There are probably other threads similar to this, but rest assured I’m not trying to copy
Before joining Nameberry, I never would have considered names that are now in my signature ([name_m]Cassius[/name_m], [name_m]Beckett[/name_m], [name_f]Gwen[/name_f]). Other names I love ([name_f]Snow[/name_f], [name_m]Huxley[/name_m], [name_f]India[/name_f]) would have been dismissed as “silly” or “weird”. In fact, as I’ve gotten older, my style has progressed from extravagant, to conservative, to something I can really call my own. When I was about ten, I recall my favourite names for girls being along the lines of “[name_f]Rosalinda[/name_f] [name_f]Briella[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f]” and “[name_f]Ariana[/name_f] [name_f]Eveline[/name_f] [name_f]Violetta[/name_f]”. A couple of years later, my top candidates were [name_m]Luke[/name_m], [name_f]Lily[/name_f], [name_f]Emma[/name_f], and [name_m]Andrew[/name_m].
But once I discovered an online world full of people who share my passion for names, my tastes shifted dramatically. I began to abhor names I once loved, and names I had written off previously began to acquire a certain charm. I merged uniqueness, personal meaning, and classicality together to find names that make me truly happy.
So, berries: what’s your story?? Are there any names you once hated that you now swear by? [name_m]How[/name_m] have your tastes changed over the years? Has this site influenced you? I’m very curious about your perspectives, in case you can’t tell!
~C
Yes, it has changed. To worst, haha.
I don’t think my personal taste has changed, but the names I end up being serious about have changed because of my husband. I’ve always loved, and I still love, comparatively “out there” names like [name_f]Endellion[/name_f], [name_f]Persephone[/name_f], [name_u]Everest[/name_u], [name_m]Emrys[/name_m], and [name_f]Ceridwen[/name_f]. But my husband really really really doesn’t like those, so I’ve had to adapt. I feel like my name style has evolved to be a lot more conservative because of his influence. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though! At least, that’s what I tell myself…
I did go through several different phases and have come to quite a few realisations on the way.
The first names I remember liking (I was about 9) were [name_u]Elliott[/name_u], [name_m]Henry[/name_m] and [name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_f]Emma[/name_f] and [name_u]Theo[/name_u] joined later on.
When my sister was born (I was 12) and my parents talked about names, I also really liked [name_f]Emilia[/name_f], [name_m]Moritz[/name_m] (very [name_m]German[/name_m]), [name_m]Jonas[/name_m] and [name_f]Matilda[/name_f] (which I loved and suggested because of the [name_m]Roald[/name_m] Dahl story), all but the latter were rather on-trend (but not trendy) names in Germany, names I’ve heard, nothing special, ordinary but not classic, either (btw. my sister ended up named [name_f]Matilda[/name_f]).
Since then I was a name lover and me and a friend used to talk about names a lot (the only one we ever agreed on was [name_u]Theo[/name_u]), my favourites started to become a bit more unusual, [name_f]Yara[/name_f] and [name_f]Noa[/name_f] were on my girls’ list (the boys’ stayed the same).
When I joined Nameberry, and I don’t have a list from back then but I went to look for my first posts and I found one, my absolute favourites were [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f], [name_f]Flora[/name_f] (my user name makes this obvious), [name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_f]Rose[/name_f]/[name_f]Rosalie[/name_f], [name_u]Elliott[/name_u], [name_m]Hugo[/name_m] (though I wasn’t a big fan of the English prn. back then), [name_m]Henry[/name_m], [name_m]Caspar[/name_m], [name_f]Leonor[/name_f] - so rather simple but not too plain, then it got a bit more “unusual” with [name_f]Penelope[/name_f], [name_f]Callista[/name_f]/[name_f]Calista[/name_f], [name_f]Viola[/name_f], [name_m]Kasimir[/name_m], [name_m]Caspian[/name_m], [name_f]Rosalind[/name_f] (which I loved only as a middle for [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] at first), [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] but at one point they also became boring to me, they weren’t as special as I thought, so eventually, I realised that the kid is going to be just as special named [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] as he is named [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] Moonriver (I tried to like those word names because I like the imagery but they sounded silly to me very quickly).
I also learned that I care about how names fo together more than I would like (and that if I feel like they don’t, it truly annoys me, no matter how hard I try not to care), I also learned that it’s okay to stop loving names even if they had been on your list for half your life, that keeping them won’t make me happy.
I’m truly happy with the names I have on my list now, they’re nothing special, but they are very me and some names did stand the test of time ([name_m]Henry[/name_m], for example, is still a favourite).
(I was rambling a bit and am sorry if the above doesn’t make as much sense as I wanted it to, I found my old post while typing this and kind of got stuck).
This is likely going to be very long, as this is something I’ve always wanted to explain about myself, so, here it goes.
When I first began liking names as a small child, I remember loving Kaitlynne, [name_f]Ella[/name_f], [name_f]Lauren[/name_f], [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_u]Aspen[/name_u], [name_f]Rhiannon[/name_f], [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] and [name_u]Addison[/name_u]. I liked these up until I was about 15, and started discovering names and popularity lists from [name_f]England[/name_f] and [name_m]Wales[/name_m], and my style started to shift - I began liking [name_f]Megan[/name_f], [name_f]Laura[/name_f], [name_f]Georgia[/name_f], [name_f]Poppy[/name_f], [name_f]Kimberley[/name_f], [name_f]Gemma[/name_f], [name_f]Kirsty[/name_f], [name_u]Jodie[/name_u], [name_f]Florence[/name_f], [name_f]Sophie[/name_f], [name_f]Millie[/name_f], etc., but still had Irelynne, Meghanne, Kaitlynne and [name_f]Brooklynne[/name_f] on my list (I don’t even remember why I liked -lynne, the only [name_u]Lynn[/name_u] I’ve ever known was a positively horrid woman, but anyway).
