Names you want to use, but can't?

For example, my name is [name_f]Samantha[/name_f], which sucks, because [name_m]Samuel[/name_m] (nn [name_u]Sam[/name_u]/[name_u]Sammy[/name_u]) would have been my favorite boy’s name. [name_f]Nor[/name_f] can I use [name_u]Regan[/name_u], because it’s so close to my sister, [name_f]Megan[/name_f].
[name_m]How[/name_m] about you?

I absolutely love the name [name_m]Severus[/name_m], but I don’t want people to assume its after the HP character.

[name_f]Audrey[/name_f] and [name_m]Asher[/name_m] I love, but I’m afraid they’re a bit too close to my own name ([name_u]Ashley[/name_u]). I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] and [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f], too, but for some reason I never seem to be able to commit to them. And [name_m]Joshua[/name_m]. I adore him, but my cousin’s name is [name_m]Joshua[/name_m], and there’s enough bad history between us that I wouldn’t want people assuming I would want to name a son after him.

I really love the names [name_f]Sophia[/name_f], [name_m]Liam[/name_m], [name_u]Avery[/name_u], [name_f]Grace[/name_f], and a few others in the top 50. But I am afraid to use them because I don’t want my child to be one of five Sophias in her class. Today I was in the supermarket for ten minutes, and I heard two different moms call out, “[name_f]Sophia[/name_f]!” to daughters under the age of 5. :frowning:

I have wanted to use [name_f]Lilla[/name_f] since I saw it in a book as a teenager.

Unfortunately, I have nieces/children of close friends called: [name_f]Ella[/name_f], [name_f]Milla[/name_f] and [name_f]Lily[/name_f]. So that’s that. :frowning:

There are many. A lot of monosyllabic names just don’t flow well with our last name, also of one syllable. So names like [name_u]Brice[/name_u], [name_f]Claire[/name_f], [name_m]Paul[/name_m], [name_f]Grace[/name_f]. All names I love but don’t work. Also [name_m]Andrew[/name_m], because I know too many people named [name_m]Andrew[/name_m]. [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m], also, because it’s the name of a friend’s kid.

It’s actually near impossible for a [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] to be 1/5 in her class. The popularity stats don’t really allow for it - you’d need another 10,000 or so (I believe) for the numbers to have THAT many per school.

I really would love to use these, but cannot:

[name_f]Clementine[/name_f] - too close to a disowned relative’s surname.
[name_f]Sadie[/name_f] - name of my cousin’s [name_u]Golden[/name_u] Retriever, and probably always will be.
[name_f]Bridget[/name_f] - a cousin of my mother’s, that she does not like.
[name_f]Fannie[/name_f] - although the connection is not really over here ([name_f]Fannie[/name_f] is still used in [name_m]Quebec[/name_m]), I have too many family members in the UK to pull it off.
[name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] - while I do like this quite a bit, it’s the name of a girl who used to torment my sister.
[name_f]Victoria[/name_f] - my mum’s sister, as well as the name of an estranged cousin.

[name_u]Noah[/name_u] - cousin’s name
[name_u]Ashley[/name_u] - female cousin’s name (though I love this for a boy)
[name_m]Adam[/name_m] - cousin’s husband (although, it might be ok still?)
[name_m]Matthew[/name_m]/[name_m]Matt[/name_m] - dad’s cousin (again, might still be ok)
[name_u]Ryan[/name_u] - cousin’s name
[name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] - the name of two boys who were…not the nicest in school.

Most of my list, actually. The big one is probably [name_f]Kirrily[/name_f]–my sister is [name_f]Kira[/name_f], so it would be weird…

[name_f]Katherine[/name_f] nn [name_f]Kate[/name_f] or [name_f]Katya[/name_f]. I love it, but it’s my mum’s name. Our family is quite against recycling family names (which is weird).

[name_f]Mirabelle[/name_f]- because our niece is [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] and it’s too close to me
[name_f]Zora[/name_f] and [name_f]Margo[/name_f]- because they don’t work with our surname

[name_f]Greta[/name_f] (my absolute favourite), [name_f]Lucie[/name_f] and [name_f]Rosalie[/name_f] because they clash with my husband’s last name.

[name_f]Sophie[/name_f] which I love but feel is too common.

[name_f]My[/name_f] sister got to two of the only [name_f]Mary[/name_f] nicknames/variants that I like before me for her daughters: [name_f]Minnie[/name_f] and [name_f]Mitzi[/name_f]. I now feel like I can’t use [name_f]Mina[/name_f] either.

I feel your pain, mollydolally! [name_f]My[/name_f] brother and sister-in-law used [name_m]Paul[/name_m] for their third kid and it was one of the only boy names me and my husband agreed on and that accommodated our numerous heritages ([name_m]French[/name_m], Romanian, American). And to be honest, it was my favorite boy name.
And I can’t really use [name_f]Marie[/name_f] / [name_f]Maria[/name_f] either because hubby’s name is [name_m]Marius[/name_m], his mother’s [name_f]Mariana[/name_f] so that would be a bit much in the “[name_f]Mari[/name_f]…” department!
And since I am not married to a Frenchman, there are a lot of delicious but very [name_m]French[/name_m]-sounding boy names I can’t use ([name_m]Pierre[/name_m], [name_m]Etienne[/name_m], Grégoire).
That being said, we ended up finding a name for our little boy that fits perfectly, and it has also taught me that frustrating as it may be, it’s not a bad thing to not being able to use a name you’d fantacize about before having kids - in a sense, you have to mourn the “ideal” child and enjoy the one you actually have, which is even better!

I’ve always loved classic, common names ([name_u]James[/name_u], [name_m]Zachary[/name_m], [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], [name_f]Audrey[/name_f], [name_f]Emily[/name_f]), but our last name is almost as common as [name_m]Smith[/name_m], so we need to go a bit more unique.

I also love the name [name_f]Coralee[/name_f], but my in-laws are [name_f]Carol[/name_f] and [name_u]Lee[/name_u], and that is just too close for me! Oh, and I’ve always loved [name_f]Layla[/name_f], but my cousin (who we’re very close to), just named her daughter [name_f]Jaylah[/name_f], so that took that off the table.