[name_m]Just[/name_m] curious to hear what people’s solutions to this problem are?
Naming my first daughter was easy, and we’re pretty set on a boy’s choice for the next time around, but I can just tell we’re going to have a huge dilemma if we have another girl. We just love SO many names and combos, seemingly equally. It’s a great problem to have, but I know it won’t make the decision-making process any easier!
I’m not expecting, so this is just nosiness really I’d love to hear some stories from anyone who’s had this issue. What were your options? What were your reasons for loving them? What did you eventually decide on and why?
I bet there have been some epic baby-naming odysseys out there!
I love love love Felicity, Ottoline, Jemima, Imogen and Eliza. Those would be my shortlist.
Felicity - I’ve finally got hubby around to this one. He claimed to abhor it all along but now says he likes it… Only took 3 prior babies!!!
Ottoline - he’s even more visceral about his dislike if Ottoline than he was about Felicity. And I don’t have another 3 pregnancies in me to convince him!
Jemima - He just rips the piss and in a strong put on Jamaican accent, says Jah-Myyyyy-mahhhh’ A$$!
Imogen - I’ve gone off a bit. I don’t love it the way I did. Plus the last storm here in Ireland last week was Storm Imogen which took some of the gloss off it for me !
Eliza - my sister has kind of adopted this name for he own when she has another baby so its not really on the table.
For boys, I adore Theodore, Beau, Laurence, Felix and Louis.
Theodore - this was very nearly DS2’s name. We went into delivery room with Theodore and Rupert and he just looked like a Rupert. So this has been my favourite name since then!
Beau - while in love it, its not as strong as the others names. Maybe as a mn.
Laurence - I’d worry about the nn Larry which I’m not willing to risk… I like Laurie (as per little women) and Wren but I hate Larry.
Felix - love this, but just not as much as Theodore.
Louis - Also love, but it’ll probably be a mn maybe.
I’ve never had to name a little girl, so I can’t personally share any stories. But, I do believe when you are expecting and you love several names, one name will eventually stand out to you. Perhaps there’s a single name that has a really strong and positive association for you and your s/o?
If it’s a tie, you could try looking at the meanings of each name. If it’s between a name meaning bitter and another meaning beloved then it gives the nicer meaning an edge.
Also your other children could help to break a tie if they’re old enough. Or other family members.
And my favorite option is if you have three or four options to wait until she is born and see which name seems to fit best. I waited till a day after one of my sons was born to name him. It was down to two.
I’m lucky to live in Norway, we don’t have to name our children immediately, we’re allowed time to get to know them first (6 months) and I think that will be super helpful for me when the time comes. ^^
Other than that, I think you have to be a little cynical, or create a lot of rules to help you cut some. With your signature I would only keep [name_f]Astrid[/name_f], [name_f]Liv[/name_f], [name_f]Olive[/name_f], [name_f]Zelda[/name_f] and [name_f]Zosia[/name_f] on the final list (assuming you love them as much as the rest).
[name_f]Helena[/name_f], [name_f]Violet[/name_f] and [name_f]Rosamund[/name_f] are too prim and formal with [name_f]Juno[/name_f].
[name_f]Cleo[/name_f], [name_f]Ione[/name_f] have too much in common with [name_f]Juno[/name_f].
[name_f]Gaia[/name_f] and [name_f]Minerva[/name_f] make it overly mythological.
You can also eliminate [name_f]Liv[/name_f] or [name_f]Olive[/name_f] by choosing only one of them since they’re so similar, same with [name_f]Zelda[/name_f] and [name_f]Zosia[/name_f]. (I would choose [name_f]Olive[/name_f] (nn [name_f]Liv[/name_f]) and [name_f]Zosia[/name_f], because [name_f]Zelda[/name_f] has much the same qualities as [name_f]Astrid[/name_f] and she’s staying.)
I would further say I like how the O from [name_f]Juno[/name_f] is repeated in [name_f]Olive[/name_f] and [name_f]Zosia[/name_f] and cut [name_f]Astrid[/name_f]. (or you could do the opposite, saying you want to avoid any kind of pattern and use [name_f]Astrid[/name_f])
And lastly, I would see which one fits better with potential future siblings, looking at your’s boys list I would definitely pick [name_f]Olive[/name_f].
