I know we all have different criteria when determining whether we like a name, although sometimes we may not even realize what our criteria actually looks like. Examples of this would include names with lots of nickname potential, international wearability, aesthetics (both vibe-wise and how it looks written down), flow, certain letters, personal significance, length, syllable count, etc.
For me, I think personal significance, aesthetics, and flow are typically at the top of my list. What about yours?
Iâm curious if you identify with any of the examples I mentioned or if you have others you tend to follow, or if you havenât realized any patterns in your criteria at all!
(1) Popularity. I love old-person/vintage names, so if it was in the top 300ish from basically the beginning time through say the 50s/60s, and is barely on the charts now, Iâm immediately drawn towards it (ex. some loves are Shirley and Carroll, but I wouldnât go for Ava or Mason)
(2) Family. If living or younger family has that name, I put it off limits for possible kids, and it kinda ruins it for me for just-for-fun names, but if itâs the name of a great-grandparent or ancestor, I tend to love it more (ex. I love Margaret, Josephine, and Johnathan, Marvin and Lowell are middle ground (names of my grandpas, but middles of my brothers), and Amelia and Levi would be off-limits)
(3) Nicknames. I tend to start with nns I love, and then see what full names I can build off of them, and if I like those fns or not. (ex. I love the nns Gussie and Flossie, and my favorite extensions of those that I could come up with are Augusta and Florence)
(4) Letters. I tend to lean towards M names for girls, and J and O names for boys, so I find myself either looking through new names in those letters, or forcing myself to look through other letters lol (ex. some loves are Margaret, Mildred, Merrily, Mallory, Marta, Johnathan, James, Juniper, Jebediah, Osmond, Oscar, Obediah, Ozias, and itâs hard to branch out. Especially with my M girl names lol
(5) Aesthetic/Looks. Some of my biggest name crushes are just because they look or sound good. Phaedra and Oceanne would be at the top of that list, along with Edelweiss, Anastasios, Eustace, Faulkner, Sequoia, and Quinne
[name_u]Honor[/name_u] names are the biggest importance to me, whether itâs intentional or not lol! Almost all of the names on my list are honor names or are connected to something meaningful.
Aesthetics! I always type out a name once when I like it, just to see how it would look.
Ages well! I love [name_u]Connor[/name_u] for a boy, but I just canât picture a Grandpa [name_u]Connor[/name_u]!
Meanings! As much as I love the sound of [name_f]Delilah[/name_f], I probably wouldnât use it because of its association in the Bible. I wouldnât use [name_f]Cecily[/name_f] for the meaning, either, because it is important to me that my future kids have names with good meanings.
A great question! I think, while there are some names that I generally gravitate towards, thereâs only a few strict âcriteriaâ or attributes that a name needs to possess for me to really like it.
One, it canât be too long. There are some four-syllable names that I think are very pretty (Georgiana, for example, is one I really like) but theyâre just too long for me to love them. But I can make exceptions for middle names! I still usually stick to shorter names for middles, but I do have some longer ones, eg. my Flora Endellion.
Two, I want them to envoke one of two vibes! Either familiar and cozy (Toby, Annie, Bea, Will, Thomas, Harvey, etc.) or bright and summery (Marley, Amaya, Flynn, Lani, Luisa). Most of my names fall in the first category, which means I usually look for names that are sweet and well-known - and a lot of the time those tend to be nickname names, as you can see!
Finally, they shouldnât be synonyms with any words in Greek, unless theyâre very pretty words. This doesnât usually come up, but Iâve had to keep names like Pippa and Polly from my list because of unfortunate meanings in Greek.
This sounds weird but the number one thing I look for in a name is its popularity in the 1880s (the oldest name records we have.) I love names that have been loved & used for centuries, and I think the idea of using a name that a little girl had hundreds of years ago is so fascinating! I also love history, so that helps.
[name_f]Melodic[/name_f] & nice sound
Nickname availability (I donât have [name_m]Ambrose[/name_m] on my list for this very unfortunate reason!)
Does it fit with my other names? (i.e. I love Welsh names like [name_f]Ceridwen[/name_f], [name_f]Elowen[/name_f], and [name_f]Arianwen[/name_f], but unfortunately they donât have the same vibe as the rest of names on my UC!)
When naming [name_u]Rhett[/name_u], we had sort of different criteria for a boys name vs a girls name, because we agreed on a lot less for boys, but this is sort of what we looked at:
boys
something easy to spell/pronounce, or something easily corrected when needed.
something with either no nickname options, or with nickname options we both liked.
something soft yet strong sounding
something different/unique/less commonly used - I work with kids so I wanted a name I didnât hear often or at all at work, statistically popular wasnât really a factor, as long as it wasnât a top 10 name (only because those are all used a lot in my area).
girls (this was much more foggy because we couldnât figure out what we wanted, and then learned we were having a boy)
something sweet, preferably ending in the âeeâ sound (S/O really wanted a sweeter sounding name, like [name_f]Lily[/name_f] or Zoe)
something easy to wear
something different/unique/less common (same reasoning as boys)
if there was an -ee spelling for it, we were leaning towards that to match one of my nieceâs names.
for imagery, i really wanted something summery, sort of a lemonade vibe, as i called it the nursery was always going to be a tropical/fruit sort of vibe so i wanted a name that fit that.
