(This is more for the adult Berries, but teens can comment if you wish, I don’t want to exclude anybody!)
I was watching a video on FB (it’s probably on YouTube as well) of a woman telling her teen pregnancy story and she named her daughter [name_f]Saphira[/name_f], pronounced like suh-fear-uh. I think this is a gorgeous name!!!
But then I started thinking about what name I would use as a teenager and if I’d still like it now… And the answer is a definite no!! I will elaborate in the comment section
So, for this discussion, my question is - If you had named a baby as a teenager, what name or name style would you have chosen? Would you pick the same name or style today? Why or why not?
(I don’t want to get into a teen pregnancy controversy, so feel free to imagine a relative/friend gave you free reign to name their baby, if you want to think of it that way!)
My response to my question lol - When I was a senior in HS, I took a Sociology class that had a “family life” activity (why we didn’t do this in our sex-ed class, I don’t know). We hollowed out an egg and that was our baby for a week. We could name the baby and create any background info we wanted (like who the other parent was, etc).
I named mine [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]. I don’t remember why, but I know I liked the flow (still do!). However, I am much more comfortable with expressing myself these days. Back then, I wanted to try to do what was “normal” even if it wasn’t what I really wanted. This includes names. [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] is fairly common and well-known… And not something I would pick today! There’s nothing wrong with common and well-known names, it just isn’t my honest-to-goodness style.
Besides that name, there’s a good chance I would have named my kid after my grandmother. I talked about using her name a lot with my ex-fiance. But a few years ago, I found out some truths behind this grandparent and now it makes me sick to think my family would’ve let me name a child after her (she passed away when I was 6). I still appreciate my memories with her, but there’s no way I’m honoring her.
I am a teenager, but if I’d named a baby (for the sake of avoiding conversations, let’s say I was naming an older friend’s baby) when I was a tween, I’m pretty sure I would have had a [name_u]Leigh[/name_u] or a [name_u]Rae[/name_u].
Going to the earlier years of my life before becoming a name nerd… probably [name_u]Rene[/name_u] for a girl. Whenever I played with my dolls one of them was named [name_u]Rene[/name_u], whenever I wrote a story there was a [name_u]Rene[/name_u].
Also still a teenager, but if I had named a baby before my nameberry days, probably [name_f]Emma[/name_f] [name_u]Brooke[/name_u] for a girl and [name_m]Ethan[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m] for a boy.
If I’d have been very young, like 12 or 13, I’d probably have a daughter named [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] or [name_f]Vicky[/name_f], or a son called [name_m]Matthew[/name_m]. I’d never use these names now. But growing up in a Northern European country these [name_f]English[/name_f] names seemed very cool to me.
If I was a bit older I’d have gone with [name_u]Noah[/name_u] or [name_f]Agnes[/name_f]. I still love those names, especially [name_u]Noah[/name_u]. In fact they are my oldest name loves. But I’d never use them because they’re too popular.
I named my actual baby when I was 22 and in circumstances similar to an unplanned teen pregnancy - I was not in ideal circumstances to say the least!! I named him Beck and did so because it was very unique back then, even more so than now. I liked the name for many reasons but I definitely fit the bill of a young person who wanted her child to have a name that would not often be encountered elsewhere. When I was younger still I remember liking unusual names and I think had a tendency to gravitate towards place and word names back then too. I didn’t like any boy names, ever! I remember liking Chelsea ever so much, so my baby girl would probably have been called something like Chelsea Freya
Forgot to answer the other questions: I’ve grown to like a much wider variety of names and popularity does not bother me much at all now. I wouldn’t choose Chelsea these days, but I still love Freya, word and place names.
My favourite names in high school were largely influenced by my favourite TV shows, films and celebrities.
For a girl:
[name_f]Luna[/name_f] ([name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] - still on my list but not as much of a favourite)
[name_f]Melody[/name_f] ([name_u]Doctor[/name_u] Who)
[name_f]Astrid[/name_f] (I saw this on a [name_u]Doctor[/name_u] Who forum as subtle nod to the TARDIS and I was living for it)
For a boy:
[name_u]Embry[/name_u] ([name_u]Twilight[/name_u] - I remember being obsessed with this name for some reason!)
[name_u]Niall[/name_u] (One Direction lol)
Isaac, [name_u]Remy[/name_u], [name_m]Jubal[/name_m], or [name_m]Zimri[/name_m] for a boy.
Probably something like [name_f]Arcadia[/name_f] or [name_f]Galatea[/name_f] [name_f]Promise[/name_f] for a girl.
Being a teen, I can say either [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_f]Susannah[/name_f], [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] [name_f]Violet[/name_f], [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_f]Louisa[/name_f], or [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] [name_f]Anna[/name_f].
A few years ago:
[name_f]Ashleigh[/name_f] [name_f]Joceline[/name_f]
Feigh Baelor
and some other terrible ones I can’t remember right now.
I’m a teen now, so for the sake of this thread I’ll pretend I had to name a baby when I was 12.
I wanted 5 kids, 3 girls & 2 boys. The girls would’ve been Eastella, Devonia & [name_f]Selkie[/name_f]. The boys would’ve been [name_u]Jace[/name_u] & [name_m]Marlon[/name_m].
There was also a time a few years before when I was set on Armitage, Cadwaladr & Addiena.
