These are my people
Admittedly strange people, obsessed people like myself who understand the power of words and names, who know down deep that names matter and are worth our attention.
Lists Lists and More Lists
It is so much more fun to share my OCD lists with others and to share their lists with myself than to do this alone. It is hard for non-berries to understand why once a person is no longer of child-bearing years that she would be so caught up in name lists.
Naming the World
Not getting to name more children but being able to even slightly contribute to the cause of great names spreading around the world.
Outlandish Names
In real life when you say you want to name a son [name_m]Keir[/name_m] [name_m]Kenelm[/name_m] [name_u]Trout[/name_u] or [name_f]Forsythia[/name_f] [name_u]June[/name_u] [name_f]Pearl[/name_f], people edge toward the door.
On nameberry, someone always says, 'Cool! [name_u]Love[/name_u] that combo!"
Flashes of Kinship and [name_f]Joy[/name_f]
Getting a nice response or writing a nice response or hearing some flabbergastingly wonderful name, there’s that frisson of bliss.
The positivity/kindness – Everybody is so nice on here! [name_m]Even[/name_m] when people don’t like a name or see a genuine concern with it, they express that respectfully.
The names – I rarely get to talk about names in real life and certainly not with people who also love them this much
“Solving puzzles” – I don’t know if this is the right term, but I love trying to think of good suggestions for very specific name questions! It’s a fun challenge for my brain
Learning things I otherwise wouldn’t – about names themselves, but also about words/pronunciation in other countries and languages, naming traditions from other cultures, historical figures who had certain names, etc
Name games – I love CAFs and [name_u]Love[/name_u], Like, Lose especially, but the name games are all so fun for me
Aw. This is a wonderful thing to see right before I go to bed! Thank you for making my day! For me it’s:
Creating the space for this community that I would so loved to have joined when I was a baby name nerd and thought I was alone in the world.
Seeing Nameberry, which is still created every day by hand by a small group of individuals and not a corporation, become the world’s largest site devoted to names.
Working with such amazing writers and name lovers around the world: [name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_u]Clare[/name_u], [name_f]Sophie[/name_f], and of course [name_f]Linda[/name_f].
Still feeling like I’m 11 years old every day when I work on Nameberry and feel the passion for names that I’ve always felt.
Having such involved, intelligent visitors to our site that they create questions like this one. What more could someone ask for? Thank you thank you…
It’s gonna be the same thing everyone else will be doing but:
How kind and helpful everyone else is. I have never see anyone being rude. They’re all so respectful about their opinions.
Getting to know people like you Nameberry actually got me into names. I think I came across this site when I was looking for character names. Since then, I have absolutely changed my idea of what the ideal name for my future child (ren) would be, if I have any.
The only place to discuss names I can only discuss names, especially for babies, long enough to not drive a non name-nerd crazy. [name_u]Or[/name_u] to drive myself crazy. On NB, the scenario is much more calmer and stress-free (although I still find a reason to be stressed lol).
It’s sort of like social-media, but without the fussiness of followers or likes. Places on Instagram or Twitter, people discuss names. However, they’re kinda disrespectful if your choice doesn’t match theirs. And it’s a bit inconvenient as well: to search specific threads or posts that you seek. It’s way more easier than Nameberry.
More information is provided Look, I’m not saying NB doesn’t make mistakes with a few names. It does. But we have amazing people who bring them to attention with the correct facts. We also have the wonderful site creators and admins who take their time out and revise these. On the forums, there are people from different countries and cultures, they are helpful when it comes to using a name from another culture.
Community. This is easily my most favorite thing about this site. I love the connections made here. Some users have come and gone but it makes me smile to see users that I’ve bonded with over the years. Some of us have gone through similar experiences at the same time, so that’s nice too. ETA: I like that you don’t have to be expecting or a parent to interact with others. As long as you are honest, no one cares if you are a teen, an author, naming your pet, or any other category besides parent.
Wide array of perspectives. This slightly ties to community but I appreciate how many different people are on here. Growing up in a small town where anyone who was remotely different became shunned, I used to have a pretty small scope of a world view. I joined this site around the same time I moved away to a college in a big city. It helped me see that differences were okay and not something to be feared. Names were an unexpected bridge between two worlds.
Information. I typically use the forums more than the name information pages but they still provide really good insight. I like the format of including the meaning, trends, rating, famous bearers, etc.
Willingness to grow and improve. This is rather specific but the thread where they ask users to bring to their attention name descriptions that need changed…I like that they do that. To me it conveys that the creators and mods are willing to listen and improve. I’ve known many people who think they are right all the time, forever, so the fact that they are okay to be like “wow, yeah, that’s not okay” has earned a lot of my respect.
This is a defunct aspect of the site but I really loved the signatures. For those who don’t know, you used to be able to have a signature that would attach onto your posts. It made it really easy to see what names users liked, what their kids’ names were if they wanted help with a sibset, etc. I really miss that feature and wish it would come back.
I too like the differences in opinion and the broadening of one’s mind. So many names I used to hate I now tolerate or like or even love because of nameberry. I wouldn’t name my daughter [name_u]James[/name_u], but I do get why or how some people would do that now.