I tend to like longer names(more than 1 syllable) , and a reason for that is nickname potential. Iâm not sure about my aesthetic, but I do know is that I am usually not a fan of classic names, and that I really like Literature names.
Most names I like also tend to have these letters somewhere: V, R, U, D, Z, E, X, I, Y
I do like short names, like Ire or [name_f]Sia[/name_f], but I almost always prefer them as nicknames
For me itâs being versatile (working well on children and adults, working internationally to an extend, fitting different personalities,âŚ), being somewhat melodic/gentle sound-wise and actually fitting a real life person rather than just an aesthetic daydream of a child.
Nicknames are important but not mandatory if it is the right name
[name_f]Virtue[/name_f] names and Bible names rate up there
[name_m]Easy[/name_m] to pronounce and spell
Things that I tend to dislike:
Super popular, common, or trendy names
Place names
Word names
Nicknames as the full given name
[name_u]Unique[/name_u] names or invented names
There is nothing bad about these types of names they just really are not my personal style. I know lots of Avaâs, Oliviaâs and Ameliaâs and there names fit them wonderfully. my SO and I even named our son [name_m]Oliver[/name_m] and then it really took off! But we love the name so sometimes these rules donât always apply. I think it really depends on the situation you are in.
Nice sound & flow for first/middle, first/last, and full name (also nickname/last name, if applicable)
[name_m]Easy[/name_m] to pronounce first names - though Iâm in love with a couple that are not intuitive to say so weâll see if Iâm brave enough to use those someday
How the name looks when written down - typed, printed, & cursive (because I write almost exclusively in cursive, but also for decorating )
I like honor middles when possible (depending on flow with the first name choice)
Slight preference towards [name_m]German[/name_m] names because of our ancestry
Slight preference towards Biblical names
Having a sibset that sounds at least semi-cohesive
If a name has common nicknames, I have to like those (or at least be okay with them)
[name_f]Honour[/name_f] Names: Mostly all of the names that I love and would actually use for a child are either an honour name for someone in my family or honours a saint. Itâs an old tradition in my religion to name a child after a saint as a way of giving them a role model and friend/patron in [name_f]Heaven[/name_f]. Plus my siblings and I all have saint names too, and Iâve always liked that our names have that in common. (ex: [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Philomena[/name_f], [name_u]Henry[/name_u], Peter)
Meaningful: If it isnât an honour name then I still want the names I love to have a special meaning or meaningful connection to literature, nature, religion, etc. (ex: I love [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f] because it means âbringer of good newsâ, and I love [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] because of my fascination with [name_m]King[/name_m] [name_u]Arthur[/name_u] legends)
Nicknames: I prefer long names that have nickname options. In the case that they donât love their full name as they get older then they can have a shorter version to use or vice versa. (ex: [name_f]Cornelia[/name_f], [name_f]Gwendolyn[/name_f], [name_u]Leander[/name_u], Edmund)
Letters: For no particular reason I am consistently drawn to the letters A, C, E, F, L, P, T, V (ex: [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], [name_f]Cecily[/name_f], [name_u]Elias[/name_u], [name_f]Flora[/name_f], [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_u]Peregrine[/name_u], [name_f]Thomasin[/name_f], Vera)
Low popularity: I wonât let it deter me if a name I love is ranked as popular, but since I work with children I would rather give my child a name that I donât hear often or wouldnât associate with any particular student. (ex: [name_u]James[/name_u] is ranked at number 17 in [name_f]Canada[/name_f], but I donât know any kids named [name_u]James[/name_u] in my area)
Old-fashioned, classy, traditional yet not overly used
[name_f]Beautiful[/name_f] sounding, first name and middle need to sound appealing to me and kinda remarkable. I tend to like names that we could picture someone important wearing that name instead of a simple overly common combo
Meanings are important as a way to eliminate names, i.e there are some names with negative meanings so I wouldnât use those, but I am ok with names that donât exactly have an amazing meaning as long as itâs not bad. Example: I love [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f] and the meaning isnt exactly super deep, itâs just a color but I am ok with using this name. But I wouldnât use a name like [name_f]Cecily[/name_f] even though I love the name but the meaning is negative.
Uncommon but familiar. A name thatâs neither very popular, nor so obscure that it makes people ask âWhat was that name? Could you repeat it?â. For me, a name like [name_f]Marina[/name_f] fits in this category because itâs familiar to most people, but itâs never been a super popular name (in the country where I live).
The name has to have a history. Saintsâ names are preferred, but not a must. As long as itâs an established name that has a meaning behind it (etymological, cultural or religious meaning). I wouldnât choose a recently invented name (theyâre just not my style).
Appropriate for my culture and religion. I wouldnât choose a name that relates to another religion or one thatâs strongly associated with a different culture.
[name_m]Easy[/name_m] to spell and pronounce for the âaverageâ British [name_f]English[/name_f] speaker. I like the name [name_f]AnaĂŻs[/name_f], but the mispronunciations would drive me up the wall.
Doesnât have a bad meaning in my second language.
