[name_m]Hi[/name_m] Berries! Our last name is uncommon and always needs to be spelled out. Most of the names I love are uncommon and/or have multiple spellings, but I’m getting concerned as the child would have to spell their first AND last names all the time which would get annoying.
[name_m]Can[/name_m] you think of any names (boy, girl or either) that are NOT in the US top 200 but that everyone would know how to pronounce & spell upon hearing them (like giving your name for a Dr.'s appointment or at Starbucks) that are still very wearable?
DH and I tend to gravitate towards names that give either preppy, Irish, or western vibes.
It’s actually quite hard to find names with just one go-to spelling, but these come to mind!
Arabella
Belle
Cassidy
Celeste
Calla
Cleo (Clio exists, but it’s not in the US top 1000 so I think the majority of people would default to Cleo)
Dove
Estelle
Elodie
Ever
Eve
Evangeline
Elsie
Etta
Francesca or Frankie
Felicity
Fiona
Flora
Fern
Greta
Gwen
Hope
Harlow
Joy
Liv
Lara
Lola
Lucille (though Lucy is very popular, so keep that in mind)
Louisa (Luisa also exists, but it’s quite uncommon so I’d only avoid Louisa if there is a large Hispanic community where you live)
Lucinda
Leonora
Mercy
Mabel
Meadow
Monroe
Martha
Maxine
Maren
Mallory
Matilda
Marigold
Magnolia
Noelle
Phoebe
Pippa
Poppy
Primrose
Ramona
Theodora
Tessa
Vera
Veronica
Winter
Zelda
Atticus
Anders
Alfred
Amos
Benedict (but Ben is popular)
Beck
Brennan
Conrad
Callum
Cyrus
Donovan
Dorian
Desmond
Drew
Dexter
Duncan
Ellis
Edison
Elio
Gideon
Finnegan (but Finn is popular!)
Felix
Franklin
Flynn
Fox
Holden
Harvey
Hugo
Joel
Otis
Oscar
Percy
Patrick
Rafferty
Rupert
Ronan
Rory
Rex
Spencer
Simon
Sullivan
Tobias
Toby
Wilder
Hmm, this is an interesting challenge! I honestly have no idea which names are in the top 200 (though I definitely gravitate towards uncommon names myself), so apologies if there are some here that are too popular for you.
Irish:
[name_f]Fiona[/name_f]
[name_f]Bridget[/name_f]
[name_f]Orla[/name_f]
[name_f]Maeve[/name_f]
[name_f]Brianna[/name_f]
[name_f]Nora[/name_f]
[name_u]Kennedy[/name_u]
[name_f]Enya[/name_f]
[name_f]Moira[/name_f]
[name_f]Tara[/name_f]
(this one was difficult because so many of the prettiest Irish femme names are not intuitive to spell in the US)
[name_m]Paul[/name_m] is DH’s middle name, total possibility! I always think of it as common, didn’t realize it was ranked so low on the popularity charts. [name_m]Paulie[/name_m] is really cute. We’ve kicked around [name_m]Jared[/name_m] & [name_u]Davis[/name_u] as well.
[name_m]Grant[/name_m], [name_u]George[/name_u], [name_u]Parker[/name_u] and [name_u]Bradley[/name_u] are all being added to our boys list. So are [name_f]Bridget[/name_f], [name_u]Ruby[/name_u] and [name_f]Sadie[/name_f]. Thank you!!
I just wanna point out that a lot of the time you will be asked to spell out your first name even if it seems common or easy to spell, just because unusual spellings are becoming so popular. [name_f]My[/name_f] name is a very common name and it’s the most common spelling by far but people still usually ask me to spell it. So while I understand not wanting to pick a name that has a few common spellings, like [name_f]Mikayla[/name_f] or [name_u]Mackenzie[/name_u], I don’t like you need to stress about it too much.
Paul was common and I know several but it has been trending down so it has been out of the top 200 since 2014 in the US. Similarly, Patrick, Bradley, and Grant just recently got out of the top 200.
FYI, George, Parker, Ruby, and Sadie are actually still in the top 200.
You can use this to see which names are in the top 200
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