Then, as I got older and reached age 17, I began studying charts more and more, and drifting further away from the ‘American’ names I had previously liked. I was becoming more and more diverse in what I liked (so I thought) - [name_f]Cordelia[/name_f], [name_f]Cressida[/name_f], [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f], etc. were frequent favourites of mine, and by age 18, I was obsessed with all things vintage and clunky; [name_f]Agatha[/name_f], [name_f]Maude[/name_f], [name_f]Mildred[/name_f], [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f], even! However, the more I added the clunky, old-fashioned names, or the frilly, elegant names, the more I realised that I was terribly unhappy with how my list looked, and that I would never actually use the majority of the list.
By 19, I was constantly tearing up lists and redoing them, sometimes twice a month, because I wanted my names to fit the ‘Nameberry Aesthetic’, as I like to call it, (This is not a bad thing, by any means, before I begin). [name_f]Every[/name_f] signature I seem to look at, pretty much can be categorized into a style, and several people seem to like the same names, or similar. Everything looks very aesthetically pleasing, and everyone seems to fit into perfect little style boxes (again, not a bad thing at all!). I was desperate to be like everyone else - growing up and being bullied made me want to have nothing more than to fit in. That was all I could ever want, to be like everybody else and not have to worry about standing out in a bad way.
While I still love [name_f]Mabel[/name_f], [name_f]Olive[/name_f], [name_f]Agatha[/name_f], [name_f]Maude[/name_f], etc., I’m not terribly keen on them for my own children. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t see myself ever naming a child [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] or [name_f]Olive[/name_f] or [name_f]Maude[/name_f]. So, I took a break from my lists, and took a proper look at all of them again. I sorted through every aspect of the list, and even dug out old lists to go over them, and then turned to every single resource issued with data from 1996-2014 in the United Kingdom (N. [name_f]Ireland[/name_f] and [name_f]Scotland[/name_f] included, as far back as I could go), and made a huge list. After looking at every option, I found that, being myself, simply meant reverting back to my style when I was 15, but still adding in names like [name_f]Elsie[/name_f] and [name_f]Florence[/name_f], [name_f]Lavinia[/name_f] and [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f], and finding ways to make them fit.
I can honestly say that the way my lists are now is making me a lot happier. I like being myself and I like being open about the style of names I prefer. It just took me a while to figure out that I had been forcing myself to like things that weren’t really ‘me’.
As for my boys list, shockingly enough, it has never dramatically changed, not even from when I was a child. I think this was another factor in my realization about my girls’ list. My boys were all over the map, but I didn’t care at all then, and that was kind of a sign for me.
So I’d say dramatically for girls, and not at all for boys! I know some users have been confused by the drastic change, and I imagine some are less than happy with the thought of a little girl named [name_u]Jaymee[/name_u] or [name_m]Brogan[/name_m], but I felt like I hadn’t really, truly explained myself, and now I’m happy to have written this. If anyone needs clarification or would like to ask me anything about this, please feel free to PM me I would be happy to give a more detailed explanation.
[name_u]Love[/name_u] your story! I’m very similar.
When I was younger, I enjoyed the more unique names. I wasn’t opposed to odd spellings and I thought celebrity baby names were awesome, not ridiculous. I think I mostly felt this way because I was always trying to be different and unique from the rest. So, I always imagined my kids to be the same.
Once I discovered a name community and really made a hobby out of this name obsession, I discovered a whole new world of names and styles.
I quickly realized that my taste wasn’t necessarily crazy unique like [name_m]Atlas[/name_m] or [name_f]Moon[/name_f], but more so quirky, vintage names. Yet still very classic and timeless.
I absolutely love my style now. I think it fits who I am to a tee. I also feel a lot better that my style has grown to be more timeless because I’m good at changing my mind and I feel like there’s a lot less chance of me second guessing my name choices when the names I like can age well.
Most importantly, I just love pairing names together… No matter the style. Yes, I have my own style but I so enjoy reading these threads and helping other namers out there who have a wide variety of styles! It’s so fun
I think just recently my name style has took a little adventure outside of what I would call my original taste. I have liked, and disliked names through out my life, names sort of grow on me actually, but then again, some don’t. I know some names have stuck through the times and been through my lists- [name_m]Anthony[/name_m] [name_u]Michael[/name_u] and [name_f]Aubree[/name_f] Navayah( Though Navayah was recently changed just a year ago or so to please the DH). But my name lists has gotten more serious since getting with my fiance because I have to remember I will be naming these kids. We have made compromises, and some of the names are some he liked before I did, but fell in love with, ex: niklaus.
Recently, I have gotten into the clunky old names, like [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f], [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], Angnes. I would really never name my kids these. I have my modern taste I like, like as [name_f]Aubree[/name_f], and [name_u]Arya[/name_u] feel more modern taste to me than anything. I feel like my taste is a little over the place, but I just like different names, old names, modern names as well.
