Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Baby naming challenge!


Here's a revelation for you: naming babies is HARD.

On our way to school this morning, the kids and I decided it would be easiest if babies were born wearing name tags. The sticker kind that say "Hello! My name is ..." with their chosen name written in Sharpie beneath. No guesswork involved.

At this point, I would also readily accept a heavenly visitation instructing me on what to name my child. In other words, Angel Gabriel? Can we make an appointment for a private naming consultation? I'll even bake cookies for the occasion. Just tell me WHAT TO NAME THIS BABY. Please?

I know a lot of women have their kids' names picked out by the time they themselves graduate from high school. Once upon a time, I too created a juvenile list of that nature, probably on lined notebook paper in glittery gel pen ink. Today, those names have either already been used by close family members or my tastes have changed to the point where I don't care for them anymore. Or Dill doesn't like them.

(I did get to use one of the names on my teenage list -- Carson. Big fan of TRL back in the day and I had a little crush on Carson Daly. Plus, I just liked the name.)

So here we are. I'm 26 weeks pregnant, the holidays are over so we don't have the excuse of being too busy anymore, and we still have no name for Baby #3. We have some ideas, ones that I won't list explicitly because it's hard enough trying to coordinate two people's naming tastes let alone 1,402,741 (that's how many people read my blog, I'm sure). But every time we fall in love with a name, we soon realize it won't work or it sounds funny or it might give our kid some kind of complex, so we abandon it.

And let's be honest here -- we are picky. Both Dill and I. At least we agree on our outrageous, unreasonable naming criteria, though. Ours is as follows:

-We like names that are spelled traditionally. Not too popular but not too unique, either. We consult with this Web site to make sure we're clear of the top 50 names of the most recent year.

-Needs to be at least two syllables for the purpose of rhythm. Our last name is a single syllable and we feel the single-single combination is too abrupt and not poetic enough for us.

-Can't end in an F or a V sound because the first and last name will run together.

-Can't be an adjective or color because our last name is Foote. For instance, Violet is a darling name, but Violet Foote won't work because hello, that burns a strangely distinct image into your mind when you hear it. No one needs to associate our little girl with a purple (and probably hairy) foot. That's just uncomfortable for everyone.

-We don't like gender neutral names, either. Nothing personal. (Never ask Dill how he feels about the female Dylans of the world.) But if you can argue it's officially be co-opted by the girls, then we'll consider it.

-It also needs to go with Jean, which will be her middle name. It's the name of Dill's deceased mother, so it's very special to us. Non-negotiable.

Oddly enough, though, we're not picky about the first name's meaning. Audrey happens to mean "noble strength," which is luckily very beautiful, but we didn't choose it for that reason. Carson, on the other hand, means "son of the marsh dwellers." So take that for what it's worth. I mean, I don't want a name that means "harlot" or "horrible diarrhea" or something, but generally speaking, the meaning of a name doesn't matter much to me.

At this point, we feel like we have covered every female name in existence (pedigree charts, books, the entire World Wide Web) and they're all starting to blur together. But I know there are names out there we haven't considered and I need a fresh view of things. So -- I can't believe I'm doing this -- please make your suggestions! Here, in the comments. Whip out your gel-pen lined-paper list and give me your best.

And tell ya what -- if you happen to suggest THE perfect name AND we decide to use it for our baby, I'll give you a $25 Target gift card. Because seriously, that's how dire this situation is becoming.

Ready, set, GO!

44 comments:

  1. Cecilia, Arielle,Elena (Elle/Ellie/Lennie), Natalie, Harlow, Lila/Lily/Lillian (I now Lily is popular but it's my daugther's name, so I'm biased lol), Holly, Anneliese, Adelaide, Taissa

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  2. Ahhh...girl names are the hardest for me! Our list for our most recent (who turned out to be a boy, making this list obsolete) included Caitlin, Alice, Allison, and Kate. Nothing too exciting. I also enjoy Erin, Camille, Charlotte & Natalie. Good luck--I'm super picky too. Names have to sound good on a baby and an adult, not be too popular or too out there unusual, and be spelled traditionally. I've had good luck using nymbler.com to find names similar to ones I've already used. :)

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  3. Bridgette, Evelyn, Emmeline, Eliza, Caroline... Good luck!!

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  4. Brianna, Brooke, Brooklyn, Delaney, Lilah, Cami or Camilla, Gabby/Gabriella

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  5. Clara... My fourth daughter's name!

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  6. Adrienne/Adrianne. Esther (who doesn't love the Biblical story?) those are my new favorites. Good luck!

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  7. In keeping with names NOT on the top 50 list, and meeting your other criteria: Kelsey, Courtney, Lindsay, Kendra, Naomi, Kimberlyn or Kimberly, Adriana, Mallory, Kadence.

