I am annoyed that Henry has continued to rise, not so much because it's "our" name but because everyone hated it when we named our Henry thirteen years ago. Like, now it's cool, but we were sooo awful to do that to our baby back then. I wish our family and friends (and all of the strangers who asked) could see the data; sweet vindication! lol
I'm kind of surprised Agnes didn't break the top 1000. But since our choices have a long curve, we will probably be hearing about loads of babies called Agnes when she's around age 10. :P
We know a man in his early seventies named Parke, and we gave Henry a middle name to honor him. My husband has known Parke for twenty years and decided to give a child his name long before he ever found a wife! ;)
I do agree that Silas sounds great with your last name. Good luck!
I root for Edith, too. But then, I have an Agnes (and a 13-year-old Henry) so my taste tends to skew against the trends. ;)
Some names that I would suggest to go with your girls' are far too popular. Violet, Charlotte, Amelia... even Beatrice (I pushed DH sooo hard for Beatrice but he would not cave!) is very of-the-moment.
It's too bad about Susanna. It is an underused classic. Would Suzette work? Still too French?
What about these? Some of the '-a' ending probably don't pair well with Maria, but maybe they'll inspire you anyway!
Celeste
Lydia
Cecilia (this was one of our tops but a friend used it first)
Cora (another Downton name if Edith doesn't win you over)
Aurora (similar sound to Eleanor)
Gemma (too English?)
Lucinda
Daphne
Giselle (another Frenchy)
Louise (though I think it would sound better swapped, Maria Louise. Okay, yes. I love Maria Louise!
I must say, I love the suggestions of Georgia and Genevieve, particularly because I think it's cute that you have an 'E' and an 'F' already! I think it's a sort of "theme" that most people wouldn't pick up on unless they were writing the names together, and you do have a 'J' to break up the set! ;)
I added it to my list in high school because I adore the character in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. It fell off my radar until my son Henry was in kindergarten ten years later (2005) and his class read a book called "Beatrice Doesn't Want To," and Beatrice's older brother was called Henry.
When we were expecting our baby girl last year, I lobbied hard for Beatrice but my husband wouldn't agree to it, and we ended up with Agnes.
Oh, I forgot to comment on Tobias! The others are right; there is no separating the name from the AD character... Perhaps in a few more years, the younger crowd will be able to revive it without thinking of the world's first analrapist.
Our 8-week old baby is Agnes! I figured everyone would hate it, but they love it or they're lying when they say they do! lol
I think maybe we paved the way for Agnes when we named her big brother Henry 12 years ago. Everyone did hate it, but they got over it... so Agnes probably didn't come off as shocking since they expected something old, ugly, and dated. ;)
I'm very happy to report that "Baby Girl White" is still hanging in there. No progress made from week 38 to week 39, so I did a little happy dance, which amused my midwife. ;) I'm simply not in any hurry for this baby to be born, I think because I know for sure this is it for us, and the pregnancy came as such an unexpected blessing (SHOCK, if I'm being 100% honest!), I'm trying to savour every moment.
Maybe this is why I'm having such trouble committing to a name? Same reason all of her clothes have yet to be washed and put away? I'm excited to meet her but I don't want to rush it. Of course, there's no real worry of "rushing" anything at this point. I think I need a brisk slap across the face, because I am literally a ticking time bomb!
We're still mulling it over -- including many of your suggestions! -- but we're no closer to deciding than we were a week ago. It does make me slightly panicky, but I suppose if we don't have THE NAME chosen by the time she's born, we'll have to take the list along and see if anything jumps out at as. I really hate this tactic, waiting to meet the baby before settling on his/her name, simply because all babies look like little old men. LOL
It must be my hormones, but your responses are making me cry! hahaha!!!!
Thank you for all of the wonderful feedback. I don't know why I have such an issue with (supposed) popularity! Jake (that's DH) and Henry roll their eyes and say, "Who cares?" but I think my name-obsessiveness is the root of the problem. Reading this blog and other NE forums has made me biased, I think, on what is actually popular!
I'm from Northern California and Jake is from Central Arkansas, and we're currently in Podunk Missouri where none of these names would be too common. I do know four new babies (within the last three months!) called Alice/Alyce, which bothers me... too bad, because I think it's a lovely match with Henry. Two young Violets, too. But otherwise, the names on the list are nowhere near as overexposed as I'm making them out to be, at least not in my neck of the woods.
Again, the hormones! I think I need to take a breath and get over myself! Right?
Thank you all for the reality check! I'm going to go over your suggestions with my guys and will update asap with their reactions. I appreciate your help so much!
