Thank you all. The naming was really tough on the boy side so of course it turned out to be a boy. I'd tentatively decided on Osric before he arrived but still went back and forth with Rhys and Alistair after the birth. I really think Osric works for him though. We get plenty of "is that a family name?" when we go out. =\ @hyz: yup .. the same Osric :) Best wishes to you too with your impending new arrival.

These tools sound like something I would have loved subscribing to a few weeks / months ago. Unfortunately they've arrive a little late for me. :) Osric William was born on October 5, joining Mommy, Daddy and big brother Rowan Thomas. He mostly goes by Oz so far, or Baby, since that's what he went by for the last nine months.

Re Cohen: if you're not close I think the least likely to offend would be to offer minimal amount of personal comment and reference the article, basically appealing to a third party to impart the information. Re Linnea: My understanding has been that the Scandinavian pronunciation is closest to LIN-knee-yuh or LIN-ee-yuh in American English but the most common pronunciation of the name in America is li-NAY-uh. I have to admit I prefer the latter pronunciation and the internal conflict over the pronunciation detracts from the enjoyment of the name for me. ETA: By "internal conflict" I mean preferring the sound of the "less correct" pronunciation -- not that anybody else would necessarily care about the correctness.

I agree with others that it's probably best to let her know gently before the baby actually arrives and it becomes a done deal. Re Elfreda, I pronounce it el-FREE-duh. And Awkward Turtle, you're probably thinking of alfredo, which is a cream based pasta sauce.

I think I'll join Amy3 in the crushingly uncreative camp -- though strangely enough nobody else on here seems to own up to a full Kimberly, though I've seen a couple of Kims post on here. Even when I've made up names for various games, etc online I've never been terribly creative and never really identified with whatever name I ended up with. I guess I'm a little jealous of those more creative in that realm. It's been a couple of days since I've had enough free time to get online, but I wanted to thank everyone for your feedback on my names. I especially want to to thank everyone for the feedback on Elfreda and Osric since I've gotten so much negative feedback in person on those names.

hyz: Is Oliver still your front runner? You did find it's a boy, right? I have such a hard time keeping everybody straight in my mind. I think Oliver is just about the perfect name for you / your family but isn't it scary when one name just kind of becomes "it" so easily? So I have a coworker whose wife is expecting about a week after me and they're also not finding out the gender until the birth. We talked baby names over lunch today :) We're kind of on different name pages but I think I may have helped decide his girl name today -- Eleanor. I love the name and would be so thrilled if they choose it.

Alistair - I added this name recently and hadn't quit absorbed out hit sounds sing-songy with DH's LN. It would be similar to Alistair Anderson which I think puts it off my list =\ Cormac - I keep going back and forth on this one. I can see it being a "cool" name for a boy / young man and it does have a catchy, crisp sound to it. I'm not thrilled about the possible meaning and the name is doing the opposite of growing on me over time. Rhys - I think this is my "safe" choice this time around. I like the name and I like my odd connection with the name (the ancestor that gave my my LN was T-- ap Rhys). I can see spelling being an occasional issue, but if people can figure out Sean, I think they can figure out Rhys. Osric - I think this one is my current front-runner. It's different but still fits in well. It has an intuitive spelling and it has the cute nn Oz. Unfortunately I think I change my order of preference for boy names about every other day. I just can't seem to actually make a decision.

