Amy3
- Name
Amy
- About Me
No info yet
- My Favorite Names
-
- My Recent Blog Comments
Baby Name Wizard Store
Celebrate with personalized baby name products! Custom birth announcements, invitations, bibs, onesies & more.
Start Shopping Amy
No info yet
Celebrate with personalized baby name products! Custom birth announcements, invitations, bibs, onesies & more.
Start Shopping
@Laura, I have another spin on Aida. My 10-yr-old daughter was reading a story aloud to me in which there was, to my ear, a character named Ada. It was only once I looked at the book that I realized it was Aida. I would have said eye-EE-da; my daughter said AY-da. Of course, she's also pronouncing Venia from the Hunger Games series as Vienna. I tried correcting that one, which I'm fairly sure would be VEE-nee-ah, to no avail! I think this issue of spoken vs written is why I shy away from names that don't have an obvious pronunciation when you see them written (e.g., Keren's Alicia example). I like for it all to sync up.
@need2Xthehelp, congratulations on your twins! How exciting. From your list I would choose Petra and Willa in a moment. Second choice would be Sabina and Lydia or Cassia and Lydia - very pretty without being too frilly. Good luck!
@zoerhenne, I love Esc pronounced Escape, but how about X'Esc or X'sc pronounced Exscape? :) @TrapperJenn, congratulations! Beatrice Eloise is a beautiful name. Enjoy your new baby! @Sylviesmom, I also like Iris, Delphine, Eloise, Pearl, and Margot.
@Nameless, I love the suggestion of Eleanor (nn Nora) for you. Eleanor Ivy sounds fantastic!
@PennyX, more good baby vibes coming your way! I actually like Mireille slightly more than Sabine. Somehow with Sabine, it's too sing-songy. It crazily begins to sounds like Ursa Lussa Bean (or would it be Beana?). However, you won't use the full name that often so it may be no big deal. Certainly Ursula sounds great with the ln, which is far more important. I like using Grey as a mn. I love the color, I love that spelling, and it's very dashing paired with Xavier. I'd go with 2 middles for either a boy or a girl. I like the symmetry of that.
Oh, you're right, hyz. I wasn't putting Polly together with the ln. Drat!
@NJ, congratulations! I love many of the names you've listed. I'll cast another vote for Alistair and follow that up with Rory. For girls, I adore Polly, Martha, and Matilda.
@knp, congratulations! What a beautiful name for your beautiful daughter! Re: Blue Ivy ... I would have liked this so much better had it been Ivy Blue. Blue Ivy is too descriptive for me, but I realize she'll probably mostly be known as Blue Carter. Still not sure I like that, though.
@Tirzah, I don't know her personally, but I think it's said how it looks - sah-bella. Maybe more of an /S/ sound than the /Z/ you hear in Isabella.
I'm really not a fan of the firearm- or more generally weapon-as-name names. I realize many very old names carry elements that are war-like, but for most of us those elements no longer have those connotations in daily language. Naming your daughter Gertrude doesn't have the same "in your face" quality that names like Razor, Stryker, or Ruger have. I also don't really like the last-name-first trend so that knocks out a lot of the manufacturers' names for me on that basis alone. @zoerhenne, I completely agree that reading deep into the name lists is an adventure in pronunciation and intention. Not that it's difficult to intuit the name meant, but one of the New Year's babies this year had the middle name McKynli. Wow. @SarahT, I'll cast another vote for Genevieve Joyce. As Chimu said, I love the alliteration of these two together. I do think Nevie and Livvy are a little close so the suggestion of Neve as a nn gets you away from that some. I knew a Genevieve called Gen. If you grew up with a lot of Jennifers (some of whom may have been Jens), that may seem boring, but I've always liked it. @TrapperJenn, your kids have beautiful names and I love the choice of Conrad should your newest be a boy. I like Mae, Maud(e), or Jane for Beatrice. @Tirzah, there is a girl at my daughter's school named Sabella. That was the first I'd ever heard of it. @ErinsFoodFiles, congratulations! Can't wait to hear what you choose when the baby arrives.
@PennyX, sending lots of good luck your way! I know 3 Colins - a guy I went to school with (early 40s) and 2 kids (both elementary-school aged). I've always liked it, although I still prefer Simon for you. I definitely don't think it's too popular. I like Sylvie better than Sylvia.
@Wondering Dad, I absolutely LOVE Edith and Arthur - total swoon! I vote for those enthusiastically and without reservation. They beautifully complement your older boys' names, sound fantastic together, and the twins will be named in honor of well-loved relatives from both sides of the family. As for concerns about the aardvark - I really wouldn't worry. If nothing else, that Arthur is an exceptionally positive role model. As for zoerhenne's comment about the original "Arthur" movie and the recent remake, I absolutely wouldn't worry about this reference. Neither of those movies were great or likely to be anyone's first thought when they hear the name Arthur. It's got so many varied references over time - King Arthur, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, etc. - that I can't imagine a character in two fairly forgettable outings of the same movie would occur to many people.
