I’m looking for a lot of opinions, so hopefully that’s fun and not annoying. I’ve been toying with the idea of changing my first name for a long time, and figured I never would, but it’s turned out that when I get married I will have the exact same name as one of my husband’s family members. It’s a small family and they’ve been using her full first and last name to distinguish between the two of us and signify “not-me”. When I change my last name, it’s just going to feel too weird, so it’s time to bite the bullet and get something new to go by. I won’t be using my middle name because of some negative family connotations.
The big complication is that this new last name is really really goth. When I met my husband I thought it wasn’t his real last name, and I know people often think he changed it just to be goth, they sometimes say so. For the purposes of sound and gothiness, you can assume it is Death (which is a real surname too, btw), although in meaning it’s more like shadow or night. We also live in a place that is instantly associated with gothiness and I have dark hair, light skin, and sharp features naturally. So, you can see there is a very goth persona being created unintentionally, and while part of me would like to just embrace it and become [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] Death queen of the underworld, a bigger part of me would rather be able to get a good job and security clearance without too many raised eyebrows. I feel like it’s bad enough that I’m changing my name at all. I’ve tried to find names that are either connected to my family in some way or are familiar classics, not too flowery, and not a feminized male name. After a lot of narrowing down, I’m left with 4 + a probable middle. Being a name nerd all my life I’m not sure I know what is unusual or strange any more, so I need some help!
Names:
[name_f]Almira[/name_f]
[name_f]Brigitte[/name_f] / [name_f]Bridget[/name_f] (sp?)
[name_f]Celeste[/name_f]
[name_f]Millicent[/name_f]
[name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] - this will probably replace my middle name (which is worse than my first name).
Questions:
Are any of these names weird in either a too-goth-with-surname or “oh…you changed your name to that…I see…” kind of way. Like, it would seem kind of pretentious to change your name from [name_f]Lauren[/name_f] to [name_f]Arabella[/name_f] or Ambrosine even though they aren’t particularly “goth” (I think). Actually, it would be great to have them rated on a 10 point scale with 0 being super normal, 5 beginning to raise an eyebrow, and 10 being the name [name_f]Bloodrayne[/name_f] Death.
What is your initial impression of [name_f]Almira[/name_f]'s nationality and pronunciation?
Does [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] Death / [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] [name_f]Shadow[/name_f] bring [name_m]Lucifer[/name_m] to mind? I don’t think this would be too much of an issue as a (second) middle name, but still wondering.
What are your thoughts on the best way to spell [name_f]Bridget[/name_f]? My family is culturally [name_m]German[/name_m] more than anything else, which is why I am considering [name_f]Brigitte[/name_f]. I’m assuming it will be pronounced [name_m]BRIDGE[/name_m]-it no matter how it’s spelled.
Is [name_f]Celeste[/name_f] [name_m]Night[/name_m] too kitschy? I discounted this along with [name_f]Celestine[/name_f], which even I think is way too much. But I’m beginning to think [name_f]Celeste[/name_f] is okay since I’ve gotten some good feedback from family members on it.
I’m open to (short!) lists of name suggestions, although I have looked through every name given in the year of my birth, several other years, and many more. Particularly I would be interested in names beginning with “L” and not ending with “A” or “D” to use in the middle slot instead of [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] if I go with [name_f]Almira[/name_f] as the first. I’ve tried to find a [name_m]German[/name_m]-used name for this slot, but I don’t like [name_f]Louise[/name_f] in the middle and [name_m]Edgar[/name_m] [name_m]Allan[/name_m] [name_u]Poe[/name_u] took [name_f]Lenore[/name_f]. It can be a little more on the unusual side, but, not [name_f]Lenore[/name_f] haha.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] saying my mom and my cousin, who married into the family, have the same name and the one who married in is called by her first and middle name in my family.
[name_f]Almira[/name_f]- 3, it’s not very common (at least were I live in the US)
[name_f]Brigitte[/name_f] / [name_f]Bridget[/name_f]- 0, I like it
[name_f]Celeste[/name_f]- 5, this just sounds like an opposite to your soon to be last name because I associate it with light
[name_f]Millicent[/name_f]- 5, I’m not a fan of this name anyway, but when I see it I also associate it with Millificent, which wouldn’t help you at all if I’m not the only who does
[name_f]Lucinda[/name_f]-1, this I think is pretty normal name (this is another name that I don’t care for but if you like it, cool)
I’m not exactly sure of [name_f]Almira[/name_f]'s nationality (I’m not usually good with that kind of stuff). The first time I read it I pronounced it L-my-ruh, but then I looked closer and saw that it could be pronounced many ways. All-my-ruh, L-meer-uh, All-meer-uh, etc.
I don’t think of [name_m]Lucifer[/name_m] when I think of [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] and if you went with a nickname for it, like [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], I don’t think you’d have to be worried at all.