So on my big name indecisiveness -- Beatrix - This has been my favorite for quite a while and I'm close to talking myself into thinking BRA / BRTA wouldn't be an issue. The reason behind using Thomas is it's my LN though I'm definitely not wedded to using it. I am wedded to using Ruth as a MN to honor my mother. Unfortunately Beatrix is probably DH's least favorite though he's willing to concede to using it. It kind of takes some of the enthusiasm out of it to use a name he doesn't particularly like though. Linnea - I'm actually kind of lukewarm on this name and have been inches away from taking it off the list. Part of it is what hyz says about the "AY-uh" though I hadn't put my finger on it until hyz's comment. DH's LN starts with an "a" as in cat (sounds like Anderson) so I don't see that the vowels merge that badly, but it also just doesn't sound as great to my ears as some of the other names. Aria - I've had this name on and off my list several times but keep coming back to it. I like how it's such a long name for being only 4 letters and it's a feminine name without being overly frilly (to my ears). However this seems like the "safe" choice and I wonder if I would regret it down the road. Oh, and what I meant about geeky about Iolanthe was adding that to make the initials spell ARIA .. kind of like "GNU is Not Unix". Elfreda - This would be my edgy name like Orson (that we didn't use for Rowan) and it's DH's favorite girl name. I don't know precisely why I like it but it really grew on me and I've found myself coming back to it. Tamsin - I do kind of like the tie to my LN with this name and I think it "goes well" with Rowan. I also like how it's a unique name but isn't a really odd name if that makes any sense.

Wow .. thanks everyone for your feedback. I honestly feel a little big guilty dropping in for name feedback but never having time to actively contribute to the ongoing discussions. Though I guess I do provide a valuable service of providing entertainment ;) I have to comment on Wilfred, though. It would be such an unusual name to encounter on a baby. I always admire those who are brave enough to take on such unusual names. I'm not sure I actually like the name (apologies, lucubratrix) but I think Wilf is pretty cute and could also be cool for a late teen / young adult. It does remind me a bit of Willard which I thought of for about 5 seconds. Unfortunately Willard is a street that used to hang me up for 10-15 minutes every commute so not a positive association.

So I'm at 30 weeks now *boggle* and we still have a list of names. We may end up with a baby and a list of names at this rate. We're down to Girls: Beatrix Ruth Thomas A- (the initial problem) Aria Ruth A- (the geek in me wants to put Aria Ruth Iolanthe A-, is that too .. geeky?) Elfreda Ruth A- Linnea Ruth A- Tamsin Ruth A- (I crossed it off earlier but then added it back on recently) Boys: Osric William A- Rhys William A- Alistair William A- (-ster) Cormac William A- Big brother is named Rowan Thomas A-, by the way. We have no idea if this is a boy or a girl, though my feeling is a boy. Unfortunately DH crossed all of my favorite boy names off the long list so I'm really trying to love one of the names on the short list but not really getting there. =\

I still love Orson though it's a name I can never use now. =\ Also from your list I like Caspar and Konrad/Conrad isn't too bad. On the original topic, I couldn't help think of Safe Haven babies who are typically given an official name relating to where they are dropped off (eg. Baby ). The foster family may informally give a name but the baby's official name would not be changed until parental rights are terminated through the court system. I also thought of hacker handles (since I'm in the computer security field) since John Smith may be known to a significant number of people as sUprh4kr or whatever, non-standard capitalization and numbers included.

Reality? Really? I can't say that is a name I would choose. And a Thaddeus! Thanks for the list, Elizabeth T. And I also have to say I'm always still shocked when I meet a little Jennifer, Heather, or Kimberly.

I had to laugh at hyz's comment. My first association with Medina is the city but Funky Cold Medina was a really close second. And then I "hear" the song every time someone comments on Medina. So far as cultural (mis)appropriation, I think it's something to be sensitive to and avoid if at all possible just as part of politeness, but that in no way, shape, or form justifies assaulting someone because of their (possible) cultural misappropriation. And I think the speculation about the fact of the Danish connection with the previous issues probably has merit.