ETA: I plan on replying to you individually but I'm starving for lunch and will have to come back in a bit! ;)
It's certainly more difficult for us this time around. When we had Henry twelve years ago, all of our friends & family were using trendy names (not "popular" in the way that Michael & Elizabeth will always be "popular") and we were the odd ducks. Now that the classically "popular" names are the "trend," there are certainly fewer names in the pool. The girl names we had on our list twelve years ago are all crossed out now.
So you're choosing from a limitless menu...with the most appealing options crossed out.
This sums up how we're feeling about naming this baby! Poor thing... due in 5 weeks and no name!
Wondering Dad --
Here's another vote for Edith and Arthur! They are both strong, lovely names that haven't reached that "tired" stage. They make a beautiful non-matchy pair.
My Arthur association isn't with the aardvark but with my high school crush, the only guy under 80 that I've ever known with that name. A very positive association indeed. ;)
Our Henry is 11 and is voting for Alice for baby sister, but I think it's a bit too ordinary at this point, so I'm pushing for something a bit farther "off" like Edith, though husband isn't in love with it. He took some selling on Henry, though, so we'll see. :)
Good luck!
I know, it's kind of strange! If you scroll it back to the year 2000 (sing it like La Bamba on the old Conan show!) when my Henry was born, Henry only ranked in the Northeast, Oregon, and Alaska. But my husband is Southern and I'm from California, so we pretty much offended everyone we knew when we chose that name. LOL
I've changed the spelling of my first name (added a U so people would quit calling me "Lair-uh," which didn't work, by the way, so I dropped it again), taken my stepfather's last name (he never legally adopted me), went back to my birth name with stepfather's name hyphenated... the California DMV never batted an eye or required any proof of my identity.
zoerhenne, it seems like we use the same pronunciations, so I'm wondering how you say "egg." I tend to say "ayg" (and I'm from California), whereas my Arkansas-born husband says it more phonetically, "ehg."
He also says crazy things like "get your picture made" (I say "taken") and "taste/smell of it" (rather than simply, "taste/smell it"). They also say "down your alley," but we say UP!
I agree, Alison.
I am annoyed that Henry has continued to rise, not so much because it's "our" name but because everyone hated it when we named our Henry thirteen years ago. Like, now it's cool, but we were sooo awful to do that to our baby back then. I wish our family and friends (and all of the strangers who asked) could see the data; sweet vindication! lol
I'm kind of surprised Agnes didn't break the top 1000. But since our choices have a long curve, we will probably be hearing about loads of babies called Agnes when she's around age 10. :P
We know a man in his early seventies named Parke, and we gave Henry a middle name to honor him. My husband has known Parke for twenty years and decided to give a child his name long before he ever found a wife! ;)
I do agree that Silas sounds great with your last name. Good luck!
I root for Edith, too. But then, I have an Agnes (and a 13-year-old Henry) so my taste tends to skew against the trends. ;)
Some names that I would suggest to go with your girls' are far too popular. Violet, Charlotte, Amelia... even Beatrice (I pushed DH sooo hard for Beatrice but he would not cave!) is very of-the-moment.
It's too bad about Susanna. It is an underused classic. Would Suzette work? Still too French?
What about these? Some of the '-a' ending probably don't pair well with Maria, but maybe they'll inspire you anyway!
Celeste
Lydia
Cecilia (this was one of our tops but a friend used it first)
Cora (another Downton name if Edith doesn't win you over)
Aurora (similar sound to Eleanor)
Gemma (too English?)
Lucinda
Daphne
Giselle (another Frenchy)
Louise (though I think it would sound better swapped, Maria Louise. Okay, yes. I love Maria Louise!
I must say, I love the suggestions of Georgia and Genevieve, particularly because I think it's cute that you have an 'E' and an 'F' already! I think it's a sort of "theme" that most people wouldn't pick up on unless they were writing the names together, and you do have a 'J' to break up the set! ;)
I think Beatrice has been OTV for a few years.
I added it to my list in high school because I adore the character in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. It fell off my radar until my son Henry was in kindergarten ten years later (2005) and his class read a book called "Beatrice Doesn't Want To," and Beatrice's older brother was called Henry.
When we were expecting our baby girl last year, I lobbied hard for Beatrice but my husband wouldn't agree to it, and we ended up with Agnes.
Oh, I forgot to comment on Tobias! The others are right; there is no separating the name from the AD character... Perhaps in a few more years, the younger crowd will be able to revive it without thinking of the world's first analrapist.
My sister's kids called our grandma "Gigi," for "Great-Grandma."
I have a friend with a Gianna called "Gigi" as well, and it doesn't remind me of my grandma at all. I guess it's all about context!
I am kind of fearless when it comes to names.
We have a 12-year-old Henry and an 8-week-old Agnes, so we don't worry about trends or popularity. :)
If Agnes had been a boy, his name would've been Felix. Also on our list were George, Edith, Beatrice, Arthur, Celia, Willa...