I still like all of these names, but the only one I’d actually use is Addiena.
I started my nameberry account when I was in high school and a lot of the names on my short list haven’t changed. I’m pretty consistent and I have very traditional taste, so probably a little [name_u]James[/name_u] or [name_f]Catherine[/name_f]. I guess the one thing that has changed is that I started studying Russian in college so I have a little bit of a Russian twist to my style now. As a younger teen, I was a little more out-of-the-box, and I remember really liking [name_m]Felix[/name_m] and [name_f]Amaryllis[/name_f]. I still like those names, but they’re no longer my front-runners and I think overall I’ve gotten a little more traditional over time.
Definitely a [name_f]Bella[/name_f] name. Most likely she would have been [name_f]Isabella[/name_f]. Boy name [name_m]Edward[/name_m]. (Yes I loved [name_u]Twilight[/name_u] way too much)
Probably [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] [name_f]Lily[/name_f] or [name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] for a girl, [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] [name_m]Sirius[/name_m] for a boy. I loved [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] & [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] as a younger teen (12/13), but as a “real” teenager, [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] was The Name to me. It’s not really my taste anymore, but I loved it so, so much with the nickname [name_f]Bea[/name_f]. I would still use [name_f]Lily[/name_f]! And though I’ll always love [name_m]Arthur[/name_m], I’ll never use it. [name_m]Sirius[/name_m] is the height of cool (), but now I think I’m less enthused about immortalizing the [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] series in name choices now! A couple of years ago, as a Late Teen (18/19), I probably would have gone with [name_u]Elliot[/name_u] for a boy, and [name_f]Birdie[/name_f] for a girl! I would still use [name_u]Elliot[/name_u], though I’m more attached to [name_f]Elly[/name_f]! [name_f]Birdie[/name_f] I don’t think is up there anymore, but I love [name_f]Bunny[/name_f] so I guess you can say my style has devolved since hitting the 20s
Oh yeah my name style has totally changed compared to my name style as a teenager. I used to swear by a ending names for girls because I thought that a’s were the peak of femininity🙄. All the popular girls in school growing up were [name_f]Jessica[/name_f], [name_f]Sara[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] etc. [name_f]My[/name_f] top girl names were soft and short. Ex) [name_f]Ella[/name_f], [name_f]Mia[/name_f], [name_f]Luna[/name_f] etc.
And flash forward to today, I avoid “a” ending names all together😂 (though there are still some that I like ofc). I eventually learned that femininity is a social construct and the letter “a” doesn’t always = feminine. I lean way more gender neutral these days.
And for boys my style has only changed slightly. I’ve always quite liked the bookish types of names. The only difference is I try to search for softer & more under used options.
In middle school, I would have named a girl [name_u]Jaycee[/name_u] (very different from now) and a boy [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] because I just loved the nickname [name_m]Tommy[/name_m]. In high school, I fell in love with [name_u]Declan[/name_u] because of a character from Degrassi, and [name_f]Annabeth[/name_f] because of [name_u]Percy[/name_u] [name_u]Jackson[/name_u]. I also quite liked [name_f]Mia[/name_f], [name_f]Ella[/name_f] and [name_u]Lindsay[/name_u].
The only girl name I reeeeally really liked when I was a teen that I would still use in some capacity today is [name_f]Kiara[/name_f] (thank you [name_m]Lion[/name_m] [name_m]King[/name_m]). I didn’t care much about boys’ names back then, the only ones I can really remember loving are [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] and [name_u]Declan[/name_u].
If I had a baby boy when I was a teenager, he would have undoubtably been named [name_m]Tobias[/name_m]. [name_m]Tobias[/name_m] is the first name I ever remember loving, when I was around 9 or so. I would say that if I had a baby boy at age 22 or before, he would be [name_m]Tobias[/name_m]. I still like the name, and it holds a special place in my heart, but it’s no longer a contender for any sons I may have.
I didn’t have a girl name that I loved as much as [name_m]Tobias[/name_m], but I think a girl would have been [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] or [name_f]Juliet[/name_f]. Both names I still like, and both are on my long list, but neither are names on my current list with my husband.
I’m a teenberry, but as a tween? Probably [name_f]Harmonia[/name_f], [name_u]Wren[/name_u], or [name_f]Lyra[/name_f] for a girl and [name_m]Seamus[/name_m] or [name_m]Alastair[/name_m] for a boy.
I still like [name_u]Wren[/name_u] as a middle name and I’m starting to love [name_f]Lyra[/name_f] again. I‘ve kind of fallen out of love with [name_m]Seamus[/name_m] (though it’s a very handsome, solid Irish name), but I’m starting to love [name_m]Alastair[/name_m] again! I finally know how to pronounce it lol. It’s very handsome and aesthetically pleasing to look at!
), but now I think I’m less enthused about immortalizing the [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] series in name choices now! A couple of years ago, as a Late Teen (18/19), I probably would have gone with [name_u]Elliot[/name_u] for a boy, and [name_f]Birdie[/name_f] for a girl! I would still use [name_u]Elliot[/name_u], though I’m more attached to [name_f]Elly[/name_f]! [name_f]Birdie[/name_f] I don’t think is up there anymore, but I love [name_f]Bunny[/name_f] so I guess you can say my style has devolved since hitting the 20s 