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  8. I just love my girls' names so I'll throw them out there: Madelyn (more classic than the super popular Madison; plus there are several different spelling options) and Charlotte (we call her Charly, which I know crosses the gender divide a bit, but you could give her another nickname, too). I have a niece named Hadley, which is on the unique side but sounds super cute with Jean! I also love Alyson, Amelia, Ivy, and the wild card: Lorelai. Good luck! You'll come up with something you love. :)

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  9. Yeah, I have no idea how I'm ever going to name children. :) Names are hard for me... here are some I like though (and I didn't check the top 50 list so you'd have to do that. lol)

    Hailee, Katelyn, Kailie, Harper, Annalee... okay, I can't think of any more. I'll go with those. :) Good luck!

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  10. I have always loved the name Genevieve! Since I can't name a child, I'm passing it along to you. <3 Winnie is a good name too (it's my mother's). Kind of old-fashioned but classic, none-the-less.

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  11. I'll give you my name that I'm saving for my girl....if we ever have another (but we are 'done').
    ....Lydia. I LOVE that name. I think it goes really well with Jean. Good luck! I know how hard it is.

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  12. Oh, and if you need another suggestion... Kathryn.... with a nick name of Katya. :) I love it. :) ....but I may be a little bias.

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  13. my favorites right now are reagan, hayden, mckaye, sadie, and elliette. some of those are gender neutral, but i think they are more feminine sounding

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  14. Nora Jean just has the perfect ring to it, doesn't it? :) I have always loved the name Nora. Most of my names are the opposite of traditional but I'll try and give you my toned down version.
    Charlotte, Hayley, Mallory, Lennon, Sadie, Payton, and Madelyn.

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  15. Sydney, Sarah, I know a super cool named Paige

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  16. Oh I like Eliza! I heard that recently (and saw it in the comments) and really love it. But we can't use it cause Eliza and Elijah? Too much. I like Ruby (but I guess that could be a color), Rose (possible color too? ha oops. We just had a niece born with that name so we can't use it anymore), Ava (or Adam likes it spelled Eva), Anneli (but I like the spelling Annaleigh better but Adam doesn't agree. Pronounced Ahn-a-lee.), Lucy (though popular... but I still love it. For Lucy Mack Smith :)), Piper, Ivy, Rory, Camilla (Adam has a niece with that name though so we can't use it), and Roxy, ha. I have a lot of names I like but they either get suuuuuper popular so I don't feel like I can use them or Adam vetoes it. Anneli/Annaleigh is the one we can agree on but can't agree on spelling. Seriously naming babies is the HARDEST!! We couldn't agree on a name for Elijah until the deadline to tell the hospital when we left. And even then I wanted Eli and Adam wanted Elijah so we compromised... though it's not really a compromise cause we call him Elijah, ha. And the night before Adam was looking through the 100,000+ baby names book because we still couldn't decide, haha. So I feel ya!! I have a feeling for our next baby it's going to be just like this. We might even have to wait two weeks after it's born to decide, ha. Good luck!!! So so excited for you!! :)

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  17. And my comment was super long with a lot of parentheses... sorry!!

    Oh also I like the name Penny :)

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  18. I just had a baby girl in November and we named her Jane Felicity. We also considered Jane Amelia. Obviously Jane Jean doesn't work, but Felicity or Amelia might. ha. If you haven't yet, check out nameberry.com. I am addicted to it.

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  19. I second Lydia. It goes well with Jean and Foote

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  20. My favorite girl name that I never got to use is Daphne.

    I think Daphne Jean Foote sounds wonderful :) (and I love to shop at Target- so this would be a win/win. right?)

    Also- my mother's maiden name is Foote. So that should give me an "in". ;)

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  21. Daphne, Delia/Cordelia, Delilah, Darcy, Clementine, Rosalie, Amelia/Mia/Lia/Millie, Kasey/Casey

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  22. You could combine your first name and your husband's to get Denna, which sounds great with Jean. That is how we named our son Cason (Kim and Jason). I have always loved Ansley, which also goes well with Jean.

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  23. You should look at http://www.swistle.com/babynames/ (and maybe even write to her about your dilemma)...

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  24. Ah I can relate we had the hardest time agreeing on a name for our son. We didn't decide on a name until a few hours before he was born. It can get frustrating! I hope you guys can decide on a name soon. Here are a few names i think that are pretty.....

    Makelle, Sariah, McKenna, Kenna, Kylie, Alexis, Kennedy

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  25. Names are hard! I like Sara, Hanna(h), and Olivia (Livi for short).

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  26. I will go really old and say Corrine or Colleen. I have a friend that named her baby (now 25) Colleen and I always loved it. Liked Colette too. Must be something about those "Co" names.

