Hoping to do it right this time

General Name Discussion
1

[name]Hi[/name]!-
My husband, [name]Andrew[/name], and I are expecting our second baby.

Our first pregnancy was not planned and, frankly, we weren’t really ready for it. We were both very young (23) and had only been married for a little over a year [we got married right after graduating from college, largely because [name]Andrew[/name] got an amazing job in [name]London[/name] and we didn’t want to attempt a long distance relationship. We had planned on getting married - just “some day”.]

We married in [name]June[/name], moved to [name]London[/name] in [name]July[/name], and welcomed [name]Oliver[/name] the following [name]April[/name]. Everything happened so quickly. We were shocked and spent the 9 months trying to get ready (mentally and logistically) for a baby, not thinking about names. I remember having one (one!) conversation about names before he was born. I’m embarrassed/ ashamed to say that we really didn’t think about it all that much. We were the first of our friends to have kids and we really didn’t know any babies, so we were completely out of the loop on trendiness and popularity.

We love our little O man more than anything and his name does fit him, but if we had a “redo”, I’m pretty sure we’d pick something else. [name]Oliver[/name] is a great name, but it’s far more popular (and trendy) than we would like, both here in [name]London[/name] and at “home” (New [name]England[/name]).

So now, with number 2 on the way, I’m determined to think it through and find a name we truly love. But here’s the thing- we’re not much more knowledgeable about names than we were 3 years ago, and we’re not exactly sure what we like. So we need some help!

If you’re still reading (brevity has never been my strength), I’d love your feedback and, most of all, your suggestions.

For another boy, [name]Andrew[/name] and I have discussed [name]Julian[/name], [name]Leo[/name], [name]Louis[/name], [name]Philip[/name], and [name]Simon[/name].

For our first girl, we’ve thought about [name]Alice[/name], [name]Annabel[/name], [name]Beatrice[/name], [name]Caroline[/name], [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Matilda[/name], and [name]Rose[/name].

Thank you!

[name]Kate[/name] (and [name]Andrew[/name])

2

congratulations! [name]Just[/name] so you know we got married in [name]April[/name] 09, moved to Honduras (husband’s country) in [name]June[/name] 09, and had our first baby [name]October[/name] 2009. So I know what you mean by lots of changes and really quickly! We are also pregnant with our 2nd now too - due Feb 2013. it’s exciting to have a planned pregnancy, ha.

I’ve been having a block lately trying to think of names for my own, but from your list i like [name]Julian[/name], [name]Annabel[/name], and [name]Eleanor[/name] best. If I think of more I’ll post again!

3

[name]Welcome[/name] to Nameberry and congrats on your pregnancy. There really isn’t a bad name on your list but with [name]Oliver[/name], I love [name]Julian[/name] and [name]Leo[/name] for a boy and [name]Annabel[/name], [name]Beatrice[/name] ([name]Beatrix[/name]) and [name]Matilda[/name]. Here are some suggestions.

Girl

[name]Amelia[/name]
[name]Lucy[/name]
[name]Sophie[/name]
[name]Violet[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Daphne[/name]
[name]Eliza[/name]
[name]Felicity[/name]
[name]Phoebe[/name]
[name]Iris[/name]
[name]Cora[/name]

Boy

[name]Sebastian[/name]
[name]Felix[/name]
[name]Milo[/name]
[name]Theodore[/name]
[name]Hugo[/name]
[name]Gabriel[/name]
[name]Gideon[/name]
[name]Jude[/name]
[name]Silas[/name]
[name]Tristan[/name]
[name]Maxwell[/name]
[name]Thomas[/name]
[name]Tobias[/name]

4

I think all your names are great and work well with [name]Oliver[/name]. The only one in the top 100 in the US is [name]Caroline[/name] so I wouldn’t worry too much about them being super-trendy. I think [name]Caroline[/name] is not trendy/popular but more classic/timeless like [name]Elizabeth[/name]. Here are some other possibilities:

[name]Alfred[/name]
[name]Arthur[/name]
[name]David[/name]
[name]Duncan[/name]
[name]Frederick[/name]
[name]Edward[/name]
[name]Edmond[/name]
[name]Gideon[/name]
[name]Gilbert[/name]
[name]Marcus[/name]
[name]Paul[/name]
[name]Roland[/name]
[name]Stephen[/name]
[name]Theodore[/name]
[name]Tobias[/name]
[name]Tristan[/name]

[name]Amabel[/name]
[name]Amelia[/name]
[name]Cecily[/name]
[name]Clementine[/name]
[name]Cora[/name]
[name]Eliza[/name]
[name]Gemma[/name]
[name]Helen[/name]
[name]Irene[/name]
[name]Julia[/name]
[name]Louisa[/name]
[name]Lucinda[/name]
[name]Margaret[/name]
[name]Maud[/name]
[name]Miranda[/name]
[name]Philippa[/name]
[name]Rosemary[/name]
[name]Sylvia[/name]/[name]Sylvie[/name]
[name]Tabitha[/name]
[name]Winifred[/name]

5

[name]Hi[/name] and welcome to nameberry and I hope that we can find THE name for you.

[name]Oliver[/name] and…

From your list I love [name]Simon[/name] and [name]Julian[/name].

