If no one could judge, what’s a name or nickname would you choose?
I’ve always thought [name_m]Dicky[/name_m] is such a cute nickname for a little boy named [name_u]Richard[/name_u], but obviously would be judged.
[name_f]Lolita[/name_f]. When removed from the negative connotations, I think it sounds so sweet and lovely. Plus I love the Japanese fashion subculture.
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There are so many names I would use if I wouldn’t be harshly judged for them! To name a few guilty pleasure names…
[name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f]
[name_f]Earth[/name_f]
[name_f]Fairy[/name_f]
[name_m]Gulliver[/name_m]
[name_u]Neptune[/name_u]
[name_m]Poseidon[/name_m]
[name_f]Rapunzel[/name_f]
[name_f]Scheherazade[/name_f]
[name_f]Sephora[/name_f]
[name_m]Sherlock[/name_m]
[name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m]
Sunflower
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I second Sunflower!
GIRLS
Bold word names: [name_f]Almond[/name_f], Bellflower, [name_f]Sunday[/name_f], [name_f]Mimosa[/name_f], [name_f]Margarita[/name_f], Rosefinch
Strong associations: Lovelace, Mayflower, [name_f]Pollyanna[/name_f]
[name_m]Just[/name_m] weird: Alstroemeria, [name_f]Elke[/name_f], Ludivine, [name_f]Willodean[/name_f], Zozefina
Would get mixed up with other names: [name_f]Elouise[/name_f], [name_f]Margery[/name_f]
BOYS
Bold word names: [name_m]Jupiter[/name_m], [name_u]Mars[/name_u], [name_f]Fjord[/name_f], [name_u]Mercury[/name_u], [name_u]Tennessee[/name_u]
Strong associations: [name_m]Gatsby[/name_m], [name_m]Gallagher[/name_m]
[name_m]Just[/name_m] weird: [name_m]Ignatius[/name_m], [name_m]Pippin[/name_m]
[name_u]London[/name_u] for a boy. I know it’s predominantly feminine, but I feel like it can totally be a gentle masculine name. Masculine-sounding names are usually harsh-sounding names or names with strong connotations, but I don’t see why they have to be! I mean, I do like strong-sounding names for boys, but [name_u]London[/name_u] is a long-time favorite of mine.
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Actually, I once wrote a story and [name_u]London[/name_u] was a boy and [name_m]Berlin[/name_m] was a girl… Not usually accepted as normal! I honestly am not a huge fan of [name_m]Berlin[/name_m] anymore.
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I keep yo-yoing about two of my favourites, [name_m]Caradoc[/name_m] and Honeysuckle, being too out there. Others I adore but am not sure I could use: [name_f]Bambi[/name_f], [name_f]Nimue[/name_f], [name_f]Cassiopeia[/name_f], [name_m]Adonis[/name_m], [name_m]Endymion[/name_m], [name_m]Michelangelo[/name_m], and [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f]. Also [name_u]Thames[/name_u] for a girl! [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t know why but I am extra fond of it?
Okay, so I love [name_f]Briar[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] for a girl, but I think most people (even myself) will only think of the Disney [name_f]Princess[/name_f]. It would probably be far less safe than, say, [name_f]Jasmine[/name_f] or even [name_f]Aurora[/name_f].
Also, I absolutely adore [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f]. But I’m not Jewish, and it definitely feels more tied to its culture than others ([name_f]Hannah[/name_f], [name_f]Abigail[/name_f], [name_m]Elijah[/name_m], etc.).
[name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f], too. I think it’s gorgeous, but I am not Hispanic.
(Am I wrong in thinking that cultural appropriation can apply to names as well as other things?)
[name_u]Vivian[/name_u], [name_f]Garland[/name_f] or Meriwether for a boy.
I can’t think of any girls names that I wouldn’t use for fear of judgement. Maybe [name_f]Elfrida[/name_f].
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I am glad to see you ladies have guilty pleasures like me! @elenajenanine I love [name_f]Sparrow[/name_f] and [name_u]Robin[/name_u] for a boy! My brother grew up with a friend whose name was [name_u]Robin[/name_u] and he was a boy, so I have only thought of it as such. Plus [name_u]Robin[/name_u] [name_m]Williams[/name_m] is a great role model! I also find [name_u]Kit[/name_u] masculine mostly because of [name_u]Kit[/name_u] [name_m]Harrington[/name_m] in Game of Thrones.
Ooh I love Meriweather!
[name_u]Salem[/name_u] for sure! I think it’s so beautiful!
