Names You Love But Won't Use 🍂

[readingreverie]

I’m sure we have all watched our fair share of “Baby Names I love But Won’t Use” videos on youtube (at least I know I have!), I’ve been watching them again and it made me wonder, what are baby names you love but wouldn’t ever use, and why wouldn’t you use them?

Though I don’t think guilty pleasure names normally count for these types if videos, feel free to share them as well!

[name_f]My[/name_f] list!

Girls Names:
[name_u]Nesta[/name_u] - I love this name so much, though I don’t think it matches style-wise with my other favorites, and I don’t think I could ever have a mismatched sibset.
[name_f]Violet[/name_f] - This name is so cool, but I can only ever read it as violent. It makes me so sad!

Boys Names:
[name_m]Ambrose[/name_m] - I unfortunately have a cousin who used the name for one of her sons!
[name_u]Reid[/name_u] - As much as I love this name, everyone would know I named my child after [name_u]Spencer[/name_u] [name_u]Reid[/name_u], and I’m not too sure I want people to know that.
[name_u]Beau[/name_u] - I think this name is absolutely adorable, however, I simply don’t like any of the long forms of [name_u]Beau[/name_u], so I unfortunately won’t get to use it.
[name_u]George[/name_u] - I think [name_u]George[/name_u] is so cute and warm, but I feel like it’s missing a sort of umph to it as it’s only one syllable.

I’m sure there is more, but this is just off the top of my head!

[tallemaja]

technically all of them, because i’m not having any bio kids, but in a hypothetical scenario:

nicholas - my brother’s name. he goes by nico, but it’d still be weird, obviously
wilbur - hard for me to pronounce!! in real life, i’d probably go for just will or maybe willow
pippa - i adore it, but sadly it has sexual connotations in my first language
anna - just a bit too popular worldwide!

[Greyblue]

@tallemaja

technically all of them, because i’m not having any bio kids, but in a hypothetical scenario:

Same

But yeah, hypothetically:

Adele/Adelaide/Ada/Adelia (as firsts) - too close to my brother’s name
Lucy - my cousin’s name
Rory - awful with my surname
Kit - too close to a friend’s name
Reuben - too close to my other cousin’s name
Cressida/Amelie/Tamar/Raphael - used them on characters
Tobias/Otis/Wilbur/Pippa/Keats/Finley - used them on guinea pigs

[prairierose]

names I can’t use

[name_m]Jedidiah[/name_m]: I love the nickname [name_m]Jed[/name_m], but unfortunately it’s my #2 brother’s mn and the rest of my siblings would be very jealous if I named a son after him.

[name_m]Alexander[/name_m]: Same reason as [name_m]Jedidiah[/name_m]

[name_f]Aurora[/name_f]: Such a beautiful name, but it’s my #1 sister’s mn

[name_u]James[/name_u]: We know very many, many [name_u]James[/name_u], plus it’s my #2 sister’s bf’s name

Harper/Lily/Charli: #2 sister’s hypothetical children

[itsjustjack]

Oh boy, I have a lot of these. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but here are some that come to mind:

Girls

• Elizabeth— there are just too many in my family. I have not one, but two first cousins with this name.
• Natalie— negative personal associations. Also one of my closest friends is a Natalia.
• Natasha— negative personal associations (not the same as the one for Natalie, strangely).
• Daphne— used this on my cat (no regrets though!).
• Luna— too trendy, plus it’s a friend’s name.
• Catherine— I just know too many of them! Also I don’t care for the inevitable Kate or Katie.
• Hermione— way too associated with Harry Potter; I don’t want to give my kids obvious fandom names.
• Stevie— I know too many Stephanie’s, plus I know too many boys/men named Steve and/or Stevie.
• Antonia— the name of a cousin.
• Eiru— concerns about spelling/pronunciation.
• Aislinn— concerns about spelling/pronunciation.
• Brigid— concerns about spelling/pronunciation.
• Anaïs— concerns about spelling/pronunciation.
• Áine— concerns about spelling/pronunciation.
• Tessa— I know too many of them.

