Our baby is coming in 5 weeks, if not before. So far, my main concern and my main source of depression is… her name. I have been a name nerd for so so so long… it aches that I now can’t decide. I’m scared to have regrets.
Her middle name will be Marlowe. Her third name should be Autumn (we considered Sage for a moment). For her first name I’m torned between Olive/Liv, Esmée & Colette.
Olive: We live in France and so far everybody made fun of the name. In my family, people are begging us to not name her Olive. I’m now scared to use it.
Liv: We love it, but it feels a little nicknamy and doesn’t have the hippie/vintage vibe we are looking for. I’m scared it will be lost between the numerous Lea/Lia, Livia, Lily, Lina that we have in France, between all the Olivias in the US.
Esmée: I always thought that would be my daughter’s name. It’s perfect. For some reason… It doesn’t feel right (whyyyyyy).
Colette: I love it! My husband prefers Cosette because Colette is my aunt’s name. We see her a few times during the year. She is an old-fashioned type of woman, kind but very “special”… People from our generation told us Colette is too out-dated, super hard for a baby, and the ones who know about my aunt can’t picture anything else than her.
I did try to not think about names for awhile. I wrote down my favorites and let them sat for months, but it didn’t change anything. Now I’m so lost that I’m considered every single name I like, used to like or that I don’t even like. Like laying down in my bed thinking for hours and hours “And Charlie? And Billie? And Suzie? And Thelma? And Ottilie? And Imogen? And Ysée? And Isild? And Ebène? And Penelope? And Louve? And Boheme? And Bertille? And Celeste? And Adele? And Rosalie? And Rosamée? And Rosie? And Hermione? And Airelle? And Avril? And Cleo? And Iris? And Rain? And Poppy/Posie? And Primrose? And Harriet? And Vivienne? And Violette? And Elle? And Ida/Ada? And Freya? And Martha? And Brune? And Castille? And Ethel? And Maxine? And Elinor? And Scarlett? And Haydée/Heidi? And…”. It seriously never stops. Thanks god, my husband doesn’t like most of them. My baby doesn’t react to any names… My brain is going to explode and this all name thing ruined my pregnancy
What should I do?
Her little nursery looks a lot like these ones:
Any names come to your mind when you see the pictures?
I think a lot of name nerds go through this when they finally get to make their own child. I think from what you have written you should use [name_f]Esmee[/name_f] or [name_f]Colette[/name_f]!
What you should maybe do that I really wish I had done before officially naming my daughter is test out her name. Call her a name as if it was hers for a week, write it down, tell random people etc etc and change it each week until she arrives. You might find things about the name that make you like it more or less. Go with your gut and don’t let other people’s opinions change your mind at all!
I totally empathise with you. I was exactly like this during my pregnancy. I couldn’t stop thinking about names and options that I loved were always tainted by something or vetoed by my partner. It drove me absolutely nuts! Olive was actually one of my top picks but my partner just didn’t love it. I would have used it in a heartbeat but I’m in Australia, not France, and considering the response you’ve gotten it seems like it’d be difficult for you to go with it unfortunately.
I can’t say I’m a fan of Esmée and if it doesn’t feel right then I’d say you may have to part with it as an option. Colette has some appeal for sure but it seems that it being your aunt’s name is too much of an impediment.
I personally think Liv is right for you and to me it does have a sort of hippy-ish vibe, or something like that at least. Perhaps it’s because I know a gorgeous little girl named Liv with very cool, trendy parents. To me it’s a very sophisticated, cool, streamlined, international name and despite its brevity, I don’t think it’s too nicknamey as it’s a valid name (of Scandinavian descent, as I’m sure you know). Plus, Liv Marlowe is such a great combination!
I can’t see any photo in your post to suggest names based on? Does your partner not like Iris, Billie, Freya, or Ottilie? There are so many nice names on your list but these are my other favourites. Iris Marlowe would be beautiful.
[name_f]Esmee[/name_f] and [name_f]Liv[/name_f] are what I’d narrow it down to -they’re to two that you’ve consistently talked about and they have a great feel.
[name_f]Esmee[/name_f] would be my personal preference but maybe wait to meet her?
I think Esmée [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u] sounds the right name for you. [name_f]Lovely[/name_f]! I also like [name_f]Liv[/name_f] [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u].
I’m so sorry this has been so rough for you. Naming a baby isn’t easy, I sometimes think it’s especially hard for those of us who love names so much. And feelings can change about a name too. You can easily fall into “I said I would name her [name_f]Esmee[/name_f] so now I have to,” or “her name should be [name_f]Esmee[/name_f]” and your heart and your mind end up torn. Have to and Should make you feel trapped and it’s just not being fair to yourself.
Which of these names can you picture calling every day? “[name_f]Esmee[/name_f], dinner is ready!” or “[name_f]Liv[/name_f] STOP CLIMBING THE SOFA!” because this is a name you’ll say a lot.
Which of these names can you picture signing with your names on a [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] card, for instance? Yours, your partners, and [name_f]Colette[/name_f]? Or is it [name_f]Esmee[/name_f]?