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  27. There's a few name suggestions here you might like: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/geeky-dad-lets-internet-pick-daughter-article-1.1578250. Megatron is an absolutely lovely name. Haha.

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  28. Mckenna is a very classic and beautiful name like Elise Mckenna from Somewhere In Time. I hope you guys find a name you both like. I'm in the same boat if we have another boy. Madelyn Elise will be our girl name if its a girl. You can use that name too if you like.

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  29. naming kids is tough!!! my kids names all come from songs b/c my husband loves music...my kiddos names are : Elisabeth, Jude, and Lyla.( might be my favorite name and there are so many fun nicknames!)

    However I loved the names : Cecilia ... Cilia for short , Tinsley,
    Good luck!!

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  30. p.s. Also Lyla means dark haired beauty :) I enjoyed reading all the comments!! What a fun idea!

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  31. These should meet your criteria and are beautiful and classic: Eleanor and Louisa. I must be your only selfish friend because I am not offering my own baby's name Fiona, which also meets the criteria lol. ;)

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  32. For Louisa the nicknames Lou and Lucy are adorable

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  33. My name means The Dark One, which basically describes my inner personality ;) But I'm not going to argue if you use my name! I've always loved it, not having to worry about permanently tagging my last initial to my first name in grade school because there were so many others with my name. We're turning to our family history charts, because Helga and Hilde and Velate are keepers.

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  35. to add an addition req, 5 sylables for the total name works best. i like a name the has a long and short version too. some to consider : Samantha, Savannah, Sabrina

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  36. So when I was born, my parents wanted to name me after my dad. They took his middle name (Allen) and added an A and I have henceforth been Allena. Maybe you could do something like that with Dillon's middle name? I don't happen to know what it is, nor do I think there's a good way to make Dillon in to a girl's name (Delilah is about as close as I can think of). Good luck!

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  37. I have 5 boys (and will NOT be having any girls) so here are some of my favorite names that I never got to use :)
    Ruby, Elsie, Daisy, Kate (or Katie), Annie and Lucy.
    Feel free to take any or all ;)
    Stacey

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  38. I like Nellie. It sounds pretty with Jean. Nellie Jean. My sister in law named her daughter Elsinore but calls her Elsi or Elsie. Naming a baby is hardest. with my 3rd pregnancy My hubs and I decided to wait until the babys born to avoid debating because we could never agree on it! :) good luck!

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  39. Amy. Yeah, yeah, I know it's my own name. But I really think it's a great name that gets passed up a lot; and I would like it even if it wasn't my own. It's traditional, it's definitely been co-opted by girls, works with Jean (aw lil Amy Jean, or AJ if you're feeling feisty), and definitely doesn't mean "horrible diarrhea". Also, while it's a normal, traditional name, in my ten years of working in the educational field I have never once encountered a child named Amy, so it is definitely not in the top 50. I can also attest there are no weird nicknames that come along with Amy. In fact, the closest thing I've ever had to a nickname is Ame/Aim.

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  40. I have no suggestions for you off the top of my head. Although I do second (or third!) Daphne. It was a top runner in our list. Can I just say how crazy it is though when you think you've done some original, yet not too out there name, and come to find out...everyone else has done the same! I'm just flabbergasted that two people in your comments mentioned Elsie. All our names were in the top 50ish, but Elsie was like 487 or something. Apparently it might move up to 300 at the rate I keep hearing it! Anyway, good luck. We never name our babies until a day or two after their birth. Hard to decide and commit.

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  41. Ellie Annie Lindsey Avery tiffany Nicole Megan Madison Lydie lily Elizabeth olive Harper Bridgette Brooklyn Sarah sienna Morgan molly halie Scarlett Eloise Savannah and alexa ;) whew that's a lot of names!!

    Lex
    Alexa.zurcher@gmail.com
    AlexaMarieZurcher.com

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  42. Jean was my great-grandmother's name. My sister's name is Laci Jean, and she has always absolutely hated her name, partly because she was taunted with underwear jokes throughout high school. However, it obviously wasn't the "Jean" part she had a problem with because she named her daughter Hadley Jean, which I think is absolutely adorable. Hadley hasn't dealt with people struggling to pronounce her name, but she's never had to deal with other Hadleys in her class, so it's not too weird or too common. No one has ever mistaken her for a boy upon hearing it. Ernest Hemmingway's wife was named Hadley, so it's not exactly a new trendy name. My sister also thought about naming her Addison Jean or Emerson Jean, which I think are cute as well. If you like more classic names I also think Alexandra Jean, Isabelle Jean, Carolyn Jean, and Madeleine Jean flow nicely. I also like Gabrielle/Gabriella Jean, Celeste Jean, Opal Jean, Celia Jean, Kassidy Jean, Ayda Jean, Harper Jean, and Kara Jean. I think Ella Jean is adorable, but that might be too common.

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