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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

I actually think we may never, ever find another baby name which fits our criteria. What are yours?

105 replies

Psammead · 15/02/2012 14:40

I am British. DH is German. We live in Germany but spend a lot of time in the UK.

The name must be pronounced very similarly in both languages, if not the same. This means no 'th' sound, no 'j', no 'e' at the end. R can also be a problem.

The name must also be spelt in a logical way that comes naturally to both languages. C and K can be problem letters here. As can Z and S, and sometimes C and Z.

The name cannot be too modern or too old-fashioned in either country. Fashions in the two countries do not correlate with each other.

It should not be too biblical, too nerdy, should not be the name of people we know, or people we disliked at some point in our lives. It can't be too long, start with an M, or have any negative cultural associations.

It would be nice to have a nice nickname potential, and a not utterly hideous meaning.

Oh and it can't be French. Or too British or too German.

I think the next one will be named Bob. Regardless of sex.

Tell me about your criteria!

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CupOfBrownJoy · 16/02/2012 10:52

Same problem here: I'm British/Welsh, DP is German. Also I'm a teacher which means lots of names are ruled out (as in "urgh I knew a Max/Ben/David and he was awful")

Megan, Leonie, Mariella, Lisann, Ella, Lena?

I'm useless on boys names I'm afraid - haven't found a single German boy's name I like. In fact, I'm tempted to go for a Welsh boys name and just say screw it....

LikeAnAdventCandleButNotQuite · 16/02/2012 10:46

Henry

Thomas

Frikadellen · 16/02/2012 10:45

Heidi
Stephanie

Conrad

marshmallowpies · 16/02/2012 10:40

DH and I both had lists, with no crossover of any names on them...if there had been just 1 name we had on both our lists we would be OK!

I didn't like ANY of his names, except one which is a top 10 name therefore I vetoed because our surname is common. He likes 1 of mine. We are both desperately hoping we don't go off that name!

My criteria:

  • Name more than 2 syllables as surname is 1 syllable
  • Not in top 20 (or ideally top 100) names as surname is common

His criteria:

  • Not difficult to spell or pronounce (pity as we have Irish and Welsh heritage between us, but he has vetoed any Celtic origin names).
  • Not going to generate any nasty nicknames, as far as possible

Both criteria:

  • No names of exes or name that has negative connotations (I haven't had that many exes in my time, but even just going through that list has discounted some pretty nice names if we were having a DS. Luckily baby is going to be a DD so that problem is avoided. I don't know what my DH's exes were called, though!)
  • No names ending in T as that doesn't sound right with the surname.

We haven't really argued about it as we aren't 'arguing' people, but I think we are both a bit paranoid about what will happen if we go off the one name we like. I really couldn't bear any of the names he likes, except the really popular one, and I have suggested so many that he's rejected I don't want to put any more forward!

Really can't bear to think of my DD ending up with a name I don't like - think people who 'take turns' to name children and leave the decision 100% up to the other person are very brave!

HalleLouja · 16/02/2012 10:38

My friend is half German is called Kirsty and has a brother called Mark. She was brought up in Germany.

JustAddWine · 16/02/2012 10:31

Liam? I find it fits in with most criteria and that's what we named DS

Flowerface · 16/02/2012 10:24

Elsa or Karina? Hmmm, boys are harder. Like Oscar (or Oskar) though.

Kveta · 16/02/2012 10:20

oh, and other bilingual couples we know have the following:
Isabella, Lucie, Isabella, Lola

Alexander, Jacob, Oskar, Freddie, Peter, Tom, Ales.

Not sure if that provides any insipration though :o

Kveta · 16/02/2012 10:15

me - Scottish
DH - Czech

name must:

  1. not be religious
  2. not start with a K (rules out Klara, Klaudie, Kathryn)
  3. be spelled the same (or near enough) in both languages, or at least easily spelled in both languages... (rules out a lot of names!)
  4. be pronouncable by both sides of the family (so no Struan, Rehor, or Viteslav)
  5. not be already in our family (no Alexander, John, James, Oscar, William)
  6. sound nice to me (not Alice, which is pronounced 'Al-its-eh' in Czech. sounds like a sneeze)
  7. not remind either of us of anyone we knew at school (so no Matylda as DH knew a particularly wet one when he was at achool)
  8. not be the names of our friends or their children (thus ruling out Martin, Filip, Emma, Oscar, Frederik)

We don't care how popular it is, as both of us have really unusual names, and have problems with them (although my name is getting more common, poor children...)

