[name_m]Hi[/name_m] everyone – Did you choose a name for your baby – or cat or even yourself – that you really, truly love? That you feel happy about whenever you say or hear it? How do you think you did that, and why does it make you so happy?
I’d love to hear some personal stories about deep and lasting naming joy for a possible article. Thanks!
Hii, I haven’t started my own family yet so no human babys but I do have a dog that is part of the family and it was my job to pick out his name… I had narrowed it down to three options and the one I went with was a very old love of mine and the favorite from my family, however sometimes I still look at my dog and wonder if I could have chosen a different name or a more meaningful one but at the end of the day it is his name and the one that feels right to call him after all this time
Im sure it’s not the same experience as naming an human being but you still want to find the perfect name I guess
Yes! Our dog! 
I thought about a few names when naming her but decided on [name_f]Fiona[/name_f]. Shes a west highland white terrier so a Scottish name meaning white really suited her. Its a feisty name and perfect for a terrier. I actually didn’t love her name at first since it felt like a person name but it’s definitely grown on me. 
Other names I considered were [name_f]Freya[/name_f] and [name_f]Annie[/name_f] (she was born the day we got married!). I still love [name_f]Freya[/name_f] too but she’s definitely more a [name_f]Fiona[/name_f].
Choosing a name for a baby now and hoping to have as much success!
Thank you, both! @hellobanjo I’m interested to hear you didn’t love her name at first and then it grew on you. What made you love it more over time, do you think?
I have zero regrets about my boys’ names. I still love saying them and I think they fit them perfectly.
I love choosing names that have multiple layers of meaning to me and I think that’s what keeps a name at the top of my list.
Jasper’s name had been on my list for years, long before it started rising in popularity. I love the meaning “treasure-holder or bringer of treasure”. Makes me think of someone who holds magical secrets. I love the similarity in sound to Hesper/Vesper which I’ve always liked for a girl. I like that it’s one of the few gem names that works for a boy. Makes me think of ocean jasper or picture jasper stones.
I also love the connection to the [name_u]Magi[/name_u].
I was a bit sad that it has gotten more popular but I’m still glad we used it.
Arthur’s name was new to my list but my husband fell in love with it and so did I.
I love the meaning "bear or bear king ". It’s so cute yet strong and fitting for his personality. I also love how this name carries such amazing mythology and yet is easily wearable for a little boy today. Saying his name still puts a smile on my face and I imagine he will love hearing stories about [name_m]King[/name_m] [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] and his knights as he gets older.
Now I’m searching for a name for #3 that carries just as much meaning!
I’ve only named a cat and a dog (Frankie and Tillie) but I love both names and it makes me smile whenever others write their names on cards or forms etc 
No kids yet. 
On the other hand, our first dog was named when we adopted her from the local shelter. Though we did debate giving her a new name, we chose to keep her name as is. While my brother was the one to choose her while I spent the day in testing, when we went back the next day, she chose me as her person.
Her name suited her very well, and despite being gone nearly a decade now, I would not have chosen another name for her. We loved the sound of it and it fit her sweet personality. I couldn’t imagine another name being able to fit as well as this one has.
Back when we got her, there was no internet and very few ways to find out about names outside of the normal. As I have since found out, her name, Meka, was a diminutive of my own name. Her nickname, Meki, also suited her just as well.
So I had my daughter [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] on 3rd [name_u]February[/name_u] 2021 and I found naming really really hard!! I always thought I was going to name my daughter [name_f]Rose[/name_f] a name that I had loved for years and is a family name but she was vetoed. Also [name_f]Rose[/name_f] is very overly used in my social circle as a hyphenated first name a lot of people have something [name_f]Rose[/name_f] so I had to find a new name. I had a really long list of names but decided to go with [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] because she honours my mum, she has the meaning lily which is one of my favourite flowers & was my grandma’s favourite flower and [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] is a name loved by my loved ones. I honestly love my daughters name I had some doubts as the pronunciation is ALWAYS messed up, there is a lot of confusion surrounding her name and [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] along with her hyphenated relatively complex surname always needs to be spelled out to people (it’s so long) it just made me feel awkward. I considered changing her name making one of the middle names her first name/altering her name to [name_f]Lilian[/name_f] or [name_f]Lily[/name_f] but in the end I have kept my beloved [name_f]Lilia[/name_f]. People will just need to get their heads round [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] it’s honestly not a hard name! Anyways I’m so glad I kept my beloved [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] 
I think it was just the process of getting to know her personality and saying her name… a lot! It definitely helped when she learned to respond to it!
