samantha" has not been anywhere close to our list since day 1. And it doesn't seem to matter that we went with *his* pick for the middle name - that's no reason in his mind to go with *my* pick for the first name.

Sigh....couldn't we reintroduce some kind of matriarchal society where we would commune as women across generations to bestow suitable names on our children? Or am I threatening a militant feminist revolt, here?

PPPhd--oh, Samantha--that's a definite stereotypical "husband name", lol. Sorry to hear about the resentment it's causing, though. I know that's no fun. I don't know about communing as women across generations (I don't think my mom would necessarily be on the same naming page as I am), but I know what you mean about the mn thing--I've been wondering if I shouldn't have exerted a little more will in the last naming process, considering that I agreed to give DH his way on several major things (i.e. the LN, and putting the Korean name first instead of middle). Mostly I just wanted it to be a collaborative process, and I wanted him to love the name as much as I did, but after the fact I feel like he got his way with everything he actually cared about, and I did a lot of compromising. Now, I do truly love our daughter's name, so I don't have any regrets on that front, but it makes me think twice about what the process should be next time.

So, Samantha. Hm. Maybe you could give him two MNs, in exchange for your FN--Aoibhe@nn S@mantha V3rity Gr@nt-McK@y--it has a nice ring to it!!

PPP:

As a man, I'll just say no, you can't. ;)

hyz, your description is exactly what I'm talking about. A game with no way to win and a thousand ways to lose is a game you don't play. In your case, it sounds like you're generally aligned. Yet yes indeed, he'd be perfectly happy to just pick a name out of the air that he likes and use that without further thought because the very act of considering the name is to play the losing game. That hurts.

To keep his interest in the process, keep it simple for him. Don't expect him to ever enjoy the complexity. I'm sure there are things that excite him that you have limited patience for, either (Hardware parameters? Videogame weaponry? Baseball stats?). This is that sort of situation.

PPP again:

What are your husband's goals in finding a good name for your daughter?

mbali,
hi and welcome!
firstly, i like judith n@ledi best, but they're both lovely. :]
secondly, i agree that @be pr@nglee is difficult to say, but that wouldn't bother me since abe would be a nickname. however, i don't think the names that end with /m/ sounds bad. i really love @braham, and i don't have issues with saying @braham pr@nglee. i also like solom0n a lot.

@Mbali--My vote goes for Judith (nn Juna, spunky and fresh!) and Solomon (one of my biggest name crushes).

@Linnaeus--Thanks for sharing your perspective. I think this is part of the reason my husband and I didn't consider names until very late in the pregnancy. He just wasn't really into it in the same way I was. What probably helped a great deal was how phenomenally picky I became so my lists were pretty short!