For several years, I was concerned with finding uncommon names that my dh and I agreed on. Many of those names I still like, but now that I’m close to having a family popularity does not bother me so much-I’ll consider any name that sounds nice to my ears
Edited for Privacy
I didn’t think much about names until I stumbled across Nameberry last [name_u]August[/name_u]. Over the past few months, I’d say that my style has mostly consisted of classic and family names along with Irish and Scottish names. However, I have become more sensible and realistic about names. When I first started making name lists, I was convinced that a little [name_f]Caoimhe[/name_f] or [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] would be perfectly fine in the U.S., but I’ve realized that they probably belong in the middle name spot for me.
It’s really nice to read all these stories, this is a lovely thread ^^
I was always a dreamer and imagined I wouldn’t live in Norway when I grew up, so my name tastes reflected that. I’ve always had one list of favourite Norwegian names, and one list for names that only work if I move to an English speaking country. For my Norwegian lists, it started out with obscure classics ([name_f]Maud[/name_f], [name_f]Oleanna[/name_f], [name_f]Lucia[/name_f], [name_m]Bastian[/name_m], [name_m]Nathanael[/name_m], [name_m]Walter[/name_m]) that would work internationally, and I was never really happy with it. Only these past few years have I grown to love the names I would use for my children today, Idunn, [name_m]Iver[/name_m], [name_f]Liva[/name_f], Ravn, [name_f]Signe[/name_f], Vilje, Sølve, Frøya and the likes, mostly because I’ve met people with these names, and also because I really would like to live in Norway Some of the obscure classics still find a home in the middle spot for these, [name_m]Immanuel[/name_m] and [name_m]Valentin[/name_m] are the ones that have been constant, and I’m not so locked into them having a history of use in Norway (Everild, [name_m]Ossian[/name_m]). I feel much happier with this list, and it has also freed me up to really embrace everything on my ‘English’ list because they’ll only ever be theoretical.
My English lists started out a lot more cohesive, I was always perfecting a sibset and I was drawn to the unusual and forgotten here as well ([name_f]Annora[/name_f], [name_f]Constance[/name_f], [name_f]Augusta[/name_f], [name_m]Magnus[/name_m], [name_m]Hadrian[/name_m]). While creating this small list of favourites I was also collecting, [name_f]EVERY[/name_f] unusual name I came across with some legitimacy to it went on the list, which I still have today and has over 3000 names for each gender. They’re far from complete because I had to actually like the name to add it, and sometimes the names I liked were fairly ordinary so it’s not consistently obscure either. I thought I was so in love with all of them, but mostly I was just drawn to how unheard of they were (still a dreamer, and I love all things new, part of the reason I prefer reading fantasy/sci-fi).
After a time of much dissatisfaction and I admit confusion, I’ve had to move away from these collections and started new ones because the overabundance of names was locking me to the ones on the list. I added new names regularly, but they had to fit with the other 3000
Now, I’m adding names to a much smaller list and not all of them get to stay. The new lists are also sorted into sections by how much I like the names.
I have four sections
One - names I would most like to use as first names
Two - a mix of names better in the middle, and a few others I like less than the first group but would use as firsts with the right combo
Three - third pick, names I would use to perfect a combo, usually middle only
Four - names I probably wouldn’t use but don’t want to forget about.
The names on the list now span all popularities and origins, the girls list has [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] and Vieno, along with Somerilda and Remedy, the boys have [name_m]Henry[/name_m], [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] and Whitsun, along with [name_m]Aloysius[/name_m] and Berengar. It’s names I love, period. Not names that fit together in a sibset, or have the same qualities or are equally obscure or anything like that. If I love it it’s on the list. I add new names regularly, but I also remove them and shift them down in the sections as I realise they’re never actually on my mind or that I have other, similar names I would choose first every single time, or I find names that are so similar I can only keep one in the first two sections (this is the toughest one, I have [name_f]Hera[/name_f], [name_u]Hero[/name_u] and [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] in the first section. [name_m]Elian[/name_m], Elouan and [name_m]Eilon[/name_m] is another one of these nuts. I usually just group them together so I always know there are more of the same. If I put them in different sections I can’t see them all at the same time…)
In a way yes, but overall no.
The names I’d actually use for my future children havent changed. But Nameberry has made me like some names I never used to. Also, there are loads of names that I come across on Nameberry that I like the look and sound of, however I wouldn’t name my children those names.
Well, you asked for it.
The [name_u]Early[/name_u] Ages (2002-2011):
The first name I can remember liking was [name_u]Aspen[/name_u]. I was probably 3 at the time and there was a girl at my daycare named [name_u]Aspen[/name_u] and I just thought that was the coolest name ever since I’d never heard it before. When my sister [name_f]Leah[/name_f] was born, my dad took me to the store to buy her a stuffed animal. I chose a unicorn and named it [name_u]Aspen[/name_u] (my thing was to name my stuffed animals after my classmates. I had about 50 million ones named [name_f]Grace[/name_f] since there seemed to be about 50 million Graces in my class).