Boys

• Thomas— the name of a cousin.
• Bailey— it really doesn’t go well with my last name.
• Morgan— too many personal associations.
• Indigo— a little too “out there” for me, realistically.
• Asher— confusing personal associations.
• Avery— the name of an ex-partner of mine.
• Mackenzie— although I much prefer it on a boy, I’m concerned that it’s solidly become a “girls” name now. Also I did use this on a character.
• Macaulay— doesn’t go well with my last name, and might be too strongly associated with a celebrity.
• Sebastian— used it on a character.
• Adam— I have a friend with this name, also this one feels weirdly “too Biblical” for me? Which is not something I usually care about but oh well.
• Ariel— possibly too seen as a girl’s name, but really it’s The Little Mermaid that sealed the deal as this being a name I just can’t use.
• Tadhg— concerns about spelling/pronunciation.
• Eoin— concerns about spelling/pronunciation.
• Spencer— personal and pop culture associations.
• Chandler— pop culture associations, plus someone in my life has this last name and it’s not someone I’d want to use an honor name for (they’re great, we just don’t have that kind of relationship).

[whatchamacallit]

[name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_f]Rowenna[/name_f] - too close to a nephew’s name.

[name_f]Hermione[/name_f] - too connected to the character.

[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] - husband doesn’t like it.

[name_f]Guinevere[/name_f], [name_f]Artemisia[/name_f], [name_f]Arabella[/name_f] - doesn’t work with son’s name

[name_u]Vesper[/name_u], [name_u]Juniper[/name_u], [name_u]Larkspur[/name_u] - doesn’t work with son’s name

[Poppyseeds20]

Girls

[name_f]Rosie[/name_f], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_f]Alice[/name_f], [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], [name_u]June[/name_u], [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], [name_u]Laurel[/name_u], [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Corinne[/name_f], [name_u]Riley[/name_u]

Boys

[name_u]Finn[/name_u], [name_m]Lucas[/name_m], [name_u]Owen[/name_u], [name_u]Harry[/name_u], [name_u]Henry[/name_u], [name_m]Ewan[/name_m], [name_m]Oliver[/name_m], [name_m]Isaac[/name_m], [name_u]Elliott[/name_u], [name_m]Nicholas[/name_m]

[namergirl3]

[name_m]Just[/name_m] some examples that I haven’t talked about much on similar threads:

[name_m]Alistair[/name_m]: I love it so much but it just doesn’t feel right for us. Beyond that, I do struggle to spell it sometimes and it kind of clashes with our surname.

[name_m]Emmaus[/name_m]: this was suggested to me from an Instagram namer, based on my son’s name. I think it is really cool but is kind of out there. It also is a bit matchy to kiddo’s name in multiple ways.

[name_u]Leon[/name_u] and [name_f]Leona[/name_f]: I love them both, especially [name_f]Leona[/name_f]. Husband just isn’t a fan.

[name_f]Zinnia[/name_f]: beautiful but husband isn’t big on it and I like other names more

[name_u]June[/name_u]: others we like more but this could be a middle name

[name_u]Jasper[/name_u]: clashes with surname
[name_f]Clover[/name_f]: clashes with surname
[name_m]Abel[/name_m]: no doubt cain and able jokes, since we are somewhat active in church

[name_f]Seraphina[/name_f]: I love it but there are others we love more
[name_f]Mary[/name_f]: not DH’s favorite

Really, way too many names fall under this category. We are only planning to have one more child so that would make entire categories of names unusable. Have a boy, lose the girl names or vice versa. It makes me really sad sometimes. Lots of names will end up as the ones that got away.

[LeafTree]

[name_f]Elvie[/name_f] / [name_f]Elva[/name_f] / [name_f]Elfie[/name_f] - 3lva is my grandma’s middle name and she hates it for personal reasons, so i could never use it for anything.

