First (Name) Loves

General Name Discussion
1

What were the first names you fell in love with? [name_m]Feel[/name_m] free to share when, how you discovered the names, or what inspired them! Have you used them or would you still use them today?

I’ll start:

[name_f]Bethany[/name_f] - When my cousins and I played house as children, we chose pretend names and I was always [name_f]Bethany[/name_f]. No idea where I got it from
[name_f]Camille[/name_f] - A schoolmate’s name
[name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] - Probably from [name_f]Madeline[/name_f]. Became a long-time favorite
[name_u]Mackenzie[/name_u] - The first time I saw this name used was in the late 90s. It was a girl in my older cousin’s high school yearbook
Mary Anne - From the Baby-Sitter’s Club

I still love Genevieve, but not sure if I’d use it IRL anymore. I still like Camille too, but probably wouldn’t use it.

I’ve never really been into boy names (still not!)

2

When I was a kid, I loved [name_f]Talullah[/name_f], [name_f]Phillipa[/name_f], [name_f]Clementine[/name_f], [name_u]Mandy[/name_u], [name_f]Tilly[/name_f] and [name_u]Alfie[/name_u] (they were the names of my dolls)
[name_u]Alfie[/name_u] - from the [name_u]Alfie[/name_u] and [name_f]Annie[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] books
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f] - from the song, oh my darling [name_f]Clementine[/name_f]
[name_u]Mandy[/name_u] - from a book (can’t remember which one)
[name_f]Tilly[/name_f] - I had a [name_f]Matilda[/name_f] at school who went by [name_f]Tilly[/name_f]
[name_f]Tallulah[/name_f] and [name_f]Phillipa[/name_f] - I have no idea - my mum said I just came out with them one day and she has no idea where I heard them!

3

[name_f]Jessica[/name_f], I named my Bitty [name_u]Baby[/name_u] this as a child. It was my cousin’s now ex wife’s name, Lol. I thought she was very pretty and “cool”. I also really liked [name_f]Jasmine[/name_f] & [name_u]Ariel[/name_u] / [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] (name goldfish this) obviously because of Disney. I remember hearing [name_f]Ella[/name_f] on a child as a teen and adoring it.

When I got into names around 17/18 years old:
[name_f]Myla[/name_f] / [name_f]Mila[/name_f], [name_m]Cole[/name_m], [name_m]Christian[/name_m], [name_m]Nolan[/name_m]

Into my first year of being a name nerd:
[name_f]Seraphina[/name_f], [name_f]Rosalie[/name_f], [name_f]Arielle[/name_f], [name_u]Jude[/name_u], [name_m]Julian[/name_m], [name_m]Asher[/name_m], [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m], [name_f]Iris[/name_f], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u]

4

[name_m]Theodore[/name_m] and [name_f]Florence[/name_f] were some solid favourites for a good few years but they’re a bit lower on my list now. Before that, when I was about five-ish, I loved the names [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] (g) and [name_f]Zuzanna[/name_f], both of which were classmates of mine. I was thoroughly convinced that I would one day name any daughters [name_u]Ash[/name_u] and Zuza. I also remember liking things like [name_m]Theon[/name_m], [name_m]Thorin[/name_m], [name_m]Zeppelin[/name_m], [name_m]Knox[/name_m], [name_f]Amberly[/name_f], Evermae, Fayde, etc.

5

Here are mine (from what I remember):

[name_f]Imogen[/name_f]: There was a girl in the junior music group (I moved into the senior one) with curly black hair, who looked a little bit like my cousin called [name_f]Imogen[/name_f], and I just fell in love with the name for some reason. I’d never heard it before and thought it was so different and unusual, although of course I found out that’s not the case later, but I still have it on my list (as a too popular guilty pleasure haha).

[name_f]Elspeth[/name_f]: Actually the name of my old headteacher. She was pretty cool, feisty (she’d fought to keep the school open despite pressures at the time) and friendly. Again I heard it and thought it was interesting. [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] [name_f]Elspeth[/name_f] was my favourite girls’ name for a while.

[name_f]Amelia[/name_f]: I first heard on [name_m]Doctor[/name_m] Who, and pretty quickly [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] was my new favourite name.

[name_f]Pandora[/name_f]: I fell in love with after a [name_m]Doctor[/name_m] Who episode and I ended up replacing [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] with [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] as my top name, which obviously stuck.

[name_f]Aurora[/name_f]: I can’t remember where I first heard this, but I loved the [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] Borealis link and the meaning. Nickname [name_u]Rory[/name_u] was a big plus too, because of the [name_m]Doctor[/name_m] Who character. I thought I was a genius having siblings [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] & [name_f]Aurora[/name_f], because apparently rhyming made a good sibset.

[name_f]Breanne[/name_f]: [name_f]Breanne[/name_f] Düren was a favourite artist at the time, and I thought [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] [name_f]Breanne[/name_f] made a great combo.

I didn’t focus as much on boys’ names, as I dreamt up having two daughters a lot ([name_f]Imogen[/name_f]/[name_f]Pandora[/name_f] [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] & [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] [name_f]Breanne[/name_f] ‘[name_u]Rory[/name_u]’) but I think [name_m]Alonzo[/name_m]/[name_m]Alonso[/name_m] was my first favourite boys name, again because of [name_m]Doctor[/name_m] Who (Allons y, [name_m]Alonso[/name_m]!). Then I started liking [name_u]Phoenix[/name_u], although I don’t recall why or where I first heard it. I remember debating [name_u]Hunter[/name_u] too, because I had this daydream (also DW related) about being a hunter, but I scrapped it for being too violent. Plus I thought [name_u]Hunter[/name_u] [name_u]Phoenix[/name_u] or [name_u]Phoenix[/name_u] [name_u]Hunter[/name_u] was quite [name_m]OTT[/name_m].