I started making actual lists around the beginning of 6th grade. For years I wanted to have 2 girls and a boy. One girl was always [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] Marquette, the boy was always [name_u]Cody[/name_u] (can’t remember middle name), and the 3rd was whatever other girl name I liked at the time. First it was [name_f]Jocelyn[/name_f], then [name_u]Kari[/name_u] (1st syllable pronounced “car”), then [name_u]Aspen[/name_u], then [name_f]Chyna[/name_f] (ahem… A.N.T. Farm), then [name_f]Caelyn[/name_f]. My first written down list looked like this: [name_f]Theresa[/name_f], [name_f]Chyna[/name_f], [name_f]Crystal[/name_f], [name_u]Bryn[/name_u], [name_u]Avery[/name_u], [name_u]Kari[/name_u], [name_f]Jocelyn[/name_f], [name_f]Destiny[/name_f], [name_u]Morgan[/name_u], [name_u]Brooke[/name_u], [name_u]Reagan[/name_u], [name_f]Paige[/name_f] for girls and [name_u]Cody[/name_u], [name_m]Cole[/name_m], [name_u]Max[/name_u], [name_u]Devin[/name_u], [name_u]Logan[/name_u], [name_m]Ron[/name_m] for boys. Pretty much all over the place with inspiration from people I knew, Disney [name_f]Channel[/name_f], and the top 100.
The Nothing Period (2011-2012):
When I started 7th grade my list still looked very similar to the one above with [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] and [name_u]Cody[/name_u] as front runners. I remember though being at a dance competition that spring and thinking about how the name [name_f]Bree[/name_f] for girls was perfect. I wanted a daughter named [name_f]Bree[/name_f] because I could totally picture her saying her name while accepting an award at a dance competition or at a soccer tournament. It was perfect. That’s the only name I remember liking in 7th grade though.
The Kre8tif Dynasty (2012-2013):
[name_f]Summer[/name_f] between 7th and 8th grade was when I made my first list complete with middle names. It looked like: [name_u]Bryn[/name_u] [name_u]Kennedy[/name_u], [name_f]Cecelia[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_f]Tessa[/name_f] [name_f]Naomi[/name_f], [name_u]Skylar[/name_u] [name_f]Therese[/name_f], [name_f]Kelli[/name_f] [name_f]Mei[/name_f], [name_f]Nahla[/name_f] [name_u]Camryn[/name_u], [name_f]Kaelyn[/name_f] [name_u]Saylor[/name_u] for girls and [name_m]Collin[/name_m] [name_m]Gregory[/name_m], [name_u]Carter[/name_u] [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_u]Dylan[/name_u] [name_u]Riley[/name_u], [name_u]Tyler[/name_u] [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], [name_m]Ethan[/name_m] [name_m]Gunnar[/name_m], [name_m]Jason[/name_m] [name_m]Louis[/name_m], and [name_m]Jaylon[/name_m] [name_m]Christian[/name_m] for boys.
When I was in 8th grade I became obsessed with a website called Babydow where you could basically raise online children. I’m not sure how many I ended up having in all but some girls I had were [name_f]Siddalee[/name_f], [name_f]Adelyn[/name_f], McKayden, [name_f]Ayanna[/name_f], [name_f]Autumn[/name_f], [name_f]Adrienne[/name_f], [name_f]Brynlee[/name_f], [name_f]Maizie[/name_f], [name_f]DeLanie[/name_f], [name_u]Lakota[/name_u], [name_f]Brooklynn[/name_f], Maylee, [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f], and [name_f]Maeve[/name_f]. My boys were [name_u]Hudson[/name_u], [name_m]Trey[/name_m], [name_u]Bradley[/name_u], [name_m]Louis[/name_m], [name_u]Carter[/name_u], [name_m]Kayson[/name_m], [name_u]Channing[/name_u], and [name_u]Chandler[/name_u]. [name_f]Kinda[/name_f] all over the place with those names. If you’re not seeing the kre8tif spellings, I will dig up my actual name list from that time including [name_f]Kelsi[/name_f], [name_f]Kyndall[/name_f], Kenlee, [name_f]Tinsley[/name_f]/Tinsleigh, [name_f]Paysley[/name_f], [name_u]Wynter[/name_u], McKynzie, and [name_f]Emerie[/name_f]. For boys, my spellings were normal but all of my names came from the top 100. I was still into [name_m]Ethan[/name_m], [name_u]Logan[/name_u], [name_u]Tyler[/name_u], etc. which there’s nothing wrong with, it’s just they’re very popular.
The Trendy Time (2013-2014):
Yay, we finally get to the time when I started making my “weekly” top 10 list! It’s much easier to see when things happened now. My first list was on 12/26/13 and was: [name_f]Adalyn[/name_f], [name_u]Brooklyn[/name_u], [name_u]Avery[/name_u], [name_f]Brynlee[/name_f], [name_f]Sadie[/name_f], [name_f]Lila[/name_f], [name_u]Skylar[/name_u], [name_f]Cadence[/name_f], [name_u]Britton[/name_u], [name_u]Ryan[/name_u] for girls and [name_u]Carter[/name_u], [name_u]Kieran[/name_u], [name_m]Colin[/name_m], [name_m]Ryder[/name_m], [name_m]Isaias[/name_m], Hutson, [name_u]Jace[/name_u], [name_u]Logan[/name_u], [name_u]Parker[/name_u], [name_m]Matthias[/name_m] for boys. I slowly but surely began moving to more names like [name_f]Lila[/name_f] and [name_f]Sadie[/name_f] for girls and [name_u]Kieran[/name_u] and [name_m]Matthias[/name_m] for boys. [name_f]Brynlee[/name_f] (thankfully) fell off by the 3rd list. By mid-2014, I started adding names I had previously written off because they didn’t fit my original style. Things like [name_f]Violet[/name_f], [name_f]Elsie[/name_f], [name_f]Seraphina[/name_f], [name_u]Flynn[/name_u], [name_m]Jasper[/name_m], [name_f]Gianna[/name_f], and [name_f]Maeve[/name_f]. I also started getting more into nameberry at this time so I saw some fabulous names in the blog posts like [name_f]Leonor[/name_f], [name_f]Isabetta[/name_f], [name_u]Adair[/name_u], [name_u]Orion[/name_u], [name_u]Memphis[/name_u], [name_m]Soren[/name_m], and [name_m]Archer[/name_m], all of which made my list.
