You're right EVie. "Carys" is the spelling that I originally came across and fell in love with, but initially, DH was not on board. Then we listened to an audio recording of World Without End by Ken Follett during a long roadtrip, and DH grew to really like the name by the end of the story (it's a very long book). In Follett's book, the name is spelled "Caris." At the time, I was trying to get DH on board with the name Tobias, and both thought that Caris and Tobias looked a little better together than Carys and Tobias, espeically if we added Sofia to the mix. If we look at Caris and Carys as two different names with two different orgins, the meanings of the two names are different (I believe Carys means 'love') but we liked that both meanings were positive.
Kalmia, this is GREAT! Very helpful -- a lot of names that I haven't seen before that still fit the original pattern (even if we decide to move away from it). I also appreciate your description of our naming style -- it's hard to put a finger on personally but I think you described it very well! Thanks again!
Yes, I've noticed this, too -- at least with boys' names. My husband and I are actually not religious at all, so it's always been a bit of a quirk that I seem to be partial to Biblical/Hebrew boys names. Don't know where it comes from, honestly, but I definitely can't deny it.
For instance, none of the girls name from your list really appeal to me, but four of the five boys names you listed really do: Micah, Liam, Eli(jah), and Caleb (although this last one is the name of the family member so we wouldn't use it).
Some others I like are Joel, Jonah, Judah, Matteo, Nathaniel, and Theodore -- it wasn't until I had made a list that included name meanings that I recognized all the similar origins and meanings ("Gift of God," etc.). Interesting.
Funny that you didn't notice! I imagine this is probably one of those things that sticks out to namer but isn't all that obvious to the casual observer who isn't looking for that pattern, which is honestly good to know. I think the difficulty I'm having with the fourth name (second boy's name) is that the shared letters A, I, S, is very glaring to me, and that if the fourth name didn't match it would be very noticeable -- but, maybe not!
Glad to see another fan of Tobias! I've liked that name for years and years and even though I worry that it might one day take off and become super popular, I'm always a little surprised that no one seems to have really heard of it (guess Toby - as a nickname or a given - is more common?).
And yes, we were totally fine with our list of names until DH's parents began asking for hints about the names we were considering. When DH told them that we didn't plan to share (we also don't plan to find out the sex before birth) but that we'd had names picked out for at least a couple years, they said, "Well, don't count on liking those names once you meet the baby." And it really threw me off and made me start questioning everything.
We really LOVE Caris and Tobias, and maybe those should be all we should consider for now; there's no reason why we can't start from scratch later (especially once we start hanging around people with small children more and see what names are being used among our own circles).
From your list, I love Elijah, Theodore, and Isla. We're leaving ourselves the option to use Louis/Lewis as a middle name for a boy one day. Also like Gabriel and Annika, but we have close friends/family who have children with those names.
You're right -- a soft C opens things up a lot. From your list, I really like Celia/Cecilia, Lucia (although our dog is Lucy so probably can't use this one), Elisa, Matthias, and Atticus (especially love this one since Caris is was a literary choice for us and I love "To Kill a Mockingbird").
Thanks, Carly! I bet you're totally right. Yesterday I was adding my name list to my profile here, and even though I included all the names from the list, there were several that made me go, "Yuck - I like this name?" So even in the two or three years since I've been keeping an actual electronic list, things have changed.
So excited for this forum! I've been following Laura's blog for over ten years now (I remember the iVillage days). I can't remember a time when I wasn't at least mildly obsessed with names, and this site has been a great outlet!
After following along behind the scenes for years, I was just coming online today to officially delurk and ask for advice from other readers as my husband and I are six weeks a long with our first. Couldn't believe my luck when I saw the new forum -- I've never been able to figure out a good way to just jump in, so this is great!