I love this story, [name_f]Tori[/name_f]. Your name choice was really tested! I’m glad you emerged with your love intact.
That’s interesting. I wonder if that’s the moment a baby or a pet “becomes” their name , so of course you love it!
A challenge for sure !
This is about my dog [name_u]Everest[/name_u] (Ever)
I am 15 now
I got my dog 4 years ago for my birthday. When I was 4 I had a husky his name was Reve he was my best friend, every day when I got back from gymnastics training he would always be lying on my bed waiting for me.
I had a tough childhood my parents where so supportive of me so they did nothing but raise me well, what was tough for me was my gymnastics coaches they where pushing me too far and I would cry everyday at training. I would train for 6 hours a day keep In mind I was 4!.The one thing that kept me going was Reve my dog I felt as though he was the only one who cared for me 
.
He unfortunately died when I was 7 this left me absolutely heartbroken. We then moved to the UK my life became so much better and my coaches where so nice. [name_u]Ever[/name_u] since Reve died I always asked my parents every year for a dog. When I was 11 my parents decided to get me a dog (husky) for my birthday. I can still remember that day I was so happy!!!
I decided I wanted to name my new husky after Reve, in honour of him. I was thinking for ages and he was nameless for a month. I decided to let twin brother name the husky. He is a big fan of nature and geography so he chose [name_u]Everest[/name_u]. I started calling him [name_u]Ever[/name_u] short for [name_u]Everest[/name_u]. I only realised 3 months ago that [name_u]Ever[/name_u] backwards spelled Reve I forever love Ever’s name and I’m so glad my brother chose that name for him!
This might sound strange, but: for my youngest two (twins), I did choose a name that makes me happy every time I say it out loud or when I write it down. But for my oldest two… I’m not sure.
Don’t get me wrong, I truly like Hjörtur’s and Barnabas’ name, I don’t regret using those names, but they don’t make me happy like Leonid Pythagoras or Endymion Zakynthos. I think it’s because with the first two I wasn’t brave enough to go with what I actually loved with all my heart out of fear what other people would say. And you could definitely argue that Hjörtur or Barnabas aren’t exactly safe choices, but it still feels like I compromised with what I thought other people would say.
We came up with Leonid’s name while watching the tv series Chernobyl. My SO is half Russian, and Leonid just felt right from the very first moment. It honors my SO’s love for astronomy as well. Pythagoras, his middle name, is a name that makes me so unbelievably happy every time I say it out loud. It honors our love for Ancient Greece and my SO’s interest in mathematics.
Endymion has a nice, subtle link to Leonid through the astronomy meaning. And is name, Zakynthos, is very close to my heart. It’s after the Greek island, which is a very meaningful place to me and my twin brother.
I have had many naming opportunities with 7 children and I am very happy with all of them:
Hermione Elise - I had love Hermione since I was a teenager, not just because of the Harry Potter character but mainly just because of the way it sounded and I loved the nn Mimi (which my daughter goes by). I went for Elise to honour mine and DH’s French heritage. It wasn’t too common and sounded very elegant with Hermione. Luckily Hermione is Greek which honours my husband (who is half Greek/half French)
Ferris Jay - Ferris again was a love from when I was a teenager and this is mainly because of the film but it was also just such a cool name I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use it. It also happened to be Irish which honours my heritage. Jay is an honour for my childhood friend (who’s name was Jay). He was, and still is, my best friend since the age of about 12 and when we went to college, he shared a dorm room with my husband and that is how we met and eventually married so it seemed like a fitting honour.
James Theodore: James is both an honour name for my grandfather and for my and DH’s Jewish faith as James is of Hebrew origin. Theodore was my husbands choice, he loved it and so did I and we decided on that very quickly.
Evangeline Hallie: Again Evangeline honours DH’s Greek heritage but it was also a name I had been interested in for years after watching Nanny McPhee as young adult. I never thought I was going to be able to use it but when I bout it up to DH, he loved it and I was of course happy and very surprised. Hallie was DH’s choice, I like it but its definitely something I would change if I had free will naming her. I was considering Lorelei, Ruth, Daphne, Skye & Molly, all of which he vetoed 
I was also considering Haley which for me is a different name but for my husband (who has a fairly Chicago accent) Hallie and Haley were pronounced the same - he just prefer the spelling of Hallie and the Parent Trap link. She goes by Eva.