The Short and Sweet [name_f]Era[/name_f] (2014-2015):
Up until very recently my list could be described as short and sweet. [name_f]Lila[/name_f] and [name_f]Violet[/name_f], [name_m]Leo[/name_m] and [name_u]August[/name_u] topped my lists. I paired them with long and unique middles. Slowly I began drawing away from old favorites. [name_f]Sadie[/name_f] and [name_m]Jasper[/name_m] were 2 that I got tired of and decided one day I didn’t want to like anymore (legit that’s how it went down). But the thing was, I just couldn’t be happy with any of my combos except [name_u]August[/name_u] [name_u]Laurence[/name_u] which honors multiple things in my life. I went through [name_f]Lila[/name_f] [name_f]Romilly[/name_f], [name_f]Lila[/name_f] Katriel, [name_f]Lila[/name_f] [name_f]Persephone[/name_f], [name_f]Lila[/name_f] [name_f]Seraphine[/name_f], [name_f]Violet[/name_f] [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f], [name_f]Violet[/name_f] [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f], [name_m]Leo[/name_m] [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m], [name_m]Leo[/name_m] [name_m]Xavier[/name_m], [name_m]Leo[/name_m] [name_m]Endymion[/name_m], until I realized that it wasn’t the middle names I was getting tired of. It was the firsts.
Present [name_u]Day[/name_u] (2016):
Over winter break I did a complete breakdown of my list. It was very nerve-racking because I was putting so much pressure on myself for the perfect “2 year anniversary of my first weekly list” list on 12/26/15. I scrapped [name_f]Lila[/name_f], [name_f]Violet[/name_f], and [name_m]Leo[/name_m] and replaced them with [name_f]Iris[/name_f], [name_f]Maeve[/name_f], and [name_m]Archer[/name_m]. While I’m still not 100% in love with my list, I do feel like it’s getting somewhere. I started branching out more, going back to my childhood desire for unique names (I’d never met anyone named [name_f]Theresa[/name_f], [name_u]Kari[/name_u], [name_f]Jocelyn[/name_f], [name_f]Chyna[/name_f], or [name_u]Cody[/name_u] before). I’ve included names like Azula, [name_f]Elowen[/name_f], and [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] while still keeping some old and more common loves like [name_u]Vivian[/name_u], [name_f]Sabrina[/name_f], and [name_m]Nolan[/name_m]. Overall, the transformation of my list is not complete but it’s getting there. Slowly but surely. Right now I’m loving [name_f]Kaia[/name_f] for girls and [name_m]Conrad[/name_m] for boys.
These replies are amazing, thank you all! I’ve enjoyed reading them and hopefully other people have as well. Keep them coming if you want
Great thread!
I started looking at names in 2009, when I was 18. I was in my first serious relationship & started thinking about the future. I don’t remember exactly how but I stumbled upon Yahoo Answers & the baby name section on that site. I started posted regularly on that site and that’s when my baby name obsession started. My favorites at the very beginning ( had to go look through the hundreds of questions I posted to the very beginning) were [name_f]Myla[/name_f] [name_f]Jade[/name_f], [name_u]Eden[/name_u] [name_f]Lily[/name_f], [name_f]Lilah[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_m]Cole[/name_m], [name_m]Asher[/name_m], & [name_m]Nolan[/name_m]. The boy names all had the middle name [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] which honors my dad. More posts in 2009/2010 included the following names (I also started to try-out two middle names): [name_m]Roman[/name_m], [name_f]Azalea[/name_f], [name_f]Arielle[/name_f]/[name_f]Ariella[/name_f], [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f], [name_u]Brooke[/name_u], [name_f]Aurora[/name_f], [name_u]Eloise[/name_u], [name_f]Autumn[/name_f], [name_f]Claire[/name_f], [name_f]Anneliese[/name_f] (a long time favorite of mine), [name_f]Violet[/name_f], [name_f]Roslyn[/name_f], [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f], [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f], [name_f]Alexandria[/name_f] and [name_f]Myla[/name_f] changed to [name_f]Mila[/name_f]. My guilty pleasures at that time were: [name_f]Willow[/name_f], [name_u]Sage[/name_u], [name_f]Lux[/name_f], [name_f]Luna[/name_f], [name_f]Leona[/name_f], [name_f]Iris[/name_f], & [name_f]Harlow[/name_f].
