[I am so far behind I will never catch up, and now I’m far enough behind that babies are being born before I get to the questions. But I hate to just DELETE questions, so I’m posting some of them here for us to work on together, and by “us” I mean “just you,” and by “together” I mean that I will write this little intro and hit publish.]
John writes:
Greetings from a soon-to-be father!
We are open to first and middle name suggestions. Thank you for taking
time and consideration.Background info:
– My wife and I are expecting our first baby May 14th.
– We have yet to learn the baby’s gender.
– We are searching for fresh-yet-classic names. Preferably unique,
timeless and/or poetic names that can handle the schoolyard, as well
as adult pursuits.– We enjoy Latin, Germanic, Hawaiian, British-based names…and a bunch
of other cultures I’ve failed to mention.– We are avid travelers, both to international cities and the great
outdoors, thus we hope the name(s) resonate from mountain to city to
sea.– We live in California. However I grew up in the US Midwest and my
wife grew up in the US South. As such the names shouldn’t be too crazy
or our families will scoff.– The month of May is Taurus / earth / emerald.
– We will exclude faddish names (e.g. Skylar, Aiden, Brayden), and
probably exclude Top 100-200 names (e.g. Jacob, Ethan).– Perhaps shorter (e.g. one or two syllable) first and middle names
would complement our three syllable, Polish last name. Our last name
starts with “D” (“_ubra_ski”)– Girl names we’ve considered, but for whatever reasons they have yet
to fully resonate:Adrienne, Amelie, Eva, Giovanna, Giselle, Katya, Maya, Mila, Penelope,
Rosemary, Sienna, Sierra, Uma, Terra, Vera, Victoria, Vivian…– Boy names we’ve considered, but for whatever reasons they have yet
to fully resonate:Andre/Andrei/Andres, Beck, Bryce, Charles, Conrad, Cosimo, Cyrus,
Enzo, Ferdinand, Graham, Harrison, Huxley, Kai, Kier, Lachlan, Layton,
Leonardo, Mason, Miles, Milo, Nolan, Parker, Pierce, Taj, Townsend,
Tyson, Vaughn…***We are very open to new suggestions, or perhaps your thoughts on
the names listed above.Thank you and we look forward to your response.
My favorites from your girl list are Adrienne, Katya and Terra (though I prefer the more traditional spelling of Tara). Adrienne Eva D___. is beautiful.
From your boy list, I really like Vaughn. What a great underused name! Vaughn Mason D__. And I like Graham. Perhaps with your name as a middle? Graham John D____.
My two cents! And having grown up in the South and now living in the Great Plains of the US, I understand the need for something the family won’t scoff at! :)
I love Amelie from your girl list.
I like Bryce and Graham from the boy list.
Other names you might like:
Girl: Mariska, Helena
Boy: Bennett, Tate
Ohhh Penelope! If our babe is a girl, that will be her name- nn Nella. I love it!
On our boy names list is Oliver and Felix… perhaps they may work for you?
For a girl, I love Mila and Penelope from your list. And Amelia.
For a boy, I love Charles, Graham and Milo.
I think you have great names on your list (too many great names in fact!), you just have to start eliminating some…
I think Rosemary would make a great middle name (Mila Rosemary D__.) as would Nolan (Charles Nolan D__.) Are there family members you’d like to honor for middle names?
Good luck!
You have two great lists, there!!
Reading over your ideas I thought of Violet for a girl and Oscar for a boy.
From your lists I love:
Girl – Victoria
Boy – Brice
Suggestions:
Girl – Layla, Lyla, Ava, Charlotte
Boy – Grant, Preston, Roger
Oooo. I just love Ferdinand and would love it if someone had the guts to use it. Some other underused boy’s names that seem classic and/or exotic to me:
Arlo
Constantine (Costa is a great nick name)
Roman
Sylvester (or Silvester which is the original spelling)
Thaddeus (with the nickname Tad or Ted)
Of your girl’s list I love Giovanna, Penelope, Rosemary, and Vera. I consider Eva top 100-200 and very similar to Ava. If you are looking for unique, I suggest avoiding Eva.
Oooo – would Tova be too out there? I discovered this name a few months ago and your family seems like a good candidate for it.
Other classic / underused names:
Louisa
Susannah (or Susanna with the nickname Sukie)
Susannah is surprisingly underused, but recognized by most people. Susannah shouldn’t cause your traditional families to scoff – although I guess they could just not like the sound. BUT the nickname Sukie lets you call her by something artsy and spunky. Susannah could be your perfect fit.
Oh and some of my personal favorite girl names that were just too out there for my husband. These are in fact my 3 top girl’s name and I didn’t get to use a single one on my most likely only daughter (sniff, sniff). Maybe your family might like them?
Cecily
Felicity
Ione
Calista might also work for you.
It is one of my “second tier” or next favorite girl’s names. I thought of these ideas after I submitted, thus the double post.
I wonder if Phoebe would fit the bill for you as a girl with the classical background. We’ve received nothing but positive responses with our new Phoebe. :)
Other names we were strongly considered that you might like are:
Tess/Tessa (Theresa or Therese if you like)
Una (I like this better than Uma personally, but it’s debatable whether it would be more recognized.)
