[name]Hi[/name] all! So I’m not pregnant nor am I even at that point in life yet, but my boyfriend and I did start discussing names we may use in the future (a huge step for a name enthusiast like me!) and I’ve come to a conclusion…I’m not “cool” enough for most of the names I love!
Have any of you ever felt like this?
For example, for girls I love the names [name]Lux[/name], [name]Cordelia[/name], [name]Juniper[/name], [name]Echo[/name], [name]Juno[/name], [name]Minerva[/name], [name]Temperance[/name], [name]India[/name], [name]Niamh[/name], [name]Cairo[/name], [name]Zara[/name], etc. etc. But ask any of my friends what they picture me having for a daughter and almost every single one says [name]Charlotte[/name]. Now [name]Charlotte[/name]'s beautiful…but it ain’t [name]Cordelia[/name]!
And it’s the same story with boys, as well. I love [name]Augustine[/name], [name]Hugo[/name], [name]Soren[/name], [name]Bodhi[/name], [name]Everett[/name], [name]Thatcher[/name], [name]Faolan[/name], [name]Lucan[/name], [name]Orion[/name], [name]Oisin[/name], [name]Dexter[/name], [name]Felix[/name], [name]Gideon[/name], [name]Blaise[/name], etc. But again, ask my friends and they’ll say [name]Jack[/name] or [name]Henry[/name].
Tell me I’m not the only one who likes names that are “too cool”?
I kind of know what you mean! I tend to avoid Z names, because they don’t feel like “me.” [name]Zoya[/name] is in my top ten favorites for girls, but nobody would expect me to have a [name]Zoya[/name], and I don’t know if I’d expect myself to have a [name]Zoya[/name].
Same with [name]Mazarine[/name]. It feels a bit too cultured for me and my little small-town, backwoods lifestyle.
When I was little, there were some names that I considered “too pretty” for myself, most notably [name]Isabella[/name] and [name]Alyssa[/name]. They felt to me like they belonged to wealthy little girls who wore lacy white dresses and had their own ponies. No idea where I got that notion from!
The names on your list are seen quite a bit here on Nameberry so I wouldn’t consider them “too cool”. I like [name]Juniper[/name] and [name]Niamh[/name] for girls and [name]Augustine[/name], [name]Felix[/name], [name]Orion[/name] and [name]Hugo[/name] for boys. Here are some names that I consider “too cool” (aka “trying too hard”). Personally, I wouldn’t use them but some parents do like them.
I’m the opposite of you, people expect cool, out-there names from me. My mom was utterly shocked when I told her a loved [name]Charlotte[/name] and [name]Henry[/name].
There aren’t any names that are too cool for me but names that I know are too much. If I were a celeb or a billionaire and I knew my kids wouldn’t be stereotyped or have their resumes thrown in the trash because of their names, I’d use
Boy: Maui, [name]Bamboo[/name], [name]Windsor[/name]
Girl: [name]Fox[/name]
There are some names I think people definitely wouldn’t expect from me on my list. Most of my guilty pleasure names are deemed as such because they either don’t fit an adult or sound like they are trying too hard, especially since my boyfriend and myself have fairly normal names. I think if I had a more unusual name I wouldn’t worry as much about it. The biggest two names on my gp list for too cool factor would be [name]Indigo[/name] for a boy and [name]Xanthe[/name] for a girl.
A few of my own favorite names that I don’t worry about being too cool which you listed are there! Like [name]Thatcher[/name], which I love despite it being an occupational last name.
No names are too cool for me - but plenty of names are so cool that they’re lame, in that you can tell the parents were trying hard to sound cool. [name]Ryker[/name] is the perfect example of what i mean. From your list, i’d say [name]Bodhi[/name], [name]Echo[/name], and [name]Cairo[/name] fall into that category, but it’s all kind of relative. If anything, i’d expect your friends to think most of your choices were too old-fashioned or intellectual, not too cool.
I really don’t know what people would expect from me as far as naming. My close family and friends know I’m crazy and love all sorts of weird names. Maybe acquaintances would be surprised by a few of my favorites, but I don’t think I’d be willing to actually use some of the more unusual names on my list.
I definitely think there are names that are “too cool” for the extreme dorkiness of my DH and I. Most people would probably assume our twin boys would be named [name]Harry[/name] and [name]Luke[/name] for [name]Potter[/name] & Skywalker, lol.
I don’t think we could follow the “old-fashioned” trend either, because any poor son of ours named [name]Angus[/name] or [name]Phineas[/name] would definitely look like a sad little dork in middle school.
[name]Both[/name] DH and I have fairly uncommon names. Mine’s been in the 300-800 rankings for the past few decades in the US and his hasn’t been below the 500’s since before the 1950’s. We often get comments about it. I feel like it would be a bit noteworthy if we were to choose a very common name, not unthinkable but noteworthy. I also don’t think about a name that’s too cool. Trying too hard, yes, absolutely. But there’s a big difference in my mind. If a name has meaning and is grounded in some family, literary, and/or historical significance, I think it can work for most people.
I think everyone expects eccentric literary [[name]Shakespeare[/name]] names from me, and I’ll probably prove them right someday. I don’t know that there are any names I consider “too cool” for me, but there are ones that I consider “not uncool enough.”
(and raptreverie, [name]Cosima[/name] [name]Tamsin[/name] [name]Delphine[/name] is lovely!)
Thanks for all the responses!! I definitely feel better knowing some of my absolute favorites aren’t seen as trying too hard!
I was wondering what you all thought of [name]Orla[/name] and [name]Oona[/name] for girls. I mentioned them (expecting him to hate them) and the boyfriend actually really likes them! I was so surprised (but pleasantly so). But, of course, crazy me is now worrying about the cool factor of them as well.
[name]Orla[/name] and [name]Oona[/name] follow a couple of trends: (1) short names ending in “a”; (2) Irish names are popular and (3) the letter “O” is getting some attention. I like both names. I wouldn’t call them “too cool” but they’re certainly different from the names that one would expect in [name]New[/name] [name]England[/name] where you live.
I’m really intrigued by the name [name]Ramona[/name]. I’ve always loved this name, but when I mention it, people shoot it down. I don’t think it’s too bad. The other names I like get good feedback, but [name]Ramona[/name] is always bad.
I really like [name]Oona[/name]! I met one last year and she was precious. Her older sister was [name]Sadie[/name], and she had a twin brother whose name I just can’t for the life of me remember.
I’ve actually received surprise from some people that our name choice for our next baby girl isn’t even more “unusual and cool”. We live in the most hipster part of LA and there are definitely some parents that go for the ultrahipster names, but we both come from upper-middle-class families and they just wouldnt fly even if we wanted them to.
I actually really pushed for the names [name]Clover[/name] and [name]Clementine[/name] when we first found out we were having a girl but the BF said they were too out there.
I felt like he was saying we weren’t hip enough to truly pull them off. Oh well. I’m still happy with the names we picked in the end.