[name_u]Florian[/name_u] - name of a close friend

[name_f]Essie[/name_f] - also a name of a close friend

[name_f]Luna[/name_f] - too popular

[name_u]Kit[/name_u] - same thing as [name_f]Luna[/name_f], and i don’t want people to think it’s a nickname for [name_f]Katherine[/name_f]

[name_f]Anemone[/name_f] - i love this name, but i all i think of is sea anemones (that’s not necessarily bad), i think the association is too strong (i’d definitely use it in the middle spot)

[name_u]Artemis[/name_u] / [name_f]Artemisia[/name_f] & [name_f]Zephyra[/name_f] / [name_u]Zephyr[/name_u] / [name_f]Zephyrine[/name_f] as siblings - i love the sound of them together but it’s too matchy for me

[name_u]Cricket[/name_u] - don’t like the sport association and where i live people would just think i named my kid after the sport

[name_f]Lumi[/name_f] - way too close to my cousins name

[name_f]Olympia[/name_f] - i could use it if i really wanted, but i know an [name_f]Olympia[/name_f]

[name_u]Orion[/name_u] - i thought i was pronounced or-ee-on but i found out it isn’t and now i don’t like it

[lennonharper]

[name_f]Freya[/name_f] - [name_f]My[/name_f] cousins name is [name_f]Freja[/name_f] (pronounced the same way as [name_f]Freya[/name_f] is)

[name_f]Stella[/name_f]- my closest friend has this name and it was on my list until she recently decided she didn’t want me to use it as my child’s name (which I understand completely)

Grace/Gracie - I feel it’s too religious for someone who is not practicing any religion as of now

[name_f]Lola[/name_f] - I feel as though I can’t commit to this one

[name_f]Niamh[/name_f] - If I were to use this name I would use the alternative [name_f]Neve[/name_f]

[AStudyIn_Scarlet]

[name_u]Ruby[/name_u]: It’s the name of my great-aunt who I’m not exactly close to. I love this and as I remember, one of the first names that I liked.

[name_u]Artemis[/name_u]: I like this but 1) too attached with my online unsername and 2) it gives me a gamer vibe (that I do not cherish).

[name_f]Agnes[/name_f]: Many people find it too old-fashioned.

[name_f]Pandora[/name_f]: I like the nickname [name_m]Pan[/name_m] and the -dora ending, it goes well with the rest of my names but something holds me back from using it.

[Emarkulics]

Well there’s a huge portion of my list that’s exed out simply because my SO doesn’t agree. But besides those:

[name_f]Jocelyn[/name_f], [name_u]Cadence[/name_u], [name_u]Cade[/name_u], [name_u]Cato[/name_u], [name_f]Cadia[/name_f], [name_u]Carson[/name_u], [name_u]Teagan[/name_u] - all the same name or too similar to family members

[name_f]Atta[/name_f] - one of my favorite names ever but BIL & SIL have been calling dibs on [name_u]Addison[/name_u] for years

[VTW]

[name_f]Elsa[/name_f] and [name_m]Elmo[/name_m] (and countless LotR names)

[persephonescrown]

Olivia, Sophie, Margaret, Eric or any name ending in -ic - negative associations

Frederick - from my best loved Jane Austen novel Persuasion, but friends used it first! Same problem with Matilda

Persephone - rhymes with my name

Hermione - would totally use because of the Shakespeare reference but of course these days everybody would assume HP instead.

[missLis]

I adore most names of Japanese origin. Unfortunately I’m white and couldn’t get away with it

[lumianim]

For girls;

[name_f]Mila[/name_f] - I love this name but probably won’t use it because I have an aunt and an uncle who are siblings named Mil@n & Milen@, so [name_f]Mila[/name_f] is too close to their names and sounds too matchy for me; I’d like my kids name to stand out from my family’s names, especially since a lot of them end in mir or start with [name_u]Mil[/name_u]. I’d like to use [name_f]Mila[/name_f] for a cat or dog one day though Maybe I’d use it if I was more sure of myself in that sense haha.

