Girls
[name]Love[/name]:
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Helene[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Margaret[/name]
[name]Claire[/name]
[name]Colette[/name]
[name]Claudia[/name]
Like:
[name]June[/name]
[name]Cecilia[/name]
[name]Lucille[/name] (love the nn [name]Lucy[/name], but only like [name]Lucille[/name])
[name]Fiona[/name] (loved it before Shrek)
[name]Elisabeth[/name] ([name]Lisbeth[/name] is nice. I also really like the nn [name]Libby[/name])
[name]Florence[/name]
[name]Georgia[/name]
[name]Irene[/name]
[name]Virginia[/name]
[name]Louisa[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]
[name]Celia[/name] ([name]Cecilia[/name] is prettier to me)
[name]Annalise[/name] ([name]Love[/name] it as [name]Anneliese[/name])
[name]Anna[/name] (pairs well with other names in either the fn or mn position)
Dislike:
[name]Marguerite[/name] (I just prefer [name]Margaret[/name]. This reminds me of [name]Margarita[/name], which is a pretty name but also an alcoholic drink)
[name]Tess[/name] (I always feel like this name is missing something)
[name]Imogen[/name] (It reminds me of “[name]Ima[/name] [name]Jean[/name]”. It looks more elegant than it sounds, to me)
[name]Jacqueline[/name] (I do not like any of the nns for this, and for me it is one of those names that needs a nn)
[name]Nora[/name] (boring)
[name]Eve[/name] (too short for my style. I don’t usually like anything under 4 letters…it’s just a thing)
[name]Rosamund[/name] (-mund is not a very attractive ending for a girl’s name)
[name]Sabrina[/name] (The Teenage Witch)
[name]Sylvie[/name] ([name]Sylvia[/name] seems classier to me)
[name]Gemma[/name] (I always feel like this is just another way to get at [name]Emma[/name] without being too popular)
[name]Vera[/name] (I seldom like “V” names for girls)
[name]Joanna[/name] (I tend to not like girl names that start with a “J” because I have one and don’t like it. Pronounce [name]Yohanna[/name] this is pretty)
[name]Rhea[/name] (Pretty spelling, doesn’t sound like anything special)
[name]Sabina[/name] (Not that different from [name]Sabrina[/name]. I just don’t like the sound)
[name]Maria[/name] (I just much prefer [name]Mary[/name]/[name]Margaret[/name])
[name]Susannah[/name] (With a banjo on my knee)
[name]Alexandra[/name] (I don’t like “[name]Alex[/name]” names)
[name]Allegra[/name] (Reminds me too much of the antihistamine)
[name]India[/name] ([name]One[/name] of my least favorite place names after [name]Cheyenne[/name])
[name]Gillian[/name] (Not sure how to pronounce this. Is it [name]Gill[/name]-ian or [name]Jill[/name]-ian? Either way I’m not really a fan, but [name]Gill[/name]-ian sounds like Gilligan.)
Combos: [name]Anna[/name] [name]Colette[/name], [name]Virginia[/name] [name]Claire[/name], [name]Alice[/name] [name]Irene[/name], [name]Beatrice[/name] [name]Pearl[/name], [name]Margaret[/name] [name]Alice[/name], [name]Cecilia[/name] [name]Helene[/name], [name]Claudia[/name] [name]Lucille[/name]
Boys
[name]Love[/name]:
[name]Gregory[/name]- nn [name]Grey[/name]
[name]Hugh[/name] (And [name]Hugo[/name])
[name]Arthur[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Charles[/name] (also love the nn [name]Charlie[/name])
[name]Clark[/name]
[name]Edward[/name] (I wish Meyers had used ANY other name than this one for Twilight. It’s such a handsome classic)
[name]Elliot[/name]
[name]Harrison[/name]
Like:
[name]Benjamin[/name]
[name]Owen[/name]
[name]James[/name] (Not a fan of most of the nns for this, but [name]James[/name] is nice on its own)
[name]Miller[/name]- MN only
[name]August[/name] (Prefer a variant, like [name]Augustus[/name] or [name]Augustin[/name]. [name]Love[/name] the nn [name]Gus[/name])
[name]Smith[/name]- MN only
[name]Nicholas[/name]
[name]Daniel[/name]
[name]Declan[/name]
Schrader- MN only
[name]Peter[/name]
[name]Anderson[/name]
Dislike:
[name]Frank[/name] (It’s an ok nn, but I would prefer it as [name]Francis[/name] or a variant)
[name]Linden[/name] (Like [name]Linden[/name] [name]Berry[/name]? Also, it has a strong presidential association for me, even with that spelling. But some people really like [name]Johnson[/name]… so I guess it could work)
[name]Graham[/name] (It feels heavy when I say it)
[name]Ewing[/name] (Spelled like a starfighter from [name]Star[/name] Wars)
[name]Ned[/name] (really boring to me)
[name]Dashiell[/name] (Too weird for my taste, although [name]Dash[/name] is a really cute nn)
[name]Edmund[/name] (The –mund ending isn’t much better for a boy)
[name]Haden[/name] (I know too many Hadens. I don’t like the long “a” sound in most boy names [except the classics, like [name]James[/name]])
[name]Tate[/name] (Sounds and looks unfinished)
[name]Enzo[/name] (Hard for me to get onboard with most “z” names. [name]Just[/name] nms)
[name]Spencer[/name] (Hard to imagine an adult [name]Spencer[/name]. Sounds like a child’s name)
[name]Emmett[/name] (Doesn’t sound appealing to me)
[name]Alexander[/name] (Still don’t care for the “[name]Alex[/name]” names)
Combos: [name]Gregory[/name] [name]Elliot[/name], [name]Hugh[/name] [name]Arthur[/name], [name]Arthur[/name] [name]Clark[/name], [name]Charles[/name] [name]Edward[/name], [name]Harrison[/name] [name]August[/name], [name]Benjamin[/name] Schrader
This is how my husband and I approach family names: 1) If someone has recently honored that family member with the name, there is no reason for you to do it too [unless you just really, really want to] (ex: If your cousin named her daughter after your grandmother, do you really need to do it too?) 2) Respect “rights/dibs”, family traditions, future generations (ex: If your husband has an older brother that is trying/will try to have a boy and has said he would like to use the grandfather’s name, let him have it. If every girl in your family has “[name]Alice[/name]” as a middle name, use [name]Alice[/name]. Some day your son or daughter may want to use a family name, so there’s no reason to carry it through every generation) 3) Use it in the middle name position 4) If your sons will have your husband’s last name, his family is honored in this way. Use your family names to honor sons. Girls may lose the family name when they marry, so [to us] it is more important to honor family with girls names than with boys.
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