@zoerhenne, had our daughter been a son her name would have been Elliot Walter. I love how those sound together!
@Miriam, the article and video were fascinating, particularly when you contrast this with the wish so many parents seem to have to give their child a unique name so they *aren't* one of many. Here you have a community that was eager to bestow the same name on any number of girls and the girls (at least the ones profiled) all feel honored to bear the name. @Wondering Dad, the only Hollis I know is the father of one of my daughter's friends so it skews middle-aged man for me, although I could see it on a girl, too. I agree with hyz that it fits into the Blair, Morgan, Devon camp of names that work well on a boy or a girl. I think my concern might be that with an ambiguous name and three other boys, your daughter may wish for a name that sets her apart. However, Hollis as a mn or changed slightly to Holly would do that. Holly is a name that does feel a bit dated to me (I knew a couple when I was a kid), but it's not *that* dated and it's growing on me. It would stand out in a nice way from a sea of girls' names that end in A.
@Laura, congratulations on the article at Slate! While I wasn't sure about Siri as NOTY, and didn't vote for it, you make a compelling argument for why you chose it (@Beth, congrats for being first to suggest it!). I agree that we will see more and more "named" technology that bridges the gap between humans and machines. I recently read an article in National Geographic about robots and the concept of the "uncanny valley" - that they can be humanoid but if they're *too* human, their differences become creepy, unsettling, and even revolting. Fascinating. Years ago we had a car that talked to you (all I remember it saying, though, is "A door is ajar."). I think we called it Bill. Recently my daughter named our current car. It's 8 years old and we're thinking of replacing it in 2 years or so. I look forward to this being much more difficult now that he's acquired a name. @Melmo, congratulations on your Siri! It's a great name and I'm glad the familiarity with the technology is making it easier for people to understand the name. Ideally it will be one of those things that fades into the background enough that few people, if any, believe you named her for the virtual assistant. Re: Stacy/ey, Andrea, Stephanie ... Growing up in the 70s, I knew loads of each. Now I know a 10-year-old Stephanie (however I always want to use this name for her mother rather than her!) and a 5-year-old Anastasia (nn Ana) whose mom is a Stacy.
@Elizabeth T, that would be so funny if Lily Allen really did read about Ethel Mae here!
Fascinating post, Laura! Thanks, as always, for your insight into the impact of names on all sorts of current issues. Part of my comfort with FB's "real name" system is that my real name is so common it serves as a sort of anonymity. That's also why I only go by fn-married ln with no inclusion of my relatively uncommon maiden name. Would I want my daughter to use her real name on FB? I'm not so sure. While I know she does share her fairly unique name (including fn-ln combo) with others, it wouldn't take long to figure out which was her. With my name, people are in for a longer hunt! But the idea that a service provider determines you can't use the name construction you typically do (e.g., mn-ln) or that your name somehow doesn't belong to you (e.g., the "other" Mark Zuckerberg) or that you must go by a real name when it's impossible for them to determine (in many cases) what that is, is both creepy big-brother and absurdly capricious. They built it, people came; they should let the people call themselves what they like. And now I really, REALLY can't wait to see NOTY. The 99%? Anonymous? Or are you going to totally surprise us?
Can't wait to see what NOTY is now that Pippa has garnered a runner-up spot!
Ulysses vs. Horatio - how fantastic! Imagine if we had candidates with those names. I guess we'll have to wait many more years before any little Ulysseses and Horatios would be presidential-candidate age. I do actually like the name Mitt, particularly because it's one of Eo's telescoped nns (where is Eo? I miss her!). As for Rick, Jo(h)n, Ron, and Michele ... *yawn*. @Jane Bailey, I love Frank, just Frank. That was my grandfather's name as well as the name of a dear friend. I think it's a fabulous, strong, understated boy's name. I hope you'll use it! @Birdonthestreet, I like SabbyLo's suggestion of Harold (although I'd use the nn Hal in a half-second - love that!) and Duncan from Essy01. @DryEyes, my faves from your list are (in order) Malcolm, Moses (don't care for Mo, though), and Julian.
I've held off on voting, but now I'll have to throw my hat (ridiculous or otherwise) in the ring for Pippa. @emilyrae, you did a great job of pulling together various justifications for it in a way that made me finally feel ready to vote. @lucubratrix, your comments regarding the Campbell family naming, at least with regard to Honszlynn and Hons are dead on. I had the same thought about why not just Hans? But, as you said, these are the least of the problems there. @isa, I think if you choose a Native American tribal name, you have to be ready for some people to be offended at what may seem a callous appropriation of the name. That might not be anyone's intent - I totally get the idea that these are place names or read as Western - but you would need to go into it realizing others could have a radically different perspective. @zoerhenne, I second emilyrae's recognition of your ability to generate fn-mn combos or sibling names based on any number of criteria, and many (maybe most?) that veer far away from your stated style preference. FWIW, I have a soft spot for Jessica, but we could never have used it as it creates a stuttering sound with our ln (and I'm not sure we would have anyway, having known many, many Jessicas growing up). :)