I’m totally guilty of this. Most of my favorite girls’ names make me SWOON when I think of a young daughter wearing them, but if I’m being perfectly honest, I wouldn’t care to have them myself.
I’ve been trying to decide how big a problem this is… if I wouldn’t want to be [name]Ezri[/name] (our current top choice, and it gives me butterflies imagining it on a little girl), why would I name my daughter that? Should I re-imagine our list filled with names I would love to wear? There are a few on my list I’d trade for my own, but not many.
OR, if I’m going to psycho-analyze myself, is my reaction more a sign that I’m attached to the idea of my child being [name]Ezri[/name], in which case it wouldn’t be logical to want it for myself… because then it couldn’t be my daughter’s name… ugh.
I’m the opposite in a lot of ways. I see my kids more as teens/adults than little ones. I imagine more what they will be like when their older. I think [name]Ezri[/name] would be fine on an adult. I can see a Dr. [name]Ezri[/name] or [name]Ezri[/name] as a teacher. Some of the trendy names like female Jaydens, Nevaehs, Harpers etc I just can’t see it on an adult. I can’t see any of these as professional career women. They’re such childish names. While [name]Ezri[/name] would be adorable on a little girl it’s not childish to me. I hope that makes sense and doesn’t confuse you any further
I’m like dillon a bit. I see my children as teens or adults (I don’t have any and am pretty far away from having any), and I think I would be pretty pleased to have any of my girl names. I think I’m pretty narcissistic in that I tend to choose names that I think fit someone who fits the description of who I want my children to be, which, disconcertingly, is kind of like who I am. I guess we all want to pass our best selves on.
It’s important to note that while it might sound weird for me to be named [name]Sophia[/name], I know NONE my age, that will be super normal in 20 years and all of them will probably love it (or complain that it’s too common). I have never heard the name [name]Ezri[/name] until just now, so I can’t say about that name. I do wonder about the people naming their children names like [name]Arabella[/name] and [name]Isadora[/name]. Would they want to wear that name? That’s 100 percent fine if they do, but that just isn’t me.
[name]Even[/name] more complicated is names for the opposite gender. Obviously I wouldn’t want to be named [name]Jack[/name]. Is an equal test the test of, would I want to go on a date with a [name]Jack[/name]?
I think there are two issues here. [name]One[/name] is whether or not [name]Ezri[/name] would work as well on a woman as it would a girl. Personally, I say yes. [name]Ezri[/name] is sweet, but also sharp and strong and quite stylish.
The second issue is whether or not you personally would want to be named [name]Ezri[/name], as the adult woman you are. The thing is, our names grow with us. It’s easy to imagine a little girl [name]Ezri[/name] because adults are vastly more complicated; there are many people she could become. To me the name seems versatile enough to encompass a range of possibilities. Does it really matter whether you would want your daughter’s name? It will be hers, not yours, and she’ll be herself, not you. Does that make sense?
Another thought! While I had always loved the name [name]Jane[/name] I thought it was too short and plain to work for my daughter. Then I realized that every time I responded to the question “What would you rename yourself?” I always without hesitation answered [name]Jane[/name]. Assessing why this was the case revealed a deeper love for this name than I could have anticipated. Not only does [name]Jane[/name] suit me, it also suits the woman I want to be: successful, independant, artistic. These were not associations I ever thought I would have with plain, fuddy [name]Jane[/name], but clearly I didn’t actually think of [name]Jane[/name] that way at all. Now [name]Jane[/name] tops my list, ahead of lovely former favorite [name]Eloise[/name], which, while beautiful, now seems to lack the quiet grace of [name]Jane[/name] – so quiet I almost overlooked her completely!
To summarize, I think deciding what names you’d want to wear can be unexpectedly revealing. You might find that your style isn’t what you thought.
