just a little contemplative topic today !! i was going over a few of my old posts, and found some things iād written about ronan. suddenly, i remembered that ronan used to be my number one, ride or die favourite, and i was convinced he would be my future son. gradually, he slipped from my top slot, then my top ten, and then has sat quietly on my longlist ever since. i still adore the sound and feel of ronan, and heās kind of perfect for me, but i just canāt imagine using him beyond the middle spot anymore, and heās not in any of my top combos when i try to make them.
soā¦ what names did you used to consider theone, and why arenāt they the one anymore? did your whole style change, or just a few preferences? did you discover or develop a bad association, or just get tired? would you still use it? do you know why you loved that name so much when you did?
looking forward to reading your responses !! just having a little reflective moment as i approach three years on nb, looking back on how iāve changed over this time.
She used to be so beautiful to me - melodic, sunny, and sweet! I loved the ballet connection, and sometimes when I read her I still get little bursts of excitement like I used to.
However, as I discovered more rare and a wider scope of names, [name_f]Clara[/name_f] just sort of slipped, and has been on my list but untouched since. I still love names similar to [name_f]Clara[/name_f] (Rosemary, [name_f]Odette[/name_f], etc.), but probably would not use [name_f]Clara[/name_f] myself. It makes me feel like losing an old friend, but at the same time, I think my love for [name_f]Clara[/name_f] fizzling out is representative on how far Iāve come in my journey with names!
I get bored easily, but I do keep falling in and out of love with the same names! Once upon a time my favourite girls name was [name_f]Rachel[/name_f], but I think as I got older it was just too common for me, so I dropped it. Then it was [name_f]Abigail[/name_f], but the same thing happened, along with [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] and so on.
However, popularity is not always the killer. I still love the name [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], even though itās the most popular name in the Western World at the moment. If I was having a daughter, I still might consider it, alongside giving her a rare middle name, so she has a definitive way of carving out an individual identity for herself.
Other names that were no 1 with me and are no longer are
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f] - because my husbandās ex was a āKathā.
[name_f]Jasmine[/name_f] - I realised her nn might be āJazzā, which Iām not keen on.
[name_u]Maria[/name_u] - I donāt know why I no longer have a passion for this name.
[name_f]Ursula[/name_f] - has been ruined for me by The [name_m]Little[/name_m] Mermaid. But I think as the years go by it will be less of an issue.
There arenāt these issues so much with boys names, somehow. Though I once loved [name_m]Andrew[/name_m], but I donāt now. Seems somewhat dated and reminds me
of a certain [name_u]Prince[/name_u] who has fallen out of favour.
For me, it was [name_m]Alistair[/name_m]. I really liked the classic [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] and itās Scottish counterpart [name_m]Alasdair[/name_m], but [name_m]Alistair[/name_m] was the one that really spoke to me. It was soft yet strong, and I think it paid a little homage to my roots. At a time, these reasons were enough for me to consider it as a name for my son but as I delved deeper into the meanings behind my favourite names, [name_m]Alistair[/name_m] seem to really fall behind. I was contemplating whether or not to have it on my list at all and started having doubts. I didnāt have a personal connection with it. I didnāt have a reason why I loved it, just that I did. Slowly enough, I replaced him with [name_m]Edwin[/name_m] that I love with the fullest of my heart.
I think, since then, I have opened my girl names to a large variety and refined my boys list. I donāt regret the choice I made.
[name_f]Athena[/name_f] is going through something like that as well, but I feel too connected with her to let go of her. Maybe, in the upcoming years I might find something else that I love but despite her issues, [name_f]Athena[/name_f] is my favourite.
[name_u]Callum[/name_u] I discovered it in the book Naughts & Crosses and have always felt like it would be the perfect name for my son. But after meeting my husband and talking baby names with him I slowly had to let go of it because heās not a huge fan and itās not a name that works super well in his language.