[name]Simon[/name] [name]Montgomery[/name]
[name]Julian[/name] [name]Dashiell[/name]
[name]Dashiell[/name] [name]Laurence[/name]
[name]Hugo[/name] [name]David[/name]

All the names you have on your list are fabulous.

For a sister to [name]Oliver[/name] I love…

[name]Matilda[/name] I think that it has just enough quirkiness to please you and it makes a good sibset eg [name]Matilda[/name] and [name]Oliver[/name], nn [name]Tilly[/name] (not [name]Mattie[/name])

If you want a more formal pairing then I would definitely go with [name]Caroline[/name], combo of [name]Caroline[/name] [name]Alice[/name] or

[name]Alice[/name] [name]Helena[/name]
[name]Alice[/name] [name]Katherine[/name] or [name]Katherine[/name] [name]Alice[/name]
[name]Caroline[/name] [name]Margot[/name]
[name]Rose[/name] [name]Eloise[/name]
[name]Annabel[/name] [name]Rosalind[/name]
[name]Matilda[/name] [name]Alice[/name]
[name]Matilda[/name] [name]Eloise[/name]
[name]Rose[/name] [name]Penelope[/name]
[name]Genevieve[/name] [name]Simone[/name]
[name]Imogen[/name] [name]Kate[/name]
[name]Rose[/name] [name]Hermione[/name]
[name]Phillipa[/name] [name]Anne[/name]
[name]Annabel[/name] [name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name] [name]Marian[/name]
[name]Vivian[/name] [name]Beatrice[/name]

6

leylas.mommy - Congrats to you too! It’s nice to know someone has had a similar experience. And I know what you mean! It’s been a completely different experience this time around - actually trying! - when it just happened with [name]Oliver[/name]. We definitely feel more prepared for this baby. :slight_smile: Thank you for the feedback on our names, and good luck with your own list!

mischa- Thank you! I like a lot of your suggestions. [name]Lydia[/name] is great, as are [name]Eliza[/name] and [name]Phoebe[/name]. [name]Theodore[/name], [name]Hugo[/name], [name]Tristan[/name], and [name]Tobias[/name] ( I love this!) are also great.

davisellu -I really like [name]Alfred[/name] but it is so popular here (UK). And yet it’s so uncommon in New [name]England[/name]. A lot of names we like have this same issue. They’re too popular here and practically undiscovered at home, or vice versa. We’re not really sure what the future holds for us - we plan on moving back to the US at some point, but it could be next year, in 5 years, 10 years, etc. We really don’t know so we’d ideally like to find a name that’s not too popular or trendy in either location. But that seems to be easier said than done.

That said, from your suggestions we like [name]Frederick[/name] (love [name]Freddie[/name] but it is everywhere in the UK), [name]Stephen[/name], and as I said, [name]Tristan[/name] and, [name]Tobias[/name] ([name]Toby[/name] is so great!). For girls, we like [name]Cecily[/name] and [name]Rosemary[/name], but I absolutely love [name]Louisa[/name]! I just have to convince [name]Andrew[/name].

rollo -Thank you! I hope we can find “the” name too!

I’m glad you like [name]Simon[/name]. I think it’s such a handsome name and, at least in the US, is underused. We love the nickname [name]Tilly[/name] for [name]Matilda[/name], but do [name]Ollie[/name] and [name]Tilly[/name] sound too similar?

I think we’re going to have to eliminate [name]Caroline[/name]. It just a little too popular for us. [name]Andrew[/name] loves your suggestion of [name]Vivian[/name]. I had a horrible classmate named [name]Vivian[/name], but I love the name spelled [name]Vivienne[/name]. It’s going on the list!

Thank you all!

[name]Kate[/name]

7

I really like [name]Alice[/name], [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Beatrice[/name], [name]Rose[/name] and [name]Matilda[/name] A LOT!

But I don’t know about boy’s names - I do like [name]Alfred[/name] though. It is rather popular here in Denmark too.

8

From your boy’s list I like [name]Leo[/name] and [name]Philip[/name]. I loooove all of your girl’s names, but I think [name]Annabel[/name] or [name]Matilda[/name] would fit the best with [name]Oliver[/name]. Congratulations and good luck!! :slight_smile:

9

More ideas

[name]Talitha[/name] this is super pretty
[name]Grace[/name] too popular? I think a sibset of [name]Grace[/name] and [name]Oliver[/name] is lovely
[name]Faith[/name] another virtue name that is so feminine
[name]Verity[/name] another virtue name that you may like because of the V (seems like I am stuck on virtue names)
[name]Juliet[/name] one of my favourites, [name]Juliet[/name] and [name]Oliver[/name] perfect
[name]Eugenie[/name] a lovely French name
[name]Sybil[/name] unusual and pretty or [name]Sybella[/name] nn of [name]Bella[/name]
[name]Gwendolyn[/name] a Welsh favourite - lovely
[name]Brenda[/name] I have never seen anyone use this one, is it too dated or just not loved?
[name]Fern[/name] this was on my list
[name]Linnea[/name] a beautiful Swedish name loved by many
[name]Maren[/name] a simple name not my style but still lovely I prefer [name]Marissa[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]

rollo