My understanding is Kimberly and Kimberley are both from the place by way of the Lord of Kimberly or was it the Earl of Kimberly? Something like that. I guess if I could think of it abstractly I would think it is a pretty name but I've never cared for it. It's kind of like Amber. I SHOULD like the name but I can't separate the name from all of the people I've known by that name. Everyone's descriptions of Clementine and Astrid just crack me up. A lot of them are completely opposite my visuals. Astrid is a completely Scandinavian name to me so I always see a pale blond/blue girl. I can really see a Clementine with dark hair, sky blue eyes, and pale skin though. @KRC (I think!): I'll third or fourth Rosalind Hazel Kay. What a beautiful name. I also enjoy the subtle repeating names and, of course, I like those antique names. So in my own family tree I have great-aunts and grandmothers Lillian, Gladys, Evelyn, Adeline, Eloise, Louisa, Ellen, Jacqueline, Hazel, and Ruby (and also Jewell and Ola May but I don't love the names as much). My grandmother Ellen is also why I really like Eleanor. If I did use Eleanor I might use an alternate spelling that leans more toward Ellen -- Ellinor maybe?

So I think my top girl name is Beatrix Ruth, which brings up the initials question. Am I being unreasonable to view the initials BRA as a complete non-starter? Would adding a second middle name solve the problem or would all the forms that expect a single middle name effectively make her initials BRA anyhow?

Re Alistair: I fall into the AL-ih-ster camp. I've heard both pronunciations but I prefer -ster. I actually passed the name by DH a couple of days ago and I think it is cautiously on our boy list. Re Phillipa et al: I think a lot of the female names derived from male names that are falling have the same pronunciation as the male with an appended -uh. Names like Leona are not pronounced as an American would say Leon-uh. I think that and the frilliness quotient determines a lot of those risers and fallers. @Chimu: I like most of your names. I have an awful time separating Cordelia from the BtVS/Angel character (which I could not stand) but I really like Astrid and Juliet. I have the same difficulty as you with Clementine. But then again, I'm one who thinks "can you imagine Mylee on an octogenarian" is a silly question. Just wait 80 years. So if you name your little girl Clementine, of course she'll seem like an adult Clementine in 30 years.

I was also thinking that Camry and Elantra would be just fine girl names ... if they weren't car names. LOL I also love Allegra but have severe allergies and Aviva but work in IT and can't get over it sounding like Avira. Why do companies have to "take" beautiful girl names? Do they also take boy names? I can't think of any off hand that have been thoroughly "taken" like that.

@hyz: I'm one of those that thinks the nn's Gus and Augie are adorable. I have an uncle August that goes by Augie which kind of makes it a grandpa name for me. Though it shames the socially responsible adult in me to admit, when I was a child we let our cats have several litters of kittens and I named one of them Fluffiluffigus, nn Gus. I'm still rooting for Oliver, August, or maybe Orson since that's my name that got away. Tilden grows on me a little bit but it still doesn't seem like you. Re Agatha: When I was 8 or 9 we had a neighbor with daughters Agatha and Mina. Agatha was my age and we played together constantly. Re LNs: I have to admit I love F0nten0t too. And it's because I love DH's last name that I've never argued about whether our kids should all have it. Mine is rather ordinary and boring. I just never took his because 1) my LN is mine and 2) his LN rhymes with and has the same number of syllables and rhythm as Kimberly. And if I went by Kim HisLN it kind of becomes Kih Mander--. From last thread: I'm going to have to pass Alistair, Ansel, and Linus past DH. I don't think I'd actually want to use Linus, I'm just interested in hearing what DH has to say. We're both computer people and our first association is Linus Torvalds, not the Peanuts character. Rosalind Ruby Lucille: I have to say I love it too!

@Becky: I don't think I told you before, congrats on Ruth. If this is a girl that will be her middle name after my mother.

Guest@110: I like the sound of Eileen Elizabeth. My personal preference is for the English Ellen over Eileen, but I think Eileen is a lovely name and a lovely sentiment to honor your aunt. My only concern would be how on board your husband is (or isn't). ETA: Eily Bess is an adorable nn for you little girl. And I think Eileen goes just fine with you other children's names. @hyz (and chimu): Even if it seems like you've come to an agreement on names, I would highly suggest not officially deciding until much later. If for no other reason than to avoid feeling like there may have been a name that got away. So if I count it right, there are three babies on here due in October? Popular month :) @Linnaeus: If you happen by, I did respond to you at the tail of the previous thread and would be interested in any suggestions you might have.