I have run into a bit of a naming conundrum!
My partner and I just had our first real conversation about potential children’s names (we’ve had lots of casual sideways chats about names over the years, particularly on my end since I’ve been a name enthusiast forever), and honestly I am at a bit of a loss here! We’re not looking to start the process of trying for a child for another couple of years so there is no big rush, but I always find it fun to think about anyways. (In all honesty, I’m also just getting a little frustrated that I can’t pick out a common ground in our tastes too!)
We seem to have not only different taste in names, but for the most part it’s seeming like opposite tastes. She also has apparently never thought of this sort of thing before, and does not have many suggestions of her own. Add on the fact of a cross-cultural relationship, and there’s a lot of layers to work out!
I managed to scrounge together a list of opinions that she has stated that might somehow help in coming up with some additional suggestions (with the extra support of your name expertise!):
Things we are in agreement on:
- international sound, can meld with a variety of places and languages without issues (one partner coming from Morocco, one from North America, and an uncertainty as to where the child will be raised (realistically likely somewhere in Europe). Ideally the name would work at least in French and English, bonus points if to some degree it can work in Darija(Arabic) and Spanish.
- not super common
- fairly intuitive spelling
- would prefer names that didn’t have super strong faith-based ties
My taste in names:
- leans towards more of the timeless, but more uncommon side of names (doesn’t have to be outside of the top 1000 or anything super unique, just where ideally they wouldn’t have to share their name with another student in their class)
- I like names that tend to be fairly vowel-heavy, and that I would describe as almost sounding round (I don’t know if that makes sense?).
- bonus points for names with nice meanings/imagery, or that can be nicknamed!
Her taste in names:
- not super old fashioned-sounding, gender neutral leaning
- not keen on names starting with D or T
- likes the idea of picking an Amazigh name, but is picky on which ones she likes
So far the only name that we have somewhat come to an understanding on is Amayas for a boy.
For added help, here is a list of names that were pitched and not kept:
- Laila / Leila / Layla (truly heartbreaking that it’s a no, but there is a very close family member with the name)
- Sophia (close family member with the name, unfortunately! Also too popular around our parts)
- Lilia (close family member with the name, but we both like it)
- Nelya (close family member with the name, but we both like it)
- Rayane (close family member, but we we both like it)
- Dahlia (I love this, and it fits all of the criteria except for it starts with a D. I think that point may be negotiable so I’m not giving up yet!)
- Felix (hard no on her end)
- Julian (hard no on her end)
- Isaac (hard no on her end)
- Beatrice (hard no on her end)
- Eloise
- Clara
- Thea
- Sabrina
- Selene
- Liana / Leona
- Artemis (one of the only ones that she brought up on her own! Open to keeping it as a middle name, but ultimately it just doesn’t feel right as a first)
- Matilda (open to keeping as a middle name)
- Elena (I love this one too, it’s a long shot but we shall see!)
- Talia (I am not giving up on this one just yet, I still feel it has potential)