I don’t think [name_f]Liv[/name_f] will get lost in a sea of L names. I think she’s spunky and cool and will have her own place. Actress [name_f]Liv[/name_f] [name_u]Tyler[/name_u] put her on the map for me but I know in Europe it has been very much a name in its own right for a while now. [name_f]Olive[/name_f], it seems, is out unfortunately. If you can’t get past [name_f]Liv[/name_f]'s succinctness, maybe move on too. [name_f]Colette[/name_f] isn’t my favourite, but if your aunt having it doesn’t bother you, and you can get your husband on board, maybe it’s the one? Personally I prefer [name_f]Esmee[/name_f] for you. [name_f]Esmee[/name_f] [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u] [name_f]Autumn[/name_f] is beautiful. [name_f]Liv[/name_f] [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u] [name_f]Autumn[/name_f] sounds even better. But what can you see when you close your eyes? What name do you hear when you call her? If you’re still unsure, I would take [name_f]Liv[/name_f], [name_f]Colette[/name_f], and [name_f]Esmee[/name_f] to the hospital with you and decide when you meet her. You still have some time and that may help.
Wishing you all the best. Congratulations and good luck!
It sounds like you really like [name_f]Liv[/name_f], [name_f]Esmee[/name_f] and [name_f]Colette[/name_f] but are having second thoughts. I think you will know once you see her! If those names don’t seem quite right I have a couple of suggestions of similar names that could nickname to your faves.
It sounds to me like [name_f]Liv[/name_f], [name_f]Esmee[/name_f], and [name_f]Colette[/name_f] are the names truly in the running. Maybe wait to name her until she is born. My husband and I went to the hospital with a few different first names picked (the middle name was set) and decided after he was born. It also helped us avoid the opinions of family members because we just told them that we don’t know his name yet and didn’t share any of our possible names. I only shared with the Nameberry community. And honestly I didn’t have a love at first sight or fall head over heels in love moment with any of our boy names. I don’t know why I thought that would be a thing, but I did. Now 3 years later, I love my son’s name and can’t imagine him having any other name. It is ok to not know 100% right now. Also family/friends usually keep their opinions to themselves once the baby is born and may even grow to like a name they initially didn’t love.
Thank you so much! I feel much better reading your comments.
I also believe that [name_f]Liv[/name_f], Esmée and [name_f]Colette[/name_f] are the ones that are truly in the running. They would make such a beautiful sibset in my opinion… and I’m supposed to choose only one. So frustrating! I’m “jealous” when I see a Liv mum, but also when I come across an Esme mum, or just a mum with a beautiful sibset.
I just suggested a long list of names to my husband and made him delete what he really doesn’t like. I’m going to focus on that smaller list now, and try to forget the other names as we will never use them anyways. I guess it’s time to let them go… He also just told me that he would have a hard time calling our little girl [name_f]Colette[/name_f] (because of my aunt). That breaks my heart but I guess it makes our choice easier?
I hope that I will just know her name once she is here! And yes, maybe seeing her is what I need.
@lilimorgana: You are reading my thoughts. I’m torned between “I said I would name her Esmée” (which I did for years…) and “but I feel like it doesn’t fit her”. I feel like I have to name her Esmée because that was my choice and my favorite name. But [name_f]Liv[/name_f] is really spunky and she seems to be very active already. It also means “life” and she is a rainbow baby. I would love a name that is representative to our family. We are very simple people who absolutely love history and nature. We also love to travel and do sport. That’s why I was looking for something that is more vintage, but as fun and as spunky as [name_f]Liv[/name_f].
@Teajay: [name_f]Olive[/name_f] is lovely! I will try to reconsider the name. I also thought about Livienne but my husband hates it.
For a boy, it would have been [name_u]Elliott[/name_u] or [name_u]Everest[/name_u]. We also like [name_u]August[/name_u], [name_m]Gaston[/name_m], [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u] & [name_m]Felix[/name_m]. What girl’s names do you think would fit the best with our boy’s names?
Let me try again for the pictures, I don’t know why it didn’t work: [name_f]Edit[/name_f] Looks like it still doesn’t work, I will just upload the pictures
To me, it sounds as though she’s either a [name_f]Liv[/name_f] or an [name_f]Esmee[/name_f], and that your best bet might be to just keep the two in mind, and decide which fits her best when the little dear arrives. They both have such different vibes – [name_f]Liv[/name_f] spunky and energetic, and [name_f]Esmee[/name_f] soft and elegant – and you might find one just fits so much better than the other when you see her. Both names are lovely, you certainly can’t go wrong, but try not to stress about it all too much, and just trust that when you are looking down at that little bundle in your arms, you’ll find it easier to choose the perfect name for her.
Since [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] / live is the most popular name right now I would not use it.
I just love [name_f]Esmee[/name_f] [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u] [name_u]Sage[/name_u]
[name_f]Colette[/name_f] is also quite pretty.
Beautiful nursery! Beautiful names. I like [name_f]Colette[/name_f] best with the middles. My cousin has a little [name_f]Colette[/name_f] and it doesn’t seem old ladyish at all. She’s got a great big personality and a ton of energy. They call her [name_f]Coco[/name_f]!
From your list I really like [name_f]Esme[/name_f] and that sounds like the best choice for you from this list
Seeing the nursery my first thought was [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u] [name_f]Autumn[/name_f], I feel like [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] really hits all the sweet spots of what you are looking for, sort of a hippy/boho/ vintage vibe while still being recognizable as a name and would work well in [name_f]France[/name_f] I think
If [name_f]Esme[/name_f] isnt quite right maybe [name_f]Estelle[/name_f]?