I was utterly convinced that [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] would be my daughterās name. Her nickname [name_f]Lily[/name_f] was, to me, all I could want in a name. But a little at a time she crept out of her number 2 spot, slowly being overtaken by [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]. I tried my best to keep her in my heart, but I couldnāt see [name_f]Lily[/name_f] and [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] has sisters. None of Lillianās combos seems to work anymore, then the name felt overall heavy. Now, I have [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] on my long list, not a member of any combos, while [name_f]Lily[/name_f] creeps in sometimes for a moment but never lasts.
ĆsrĆŗn used to be my number one name for a girl, even though Iād given up hope of ever using her (my husband vetoed it). Iām not sure why it changed. I think it was partly because, when I was pregnant with [name_f]Vienna[/name_f] after only having boys, I looked at ĆsrĆŗn in a different light, and suddenly I couldnāt imagine having an actual daughter with the name, no matter how magical it sounded to me.
And a second reason was a book I read recently. ĆsrĆŗn is a rare name even in [name_f]Iceland[/name_f], and I read a book with a side character called ĆsrĆŗn. She was pretty annoying, and made the name feelā¦ less magical, and more prosaic.
this is jack for me! i was looking back through my notd posts from around when i first joined and i was so excited about this name. he was in my top 5 and used to be one of the names i could most easily see myself using on a future son. i think iād use it as a middle name now with a more out-there first (ransom jack, harper jack?) but heās definitely lost a lot of his sparkle for me.
[name_u]Anne[/name_u]! This one makes me sad because I want to love it like I used to, but itās definitely lost some sparkle. I remember making long posts about how much meaning it has and how well I thought it went with the rest of my names, but right now I feel like names like [name_u]Marian[/name_u] and [name_f]Helen[/name_f] are starting to take over Anneās spot. Iām still keeping her in my uc because I still love the combo I have for her. I would love to come back around to her by herself, though, she checks so many boxes for me!
[name_f]Trina[/name_f]! I still love her, and in an ideal world i would use her in a heartbeat, but, I just realised how much of a nightmare pronounciation and spelling would be in the real world, and I didnāt want to pass that hassle down to a child. I am also now more drawn to names that have multiple nickname options, which is perhaps a reflection of feeling like i outgrew my own name
Mine is [name_f]Athena[/name_f]. I remember coming across that name and it was still quite rare and I had never heard it on a real person before. It was love at first sight, lol. She was my top girl name for a loooong time. I hate to be the person who says popularity is a factor, but over the years it has creeped up on the charts and Iāve also met/heard of many Athenas. It just doesnāt have the same sparkle for me anymore. It doesnāt feel āspecialā, like āmyā name anymore. Itās kind of sad, but Iāll always love it and would definitely still consider using it if I ever had any children.
[name_f]Emma[/name_f] ā She was going to be my one and only; the single name that felt like my daughter. Unfortunately, I have met so many Emmas now, some of whom were kind of bratty. There just isnāt any sparkle or magic to the name [name_f]Emma[/name_f] anymore.
[name_u]Wesley[/name_u] ā A name that was ruined due to a bad association. I have hopes that I can one day move past it, but this guy is really a jerk. Thankfully I have the lovely [name_m]Peter[/name_m] to take Wesleyās spot on my list.
[name_f]Evangeline[/name_f].
[name_f]Gorgeous[/name_f] name with fantastic nicknames but I have an extrememly negative association with [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u]. I thought if I was going with the -leen pronunciation and leaned more towards the Angie/Annie/Alina/etc. nn options instead of [name_f]Evie[/name_f] it was different enough and had it extremely high on my list for years shifting around between #1-#5, but any time I thought about actually using it I had a little hesitation. I originally thought it was just the religious connotations from being similar to evangelical that was bugging me a little but then a couple months ago I really examined it and realized that my actual issue was that every time I said it it was still making me think of [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] just a tiny bit in the back of my mind and thatās definitely a hard no. Luckily, I have other names on my list I love just as much but its definitely a bummer that I just canāt get past that.
