traditional vs modern names

[TheLoyalWriter]

I am a fan of modern unisex names but DH likes more conventional names. We are expecting a baby girl. He wants to call her Charlotte Felicity as it sounds cute and means "free and happy" together. I love the meaning but seems a bit too traditional to me and too girly. His other options are Annette, Grace, and Jasmine, all of which are not my taste. Names I like would be like Riley or Lulu and I love the idea of a middle name like Hope and Peace but we have a one syllable surname so might not flow well.

Really don't understand this viewpoint on diminutives. What about people with short "classic" names. Are all the John's, George's and Anne's in the world absolutely devastated they have "nowhere else to go" with their names?

Archie isn’t so bad but a lot of diminutives are quite childish, @Heidi2018 eg Tom or Harry are fine as a stand-alone name but Lulu or Trixie not so much.

I think Riley has gone over to Team Girl at this point.

OP, the names you like and the names your husband likes are separated by a vast chasm.

Your favourites are very plebian; his are classic.

Hope is more of a classic. Peace is very hippie.

Do you have similarly opposed taste in home decor? It's really intriguing me how two people who are so far apart in taste in the area of names either knew this about each other for years but still got together, or whether the issue has just cropped up now.

Names you find on baby name sites are not necessarily real names.

Fwiw, I don't see anything really wrong with Pearlie. I doubt your husband would embrace it though.

Is this the only baby you are planning to have?
Piling on names for the firstborn seems crazy if you think you might have another.

Stephanie/Stevie. There you go.

For the love of all the gods don't call your child Charlutte. Or Lulu

They aren’t so intimate in feel though.

George and Anne found far more formal than Georgie or Annie ( which, incidentally, is where they “can go”).

I 100%agree!

Please don't inflict a lifetime of having to spell her name on your

Sorry, “sound” more formal!

We don't have exactly the same taste in home decor but its way easier to compromise on that. The issue has just kind of cropped up now.

We are planning to have two!

Don’t force yourself to choose Charlotte if you really don’t like it. Keep looking for names. Also I think Riley would be acceptable as a girls name.

Do the Prime Minister test. If it sounds ridiculous with Prime Minister in front of it, that's your answer.

Being facetious but like a PP said, whether they should or not, names convey something to people and for a woman in a potential future professional environment, don't hamstring her with a name that will embarrass her or make it harder for her to be taken seriously. Yes yes of course people shouldn't judge etc but it's naive to think that they won't.

Pearlie actually sounds okay in the prime minister test!

It really doesn't.

I'd go for something classic but with lots of options for shortened forms. So, say, Elizabeth,(Lizzie, Beth, Betty etc.), Eleanor (Ellie, Nellie, Nell), something like that.

There are diminutives associated with that sort of name- adding -ie, for example (Annie, Jonny, Georgie or Gee) but the point is that if you give the classic version of the name, the person can choose to use a nickname version if they want to. But it’s harder to do the reverse- eg get people to call you Anne if your given name is Annie).

With adjectival names, so much depends on your surname as well. My dc has a fairly adjectival name but I wouldn’t have chosen it with a surname like House or Lake or something. But the link between Pearlie and Queen is too strong for me to be comfortable using Pearlie as a name.

I know a Charlotte who gets Lulu.

I also know a Jemima that gets Moo

I know a Camille that gets Molly (used to be Millie then MillIe Molly now just plain old Molly)

Nicknames don't have to reflect the name at all.

End of the day her mates will call her whatever she and they call her. What you call her at home is irrelevant

But John and Anne do have standard nicknames in Johnny/Jack and Annie

Charlotte Hope is nice. Charlotte Felicity is a bit of a mouthful

Names go out of fashion or take on different meanings.
We have a lovely neighbour. She really is embarrassed by her name. Especially, when she first meets and introduce herself.
" hello, I am Gay!", Her dad missed the 'e' off her name when she was registered.

@Gman0206having just read your post I am flabbergasted. I am English through and through BUT my mum was Irish, and my first name is Irish, DH was Jewish and my surname is Jewish. I have to spell both constantly but it doesn’t bother me and has never given me any anxiety. I can’t believe having an unfamiliar name and having to spell it can affect you so much

Pearlie Charlotte is ghastly. You cannot be serious?!

What about Alexandra, and call her Sacha for short?

She'll spend her life correcting people's spelling, do you see her as an adult with 'modern' names which may then sound ridiculous?