I feel the same with Cordelia. One of the most gorgeous names, butI can't get past the tragic character.
Our 8-week old baby is Agnes! I figured everyone would hate it, but they love it or they're lying when they say they do! lol
I think maybe we paved the way for Agnes when we named her big brother Henry 12 years ago. Everyone did hate it, but they got over it... so Agnes probably didn't come off as shocking since they expected something old, ugly, and dated. ;)
Bump for announcement!
Thanks again for all of the feedback!
I'm very happy to report that "Baby Girl White" is still hanging in there. No progress made from week 38 to week 39, so I did a little happy dance, which amused my midwife. ;) I'm simply not in any hurry for this baby to be born, I think because I know for sure this is it for us, and the pregnancy came as such an unexpected blessing (SHOCK, if I'm being 100% honest!), I'm trying to savour every moment.
Maybe this is why I'm having such trouble committing to a name? Same reason all of her clothes have yet to be washed and put away? I'm excited to meet her but I don't want to rush it. Of course, there's no real worry of "rushing" anything at this point. I think I need a brisk slap across the face, because I am literally a ticking time bomb!
We're still mulling it over -- including many of your suggestions! -- but we're no closer to deciding than we were a week ago. It does make me slightly panicky, but I suppose if we don't have THE NAME chosen by the time she's born, we'll have to take the list along and see if anything jumps out at as. I really hate this tactic, waiting to meet the baby before settling on his/her name, simply because all babies look like little old men. LOL
It must be my hormones, but your responses are making me cry! hahaha!!!!
Thank you for all of the wonderful feedback. I don't know why I have such an issue with (supposed) popularity! Jake (that's DH) and Henry roll their eyes and say, "Who cares?" but I think my name-obsessiveness is the root of the problem. Reading this blog and other NE forums has made me biased, I think, on what is actually popular!
I'm from Northern California and Jake is from Central Arkansas, and we're currently in Podunk Missouri where none of these names would be too common. I do know four new babies (within the last three months!) called Alice/Alyce, which bothers me... too bad, because I think it's a lovely match with Henry. Two young Violets, too. But otherwise, the names on the list are nowhere near as overexposed as I'm making them out to be, at least not in my neck of the woods.
Again, the hormones! I think I need to take a breath and get over myself! Right?
Thank you all for the reality check! I'm going to go over your suggestions with my guys and will update asap with their reactions. I appreciate your help so much!
ETA: I plan on replying to you individually but I'm starving for lunch and will have to come back in a bit! ;)
This is super exciting!
For selfish reasons, I am happy that one can post for naming advice (*ahem!*) without it getting lost in the shuffle of hundreds of comments!
Yay!
It's certainly more difficult for us this time around. When we had Henry twelve years ago, all of our friends & family were using trendy names (not "popular" in the way that Michael & Elizabeth will always be "popular") and we were the odd ducks. Now that the classically "popular" names are the "trend," there are certainly fewer names in the pool. The girl names we had on our list twelve years ago are all crossed out now. So you're choosing from a limitless menu...with the most appealing options crossed out. This sums up how we're feeling about naming this baby! Poor thing... due in 5 weeks and no name!
Wondering Dad -- Here's another vote for Edith and Arthur! They are both strong, lovely names that haven't reached that "tired" stage. They make a beautiful non-matchy pair. My Arthur association isn't with the aardvark but with my high school crush, the only guy under 80 that I've ever known with that name. A very positive association indeed. ;) Our Henry is 11 and is voting for Alice for baby sister, but I think it's a bit too ordinary at this point, so I'm pushing for something a bit farther "off" like Edith, though husband isn't in love with it. He took some selling on Henry, though, so we'll see. :) Good luck!
I know, it's kind of strange! If you scroll it back to the year 2000 (sing it like La Bamba on the old Conan show!) when my Henry was born, Henry only ranked in the Northeast, Oregon, and Alaska. But my husband is Southern and I'm from California, so we pretty much offended everyone we knew when we chose that name. LOL
I've changed the spelling of my first name (added a U so people would quit calling me "Lair-uh," which didn't work, by the way, so I dropped it again), taken my stepfather's last name (he never legally adopted me), went back to my birth name with stepfather's name hyphenated... the California DMV never batted an eye or required any proof of my identity.
zoerhenne, it seems like we use the same pronunciations, so I'm wondering how you say "egg." I tend to say "ayg" (and I'm from California), whereas my Arkansas-born husband says it more phonetically, "ehg." He also says crazy things like "get your picture made" (I say "taken") and "taste/smell of it" (rather than simply, "taste/smell it"). They also say "down your alley," but we say UP!