Where do you find inspiration for your girls' list?

Girl Names
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I’m in the midst of a major re-vamping of my list (both genders) and I’ve already found quite a lot of names I like, and I’m in the middle of finding more and wading through what I have to have the cream of the crop, so it were, but I feel like there is a whole world of amazing names out there that has so far been untapped.

This isn’t a thread to particular ask for ideas (although they are certainly welcome!), but where do you go to look for names when your list becomes stale? I’m looking for new places to look (I’m already going through NB’s database and some of the name lists), and have been through BtN’s name database in its entirety already!

My style for girls seems to be a lot of popular classics (like [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], [name_f]Violet[/name_f], [name_f]Eva[/name_f], [name_f]Audrey[/name_f], [name_f]Lillian[/name_f], [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], etc.), quirky names from other nationalities ([name_f]Eleni[/name_f], [name_f]Madelief[/name_f], [name_f]Anahi[/name_f], etc.), and literature and Christianity-inspired choices ([name_f]Georgiana[/name_f], [name_f]Tessa[/name_f], [name_f]Lily[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], etc.) plus some nature names ([name_f]Hazel[/name_f], [name_u]Wren[/name_u], [name_u]Harbor[/name_u], etc.), but I’m looking at pretty much everything right now. :slight_smile:

Thanks, Berries!

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Apart from NB and Behind The Name, I tend to find inspiration reading name blogs such as britishbabynames.com, especially if they have lists instead of single name posts, I’m also shamelessly self-promoting myself here, if you like, check out www.ohwhatlovelynames.tumblr.com, that’s my very own name blog :wink:

Other sources:

www.nymbler.com
SSA’s Top 1000s of the past
www.freebmd.org.uk (for combo/middle name ideas rather than first names)
www.familysearch.org (for sibling ideas)

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I don’t really know, names just come to me I suppose. I do however pay attention to names when watching films and series, also film credits can be pretty awesome for namenerds. This week I discovered [name_f]Perdita[/name_f]. There’s a British actress [name_f]Perdita[/name_f] Weeks, who played [name_f]Mary[/name_f] Boleyn in the Tudors. Her siblings are Honeysuckle and [name_m]Rollo[/name_m]. That being said, I’d love to meet her parents!

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Thanks, ladies! [name_f]Polly[/name_f], I did the nymbler thing, too. I’ll have to check out the other websites. I’m already intrigued by the magicbabynames one!

ha, @lailanotlilah, me, too. I’ll fall for something from a movie, or meet someone with a spectacular name, or whatever, or a name I hadn’t really paid attention to before snuck up on me and I’m suddenly massively in love (here’s to you, [name_f]Adele[/name_f]!). But I wanted to do at least one dig-deep name hunt, trying to actually set aside favorites and see what might strike me. I’m afraid I’ll go back to my old favorites like I usually do, but I was mainly blah about a lot of my favorites, and wasn’t sure I wanted to keep the majority of them, so I figured I’d see what I could discover. I kind of have this ideal sibset before me ([name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_f]Eva[/name_f], [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m], [name_f]Violet[/name_f], and [name_m]Casper[/name_m])–I love how they are all these bright colors to me (deep purple, magenta, deep turquoise, blue, bright yellow, etc.), and how they all feel a little European, a little familiar, and all start and end with different sounds (that never used to matter to me before, but I love those five names together!). I’ve sort of been looking for names like those, but I feel like I’ve hit a wall and can’t find any more I like as much as those, and lately I’ve been liking a lot of the top-100 names here in the US–names like [name_m]Gabriel[/name_m], [name_m]Christian[/name_m], [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_f]Lena[/name_f], [name_m]Xavier[/name_m], [name_f]Tessa[/name_f], [name_f]Lillian[/name_f], [name_f]Lydia[/name_f], [name_f]Sofia[/name_f], etc. I don’t think all of them are top 100, but it seems like they’re headed that way. I guess we’ll see. :slight_smile:

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I get what you mean, [name_u]Ash[/name_u], although I must say that I love the sunset you’ve got going on, such beautiful names and you are right, they go fantastic together - European vibe, bright colors, not at all matchy-matchy, but still cohesive… I think you’ve hit the perfect mark and maybe the fact that you know or you are certain of these names is a bit overwhelming? From what you described it feels like they are no longer a couple of names thrown together, they’re your children in your heart. I super get that.

As for researching the names in depth, usually I go to BTN as my main source and then Google around. I also read a lot of Foreign fiction and biographies, also great sources for new and foreign names… I suppose that my process is a bit more organic, I like a name, I research it the best that I can and some I love but well never use for my own child (like [name_f]Anoushka[/name_f], for instance) and others I love and if I could have ten more kids I would use. I think that’s how I separate, in my heart, all of these names that are so special to me.