I don’t remember what year but I started a forumspring (I think they have a different name now) and that’s when I found AnastasiaRuby ([name_f]Stephanie[/name_f]) and I started watching her youtube videos. She really made me fall for the name [name_f]Juliette[/name_f] and many of the other names she loved ([name_m]Dashiell[/name_m] & [name_m]Lucian[/name_m]). Watching her videos really expanded my naming style, however, really looking back at my lists my name taste hasn’t really changed, it has just evolved! I actually still have a lot of the names on my list that I had in 2009. Eventually, I think in maybe late 2010/early 2011 I found Nameberry & behindthename. I then became exposed to even more names. I have a list on my listography which was last edited in 2012 of my favorite names, they included:
[name_f]Seraphina[/name_f] [name_f]Iris[/name_f] ([name_f]Seraphina[/name_f] was my favorite name for years)
[name_f]Iris[/name_f] [name_f]Juliet[/name_f]
[name_f]Gwyneth[/name_f] [name_f]Honora[/name_f] [name_f]Gwen[/name_f] or Gwenie
[name_f]Anneliese[/name_f] [name_f]Ivy[/name_f]
[name_f]Mirabel[/name_f] [name_f]Alice[/name_f] [name_f]Mira[/name_f]
[name_f]Esmee[/name_f] [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]
[name_f]Aurora[/name_f] [name_u]Seren[/name_u] [name_f]Rora[/name_f]
[name_f]Maeve[/name_f] [name_f]Liliana[/name_f]
[name_f]Veda[/name_f] [name_f]Rosalie[/name_f]
[name_f]Petra[/name_f] [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Blythe[/name_f] [name_f]Annabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Zara[/name_f] [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f]
[name_f]Elle[/name_f] [name_f]Valentina[/name_f]
[name_f]Calista[/name_f] [name_f]Violet[/name_f]
[name_f]Leona[/name_f] [name_f]Scarlet[/name_f]
[name_u]Eloise[/name_u] [name_f]Cleo[/name_f] [name_f]Lola[/name_f]
[name_f]Juliet[/name_f] [name_f]Primrose[/name_f]
[name_m]Theodore[/name_m] [name_u]Grey[/name_u] [name_u]Theo[/name_u] or [name_u]Teddy[/name_u]
[name_m]Evander[/name_m] [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]
[name_m]Archer[/name_m] [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m]
[name_u]August[/name_u] [name_m]Jack[/name_m] [name_u]Gus[/name_u]
[name_u]Dexter[/name_u] [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] [name_m]Dex[/name_m]
[name_m]Oliver[/name_m] [name_u]Rowan[/name_u]
[name_m]Arthur[/name_m] [name_m]Nicholas[/name_m]
[name_u]Everett[/name_u] [name_m]Dashiell[/name_m] [name_u]Ever[/name_u]
[name_m]Nolan[/name_m] [name_u]Everett[/name_u]
[name_u]Arlo[/name_u] [name_u]Jude[/name_u]
[name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_m]Asher[/name_m]
I would say my boy name taste has changed the most!
In 2014 I took a break from naming, I just wasn’t loving anything anymore! I started to pick it up again in [name_f]October[/name_f] 2015 & I found myself gravitating towards a lot of my old favorites ([name_m]Asher[/name_m], [name_f]Iris[/name_f], [name_f]Juliette[/name_f], [name_f]Calista[/name_f]) but there also a lot of new names on my list ([name_u]Nico[/name_u], [name_m]Anton[/name_m], [name_m]Conrad[/name_m], [name_f]Flora[/name_f], [name_f]Carina[/name_f], [name_f]Athena[/name_f], & [name_f]Selene[/name_f]). My favorites today are in my signature!
When I was younger I usually picked up names from around me (usually boy names). I know I loved Ryan (from my parents’ name list) and Gabriel (probably from Sunday School) first. One of my parents works in a college setting, so being around college guys gave me an interesting supply of names that I fell for (Alistair, Dominic, Graham) and still love to this day.
They’ve all fallen further down my list for various reasons. Ryan fell because I’ve met more female Ryans now than I have male, and I’d prefer names that are very identifiable. Gabriel stays in my top 5-10, but I do worry that popularity wise I’d here it as often as I did with Michael growing up. Graham is due to an acquaintance who is nice, but very odd. It lost its luster. Alistair because most seem to react negatively (“you aren’t English, so it seems pretentious”) and my strong dislike of the nn Al. Dominic because I don’t want the nn Nic/Nick since it felt popular like the Michaels/Mikes when I was growing up.
Finding Nameberry (and behindthename) definitely made me change my taste for awhile. It opened me up to a lot more names than I had previously considered. With such an abundance of information I needed time to feel out which names really fit me. I initially went towards the longer names because of their regal sound and multitude of nns. Additionally, I really enjoyed the more unusual names. I started making combos with all of them hoping that others would love them too. It ended up just making me feel like I had a horrible taste in names since it seemed like no one liked my names (here or irl).