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If no one could judge:
Girls:
[name_f]Eilonwy[/name_f]
[name_f]Arabella[/name_f]
[name_f]Evangelista[/name_f]
[name_f]Galilee[/name_f]
Chesna
[name_f]Laureline[/name_f]
Shireen
[name_f]Euphemia[/name_f]
[name_u]Puck[/name_u]
[name_u]Cadence[/name_u]
[name_f]Dorcas[/name_f]
[name_u]Damaris[/name_u]
[name_f]Raelynn[/name_f]
[name_f]Gracelyn[/name_f]
[name_f]Beulah[/name_f]
Jyn
[name_f]Xanthe[/name_f]
[name_f]Étoile[/name_f]
[name_f]Hermia[/name_f]
[name_f]Bluebell[/name_f]
[name_u]Blue[/name_u]
[name_u]Bliss[/name_u]
[name_f]Thessaly[/name_f]
[name_f]Thisbe[/name_f]
Melfina
[name_f]Alysanne[/name_f]
[name_f]Artemesia[/name_f]
[name_f]Theophania[/name_f]
[name_f]Scheherazade[/name_f]
[name_f]Alouette[/name_f]
Boys:
Arslan
Daryun
[name_m]Elam[/name_m]
[name_m]Caedmon[/name_m]
[name_m]Pyramus[/name_m]
[name_m]Tybalt[/name_m]
[name_m]Cain[/name_m]
[name_m]Shadrach[/name_m]
[name_m]Judas[/name_m]
[name_m]Algernon[/name_m]
[name_m]Lazarus[/name_m]
[name_m]Balthazar[/name_m]
[name_m]Lech[/name_m]
[name_m]Hezekiah[/name_m]
[name_m]Ignacy[/name_m]
[name_u]Neo[/name_u]
[name_u]Remington[/name_u]
[name_m]Ryker[/name_m]
[name_m]Huxley[/name_m]
Diedrich
[name_u]Justice[/name_u]
[name_m]Oceanus[/name_m]
[name_u]Neptune[/name_u]
[name_m]Lysander[/name_m]
[name_m]Horatio[/name_m]
[name_m]Melchior[/name_m]
I’ve seen more male [name_m]Robins[/name_m] than female in recent years. I would say go for it. And you’re right that they’re only girly if you think they are.
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[name_f]Augusta[/name_f](honestly I still would use it)
[name_f]Trinity[/name_f]
[name_f]Maybelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Marcheline[/name_f]
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@Strawberry.Bunny same here love [name_f]Augusta[/name_f] and actually have known a girl named [name_f]Augusta[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] mom was training her to sing in a play…[name_f]Trinity[/name_f] is very usable too, one of the popular girls in my school is named [name_f]Trinity[/name_f]
@NaomiNY I think [name_f]Arabella[/name_f], [name_f]Eilonwy[/name_f], [name_u]Cadence[/name_u], [name_f]Gracelyn[/name_f], [name_f]Xanthe[/name_f] (Oh [name_f]My[/name_f] Goodness i [name_u]Love[/name_u] [name_f]Xanthe[/name_f]), [name_f]Bluebelle[/name_f], [name_f]Alouette[/name_f], [name_m]Elam[/name_m], [name_m]Tybalt[/name_m], [name_m]Judas[/name_m], [name_u]Remington[/name_u], and [name_m]Lysander[/name_m] are very usable. 
my boys gps at the moment are: Elyan, [name_u]Sparrow[/name_u] ‘[name_u]Perry[/name_u]’, [name_u]Raven[/name_u], [name_u]Fable[/name_u], [name_u]Novel[/name_u], Gwynfor, [name_u]Idris[/name_u], [name_u]Noel[/name_u] (pronounced almost like nole), [name_m]Emrys[/name_m]
my girls gps at the moment are: Aeronwyn, [name_f]Embla[/name_f], [name_u]Peregrine[/name_u] ‘[name_u]Penny[/name_u]’, [name_u]Endellion[/name_u], [name_f]Solange[/name_f], [name_f]Sabre[/name_f]
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@EJpuddlejumper
[name_u]Kit[/name_u] to me is very masculine and I think it’s totally usable. But I know some people will remember the American Girl [name_m]Doll[/name_m] [name_u]Kit[/name_u] Kittredge and think it’s more of a “girl” name.
Seconding [name_m]Judas[/name_m]! I had to compromise and put [name_m]Judah[/name_m] on my list.
Also…
Hades or [name_m]Hadeon[/name_m] “Hades”: people connect it too much to Satan.
[name_f]Katniss[/name_f]: I think it is usable especially since I’m a huge Hunger Games fan but I’m not quite brave enough
Lunaria: i love this name so much so I mentioned it to my friends and they asked if it was a disease lol so I won’t be using that one
[name_f]Wednesday[/name_f]: people connect it to the Addams
Everwild: I saw this in an article somewhere are I love it but it’s made up and we all know how most people feel about made up name
Jughead: when I was a kid I was a huge fan of the [name_m]Archie[/name_m] Comics and now I’m a fan of Riverdale but I just think this is way too out there to use unfortunately. It’s also a slang for a stupid man
[name_m]Sisyphus[/name_m]: people would make fun of it for sounding like syphilis
ha also my sister keeps asking me why I don’t use ‘normal names’ in my stories…I use [name_f]Quintessa[/name_f], [name_u]Echo[/name_u], [name_f]Avalon[/name_f], [name_f]Reverie[/name_f], [name_u]Cove[/name_u], [name_m]Zedekiah[/name_m], etc…I just say why use normal names when you can use such cool and pretty unique names? 
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I kinda agree with you on [name_m]Dick[/name_m] for [name_m]Richard[/name_m]. I grew up on [name_f]Enid[/name_f] Blyton and the Famous [name_m]Five[/name_m] (one of the five mostly goes by [name_m]Dick[/name_m]), so I was used to it, then I got older. I would also probably consider some of my too unusual GPs, especially [name_f]Valkyrie[/name_f], [name_f]Medeia[/name_f], Pompeia, [name_f]Belladonna[/name_f], Cadmium, Arsinoë, and for boys [name_m]Icarus[/name_m], Hemlock, & [name_m]Sherlock[/name_m]. I’d probably be less hesitant about [name_f]Zenobia[/name_f] (although I would still use her right now).
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Merewyn and Karsia! Made up girl names I absolutely love.
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