[name_f]Welcome[/name_f] to the Graveyard of Unusable Names. Dump your favorites here when they’re ‘too out there,’ ‘too common,’ ‘too ruined by negative connotations’ or just… really sound busted paired with their surname.
I’ll start with my too out there name, which also kinda bleeds into the negative connotation category:
[name_u]Paine[/name_u].
Then there’s any name beginning with [name_f]Ro[/name_f]- or ending with -well, or in any way ‘R’ heavy, given my SO’s otherwise really great last name:
[name_u]James[/name_u] - I come from a really small family and it’s one of my cousin’s first name and another’s middle.
[name_f]Fara[/name_f] - Shares too many sounds with my surname.
Any names that start with a Mah sound, because so does my surname, which excludes lots of my favourite names, like [name_f]Manon[/name_f], [name_f]Maren[/name_f] and [name_f]Mathilda[/name_f].
[name_u]Aubrey[/name_u]. I love it on a boy. My cousin used it for her daughter. [name_f]Zoe[/name_f]. My cousin used it for her daughter after I suggested it to her. She also has my middle name. My cousin said I can use the name, but it would be odd to have two kids in the family with the same first and middle name, even though she has a second middle name before my middle name.
My surname begins with D, so I can’t use names ending with D because it sounds really weird
I can’t realistically use:
[name_f]Adelaide[/name_f]
[name_f]Winifred[/name_f]
[name_f]Marigold[/name_f] (this is the one I feel the saddest about because it manages to honour both parents)
[name_m]Alfred[/name_m]
[name_m]Wilfred[/name_m]
ETA: and [name_m]Edmund[/name_m]
Also [name_m]Marmaduke[/name_m] is a family name that has been used at least 3 times, and I’d love to continue the tradition by using it- or even its proposed original Irish form, Máel Máedóc- but even I know how unusable it would be!
Well, many names clash with my surname, especially if they end in a “er”…so [name_u]Juniper[/name_u], [name_m]Archer[/name_m], [name_m]Bridger[/name_m], [name_m]Sylvester[/name_m], and [name_m]Peter[/name_m] are out, among others.
[name_f]Winnie[/name_f] and [name_f]Minnie[/name_f]: might be able to use one of them, but I know for a fact that our relatives would go crazy on [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] the Pooh or [name_f]Minnie[/name_f] Mouse stuff…just seems annoying for us and for the little one to deal with…
[name_m]Jack[/name_m] and [name_f]Thea[/name_f]: used by family
[name_m]Leo[/name_m]: the popularity doesn’t bother me, but hearing it so much makes it a bit lackluster
[name_f]Jemima[/name_f] and [name_f]Dinah[/name_f]: I think these both are gorgeous, but whenever I’d ask about them on here, people would just jump straight to them being racist.
[name_f]Sora[/name_f]: my husband loves it for a boy and he says it is from a video game. I asked about it on here and people said it would be cultural appropriation.
[name_f]Clover[/name_f]: clashes with surname, plus people say it reminds them of a cow’s name eye roll
[name_u]Sage[/name_u] (for a boy) - my husband knew someone who was abusive with that name and has (understandably) ruled it out entirely. I still love it, but can never use it.
DH said no:
[name_u]Meredith[/name_u], [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f], [name_f]Maxine[/name_f], [name_m]Lysander[/name_m]
Sounds bad with last name:
[name_u]Arden[/name_u], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_f]Nora[/name_f], [name_m]Wyatt[/name_m], [name_u]Wynn[/name_u]/[name_u]Wynne[/name_u]/[name_f]Winnie[/name_f]
DH said no:
[name_u]Meredith[/name_u], [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f], [name_f]Maxine[/name_f], [name_m]Lysander[/name_m]
Sounds bad with last name:
[name_u]Arden[/name_u], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_f]Nora[/name_f], [name_m]Wyatt[/name_m], [name_u]Wynn[/name_u]/[name_u]Wynne[/name_u]/[name_f]Winnie[/name_f]
[name_m]Ned[/name_m], [name_f]Caitlyn[/name_f], [name_m]Rob[/name_m], [name_f]Sansa[/name_f], [name_u]Arya[/name_u] ([name_f]Aria[/name_f]), [name_u]Bran[/name_u], [name_u]Tony[/name_u] and anything ending in S…our last name is [name_m]Stark[/name_m].
