🍓 feeling stuck: how to make combos?

[tallemaja]

Hello, and thanks in advance for reading this rant! I’m struggling a lot with combos at the moment, and I’d love to hear what you think

I’ve been trying to work on a UC using some new favourites, most of which are non-English names. But I just have no idea how to pair them!

Details under the cut

[name_f]Do[/name_f] I go for my usual style, using [name_f]English[/name_f] word middles? I feel like in some cases it works! [name_f]Dunja[/name_f] [name_f]Lavender[/name_f] and [name_m]Maksym[/name_m] [name_u]Cove[/name_u] don’t seem so bad. But then with some more out-there names, I don’t know if it works as well - do [name_f]Austėja[/name_f] [name_f]Honey[/name_f] and Vukašin [name_u]Fox[/name_u] look alright and I’m just overthinking it, or are the vibes sort of… mismatched? [name_m]Even[/name_m] if they’re not bad per se, would something else be better?

[name_f]My[/name_f] second thought was just mixing and matching my favourites, but then I worry that 1) they feel too “weird” for nameberry, and no one would like them except me , and 2) they’d look odd unless both names are from a similar language, which would limit my options. Think [name_u]Rosen[/name_u] [name_m]Fyodor[/name_m] and Anikó Sunčica. But then with something like [name_f]Dunja[/name_f] [name_f]Mercedes[/name_f], where one name is Serbo-Croatian and the other Spanish, although flowing well enough, feels like an odd combination? And I only have so many favourites from similar origin to play around with.

[name_f]My[/name_f] third idea was using the first names on my list with other, more familiar international names, that are more popular on Nameberry! I’m not as in love with those names, but I do still like them. For example, [name_f]Halina[/name_f] [name_f]Fleur[/name_f], [name_m]Jovan[/name_m] [name_m]Felix[/name_m], and [name_m]Anatoli[/name_m] [name_m]Hugo[/name_m]. I do still wonder if some would feel odd, though - [name_f]Odette[/name_f] and [name_f]Amelie[/name_f] are popular on Nameberry, but are they so [name_u]French[/name_u] that they’d feel weird in Živka [name_f]Odette[/name_f] and [name_f]Erzsébet[/name_f] [name_f]Amelie[/name_f]? Is it the same with obviously Italian names, for example in [name_f]Eszti[/name_f] [name_f]Luciana[/name_f] and [name_m]Maksym[/name_m] [name_m]Elio[/name_m]?

Of course, I could just use plain old [name_f]English[/name_f] names with them. I currently have [name_f]Eszti[/name_f] [name_u]Florence[/name_u] and [name_f]Luisa[/name_f] [name_f]Bea[/name_f] on my UC - other examples would be [name_u]Nikola[/name_u] [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], [name_f]Tatyana[/name_f] [name_f]Louisa[/name_f], [name_f]Elżbieta[/name_f] [name_f]Theodora[/name_f], etcetera. Maybe these work best, although it’s almost like they make the names less sparkly, in a way? But it’s very possible I just haven’t found the right combos (I’ve just been using the first examples that came to mind)!

Lastly, it could be a combination of the styles I’ve mentioned, I guess! But in that case, which would work well together?

TLDR: How would you go about making combinations with more out-there non-English names for first names?

You can see how all over the place I am I’ve been pondering this for weeks and I’d love any and all thoughts, advice, or combo example ideas (only if you’d like, no pressure!) that you have for me!

Thank you so much for any help!

[heartwings]

I don’t know neither, but a good formula I have is

TOP 10-20 + Other names I like + honour name for friends/family/book/etc or a name that I am not too sure to use as a first but I love as a semi-GP

Never tried it yet though, I maybe should.
I don’t feel the need to make combos yet

[tallemaja]

that’s a good one! i’m just struggling to figure out what other names i do like

[Greyblue]

So, at work, some of the documentation/forms I’ve been dealing with have students full names (include middle names) on them - and one thing I’ve noticed is that it is very common for people to have names that are from different cultures.

Some examples (not the students’ actual names but using the same formats):

[name_f]Siena[/name_f] [name_f]Shreya[/name_f]
[name_m]Ravi[/name_m] [name_u]William[/name_u]
[name_f]Veronika[/name_f] [name_f]Orla[/name_f]

It doesn’t seem odd to me - just a reflection of the different cultural connections people have.

To answer your dilemma though, I’d simple go on a name-by-name basis. What works for one name won’t work for another, but perhaps you might start finding cohesion or connections or that one of the three routes might start feeling more natural?

[Gia.berry]

I love absolutely every single combo you listed, and I don’t think any of them seem overtly mismatched! I think I’d do a mixture of all styles, based on what you think works best for the individual names i.e. what your favourites are! I know it’s hard sometimes to not think about what will be received well on NB (I’m guilty of it too!), but your own style and intuition is truly the best way to go. I’ll remember a [name_u]Rosen[/name_u] [name_m]Fyodor[/name_m] much more than a [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] [name_u]Kit[/name_u], for example, even though both are stunning. [name_u]Rosen[/name_u] [name_m]Fyodor[/name_m] would be a distinctly tallemaja combo, and I think the blend of different cultures is one of the factors that makes it so gorgeous.

I also find that, when working with more unusual names like Anikó and [name_m]Anatoli[/name_m], you can pair them with pretty much anything without dulling their shine. It’s so refreshing to see new names that Anikó [name_u]June[/name_u] is just as lovely as Anikó Sunčica (although, again, the latter would be more memorable!). I did a UC a few months ago using all artist surnames as middles, and when I first started constructing combos I used more well-known [name_u]Berry[/name_u] favourites as firsts. Then I realised how many names I loved but hadn’t made a combo with (or even seen in another person’s UC) before, and I decided I’d rather shed some light on more under-appreciated names — [name_m]Casper[/name_m] [name_u]Matisse[/name_u] became [name_m]Casca[/name_m] [name_u]Matisse[/name_u], [name_f]Anouk[/name_f] [name_u]Morisot[/name_u] became [name_f]Anoush[/name_f] [name_u]Morisot[/name_u] etc.

This got very rambly and probably not very helpful, but I suppose what I’m trying to say is go with the names you think feel right, even if at first glance they seem “weird”. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!