We have an Oliver :o and an Emilie on the way :o (or Teodor (Teddy) if she/he has just been hiding her/his willy at all the scans so far...)

mummybare · 16/02/2012 09:25

Sorry for the multiple posts (attempts to multi-task are failing miserably!)

The above are some names of friends I had in Germany when I was small (I lived there for a couple of years) that I also like in English. They have lovely associations for me, but I have no idea how they have dated in Germany over the past 30 years or so.

Anyway, hope they help.

mummybare · 16/02/2012 08:56

Toby
Nicholas
Benjamin

mummybare · 16/02/2012 08:13

Nina
Clara
Alana

jetstar · 16/02/2012 08:04

Our criteria are

Must not begin with F or C/K sound

Not too 'different' or long (we have a difficult surname)

Must not end with an 'ee' sound

Nothing really trendy/unusual (my name was unusual when I was growing up and I didn't like it - it's more usual now)

I suggest Max and Stella for you Smile

AThingInYourLife · 16/02/2012 07:56

PMSL @ your conversation about names :o

Are you looking for names for boys or girls, or both?

Can you give is your DS's name as a hint of what wasn't too butlery? :o (understand if you prefer not).

TheCuntwormUnderfoot · 16/02/2012 07:33

Oh Nina is fab! That would totally work

coronet · 16/02/2012 07:23

The couple I know with a similar set-up went for Miriam and Karl. I know a German Markus - that would work. And how about Liesl?

FairPhyllis · 16/02/2012 03:02

Sophia, Hannah, Lara, Harriet, Kristin, Stephanie, Alexis, Helena, Tanya, Nathalie

Sebastian, Tobias, Sascha, Christopher, Erik, Florian, Felix, Mark, Matthias, Adam

Any good? I know some of these have variant spellings though.

CheerfulYank · 16/02/2012 02:30

Eleanor? Eleanora Josephine is my girl's name. :)

Erika? Claudia? Sophie?

Megan? Wink

StealthNinja · 16/02/2012 02:28

If not Alexander, Sascha for a boy? Julia for a girl?

CheerfulYank · 16/02/2012 02:22

Psam is there a particular reason you're asking?!?!?! Have you been squeaking the bedsprings, hmmm?

My criteria for boys (for girls we've had a name picked for years, so no worries there) are names that can really work for anything. A name that can sound vaguely formal, but preferably with nn that just sound like the guy down the block. Like DS is Samuel Robert but called Sam. Next time I told DH he can choose between Charles Frederick (we can call him Charlie if he's a sporty guy) or Nathan/Nathaniel Frederick, called Nate. :)

There are more "out there" names I like, but having a noun for a surname puts the damper on it a bit. Sigh...

snowshoes · 16/02/2012 02:18

Cuppa, my friend has a Tadgh, which might work for you. She pronounces it like Ty.

snowshoes · 16/02/2012 02:14

Leo or Finn.

Janoschi · 16/02/2012 01:55

Margot is pronounced Mar-GOTT in German... Shame really - I wanted it for our DD but she got Robin, aka Bob, instead.

Janoschi · 15/02/2012 21:20

Your post made me laugh, OP. I have the same set-up (me = brit, DH = German). We went with Bob :-D

SunnilyEnough · 15/02/2012 16:24

We had the same problem in Austria. God, I'm exhausted just remembering it.

Boys' names we had:
Oscar/Oskar, Noah, Thomas, Lev (Russian! vetoed by dh unfortunately). I was keen on Wolfgang but also vetoed by dh.

Never needed a girl's name, but think these would work:
Stella, Anna, Lily, Nina, Lenia, Bella, Margot, Matilda