And don’t you think that there aren’t regrets [name_m]IRL[/name_m] - some days I wake up and I feel like [name_f]Ziva[/name_f] should have been [name_f]Aviva[/name_f] instead, even though it’s a name I love too. Each day is it’s own… But you go on and live with them, because at some point you were extremely passionate about that name you chose.

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Books, movies, mythology, random internet search, nameberry, astronomy (I actually checked sky map and wikipedia list of celestial names), frankly everywhere.

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I don’t know that it is, though. The names of my children in my head, I mean. I sometimes get a sibset stuck in my head and can’t get it out even if it’s not very realistic. ;). I’m STILL crushing on [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] and [name_u]Avery[/name_u], probably 4-5 years after I thought of them as a brother/sister duo. I kind of see a lot of the names on my list being my children–[name_f]Isabelle[/name_f]'s my piano-playing, dreamer mini-me, [name_m]Zane[/name_m]'s my Narnian boy, [name_u]Avery[/name_u] loves this audio drama I grew up on and still love, [name_f]Arianne[/name_f] is my painter girl, [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] bakes poppyseed muffins with me for veterans every [name_u]November[/name_u], [name_u]Rory[/name_u] brings me rocks and earthworms and thistles as presents from his escapades in the woods (“Here, Mommy, I got this for you!”), and [name_u]Bo[/name_u] wants to hear all about my grandma he was named after. [name_f]Eleni[/name_f] plays soccer and [name_f]Eva[/name_f] wears bright pink EVERYWHERE and has curly brown hair. And [name_m]Grant[/name_m] is the kindest soul ever. I obviously won’t use them all but surprisingly I identify with a lot of my favorites over [name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_f]Eva[/name_f], [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m], [name_f]Violet[/name_f], and [name_m]Casper[/name_m], but I love that style and would love to see my list go in that direction. I guess time will tell. :slight_smile:

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My inspiration is genealogy. I love history and I have gone through family records digging up names my ancestors have used.

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I’ve been collecting for so many years I feel like there’s nothing I haven’t considered. I still find new names though, I’m just not sure I can pinpoint how or why they end up on the list. I think I do a lot of the things others have mentioned, especially looking at lists of names. Britishbabynames.com has a LOT of really fun lists, sorted by style, origin, century, ‘finds from ___(insert year)’, sibling names. I recommend going there! I also like lists with saints names, or names from various mythologies, names of Basque (or other) origin, names of celestial objects, flowers, plants.

One thing I do that hasn’t been mentioned is look for names by sound. I identify sounds I find pleasing, usually this is a combination of sounds like -ev- (Everild, [name_f]Severine[/name_f]) , L, N and D ([name_f]Endellion[/name_f], [name_f]Eluned[/name_f], Ludivine), T and O (Loreto, Betony, Ostara), and then use behindthename.com to search for names with those sounds (for names with T and O, I would search for to*** and ot***).
Other sounds I love are any names with M in the middle ([name_f]Clemency[/name_f], Plumeria, [name_f]Hermione[/name_f], [name_f]Aminta[/name_f], [name_f]Cosima[/name_f]), short Greek names ending in an -ee sound ([name_f]Tempe[/name_f], Mneme, [name_f]Niobe[/name_f], [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f], [name_f]Nephele[/name_f]), names with distinctive O sounds ([name_f]Noa[/name_f], [name_u]Echo[/name_u], Ombeline, [name_f]Opal[/name_f], Lórien), anything really. It doesn’t actually have to originate in a pattern among my favourites, sometimes I just love a combination of sounds but only have one name with all those sounds. Take [name_f]Severine[/name_f] as an example. I love the way the S, R and V sounds together, so maybe I go looking for more names containing at least two of those. Looking at my lists, I have a lot of names with R and S, so I’m more interested in R and V or S and V, or all three this time. The ones that catch my eye searching for all combinations of these sounds are [name_f]Silvana[/name_f], [name_f]Suvi[/name_f], Svava, [name_f]Lovisa[/name_f], [name_f]Vasilisa[/name_f], [name_f]Valeska[/name_f], [name_f]Venus[/name_f], Vesa, Vesela, Parvaneh, [name_f]Ravenna[/name_f], Virva, Loviatar, [name_f]Valeriana[/name_f], Valkyrie, Silvestra and [name_f]Vespera[/name_f]. Some of these are already on the list, some are on the maybe list, and some will definitely be considered further. (Parvaneh “butterfly”, Virva “will o’ the wisp”, Vesa “dew” and Vesela “cheerful” are new for me, their meaning makes me want to love them!)

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I love that you mentioned sounds @dearest, because I am also attracted to names with very specific ones. I love the N and L sounds when together, which is why [name_f]Angelina[/name_f] was the chosen middle for [name_f]Noor[/name_f] and I love the name [name_f]Eleni[/name_f]. I also am very attracted to Z, V and Ev sounds. Maybe that’s why I can’t seem to commit completely to either [name_f]Iris[/name_f] and [name_f]Alma[/name_f]? Something to think about…