Rate in order of importance
- Family and friends like the name.
- Easily pronounceable.
- Fits with siblings names.
- Nickname options.
- Masculine.
- Not too popular.
- Not too rare.
The only one that is rather important to me is that names are pronounceable. Although that can be an individual thing. Some people could have issues pronouncing the beginning sound of [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], while I feel it is very easy to pronounce. Some people might think [name_m]Bartholomew[/name_m] is an easily pronounced name, while I stumble a bit.
Sibling names do not need to fully go with each other but I would not want one sibling’s name to blatantly stand out from the others. For example siblings; [name_f]Sophie[/name_f], [name_m]Henry[/name_m], and [name_u]Addison[/name_u] (G). To me, [name_u]Addison[/name_u] sticks out like a sore thumb. [name_f]Sophie[/name_f], [name_m]Henry[/name_m], and [name_u]Addison[/name_u] (b) would be better but [name_u]Addison[/name_u] still sticks out more than I would personally like. This could be upsetting to the child with the “different” name.
Family and friends could hate my name choices. It is not their choice. A grandparent could think they hate a name but when their grandchild is born, they will soon forget their hate of the name.
I am not much for nicknames.
I don’t care if a name is popular or not. I must absolutely adore the name. I want to choose a name that I will hopefully feel that same way 30, 40, 50 years down the road. Popularity of a name can change over time.
Not sure what is meant by masculine. Any boy name feels masculine to me, whether they are a softer name or rougher name.
- I don’t care too much what my family or friends think. My kid. My choice. They will still love him.
- Yes, it needs to be easily figured out by others
- I really don’t understand the whole “sib set” phenomenon. Who cares if one kid is [name_m]Bob[/name_m] and the other is [name_m]Jermajesty[/name_m]. They are individual people who may, or may not, chose to be associated with each other the rest of their lives. Their names as a set will have no influence over their relationship to each other.
- Nicknames are tricky. First, whatever you decide to call the kid may not be what others call him – especially as he gets older – or what he himself wants to be called. There’s not a whole lot you can do it about expect with family ask that he be referred to as XXX. [name_m]Even[/name_m] if you chose something so simple as [name_m]Bob[/name_m] which cannot be shortened or rearranged any further, someone will still try to call him [name_u]Bobby[/name_u] or [name_m]Bob[/name_m]-a-reeno or [name_m]Bob[/name_m]-ster. Pick a name and nickname that you like and fit your kid. Most likely, he will get called something completely different anyways.
- I personally do not care for unisex names too much. I tend to prefer names that solidly one gender or the other. I guess this could be interpreted as liking masculine names?
- Popularity does count in my book. I grew up as one of 6 [name_f]Brittany[/name_f]'s in my class. I hated it. While I know that names are more spread out now and the number one name is assigned to less kids now than decades ago, it still influences my decision because of my experience. That view might be different for someone who grew up as Axesavyour (true story I met a boy with his spelled like this) who spent his whole spelling and pronouncing his name for others. He’d probably kill to be [name_m]Bob[/name_m] sometimes
Most to least:
1- Nickname options: normally I would call my [future] son by his given name, but I like the possibility of a nn (or more than one).
2- Not too popular: I just lean towards more exotic/ obscure names naturally. However, I like the name [name_m]Victor[/name_m] which is #111 in United States and #24 in my country and I don’t care about it. The problem is when popularity and overexposure transforms a nice name into a boring one for me.
3- Easily pronounceable: or a name with easy sounds (you may look at [name_m]Hjalmar[/name_m] and think “what???!!!”, but the pronunciation YAHL-mar isn’t that difficult to repeat) or a name with a spelling that leads to an easy pronunciation.
4- Not too rare: I would prefer not a Top 10 name, but I can’t control if I like a name or not.
5- Masculine: don’t care. [name_m]Marcus[/name_m], [name_m]Artemas[/name_m], [name_u]Madison[/name_u] and [name_f]Eve[/name_f] are all in my boys list.
6- Fits with siblings names: my sibset style is “totally mismatched”.
7- Family and friends like the name: my family is quite traditional when naming, also they seem to like solely their own kids names (and not their own name or their partner’s or their parents’ or their grandchildren’s).
From most to least important:
- Not too popular.
- Easily pronounceable.
- Nickname options.
- Fits with siblings names.
- Family and friends like the name.
- Masculine.
- Not too rare.