My husband and I have gone around and around on names because he has always gone by a nickname while I have never gone by one. He naturally nicknames everyone - even me. I can’t imagine having a full name that I don’t really use while he can’t imagine using a formal name all the time. So for me [name]Paul[/name], [name]Clare[/name], and [name]Mark[/name] (my first 3 kiddos) are perfect names because they don’t easily shorten/nickname. But he has enjoyed the nicknames associated with [name]Katharine[/name] and [name]James[/name] (our youngest two) and while I have fun with them too I still struggle with the idea of having multiple names.
I also worry that some of the names I could easily imagine having like [name]Theresa[/name] might be dated for my daughter.
None of the names I choose are names I would choose for myself simply because I can’t even imagine being named something other than [name]Victoria[/name], even if it doesn’t exactly match my personality (that’s why there are nicknames). I’m eternally grateful to Dad for taking Mom to [name]Victoria[/name], British [name]Columbia[/name]. Plus my full proper name looks good on documents and I love writing it in cursive. The name also has a lot of history and it’s the name of a [name]Roman[/name] goddess (their version of [name]Nike[/name], which happens to be my favorite shoe brand) and my favorite architectural style is Victorian (it’s also Mom’s favorite; we drool over Victorian houses together). Thank you [name]Canada[/name]!
My first daughter, if I ever have one, will be named [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Jane[/name] and nicknamed [name]Lizzy[/name] (not the [name]Lizzie[/name] spelling; I don’t like it, 6 letters is too long for a nickname, and it makes me think of [name]Lizzie[/name] Macguire). I absolutely love [name]Elizabeth[/name] “[name]Lizzy[/name]” [name]Bennet[/name] and I like [name]Jane[/name] [name]Bennet[/name]. [name]Jane[/name] was my grandma’s middle name, which she considered part of her first name (she refused to answer to or write [name]Ava[/name] unless it had [name]Jane[/name] next to it). [name]Jane[/name] [name]Austen[/name] is my favorite author. [name]Elizabeth[/name] has ALWAYS been my favorite girl name.
My second daughter would be named [name]Catherine[/name] [name]Marie[/name] and nicknamed [name]Cate[/name] (I don’t like the [name]Kate[/name] spelling as much). My favorite aunt is named [name]Mary[/name] (my middle name is [name]Marie[/name] after her). Obviously there’s [name]Mary[/name] [name]Bennet[/name] and [name]Catherine[/name] “[name]Kitty[/name]” [name]Bennet[/name] (I don’t like [name]Kitty[/name] nearly as much as her older sisters, but I like her a lot compared to [name]Lydia[/name] and [name]Kitty[/name] improves a lot once she’s freed of [name]Lydia[/name]'s influence). [name]Cate[/name] Blanchett is one of my favorite actresses and my best friend likes to be called [name]Kat[/name] and wishes her name was Kathren (she prefers that spelling). There’s also [name]Saint[/name] [name]Catherine[/name] of [name]Alexandria[/name] and my cousin’s name, [name]Karen[/name], is actually just a different version of the name. I also just love both names.
My third would be named [name]Danielle[/name] [name]Jacqueline[/name] and nicknamed [name]Dani[/name]. It’s a girl version of what I would name a son ([name]Daniel[/name] [name]Jacob[/name] and nicknamed [name]Danny[/name]). I also love the cartoon “[name]Danny[/name] Phantom” and one of my favorite characters on the show was [name]Danielle[/name] “[name]Dani[/name]” Phantom (not that I’d tell my kids I named them after cartoon characters). Plus there’s [name]Danielle[/name] and [name]Jacqueline[/name] from the movie [name]Ever[/name] After. Once again, I also just like the name a lot and I prefer French girl names.
Note: If Mom and Dad hadn’t gone to [name]Canada[/name] my name would’ve been [name]Pamela[/name], which I absolutely despise, and I would’ve grown up with the initials PMS. People I know from school specifically told me they would’ve picked on me for being named [name]Pamela[/name] even without knowing my middle initial. Horrible double whammy.