On the boyās side [name_m]Oliver[/name_m] used to be tied for #1 but then I got burned out on how popular it is and then itās replacement, [name_u]Arthur[/name_u], also fell on my list because I just donāt really love any of the nicknames. Both names are still in my top 20 and I totally might use them because my boy list is just really short and neither of those issues are dealbreakers, but they arenāt top 5 anymore.
i forgot about your love for ronan! itās really interesting how our tastes change like that, with us barely noticing.
iāve been on NB for close to seven years, so iāve gone through a lot lukas was my first love, and iāve actually sort of come full-circle, because after falling out of love with it ages ago, i now really like luka! i was also convinced iād have a lionel ālennyā and later an ozzy.
for the girls, i think my only āone true loveā name has been clementine āleniā, because iāve always been more passionate about boy names! i donāt think iād go for clementine now, but leni on its own is one of my favourites still
interestingly, iāve found that my more āquietā favourites are more likely to stick. harvey/harry has been in my top 10 since i was 14, although i almost never mention it!
[name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] & [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]. [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] is too frilly and princessy , over the top for me now aka my style has changed. I still like [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] but I know a few and have other names I prefer now.
Looking back, I think [name_u]Jasper[/name_u] was a big one for me. Many years ago, it was one of the few boysā names I liked and would have used it, if I decided to have a kids.
While [name_u]Jasper[/name_u] is still on my list, itās not in any of my top combos and thatās for several reasons. The rise in popularity did influence me, but also, my grandparents used it on their guinea pig
Another, I think, is [name_m]Winston[/name_m]. I love that name and I do enjoy the 1984 connection, however, Iām not wild on it being associated with [name_m]Churchill[/name_m], nor am I too fond of the fact itās [name_u]Laurence[/name_u] Foxās son (is this petty?), but perhaps mostly, because we used it on one of my guinea pigs.
Another is [name_u]Florence[/name_u] - would have easily been my top choice a long while back, but, working with kids, I met so, so many of them and then it reached the UK top ten soā¦
[name_f]Nadia[/name_f] and [name_f]Anya[/name_f] are another two. I still love these and I come back to them but for whatever reason, they donāt feel so sparkly.
Then thereās my childhood love of [name_f]Tilly[/name_f], which again, I still think is lovely, but it doesnāt quite hold enough spark, and Iāve met many people and kids with the name now.
Mine is [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]. At one point I adored her; after [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] and [name_f]Rose[/name_f], she was my choice for my future daughterās name. I loved the soft, melodic sound, the [name_m]Little[/name_m] Women connection and the weight of history behind it. I think the first problem for we was the meaning - Iād want my kid to make up her own mind about matters of faith, so Iām not sure about names with very religious meanings (that said, I do like a fair few biblical classics and itās not a complete turn off). And as time wore on I just met so many Beths and Lizes they all blurred into each other; [name_f]Liz[/name_f] [name_m]Truss[/name_m] was possibly the final nail in the coffin! Sheās now been replaced by [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], which I think is sleeker and brighter, although she does still habe a place in my heart!
I have been on NB for close to six years, and when I first discovered signatures back then, she was one of the first names that I made a combo for. I also loved the association with Leigh-Anne Pinnock (which I still do). Now even though she still has a place in my heart, she is not even in my top 20 anymore, and has been replaced by the wonderful [name_f]Ingrid[/name_f] over the years.
This was [name_f]Mercedes[/name_f] for me, and I did it on purpose! I love this name, but the car association and the pronunciation difficulties would make it hard to wear where I live. So I used it on the main character in a short story I wrote, and now itās completely tied to her in my mind and I couldnāt imagine using it for someone else. Sheās also written as kind of a self-parody and wouldnāt be a good namesake for a child!
I discovered it in the book Naughts & Crosses and have always felt like it would be the perfect name for my son. But after meeting my husband and talking baby names with him I slowly had to let go of it because heās not a huge fan and itās not a name that works super well in his language.
lukas was my first love, and iāve actually sort of come full-circle, because after falling out of love with it ages ago, i now really like luka! i was also convinced iād have a lionel ālennyā and later an ozzy.