So where did you first hear your favourite name?
Was it love at first sight or did you have to “stumble across” it again?
Where did you hear / read it again and started to love it?
I was just thinking about this. I randomly started really loving the name [name_m]Raphael[/name_m] about a year or so ago, but I remember liking it for years before that. I probably first heard it as the name of one of the Ninja Turtles, who were all named after Renaissance artists.
I like [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] because of Back to the [name_u]Future[/name_u]. I only caught on to it fairly recently though, not the first time I watched the films.
My favorite girl name is [name_f]Eliza[/name_f]. I’m pretty sure the first time I heard it was on the kids show The [name_m]Wild[/name_m] Thornberrys. It was the daughters name. I’m pretty sure I would have hated it them because I didn’t like [name_f]Eliza[/name_f] Thornberry but I never really thought about the name because they weren’t really on my mind at that age. I also remember hearing it in that [name_u]Lindsey[/name_u] Lohan movie “Confessions of a Teenage [name_u]Drama[/name_u] [name_f]Queen[/name_f]” and remember thinking it was weird. It wasn’t until I read Pride and Prejudice and The Forgotten Garden that I started loving it. I guess that really shows how influenced I am by associations. Literally all the names on my list I like because I associate them with a character in a book/movie. I’m not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing though.
I have had [name_f]Luna[/name_f] on my list for a very long time since I read [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m]. However, I’ve always had it pushed down in the “I like this but would never use it” section. One day I looked at it again and something just clicked and I fell in love!
My entire family thinks it is “stupid” but I don’t care. I am head over heals!
One of my favourites is [name_f]Flora[/name_f].
I’ve heard it a few times when I was younger, Sleeping Beauty, etc. but never really loved it.
A (long) while back I’ve stumbled across it again while watching [name_m]Doctor[/name_m] Who.
Now [name_f]Flora[/name_f] wasn’t a character that is “worth” naming your child after but her name struck me as absolutely gorgeous. It then pretty quickly became one of my top 2 names!
I stumbled upon my favorite boy name, [name_m]Leo[/name_m], when I was eight years old. I recall watching a few episodes of Charmed and loving the name [name_u]Piper[/name_u], but it wasn’t until I had watched the show for a season or two before I had fallen in love with [name_m]Leo[/name_m]'s character and his name.
My children were conceived but did not get to be born.
All their names practically came from [name_f]Anne[/name_f] books:
[name_f]Cordelia[/name_f], [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] (though not [name_f]Marjorie[/name_f], my grandmother)
[name_u]Owen[/name_u], [name_m]Russell[/name_m] (though not [name_u]Michael[/name_u], my husband)
@lesliemarion
I am so sorry. You did pick beautiful names for all of them and I love the connection!
Loved [name_u]Reeve[/name_u] when I read in “The Face on the Milk Carton” when I was around 10. I’ve thought Darrow was wonderful since watching a documentary about Clarence Darrow and the Scopes Monkey Trial, and also further reaching the name. Mira is something my husband and I realized we both like after first considering Namira, which he heard on Skyrim. Recently, I came across a Geneva at work and especially love it after researching its history of popularity. I also love a few Spanish names (Paloma especially but also Marisol and Catalina) but I wouldn’t be quite comfortable using them since we’re not Spanish. Kavita is also beautiful; I had a professor with that name but again I would not be comfortable using a Hindi name on a white child as some might view that as racially insensitive.
I am almost embarrassed of this but since I’ve loved names my entire life I get ideas from lots of places. One day I was listening to the radio and a song by [name_m]Foster[/name_m] The People came on and I was thinking how I liked their band name for no good reason. After I thought about it some more, I figured out that I just loved the sound of [name_m]Foster[/name_m]. It’s been my favorite boy name ever since and if we have a boy, this will be his name 
I’m not sure when I first heard [name_f]Willow[/name_f], probably in a baby name book. I’ve been making lists of names since I was 8 and this is one of the only names that has stayed on my list for the last 15 years. I figure if I still love it after 15 years then it’s definitely not gonna pass. My FI loves it too. We also love [name_f]Noelle[/name_f] and I’m not sure where it came from honestly. I’m not sure which one we will use.
I have been reticent about sharing my having conceived and not having the babies make it very far at all on nameberry because I didn’t want to be seen as a ghoul, like a sad soul hanging around a thriving playground, so your words are greatly appreciated.
A namer is a namer, whether or not one has kids!
I’ve loved the name [name_f]Willow[/name_f] since watching [name_f]Buffy[/name_f] the Vampire Slayer when I was a kid. [name_u]Everett[/name_u] is currently my favorite boy name. I didn’t always love it. I grew up with an [name_u]Everett[/name_u] in school and I didn’t think much of his name back then. I just grew to love it over the last couple of years.
I have a few favorites for both.
[name_f]Flora[/name_f] - probably first heard of it as one of the fairies in Sleeping Beauty, then again in school (“flora and fauna”). I never really thought of it as a name until after I met the kids I used to nanny for, the little girl was named [name_f]Flora[/name_f]. That made it really to me. Then I found out both my great grandmothers were named [name_f]Florence[/name_f] and thought [name_f]Flora[/name_f], or [name_f]Florence[/name_f] NN [name_f]Flora[/name_f] would be a nice nod to that.
[name_f]Mabel[/name_f] - my dad’s family had a dog when I was younger whose name was [name_f]Maybell[/name_f], but they mostly called her Mayboo so it never really struck me as a name. I’m not close to them so no one would know about the dog but them and my kids would rarely see them anyway. Started liking it about a year ago for a child.