[name_f]Teodora[/name_f] - it’s a cute name and I love the meaning, but it’s a bit too popular and overused for me; though I love the nickname Tea; so I’ll see haha.

[name_f]Valentina[/name_f] - beautiful name, just getting a bit too popular for my liking. [name_u]Love[/name_u] the nickname [name_u]Val[/name_u], I dislike [name_f]Tina[/name_f], and i think most Serbian people would use [name_f]Tina[/name_f] over [name_u]Val[/name_u] as a nickname soo I’ll see if I ever reconsider.

[name_f]Violeta[/name_f] - cute but a bit too popular

Andela (Angela) - cute, but I have a friend w this name and it’s really popular in Serbia

[name_f]Malina[/name_f] - one of my favorite names, just have a weird association w it so I dunno if it’d use it.

[name_f]Zora[/name_f] - love love this name, but it would be to honor a family member and it’s quite dated in Serbia.

[name_f]Vera[/name_f] - I love this name because of the meaning and history; but sadly I have an aunt with this name.

Boys;
Srećko - means lucky, love love this name, but there’s an association w it, so I might use it if I can get past that.
Nenad - distant relative named this, but I really love this name regardless
Miljan - love this name too, but it’s too close to someone I know’s name
Ilija - I love this name; but it’s a bit too closely related to my dads name so I dunno if I’d use it
Vasilije - love it but it’s super popular and overused
Veljko - love it but the only nickname for this name is the same nickname my cousin uses for his name, so it would be confusing

[quzyannza]

[name_f]My[/name_f] answer for most of these is simply the fact my husband vetoed them! But here’s some with an actual reasoning!

[name_m]Atticus[/name_m]: name of an annoying kid when I was a teachers aid

[name_m]Tripp[/name_m]: I just hear all the jokes…

[name_u]Harper[/name_u]: too popular on girls now, I don’t feel like I can use it on a boy!

[name_m]Ronan[/name_m]: I love [name_u]Taylor[/name_u] [name_m]Swift[/name_m] but the song breaks my heart, I couldn’t name my child [name_m]Ronan[/name_m]

[name_u]Ellis[/name_u]: The middle name I wanted to use at one point started with D & LSD…

[name_f]Elspeth[/name_f]: This would be hard to say for a child with any speech difficulties

[name_u]Marlowe[/name_u]: Too close to our last name

[name_f]Alta[/name_f]: I’d be afraid it would be pronounced Ulta, like the store.

[name_f]Ida[/name_f]: Idaho

[name_u]Senna[/name_u]: The laxative

[MalibuBrie]

Circe- I love the sound, but I can’t get past the negative associations.
Leelou, Lilou, Lucy- super cute, but I can’t picture them on an adult
Antoinette- love the sound, don’t love the “ant” beginning.
Baylee, Brynnlee, Katelynn, Everleigh- As much as I love them, I’d never give them to a child because most people I know see them as silly or “trendeigh”
Clara- sounds odd in my accent

[historicalheroine]

• addie (as a nn): too similar to a name i have negative associations with
• alice: too similar to a family member’s name
• angharad: i’m not welsh and don’t have any connection to wales
• beatrice: used on a character
• casper: concerns about teasing
• david: negative associations
• dora (as a nn): concerns about teasing
• elain: see angharad + too similar to a close friend’s hypothetical daughter
• graham: a family member’s name
• henry: a family member’s name
• hugo: too similar to a family member’s name
• elizabeth + variants: multiple family members’ names
• mabli: see angharad
• owen + variants: a family member’s name + see angharad
• theodore: still on the fence, but i have negative associations
• thomas: negative associations
• tobias: negative associations
• sunday: concerns about religious association + teasing

[persephonescrown]

Another one I just thought of is Phryne. I love it, I LOVE Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries but sadly it means ‘toad’ and in classical terms, Phryne was a courtesan (a very fiesty courtesan, but still). So probably would not bestow it on a real child.