Lucia Teagan: Lucy is a family name and it is a tradition that in there is a Lucy in every generation of children. My mother is Lucy Iris, my older sister is Rebecca Lucy and although I liked Lucy, I went for Lucia because it seemed just that little bit more interesting (but she goes by Lucy most of the time anyway) Teagan is again Irish which honours my heritage but it definitely wasn’t my first choice. Having Irish family, I am very used to seeing names like Maeve, Aoife, Saoirse, Caoimhe, Sadhbh, Roisin, Aine, Naimh, Siobhan & Mairead (all of which I suggested). but DH said that they had too many pronunciation issues and would be too difficult to use in the US (ironically, we are now moving back to the UK where there will be less issues but I still do love Teagan - an underrated gem)
Jonah Blake: Jonah honours our Jewish faith but was my husbands choice primarily. I do love it dearly but I was very sad not to have used my favourites which were all vetoed: Harry (sounds like Hairy in his accent and we already have a daughter Hermione), Jonathan, Atticus, Jeremy, Louis, Joshua, Cameron (Ferris and Cameron would unfortunately be too Ferris Bueller’s day off) & Jesse. Blake was a late arrival to the list but I am so so pleased with it. It just sat so well with Jonah and we both liked it!
Sophie Maren: Sophie again honours our Jewish faith and although it is fairly popular, that doesn’t really bother me or DH and is just so pretty. Although a moment of silence must go to the fallen (vetoed): Ophelia, Olivia, Phoebe, Susannah, Frida, Jean, Alexis, Alice & Freya. Maren was DH’s choice and although I didn’t like it at first and there were lots of other name I would put before it, it slowly grew on me and that made it very meaningful.
So in all, of course there were so so so many names I would loved to use but couldn’t but that’s just part of compromising and when it comes to naming an actual, physical human, some of the names on your list just don’t work and you can’t see them on an actual baby, no matter how cool or sweet the combo looks on paper.
no kids, but my family got a puppy last year.
there was really no issue with naming him? i didn’t even know we were getting a dog when we picked his name, my dad and i were looking at dog names for fun and the only one we both liked was [name_m]Monty[/name_m] (my dog’s name) and then the next month when i found out we were getting him, [name_m]Monty[/name_m] was just assumed to be his name.
i personally don’t like the name [name_m]Monty[/name_m], it’s never been on my name list and it does not fit my taste at all, however he totally suits it, i can’t see him with any other name 
I have no children, and unfortunately wasn’t very included when we named our pup (I loved his name anyway.)
I did, however, name my car! It’s a strange little tradition at my high school.
I hadn’t joined Nameberry yet, but I lurked around often and read lots of lists before I chose [name_f]Sylvie[/name_f]. I love that it means “from the forest” and I get lots of compliments on it! Runners-up were [name_u]Romy[/name_u] and [name_f]Pearl[/name_f].
[name_f]Rosa[/name_f]
[name_u]Ruby[/name_u]
[name_f]Stella[/name_f]
[name_u]Everett[/name_u]
[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f]
[name_u]Henry[/name_u]
[name_f]Wendy[/name_f]
[name_m]Otto[/name_m]
Years ago I got to name my cat, her original name was [name_f]Susan[/name_f] so at first I went with [name_f]Samantha[/name_f] but she didn’t respond to it so I called her susy one day and she responded to it. And it fit her well
When we got our family dog, I was a kid and my sister (teenager) was very into literature, poetry, and art. When we were in our way to visit a new litter of spaniels and pick out our pup, we hadn’t decided if we’d get a female or male dog. In the car my sis said, “Whatever the gender, let’s name it Melpomene,” (pronounced Mel-po-men-eh). We’re not Greek, so not sure where she came across that name, but we all essentially agreed because she was the eldest sibling! Lol. When we fell in love with our boy pup, we’d shortened the name to [name_m]Melo[/name_m] and it suited him so perfectly! It’s a great name to yell out, it’s bouncy and joyful but also signifies a peacefulness. There’s something great about not taking on the pressure of naming, and instead just falling in love with someone else’s suggestion. I absolutely love names but I overthink things, and it’s lovely to be charmed by someone else’s name idea.
I don’t have any children yet, but I had two rabbits whose names I adored.
The first was [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] brother actually suggested the name to me as we were looking for a “fancy” name. I had previously lived in [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], NC so the name was extra special. At first, I was a little hesitant but I grew to absolutely love the name. It is pretty and elegant while also being down to earth and strong. It is now my favorite girl name and even though I used it on my rabbit, I look forward to using it for a future daughter!
The second rabbit’s name was [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], named after [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_u]Bennett[/name_u]. While I wouldn’t use [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] now because it is too popular for me, I loved that it had that special connection to a favorite literary heroine. I also love that it was classic, elegant, and had a plethora of nicknames. We called our rabbit [name_f]Lizzie[/name_f]!