In terms of where I get my name inspiration and crushes from (characters that I love) I really haven’t changed much!

6

When I was about 7, my favorite names were [name_f]Pauline[/name_f] and [name_m]Humphrey[/name_m]-- they were my heroine and hero in all my stories! I was also very fond of [name_m]Cecil[/name_m] and [name_m]Cedric[/name_m] and had a stuffed dog named [name_m]Rufus[/name_m]. You can tell that I was reading a lot of books written in the early 20th century.

My cat had a lengthy name befitting of her royal status but with some comfort and whimsical influences as well: Snoopy [name_f]Eugenie[/name_f] [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] Mog [name_m]Davis[/name_m].

For my stuffed animals, I had a sort of drug-theme. The first was a rabbit named Ellestie. I thought this was a pretty name for a woman that people were talking about on the news. My mother had to explain to me that it was the name of a drug-- LSD. Building on that, I acquired additional stuffed rabbits (we got them in our [name_f]Easter[/name_f] baskets) and named them Tylenol (nn [name_m]Lenny[/name_m]) and Amoxicillin (nn [name_f]Moxie[/name_f]).

7

When I was in like second or third grade, I wished my name was [name_f]Stephanie[/name_f], probably because it was pretty and popular, unlike my actual name, which I thought was old-fashioned.

Some names I remember giving to my dolls: [name_f]Claudia[/name_f] (probably “The Babysitters Club”), [name_m]Eric[/name_m] (probably “The [name_m]Little[/name_m] Mermaid”), [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], [name_f]Virginia[/name_f] (I remember I liked [name_f]Virginia[/name_f] because of “Gone With The Wind” only to learn later that I had misheard [name_f]Eugenia[/name_f]!), [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f], [name_f]Tara[/name_f] (yeah, we watched “GWTW” a lot because it was one of Mom’s favorite movies), [name_u]Julie[/name_u], [name_f]Holly[/name_f], [name_u]Lee[/name_u] [name_f]Ann[/name_f] (a friend of mine from school), [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f]… That’s all I remember off-hand.

I remember I first came across my all-time favorite name, [name_f]Zoe[/name_f], in a book, although I don’t actually remember what it was called. I had no idea how to pronounce it and thought it was like [name_m]Joe[/name_m], but when I learned the correct way to say it, I just thought it was the coolest name ever. (Still do!)

Oh, and I remember falling for Scholastica after coming across it in a list of saints’ names at the back of our family Bible!

8

When I was in fifth grade I read Pride & Prejudice and so I wanted to have two daughters and name them [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] and [name_f]Jane[/name_f]. I also really loved [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] and the name combo [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_m]Oliver[/name_m] when I was little. I found the name Shilah and wanted to use it as a boy’s middle name.

9

So [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] was my first real name love, it actually influenced my nickname, I thought it was elegant and pretty and so princessy. A but younger, I adored Rowcella ([name_f]Barbie[/name_f] and the Island [name_f]Princess[/name_f]), [name_u]Riley[/name_u] was another name love, don’t know why. [name_f]Zoe[/name_f] I discovered in a magazine, it was the name of a rainbow baby and I fell in love, I dreamt of an [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] “[name_f]Elle[/name_f]” and [name_f]Zoe[/name_f] “Zozo”.

I still love [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], I just prefer [name_f]Isobel[/name_f] or [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] or even Isobeau more now, [name_f]Zoe[/name_f] is still on my list (as well as a nickname for Isobeau/bel), [name_u]Riley[/name_u] is a nn for [name_f]Marilyn[/name_f] and Rowcella is completely out.

10

A few of my top names today have carried all the way through from when I was quite little - [name_f]Tessa[/name_f], [name_f]Isla[/name_f], [name_f]Elsa[/name_f], and [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f]. [name_m]Plenty[/name_m] have come and gone, but these have been stayers!

[name_f]Tessa[/name_f] - when I was about seven I read an early-reader book with a cat named [name_f]Tessa[/name_f] in it
[name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] and [name_f]Flora[/name_f] - from the cartoon Babar
[name_f]Isla[/name_f] - from Australian actress [name_f]Isla[/name_f] [name_m]Fisher[/name_m] (she was on a TV soap here in the 90s)
[name_f]Elsa[/name_f] - from the book [name_m]Born[/name_m] [name_u]Free[/name_u] by [name_f]Joy[/name_f] Adamson
[name_f]Samantha[/name_f] - after an Olympic swimmer (I used to go to swim squad when I was young)
[name_f]Jessica[/name_f] - just thought it was very pretty!
[name_f]Isolde[/name_f] and [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] - sisters at my primary/elementary school
[name_f]Lucy[/name_f]/[name_f]Lucille[/name_f] - from watching old re-runs of I [name_u]Love[/name_u] [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]
[name_u]Darcey[/name_u] - after [name_u]Darcey[/name_u] Bussell the ballerina
[name_f]Freya[/name_f] - from learning Norse mythology at school

Those are the early ones I can recall right now. I still like all of those, however they aren’t all on my short-list at the moment and I don’t know that I’d really consider [name_f]Samantha[/name_f], [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] or [name_f]Lucille[/name_f] anymore. I do still love [name_f]Jessica[/name_f], but it’s just soooo popular! I must admit that the big rise in [name_f]Elsa[/name_f] (thanks, Frozen) and [name_f]Isla[/name_f] in recent years has been kind of amazing to me, since they were unusual and less-common choices on my list for so long!