Then, I realized that I couldn’t see a lot of those names on a child of mine. As much as I may want Araminta or Lysander, it just doesn’t feel like me. Not all were lost causes, a couple of my top names were found on nameberry. My lists started off learning towards the nameberry taste, a tad like my signature which contains GPs, but now they are a lot more realistic. I’ve even come to realize that I probably won’t have the most perfect sounding sibset because my male and female names just don’t come from the same area. Are they names that nameberry will love? Probably not, but they have honor names in the middle and mean so much to me. It also made me realize that if you truly love a name, then no amount of negative comments will sway your thoughts (at least in my case). In the end, we all have to be happy with the names and use what we love, not what we want others to love since that’s an impossible task. I probably won’t ever have kids with names that others consider swoon worthy. I’ve come to realize that’s okay. They are swoon worthy for me. I’d say I came to both a name change and an outlook change
The first names I ever remember liking were [name_m]Nim[/name_m] and [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] when I was 5. [name_m]Nim[/name_m] from the movie [name_m]Nim[/name_m]'s Island (which I was obsessed with) and [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] from the children’s book series of the same name (which I was also obsessed with). I liked those until I was about 9-10, when I dismissed [name_m]Nim[/name_m] as being “too silly”, but [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] stayed at the back of my mind. Then, I started to become really into names. My earliest list included the combos of [name_u]Eden[/name_u] [name_m]Berkeley[/name_m], [name_u]Piper[/name_u] [name_u]Sterling[/name_u], [name_f]Eliana[/name_f] Cecille, and [name_f]Delta[/name_f] [name_f]Melodie[/name_f] (I really only focused on girls names). Then I revised my list when I was maybe 11-12, and I added [name_f]Willow[/name_f] [name_f]Anne[/name_f], [name_f]Amity[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f], [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] [name_f]Marigold[/name_f], and [name_f]Etta[/name_f] [name_u]Clare[/name_u]. A year later, I mostly got rid of those choices and I started to really get inspired by Downton [name_u]Abbey[/name_u] (and started to explore boys names). I loved (and still do) [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Aveline[/name_f], [name_f]Edith[/name_f] [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], [name_f]Sybil[/name_f] [name_f]Geneva[/name_f], and [name_f]Matilda[/name_f] [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] (you’ll see these names in my signature). And for boys, I had (and still do) [name_u]Elliot[/name_u] [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_u]Kieran[/name_u] [name_m]Matthew[/name_m], and [name_m]Baxter[/name_m] [name_m]Miles[/name_m]. And that leads up to today. I’m a young Teenberry who loves all classic, elegant, conservative vintage names.
This is going to be jumbled and all over the place. You’ve been warned.
I was about 10 when I began seeking out names instead of simply collecting those I encountered. At that time I was only interested in the most popular of names. If it was on the top 10 then it was on my list. But very soon I discovered names I liked outside of the top 10 and my head basically exploded. I started making combos with middle names other than [name_f]Ann[/name_f] and [name_f]Mae[/name_f] and of course, thought myself to be quite creative. I was completely enamored by [name_m]Adam[/name_m], [name_m]Aaron[/name_m], and [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m].
At around 12 I started in on trendy, kre8tiv names. [name_u]Wylie[/name_u] was my girls name of choice. I also seem to remember [name_m]Zane[/name_m] and Alexavier (yeah…) being at the top of my list. This stuck to some degree until I was 14 or so.
Then came the burst of creativity! a.k.a I got my first baby name book.
[name_f]Freya[/name_f], guys. [name_f]FREYA[/name_f]. And [name_f]Linnea[/name_f]. [name_m]How[/name_m] cute! Twins named [name_f]Freya[/name_f] and [name_f]Linnea[/name_f]? OMG. I didn’t have the courage to share my fascination with names online or otherwise until I was around 19. Be happy you were saved from this obsession. Oh, and my boys name? Jaeger! [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t worry, I’m rolling my eyes at little otri too.
[name_f]Dora[/name_f] Katriel came next. I, of course, thought it to be the epitome of names. I started becoming more serious about my religion and names from this time period reflect that greatly. Basically if it was in the Bible I’d combo it. This is when [name_m]Adam[/name_m] came back into my life and a love for names such as [name_u]Asa[/name_u], [name_u]Ari[/name_u], and [name_m]Boaz[/name_m] was kindled.
Some of the more exciting names of the Bible such as [name_m]Zacchaeus[/name_m], [name_f]Priscilla[/name_f], [name_m]Nicodemus[/name_m], and [name_u]Damaris[/name_u] ushered in the age of quirky extravagance. Sure, I used a lot of biblical names and still do but these names were luxurious and well, way too much. My style rivaled the most eccentric of royals (in Hollywood or otherwise). Here I experimented with two, three, and four middle names. I don’t remember many names from this time period as I didn’t get very attached, but I loved [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and [name_f]Verena[/name_f].
At 18 I discovered forums. I didn’t post at this point, assuming they were ONLY for expectant mothers. I became interested in more simple names: [name_f]Hanna[/name_f], [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]May[/name_f], etc. I still used more exciting names but toned them down a bit. I dropped third and fourth middles as well.
Then I met a man…
Things got very serious very quickly and at 22 I became pregnant. We had seriously discussed names and made a firm decision as to what any children we had would be named prior. The man preferred the eccentric names from my previous style but we met in the middle and chose uncommon names instead. My son’s name is the first we chose. It honors the father and the men in my family who pretty much all have [name_m]Joseph[/name_m] as a first name. Unfortunately my son was not meant for this world and that relationship ended immediately after.
I quit names for quite some time afterwards, as I found it very difficult after my loss.
Now, after a bit of experimenting, I’ve found my happy place regarding names. I like sweet, simple first names and fun, sometimes eccentric middle names. I think it’s a good balance. I do experiment with more grand combos from time to time but they’re not anything I would use.
Yes and no.