Not too popular is very important to me, because our last name is so common. I also think super popular names come off as lazy on the parents’ part, which is unfair since it’s very possible they thought through every option and just liked a Top 5 name best. But it still seems like you barely put thought into it.
For me, not too rare is connected to what family and friends think. For the most part I think they’ll just get used to whatever we choose, but if it’s too rare it tends to get a different is-that-a-joke reaction, and I take that seriously. It’s easy to get caught up with amazing finds on forums like this and forget how baffled most people are by rare names.
Easy pronunciation is important, but not a dealbreaker for me. I’d probably choose ambiguous pronunciation over ambiguous spelling.
I care a little about fitting with siblings’ names, but I agree that’s not a big deal as long as they’re not weirdly unbalanced. Like, it’s weird if one name is super trendy and common, and the other is obscure and old-fashioned, because it makes it seem like you as a parent have not put any thought into it. It’s way worse when sibling names are too similar, so that aspect matters to me a lot.
In general I tend to prefer names that are clearly masculine or feminine when I sit down and make lists, but in theory it doesn’t matter to me that much. I mean, I think it would be ill-advised to name a boy [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] in 2016 even if it’s an old family name. But I wouldn’t avoid a name just because it’s occasionally used for girls.
I think it’s sweet but hilarious when people think they can choose their kid’s nickname long before they’re even born. You can enforce it for a year or two, but after the nicknames that stick are just as likely to be something you never even considered. So nicknames aren’t important to me.
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Not too rare: I like names that you usually will not hear in the U.S. too often.
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Not too popular: Same as #1 but also if the name is within the top 100, I will not use it. It usually gets delegated to the middle name. I also had least 3 Britney/Brittany/Brittaney/Brittani in each class from elemantary to high school and they all spelled their names differently.
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Easily pronounce able: more so for the kids sake than mine lol.
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Nickname options: if I can get one out of the name it’s fine.
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Fits with sibling names: I don’t really care about this too much since my girl names are usually classic/elegant/“exotic”<–(as my friends would say. I think that means they’re not English based) and the boys are more biblical/Latin based. I have a thing for biblical names on boys.
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Family and friends like the name: it’s nice if they like it but we don’t really care if they don’t. As long as my husband and I like it, it’s fine. My husband is black/white from his dad & Southeast Asian Indian from his mom; while I’m black & white myself. They have names ranging from Indian, Arabic, Biblical, English & French (our last name is also very French). I think our choices fit in the mix plus they won’t find out until the baby shower or after the baby is born.
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Masculine: I’m not big on the boy names for girls trend but I can see how some names can be unisex. I do have a traditionally French masculine middle name–[name_m]René[/name_m]
From most important to least.
Not too popular: I love unusual, different names that stand out and that most people wouldn’t be brave enough to use, but that still sound pleasant and attractive. Popularity is a really important factor to me.
Easily pronounceable: I’m not too fussed with this one, I mean, I have [name_m]Ptolemy[/name_m] as my second choice for a boy. As long as any difficulties can be easily sorted and explained (most of the time I think they can) and I don’t have to think about how to say the name before saying it, then I think it’s fine. I think a lot of the time, it’s names being misheard and if they’re seen on paper, the problem could be solved.
Fits with siblings names: This isn’t overly important to me, although I do have a personal general rule about using names with the same number of letters for siblings. I just like them being them same length, and it just stuck. But other than that and no same sounding endings or beginnings (which my favourite boys’ names happen to fit anyway) I don’t have any other criteria.
Nickname options: I’d call my children by their full names most of the time, and only occasionally use nicknames or pet names. I like being creative and seeing what nicknames I would use, and there are some I love as well as the first name, but I wouldn’t be too bothered if there weren’t any nicknames I loved. I’m even okay with using names with nicknames I dislike, for example I adore [name_u]August[/name_u] but loath [name_u]Gus[/name_u], but I’d just call him [name_u]August[/name_u] or Auggie, and reinforce it, and if he gets nicknamed [name_u]Gus[/name_u] by friends then so be it.
Friends and family like the name: I think it’s important for the parents to love the name, but I don’t think it matters if family/friends don’t. Unless there’s a valid reason, such as it being offensive or having a really strong bad association, or no one being able to pronounce it at all.
Masculine: I don’t care whether or not a name is masculine. For I can imagine it on a boy or man then it’s fine.