Nina
Willa
For boys, you’ve got a great list as well–Phoebe would have been a Graham most likely, so I’m partial to that. Other ideas:
Soren
Tomas
Asa
Girl ideas:
Gia
Antonia
Johanna
Shoshanna
Genevieve
Georgia
Cora
Marina
Iris
Ever
Boy ideas:
Tai (unless Taj is pronounced this way–don’t want to be redundant)
Matteo or Teobaldo (nn: Teo, pron. Tay-oh)
Claude
Ezra
Vincent
Victor
Nico
My legal name is Adrienne although because of my huge dislike for it (it just doesn’t suit me!) I have gone by the name Adey all my life. (It’s pronounced like the #80, A.D., etc NOT Add-ee)
Perhaps that is a nickname you would like should you go with Adrienne.
Our daughter’s name is Nolana. It’s pronounced No-Lawna and we call her Lana (Lawna) for short. It suits her beautifully and we haven’t met another person with that name!
I like Vaughn or Brennan or Kieran or Rhys for a boy. My favourite girl name that might match your requirement is Calla.
Good luck!
From your girls names, none jump out at me too much…maybe Amelie & Maya or Mila. Some other girls suggestions:
Alaina
Avril
Eleni
Eloise
Hollis
Leila/Layla
Laken
Malia
Sabine
Vida
From your boy’s list I like Enzo & Nolan and love Vaughn. Some other suggestions:
Anders
Alden
Breckin
Burke
Keane
Tate
Kenzo
Shepard
Siler
Good Luck! Can’t wait to hear what you choose!
your girls name looks familiar to ours! ultimately we went with the name Alta as our daughters name and LOVE it. timeless. from your list i love maya and mila. but im a sucker for names that end in A!
From your girl list I like Katya and Vera best for you. From your boy list, Andre, Cyrus, Graham, Lachlan, Pierce and Vaughn.
My suggestions: Siobhan and Maxmillian.
From your list I love Vivian!
A few other suggestions:
Cora
Tamsin
Gia/Gianna
Rosalie
Minna
Hadley
Boys: i love Leo/Leonardo,Harrison, Nolan from your list
other ideas:
Max
Kieran
Marco/Marcus
Callum
Cullen
Silas
Simon
Deacon
Duncan
Good luck!
My favourites on your list are Penelope and Graham (but I found it hard to choose – nice list!) How about:
Lyra
Genevieve (I see someone else suggested it.)
Phoebe (ditto)
Miriam
Silas
Ruben/Reuben
Carl/Karl
If you want to keep options open for future children and you care about siblings’ names co-ordinating, then look at the list and see which is most compatible. For me, I think Eva, Giselle, Maya, and Mila work well with most of the other girls’ names and Andre is the most flexible of the boys’.
From the other commenters, I really like Helena, Marina, and Nina and Felix, Roman, Vincent, Nico, and Victor.
From your girls list, I love Adrienne, Eva, Maya, Rosemary, and Vivian – what a great list! You also might like:
Delilah
Sabine
Noelle
Noèmie
Bridget
Arabella
Veronica
Willa
Aria
Corinna
Junia
For boys, I’m in love with almost your entire list! Charles, Conrad, Harrison, Kai, Taj, and Vaughn are my favorites. What about…
Wyatt
Greer
Ian
Soren
Baxter
Mose
Vance
Malachi
Luc
Seamus
Langdon
Nathaniel
Any of these jump out at you?
Just a couple of more suggestions that I think would work with your requirements:
Bridget
Bridget May D*ski
Bridget Leigh D*ski
Bridget Eve D*ski
Was going to suggest Bridget Ann but that would give the initials BAD
Corinne, Karena, or Katrina
” Faith D*ski
” Leanne/Lana D*ski
Helena
Helena May D*ski
Helena Sue D*ski
Helena Claire D*ski
For a boy I think Thomas D*ski has a great classic ring to it. Maybe too top 100 for you?
Thomas
Thomas Sean D*ski
Thomas Paul D*ski
Sean
Sean Graham D*ski
Sean Phillip D*ski
Alexander
Alexander Miles D*ski
Kyle
Kyle Edward D*ski
Good luck
Maile (pronounced MY-lee)
Leilani
Lorelei
Kiah
You have picked some great names! Any of them will sound great when introducing baby to the family. When reading your comments, I couldn’t help thinking “Jade” for a little girl.
It brings to mind the green for May. Plus, in all of my world travels, every culture would be able to pronounce it. It’s #129 in the US.
Wow – you have a lot of great names on your lists and some great suggestions here! As this hasn’t been suggested yet, I thought I’d throw one more onto the female name list, just in case it resonates: Lucia (generally pronounced lu-SEE-ah but could also be pronounced in the more traditional Italian manner lu-CHEE-ah). It’s short and sweet, not too “out there” but not too common/trendy, has some (but not too much) ethnic flair, works w/your last name, and even has a more “traditional” nickname: Lucy.
Oh, gosh, and I just thought of a few more:
Alicia
Felicia
Kamilia (I had a Polish friend in h.s. named Kamilia, and I always loved her name!)
Lots of luck finding THE name!
I’m stuck on your world traveler comment. Perhaps you and your wife attach special significance on a certain country. ie. you met there, you honeymooned there, etc
To honor that you could use a name that has some connection to that area.
Use a middle name of a lake in that region – Chad, Victoria, Constance (well, with a K), etc.
Perhaps mountains? There’s Baxter, Dana, Denny, Gannett, Loa, Mitchell, Whitney… and that’s just in the US!