My aesthetic hasn’t changed at all, but my criteria have shifted slightly after having a baby with a relatively unusual name that people manage to struggle with. I don’t think [name_m]Laszlo[/name_m] is hard to pronounce, but the double consonants in the middle always throw people for a loop.
When I was pregnant with [name_m]Laszlo[/name_m], I LOVED the name [name_m]Eero[/name_m] for a boy (although I think it could also work extremely well for a girl). [name_m]Laszlo[/name_m]'s Dad refused to let me use it. Ultimately, I guess I’m a bit glad, although I still have a little twinge over how much I like that name.
This pregnancy, I sadly didn’t put [name_m]Eero[/name_m] on my boy or girl list because I think it would just be too hard for people to pronounce.
So ultimately, I guess my aesthetic is the same (Eastern Euro or Scandi and not in the SSN top 1,000), but my tolerance for hard to pronounce/spell names has gotten lower after having a baby.
I’ve been into names for pretty much as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I loved pretty, girly, frilly, [name_m]LONG[/name_m] names. [name_f]Josephine[/name_f], [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f], [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] and the like. I didn’t really come up with combos at first and I can’t remember thinking much about boys’ names. It was basically just very elaborate, girly names which I wished I’d been called instead of boring [name_f]Emma[/name_f] (weird, since I was a huge tomboy, but hey). FWIW I love my name now.
I played [name_m]Sims[/name_m] a lot when I was a kid, and I took naming my [name_m]Sims[/name_m] [name_m]WAY[/name_m] too seriously. I’d have international families with legitimate Polish/Swahili/Chinese/Irish/whatever names, and I was really picky about not having the same first initial or same ending to any of the names in the family (pedant alert!). This involved a fair amount of creativity and research as inevitably my [name_m]Sims[/name_m] would have five or six kids, because I just loved naming them so much! I got my first baby naming book to look up undiscovered names for my [name_m]Sims[/name_m], once I’d exhausted the stock of names I already had up my sleeve. Some new finds I remember include [name_f]Raisa[/name_f], [name_u]Nesta[/name_u], [name_u]Halle[/name_u] and [name_m]Anatole[/name_m]. I didn’t necessarily like all the names I used, but I did find them endlessly fascinating.
Then I started thinking about what I would name my own kids. For ages I loved the combo [name_f]Chloe[/name_f] [name_f]Rebecca[/name_f] for a girl, and [name_u]Max[/name_u] or [name_m]William[/name_m] for a boy. This is when I started liking some of the names I still love now: [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Eva[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_m]Oscar[/name_m], [name_m]Jack[/name_m], etc. They were mainly fairly traditional, popular names at this point, but I do distinctly remember coming across some more quirky names too and secretly really liking them, but never thinking I’d actually consider using them. Names like [name_u]Hero[/name_u] (we studied Much [name_f]Ado[/name_f] at school), [name_u]Scout[/name_u] (TKAM), [name_f]Anouk[/name_f] and [name_u]Caro[/name_u] (Chocolat), and of course [name_f]Juno[/name_f] I’ve obviously always had soft spot for -o ending names for girls, haha!
When it came to naming my daughter, I started planning well before we’d even started trying. [name_f]Eva[/name_f] was still my frontrunner for a long time, and the combo I really loved was [name_f]Eva[/name_f] [name_f]Juno[/name_f]. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised it was the [name_f]Juno[/name_f] part I loved, and that’s when the lightbulb came on and I knew what her name would be. Creepily, my husband had had the same idea separately but hadn’t even bothered to mention [name_f]Juno[/name_f] to me, knowing that my favourites were a lot more conservative. He couldn’t believe it when I tentatively suggested it! We found out she was a girl at 20 weeks and there was approximately zero discussion about her name, haha.
Deciding on our daughter’s name was what really opened up the world of names to me. I started looking beyond the most classic and popular names and discovered a love for so many cool, quirky, unusual, vintage, and foreign names I’d never really thought about before. And they actually feel usable to me now - at least, lots of them do. I love pairing them with more grounded, traditional names, either in the first or middle slot, to stop them feeling overblown. Of course, some of the combos I’ve come up with are still a bit much for real-life use, but there are lots of others which follow this quirky + traditional pattern which I think are definitely wearable, but still interesting and a little bit fun.
I’m still tweaking my lists and my signature (which contains some of my favourites for a real child, as well as some combos I love in theory but probably wouldn’t use) constantly. I’ve recently overhauled my boys’ list because I realised I was just going too far in pursuit of an equally unusual name for a brother to [name_f]Juno[/name_f], when actually my taste in boys’ names is a lot more mainstream. I’ve discovered a ton of new names since joining NB and it’s quite easy to get carried away, but when I actually try to imagine myself with a son named [name_m]Caius[/name_m], [name_m]Balthasar[/name_m] or [name_m]Thaddeus[/name_m], I just can’t picture it. [name_m]Arthur[/name_m], [name_u]Dexter[/name_u], [name_m]Felix[/name_m], [name_m]Caspar[/name_m], [name_u]Kit[/name_u], [name_m]Otto[/name_m], [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] and the like feel much more “me”, even if they’re way up there on the popularity scale by comparison.
So I’ve basically swung from one extreme to the other, then part of the way back again. But I really like where I am now and I’m loving being part of this fantastic community of equally obsessed namenerds! I’m quite shy/embarrassed talking about names in real life, for some reason, so it’s great to be able to come on here and discuss thoughts and ideas with friendly, honest strangers.