You're right EVie. "Carys" is the spelling that I originally came across and fell in love with, but initially, DH was not on board. Then we listened to an audio recording of World Without End by Ken Follett during a long roadtrip, and DH grew to really like the name by the end of the story (it's a very long book). In Follett's book, the name is spelled "Caris." At the time, I was trying to get DH on board with the name Tobias, and both thought that Caris and Tobias looked a little better together than Carys and Tobias, espeically if we added Sofia to the mix. If we look at Caris and Carys as two different names with two different orgins, the meanings of the two names are different (I believe Carys means 'love') but we liked that both meanings were positive.
Kalmia, this is GREAT! Very helpful -- a lot of names that I haven't seen before that still fit the original pattern (even if we decide to move away from it). I also appreciate your description of our naming style -- it's hard to put a finger on personally but I think you described it very well! Thanks again!
Yes, I've noticed this, too -- at least with boys' names. My husband and I are actually not religious at all, so it's always been a bit of a quirk that I seem to be partial to Biblical/Hebrew boys names. Don't know where it comes from, honestly, but I definitely can't deny it.
For instance, none of the girls name from your list really appeal to me, but four of the five boys names you listed really do: Micah, Liam, Eli(jah), and Caleb (although this last one is the name of the family member so we wouldn't use it).
Some others I like are Joel, Jonah, Judah, Matteo, Nathaniel, and Theodore -- it wasn't until I had made a list that included name meanings that I recognized all the similar origins and meanings ("Gift of God," etc.). Interesting.
Funny that you didn't notice! I imagine this is probably one of those things that sticks out to namer but isn't all that obvious to the casual observer who isn't looking for that pattern, which is honestly good to know. I think the difficulty I'm having with the fourth name (second boy's name) is that the shared letters A, I, S, is very glaring to me, and that if the fourth name didn't match it would be very noticeable -- but, maybe not!
Good points about commons sounds between two names rather than among all of them.
I hadn't noticed the 'rhyminess' of the Os in Tobias and Sofia, but now that you point it out, it is a bit more distinct. Something to think about it.
I love Norah, Margot, Sander, and Jonah from your list. Louise is a family name we're considering for a girl at some point, so we like that one too.
Glad to see another fan of Tobias! I've liked that name for years and years and even though I worry that it might one day take off and become super popular, I'm always a little surprised that no one seems to have really heard of it (guess Toby - as a nickname or a given - is more common?).
And yes, we were totally fine with our list of names until DH's parents began asking for hints about the names we were considering. When DH told them that we didn't plan to share (we also don't plan to find out the sex before birth) but that we'd had names picked out for at least a couple years, they said, "Well, don't count on liking those names once you meet the baby." And it really threw me off and made me start questioning everything.
We really LOVE Caris and Tobias, and maybe those should be all we should consider for now; there's no reason why we can't start from scratch later (especially once we start hanging around people with small children more and see what names are being used among our own circles).
From your list, I love Elijah, Theodore, and Isla. We're leaving ourselves the option to use Louis/Lewis as a middle name for a boy one day. Also like Gabriel and Annika, but we have close friends/family who have children with those names.
You're right -- a soft C opens things up a lot. From your list, I really like Celia/Cecilia, Lucia (although our dog is Lucy so probably can't use this one), Elisa, Matthias, and Atticus (especially love this one since Caris is was a literary choice for us and I love "To Kill a Mockingbird").
I will have to further explore the soft-C option!
Thanks, Carly! I bet you're totally right. Yesterday I was adding my name list to my profile here, and even though I included all the names from the list, there were several that made me go, "Yuck - I like this name?" So even in the two or three years since I've been keeping an actual electronic list, things have changed.
So excited for this forum! I've been following Laura's blog for over ten years now (I remember the iVillage days). I can't remember a time when I wasn't at least mildly obsessed with names, and this site has been a great outlet!
After following along behind the scenes for years, I was just coming online today to officially delurk and ask for advice from other readers as my husband and I are six weeks a long with our first. Couldn't believe my luck when I saw the new forum -- I've never been able to figure out a good way to just jump in, so this is great!