Not too rare: This isn’t ever an issue for me. The rarer the better. As long as it can still be said.
- Easy to prounounce
- Not too popular
- Fits with siblings
- Nickname options
- Family and friends like it
- Not too rare
- Masculine
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Not too popular:
I can’t stand popular/common names. They’re boring, to me at least, and I feel like they’re lacking in effort and creativity. -
Fits with siblings names.
I don’t think that siblings function as a group, but I do think their names should.
The rest of them don’t rank at all, in my books.
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Family and friends like the name: My family is Irish. I don’t like Irish names, and they don’t like names that aren’t Gaelic in origin. As such, they are guarenteed to dislike all of my choices, and I’m not at all interested in reworking the entirety of my list just to impress other people.
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Easily pronounceable: None of the names I cater to have a difficult spelling or pronunciation. [name_m]Even[/name_m] if they did, I still wouldn’t mind.
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Nickname options: I’m in the ‘name it what you call it’ camp, so nicknames are a huge no for me and a definite deal-breaker.
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Masculine: I couldn’t care less about how masculine a name is. In fact, [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] and [name_f]Shirley[/name_f] are two favourite classical boy names of mine.
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Not too rare: All my names have to be rare, as I personally cannot stand the thought of calling my child’s name, and seeing several heads turn in answer.
I use different criteria but here it goes:
- Sound
- Must have a clear pronunciation (I also avoid names with multiple pronunciations)
- Appearance (traditional spellings, are there words within the name I don’t like , etc)
- I must like possible (inevitable) nn even though I don’t plan to use them
- Not too popular but not unheard of either
- Meaning (cannot be negative, inappropriate, or cultural appropriation)
- DH has veto power so what ever criteria he has it has to pass
I tried to order them in the way that I consider them but the name has to pass every one of these criteria.
I don’t care if friends and family like it or not, they won’t know until after the baby is born anyway. I also don’t really care if it sounds good with my sons name or not. [name_f]Every[/name_f] child I have will get the name that I think is best, I will not limit my options for the sake of matching.
From most to least important:
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Not too popular - We have a VERY common last name (I know three separate people with the same first & last combo as DH) so it’s important to me that we choose names that will hopefully ensure our children don’t have the exact same name as someone else in their class. Plus, I also just tend to appreciate rarity in a name (assuming it’s still an actual name). To me it comes across a more intentional on the parents’ part.
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Fits with siblings names - I don’t mean that it has to follow a set theme, but it is important to me that none of the names standout from the overall group in an obvious way so as to attempt to avoid later jealousies.
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Masculine - By this I mean that I have a preference for boy names that are assumed male and girl names that are assumed female. This is for simplicity’s sake. I don’t necessarily have a strong preference for “strong” vs. “soft” male names.
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Nickname Options - My main concern here is that if there is an obvious nickname that I dislike but is most likely unavoidable throughout the kid’s life, I’ll scrap the name from my list. I’m not too concerned about only choosing names that have nickname options or having to have a nickname that I like as much or more than the given name.
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Easily pronounceable - Once again, for simplicity’s sake I would prefer a name with a simple pronunciation; however, spending time around my in-laws has informed me that even the most basic/common of words can and will be mispronounced in certain regional dialects. My main concern is that the correct/preferred pronunciation is intuitive enough that people will be able to grasp it after being corrected once or twice.
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Family and friends like the name - We’ve discussed names only in passing with family and friends so far, and while I’d love for everyone to love whatever names we choose it’s not entirely realistic. Now I wouldn’t choose a name that we knew had an extremely negative connotation to certain family members, but if they simply dislike a name then they’ll most likely get over it eventually. I STRONGLY dislike some of the names recently chosen by family members but as an adult I have the wherewithal to keep my mouth shut about my opinions and recognize that it was the parents choice.
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Not too rare - So long as it’s not a made up name, there is no such thing as too rare.
Easily pronounceable - For me, the spelling is more important than the pronunciation. I don’t want my kids having to spell their name all the time. However, if the spelling it’s a legit one, i would consider it. Personally, I can’t stand creative spellings. Pronunciation is also important, but I think for people it’s easier correct pronunciation issues than a complicated spelling.
Fits with siblings names - Not a deal breaker for me, but I find it aesthetically pleasing when siblings have names with a similar style. Fortunally, I think most, if not all, of my favourite names would make good sisbets.