[name_f]Leona[/name_f] - I remember talking on the phone to an ex who was cool with my baby name obsession, and I was talking about girls’ names and he suddenly suggested [name_m]Leo[/name_m]. He meant for a boy but I fell in love with the idea of a female [name_m]Leo[/name_m], and eventually came across [name_f]Leona[/name_f]. It’s my all time favorite [name_m]Leo[/name_m]- name.
I don’t know where I heard [name_u]Vivian[/name_u] or [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] for the first time, but [name_f]Flora[/name_f] and [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] are both tied to [name_m]Doctor[/name_m] Who, which I love.
[name_u]August[/name_u] - I don’t know where I got this. It happens to be my step-brother’s middle name, but I don’t care honestly. I just fell in love with this name one day and it’s been top of my list since.
[name_m]Barnaby[/name_m] - I always thought this name was too fancy for me, don’t remember where I heard it first. I really fell for it after I found out my grandmother’s Girl [name_u]Scout[/name_u] leader name was [name_m]Barney[/name_m], after the barn owl at camp [name_f]Helena[/name_f], and I love the idea of honoring her in a subtle way.
I can’t remember where I heard my #1 favorite, [name_f]Viola[/name_f]–I feel like I’ve always been aware of it. #2, [name_f]Ismay[/name_f], came from the book Grave [name_f]Mercy[/name_f] (it’s Ismae there, I first saw the [name_f]Ismay[/name_f] spelling on NB.) And I encountered [name_f]Amoret[/name_f] in the [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] Bone series long before I was aware of the existence of The Faerie Queene.
My boy favorites don’t have particularly interesting origins. [name_m]Ferdinand[/name_m] I first heard of in [name_m]Ferdinand[/name_m] the Bull, but didn’t fall in love with until the derpy king in [name_f]Love[/name_f]'s Labour’s Lost.
I read the name [name_m]Asher[/name_m] in the book The Giver. The other main characters also had great names: [name_m]Jonas[/name_m] and [name_f]Fiona[/name_f]
[name_f]Viola[/name_f], my top favorite name overall, first came to me through a little horror game called The Witch’s House. The plot was about a little girl with blonde braids (named [name_f]Viola[/name_f]) who went into a nearby witch’s house to look for a liquid that could burn rosebushes. It was kind of scary (stupid red skull thing kept chasing me, and the final witch chase thing still partially haunts me) and had such a sad ending (poor [name_f]Viola[/name_f]!), but I fell in love with her name!
The middle name that I chose to go along with [name_f]Viola[/name_f] is [name_f]Alice[/name_f], because my favorite book is [name_f]Alice[/name_f]'s Adventures in Wonderland.
Lawliet isn’t even recorded on Nameberry, but I loved it after finishing Death Note. Of course, his nickname would be L, thanks to the awesome detective!
The middle name, [name_f]Eren[/name_f], is from Attack on [name_m]Titan[/name_m].
I also loved the name Roxas, like from Kingdom Hearts, and I found the feminine version, [name_f]Roxanne[/name_f].
[name_f]Aislinn[/name_f] came from a book I’ve forgotten the title of.
My final top name, [name_f]Ciel[/name_f], comes from [name_m]Black[/name_m] [name_m]Butler[/name_m] (but [name_f]Ciel[/name_f] is used for a boy)
I’ve been head over heels for the name Macsen for several years. It actually started with my favorite hockey player, [name_m]Maxim[/name_m] Afinogenov. I really loved the name [name_m]Maxim[/name_m], but my husband (boyfriend at the time) disliked it’s connection with the magazine, and also said it sounded far too Russian for our heritage. Not long after that I ran into the surname Maxson, and loved it immediately. Macsen is the traditional Welsh spelling, meaning “the greatest”. My family has a very strong Welsh heritage, with relatives still currently living in Whales.
I actually lived on [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] Avenue as a teenager. Although I adored the name as a road, I didn’t consider it as a baby name until a few years later. And yes, I prefer it as a name for a girl. Although I’ve gotten some flack for that on this website…it’s actually rooted as a unisex name from the very beginning.
My favourite boy name is [name_m]Gabriel[/name_m]. My DH hates it though.
I was reading a [name_f]Sunday[/name_f] magazine supplement aged about twelve. There was an interview with a beautiful french actress and her baby son was called [name_m]Gabriel[/name_m]. I fell in love with the name there and then and have never stopped loving it utterly and totally.
I no longer want to actually use my lifelong girl favourite -[name_f]Estella[/name_f] - I fell in love with it watching an adaptation of GE and then read the book. She’s not a very loveable character but she is beautiful and commanding and I still love the name.
I do not rank my favourite names so I’ll just answer some that I can think about.
[name_f]Isabelle[/name_f]- my favourite [name_f]Barbie[/name_f] was [name_f]Isabella[/name_f].
[name_f]Rosalind[/name_f]- I knew [name_f]Rosalinda[/name_f] (from TV) first. Then I found [name_f]Rosalind[/name_f] when I googled Shakespearean names.
[name_m]Gavriel[/name_m]- nameberry maybe. It’s a variant of [name_m]Gabriel[/name_m].
[name_f]Valentina[/name_f]- [name_u]Valentine[/name_u], of course.
[name_f]Cytherea[/name_f]- [name_f]Aphrodite[/name_f]'s epithet. Another one from googling.
[name_u]Flynn[/name_u]- will only use this for mn. From [name_f]Miranda[/name_f]-[name_m]Orlando[/name_m] and Tangled.
[name_f]Violetta[/name_f]- a childhood acquaintance’s name.
[name_u]James[/name_u]- it’s a classic name, but the first time I love it, it was because [name_u]James[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m].