My preference is [name_f]Bridget[/name_f], but with your nationality being [name_m]German[/name_m], I like [name_f]Brigitte[/name_f].
Again, I think of “light” when I think of [name_f]Celeste[/name_f], but maybe it’s just me.
@ akgirl
Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it.
I really wish I had a decent middle name that didn’t have some baggage. The only nickname I could really make has even more familial baggage, otherwise this would be much easier (:
[name_m]Just[/name_m] about everyone I’ve talked to has said [name_f]Millicent[/name_f] reminds them of Maleficent, so there seems to be a trend.
[name_f]Bridget[/name_f] or [name_f]Brigitte[/name_f] strikes as the most familiar option and that is what I what I would probably choose in your situation. [name_f]Celeste[/name_f] does sound like it could make an unfortunate contrast–with regard to meaning–with your last name, but it’s up to you how much that would bother you.
I might find [name_f]Millicent[/name_f] a little too goth-y for my tastes. I would say that [name_f]Almira[/name_f], [name_f]Bridget[/name_f], & [name_f]Celeste[/name_f] are 0s, [name_f]Millicent[/name_f] a 6 or 7, and [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] a 4 or 5.
[name_f]Almira[/name_f] - I would pronounce this “[name_m]Al[/name_m]-meer-uh”. Not sure on nationality, I’m not good at solving those sorts of things.
While I’m not a huge fan of [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f], as I do see it as sort of dark and twisty, I do think if you love it, it’s not too dark to use.
[name_f]Bridget[/name_f] - I prefer this spelling. I know a [name_f]Brigitte[/name_f] who pronounces it the “bri-GHEET” way, so thats sort of how I see it.
I think [name_f]Celeste[/name_f] [name_m]Night[/name_m] is a bit celestial, a bit too many sky associations. But, if your last name isn’t actually [name_m]Night[/name_m], if it’s Death, then [name_f]Celeste[/name_f] Death is ok. Hard to say without knowing your actual last name.
A couple L names that don’t end in A or D: [name_f]Laurel[/name_f] (really love!!), [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] (way less goth-y than [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f]), [name_u]Lior[/name_u] / Leor, [name_f]Lauren[/name_f], [name_f]Liesl[/name_f]
My first choice from your options would probably be [name_f]Bridget[/name_f] [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f].
Are you sure you wouldn’t like to consider some variation of your name or even your last name? Or keep your first name and hyphenate your original last name with his last name?
I like [name_f]Bridget[/name_f] - [name_f]Brigitte[/name_f] is nice but it does have benign witchy vibes (and is pronounced differently). Another option is [name_f]Brigid[/name_f]. Good nn options too: [name_f]Bree[/name_f], [name_m]Bridge[/name_m], [name_f]Birdie[/name_f], [name_f]Bee[/name_f]/ [name_f]Bea[/name_f] etc.
Otherwise [name_f]Celeste[/name_f], if it doesn’t sound overly stylised with your last name, or [name_f]Almira[/name_f]. [name_f]Almira[/name_f] is Spanish, I believe! I would stay away from [name_f]Millicent[/name_f] but mostly because it seems like the name for someone born in 1900 or 2010 - whether that’s accurate or not. It just doesn’t seem credible especially with a goth last name. [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] matches the time period better and I really like it for a middle - could be quite heavy as a first with a goth last name.
@marrth
[name_f]Ann[/name_f] actually would have been my first choice for that reason, but it makes the name of a cartoon character with my future last name, alas. [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] was on my long short list, and got axed because of the meaning with others that meant chaste. I had many more super normal names that were on my long short list, but there can only be one. They all seemed like they could be replaced by [name_f]Bridget[/name_f] which I feel is also super normal. The remaining four names are the ones that didn’t feel like they could be removed in favour of one I liked better with a similar feel.
@waverly123
Thank you for your insight; it was very helpful. I like your L-name suggestions, unfortunately I have a large family and there are a lot of L-names already used that are the same or very similar.
If I had been given a name that has nicknames, I would certainly jump on it. The only nickname I could twist out of my name is the name of an in-law who is not on good terms with the rest of my family. I’ve looked up nicknames and that’s really all there is. I can’t really hyphenate either because, while my last name is completely normal by itself, it doesn’t make things better as a combination. It’s as if my last name were Bringer, and the best I could do was Bringer-Death.
@eloiset
Thank you! Some more great information. [name_f]Almira[/name_f] is Spanish and it became modestly popular in the States for a couple centuries presumably because it was the name of an opera. From what I can tell it’s mostly used in Islamic communities now, so I was worried it might be a bit mismatched for me despite being common in my family tree. It’s interesting to see that it still gives a more varied impression. Also a good name list that has quite a few from my long short list that I’m still tempted to go back to.