Not too rare - Not that it would be a dealbreaker either, but names that may be too obscure can cause them trouble. I tend to think that as long as the name exists there shouldn’t be a problem, but something that may be too unheard of could cause spelling and pronunciation issues and I would like to avoid that.
Nickname options - I tend to like longer names, so I think that I already have it covered. I think it’s difficult to know if you would use nicknames or not until you have your own kids. My mother had planned to use a nickname when she was pregnant with me, and when I was born she never used it. Sometimes they work, and sometimes not. I think for the most part I won’t use them, but who knows.
Masculine - I don’t know what this is about. If it’s about “softer or manly” boys names, I don’t care. If it has history as a boy’s name and I like it, I would use it.
Not too popular - Unless it is as longer lasting popular as my own name (by FAR the most popular name of the country overall, and never bellow the top 5), I don’t care. Popularity changes over the time and I find it ridiculous go for a name you love less just because it’s less popular than your fave when you could see it rising a few years later. I mean, if a name you choose for your kid when it was not popular made it to the top 10, 10 years later, would you dislike it? Because I think if that’s the case, it wasn’t the name, after all…
Family and friends like the name - Ahahahaha, unless they have constructive criticism I don’t care. I won’t be pregnant and going through a labour to have somebody trying to decide for me, not even the father. People can give me suggestions (always open to that!!) but I would have the last word.
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Not too popular.
For me it’s not so much the worry of sharing a name with lots of other people as it is that names just feel “worn out” to me if I hear them all the time. -
Masculine.
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Easily pronounceable.
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Not too rare.
“Rare” means different things to different people (especially here on NB). For me, I generally prefer names that are in the top 500 or so. Most names beyond that are too unusual for me to want to use on a real human. However, I have no problem with names being more rare than that as long as they aren’t extremely unusual or difficult to spell/pronounce. -
Fits with siblings names.
I love a well-put together sibset, but as long as the names aren’t vastly different styles (for example, [name_m]Jax[/name_m] and [name_m]Peregrine[/name_m]) I’m not too concerned. -
Family and friends like the name.
This is nice when it happens, but I think as long as I’m fully convinced of a name, I don’t care whether my family and friends like it. I’m actually fairly sure most of them won’t care for the first boy and girl names we’re planning to use, but it doesn’t bother me. -
Nickname options.
I’m neutral about having nickname options. I don’t see it as bad but it’s really not something I see as important either.
I 100% DGAF if my family/friends like our baby names.
Other criteria that is not important to me: too rare, nicknames
Most important to me: Not too popular, fits with sibling names.
And easily pronounced is moderately important.
Most important for me is that the name is not too popular. My name is [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] and it was annoying growing up with a bunch of other Jennifers in my school/classes.
A also care about pronunciation, since my husband’s family only speak Spanish & a native language and my family only speak English. Some letter combinations are hard for Spanish speakers to pronounce, and some names I don’t like the sound in one or the other languages.
The rest aren’t too important to me. I also want to make sure the first and middle names go with our last name.
- Fits with sibling names
- Not too popular
- Nickname options
- Easily Pronounceable (this basically boils down to my dad not butchering it, he’s not good with languages, so realistically it would have to be a name he’s familiar with, meaning a Norwegian name, or at least a name that’s seen some use here…)
Completely irrelevant: Masculine, Family and Friends like the name, Not too rare.
I’ve never actually named a boy, I have one and only daughter but the same “rules” apply to boys for me as well. So, from most to least important:
- Masculine
I believe that a boy should have a masculine name and a girl a feminine one. I don’t like Unisex names nor masculine names on girls and vice versa for my children.
The other rules are not important for me but if I had to rank them:
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Family and friends like the name.
Or at least don’t hate it. I never asked for their opinion but I’d never use a name connected to sth or sb they don’t like -
Not too rare
I have a rare name and I never liked it. I’d prefer my son to have a simple name, full of history and meaning, that sounds good. -
Easily pronounced
I live in a country where pronunciation is something easy and specific. It’s almost impossible to mispronounce the name of a native person. However, some foreign names are pronounced differently.
The following rules are something I don’t consider at all:
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Fits with siblings names:
I can’t understand why I should give my children similar names. -
Nickname options.
I just don’t like the whole idea of nicknames. -
Not too popular.
My daughter has the #1 name in our country for the year she was born. She was named after her late father who died three months before her birth. I like the name very much though. I’d do the same with a possible son. If I liked a popular name, I’d use it.