I’m sure this wasn’t what you were asking for though XD
And it’s easy to be cold and calculating when it’s not your own little bundle of joy.
I loved [name_m]Henry[/name_m], and my husband loved [name_m]Lucas[/name_m]. Neither of us minded the other’s choice, but we definitely preferred our own. When we found out it was a boy, my husband was like, “Of course it will be [name_m]Henry[/name_m]. I’m not going to tell a woman who is doing all the work what she can or can’t name her first child.” And we agreed that he would have the ‘bigger vote’ for the next one.
But if we both loved a handful of names equally and kept flopping between (what a wonderful problem!), then I wouldn’t stress over it and just take a list to the hospital. If I still couldn’t decide, I’d probably poll my (supportive) family and friends.
I’m only 17 so I’ve never had to name a child, but here’s how I settle decisions I can’t make. I flip a coin and let luck decide it for me. Let’s say one name represents heads and the other tails. If I feel slightly disappointed by the outcome, then I know I should choose the other option. If I feel relieved by the coin flip, then I’m comfortable with the choice.
If I was struggling between two names, I’d compare how each name fared in these categories:
meaning
origin
pronunciation/misspelling issues
every connotation I could possibly find
nickname potential
teasing potential
coherence with [name_f]Juno[/name_f] [name_f]Matilda[/name_f]
professional or not professional?
ability to age with the child
popularity (I’d choose the less popular)
potential to rise in popularity
Then tally it up and see who wins. If it really came down to it, I’d ask a few of my close friends which one they like better. Or you could just take two names to the hospital, and once you get a look at her, it might be easier to decide.
This was more of a hypothetical question to see what other people’s solutions have been in this situation, but this was really interesting to read - thanks! It’s fascinating to see what someone else with absolutely no personal investment would choose for [name_f]Juno[/name_f]'s sister, and the process they would go through to get there.
Though I love all my combos in theory, in practice there would likely only be two or three to choose between, taking into account sentimental reasons, nicknames, wearability, DH’s preferences, etc. His favourite is [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f], my favourite is [name_f]Astrid[/name_f] (both beautiful [name_f]IMO[/name_f] but far too similar for siblings), and we both also really love [name_f]Helena[/name_f] ([name_f]Nell[/name_f]), which also has personal significance for us both.
I feel that [name_f]Juno[/name_f] and [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f] together are a) too mythological and b) too [name_f]Ellen[/name_f] [name_u]Page[/name_u], and DH begrudgingly half agrees, so in reality it would likely be between [name_f]Astrid[/name_f] and [name_f]Nell[/name_f] (we’d use [name_f]Helena[/name_f] as a formal name but basically she’d be [name_f]Nell[/name_f]). I think we’d probably end up going with [name_f]Nell[/name_f] because of its sentimental value, but I know I’d have a hard time giving up [name_f]Astrid[/name_f] I wouldn’t “save” it for a future daughter because a) I can’t find a [name_f]Helena[/name_f] combo I love as much as [name_f]Helena[/name_f] [name_f]Astrid[/name_f], and b) if we only had boys after that I’d kick myself for not using my favourite, at least as a middle.
Blah, sorry. So basically, I kind of deep down know what we’d go with at this point in time, but we’re not expecting yet so it could all still change, haha. But I will definitely bear your comments in mind - sometimes an unbiased opinion can really shed new light. I hadn’t really realised that my boys are generally a lot more traditional, for example, but you’re right and it’s something to think about for sure!
I’d love to hear some stories from anyone who’s had this issue. What were your options? What were your reasons for loving them? What did you eventually decide on and why?
When we found out it was a boy, my husband was like, “Of course it will be [name_m]Henry[/name_m]. I’m not going to tell a woman who is doing all the work what she can or can’t name her first child.” And we agreed that he would have the ‘bigger vote’ for the next one.
I wouldn’t “save” it for a future daughter because a) I can’t find a [name_f]Helena[/name_f] combo I love as much as [name_f]Helena[/name_f] [name_f]Astrid[/name_f], and b) if we only had boys after that I’d kick myself for not using my favourite, at least as a middle.