Hello everyone; I’m quite new here, and to my amazement and joy I’m expecting our first in early [name_f]April[/name_f]–and since I’m 43, he or she will surely be our last as well. I’m looking for names that are magical but not too ornate ([name_f]Araminta[/name_f] and the like are just too many syllables for me,) that wouldn’t be wildly out of place if the kid was accepted at Hogwarts, and that are romantic but not unpronounceable. Name meaning is very important to me. Being named [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] has left me with a lifelong horror of popular names, so certainly nothing that’s in the top 200 or rising fast. My husband’s family is Jewish and mine are WASPs, so in the interests of fairness the name should come from an outside culture: [name_m]French[/name_m], Greek, etc. (A family name I love, [name_u]Ellery[/name_u], was already rejected for being too waspy.)
Middle names will be two of the following: [name_f]Anne[/name_f], [name_u]Avery[/name_u], and my last name. [name_f]Anne[/name_f] and [name_u]Avery[/name_u] are both the names of late beloved relatives. My husband’s last name is three syllables and starts with P.
Here’s what I have so far for a girl:
[name_f]Ondine[/name_f] (absolute favorite.)
[name_f]Morwenna[/name_f]
[name_f]Nephele[/name_f]
[name_f]Lenore[/name_f]
[name_u]Vesper[/name_u] (my husband likes this, but hates both [name_f]Vespera[/name_f] and Vespertine–pity.)
[name_f]Marine[/name_f]
[name_f]Tosca[/name_f] (not that keen on the namesake, though.)
[name_f]Irina[/name_f]
[name_f]Helena[/name_f]
[name_f]Thalassa[/name_f]
For boys:
Tesla (My husband is pretty dead-set on this, though it was given to 100 girls last year and only 5 boys. No fewer than three couples we know have named daughters Tesla in the past several years; we run with a nerdy crowd.)
[name_m]Cadmus[/name_m] (my favorite)
[name_m]Lucian[/name_m] (though my husband thinks it’s too feminine.)
[name_m]Cyrus[/name_m]
[name_m]Quentin[/name_m] ([name_m]Quentin[/name_m] Compson is a tragic namesake, but since it means “fifth” it could also refer to Fiver, the visionary rabbit of Watership Down.)
[name_m]French[/name_m]
[name_f]Vivienne[/name_f]
[name_f]Aurelie[/name_f]/[name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] (I think [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] would be easier to say in the u.s)
[name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] (this maybe too popular, its around 220-230’s)
[name_f]Lucienne[/name_f]
[name_f]Clemence[/name_f] (although that may be hard to pronounce and you might have people say [name_u]Clem[/name_u]-ence)
[name_f]Oriane[/name_f]/[name_f]Oriana[/name_f]
[name_f]Odette[/name_f]
Other suggestions:
[name_f]Elowen[/name_f]
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_f]Talullah[/name_f]
[name_f]Lenora[/name_f]
[name_f]Leona[/name_f]
From your list my favorite is [name_f]Lenore[/name_f] and [name_f]Helena[/name_f].
Boys: [name_m]Quentin[/name_m] and [name_m]Lucian[/name_m]
[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helped:)
[name_f]Oriane[/name_f] and [name_f]Elowen[/name_f] are lovely. [name_f]Tallulah[/name_f] is quite trendy hereabouts ([name_u]Brooklyn[/name_u]) though it is a very pretty name, and close friends just named their baby [name_f]Iris[/name_f]. Some of the others ([name_f]Aurelia[/name_f]) are a bit frilly to my taste, and I suspect it’ll be hard to get my husband on board with more than two syllables; he hasn’t explicitly ruled out three syllable names but tends to react negatively when I mention any. Four, I’m sure, would be a non-starter.
Congratulations on your pregnancy and soon-to-be here little blessing!
From your girl picks, I particularly love - [name_f]Lenore[/name_f], [name_f]Irina[/name_f], [name_f]Ondine[/name_f], and [name_f]Helena[/name_f].
From your boy picks, I particularly love - [name_m]Cadmus[/name_m] and [name_m]Cyrus[/name_m] (would love to meet a little [name_m]Cyrus[/name_m]!)
Other Suggestions
Girls
[name_f]Helene[/name_f] - as opposed to [name_f]Helena[/name_f]
Since you like [name_f]Ondine[/name_f] and it is listed as a Mermaid name on the lists here on nameberry have you considered, [name_f]Miranda[/name_f], [name_f]Loralei[/name_f]/[name_f]Lorelei[/name_f], or [name_f]Avalon[/name_f]?
[name_f]Melusine[/name_f]
Boys
[name_m]Caspian[/name_m]
[name_m]Lorcan[/name_m]
[name_m]Lachlan[/name_m]
[name_f]Avalon[/name_f], I’m sorry to say, is ruined for me by its similarity to the inescapable [name_f]Ava[/name_f]. [name_f]Miranda[/name_f] is awesome and I love the reference, and [name_f]Melusine[/name_f] has been on and off my list; I might put it back.
[name_m]Caspian[/name_m] and [name_m]Lorcan[/name_m] are great; [name_m]Lorcan[/name_m] in particular is similar to [name_m]Lucian[/name_m], but possibly masculine enough for my husband to tolerate it. I’ll run it by him.
From your girls list I love [name_f]Lenore[/name_f] and [name_f]Leni[/name_f] could make a cute nn! [name_f]Marine[/name_f], [name_f]Irene[/name_f] and [name_f]Helena[/name_f] are all very pretty too. I love [name_f]Nephele[/name_f] too but I would be afraid instead of being pronounce neph-e-lee people would pronounce it ne-fell or ne-feel. Some other names you might look would be [name_f]Calista[/name_f], [name_f]Athena[/name_f],[name_f]Catalina[/name_f] or [name_f]Eudora[/name_f]. As for your boys I love [name_m]Quentin[/name_m] and [name_m]Cyrus[/name_m]! [name_m]Cadmus[/name_m] is okay to me and I’m afraid your son may be bullied with a name like [name_m]Lucian[/name_m], people may call him [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]. Tesla also reminds me a little too much of [name_f]Tessa[/name_f] but it’s definitely usable. Some other names you might like would be [name_m]Ronan[/name_m], [name_u]Blaise[/name_u], [name_u]Porter[/name_u] or [name_u]Orion[/name_u].
I like [name_f]Eudora[/name_f] and [name_m]Ronan[/name_m]! [name_u]Porter[/name_u] is way too waspy; with a very Jewish last name it would sound pretty absurd.
Mmm, I like your style. All your names are good, my favourites would be [name_f]Ondine[/name_f], [name_f]Helena[/name_f], [name_f]Morwenna[/name_f] and [name_f]Nephele[/name_f] for a girl, and [name_m]Cadmus[/name_m] and Tesla for a boy. I think Tesla is fabulous for a little boy, much more so than on a girl.
I’ve admired your lists before, so I’m glad that you weighed in! There are too many intriguing possibilities here to respond to without careful thought, but ones that immediately jumped out at me are Myrrhine (wow is that lovely!) and [name_m]Leonidas[/name_m]. I have a brother named [name_m]Leon[/name_m] so that’s a nice connection, too.
Thank you for your support on Tesla for a boy; the few people we’ve mentioned it to have recoiled in dismay. I’m happy to see some warmth for [name_m]Cadmus[/name_m], too. The mythological inventor of the alphabet? To my mind, it doesn’t get any better than that.
and that are romantic but not unpronounceable. Name meaning is very important to me. Being named [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] has left me with a lifelong horror of popular names, so certainly nothing that’s in the top 200 or rising fast. My husband’s family is Jewish and mine are WASPs, so in the interests of fairness the name should come from an outside culture: [name_m]French[/name_m], Greek, etc. (A family name I love, [name_u]Ellery[/name_u], was already rejected for being too waspy.)
I’m happy to see some warmth for [name_m]Cadmus[/name_m], too. The mythological inventor of the alphabet? To my mind, it doesn’t get any better than that.