Do I just have really awful taste in names?

[Mahraih]

BF and I have discussed names, very casually, and the conversations always end up with him saying, "Seriously?!" as if he thinks I'm joking! I'm not.

Here's my list of names I like, please do tell me if I'm actually just crazy:

Boys:
Nichol
Fyfe
Felix (BF doesn't mind this)
Kerouac (I love this)
Auden
Jethro

Girls:
Kimya
Irene (pronounced eyereenee)
Perdita
Clotilde
Ottilie
Proenza
Belphoebe

Looking at them now, there's not a John or an Emily there. But they're not 'bad' names, are they?

Umm Interesting names. I like Nichol, Felix, Auden - not Jethro becasue of the comic from the westcountry.

I like Irene, Perdita, Ottillie, but not Proenza (sounds a bit like a drug)

I like unusual names and would never have chosen JOhn or Emily either but there's a middle ground and IMO (very subjective) these names are trying too hard.

Nichol - sounds incomplete, but it's not the worst on your list.
Fyfe - synonamous with bananas.
Felix - I like this one.
Kerouac - After Jack? on the road? NOt keen.
Auden - A bit unisex sounding
Jethro - too hill billy. I like Saul though which has an underused bible name vibe but is a much saner choice.

What about Victor, Donald, Howard, Bruce, Thaddeus, Rex. These are all a bit quirky but not quite so wtf??

Girls:
Kimya - no. Terrible.
Irene (pronounced eyereenee) - I like this one.
Perdita - No.
Clotilde - no.
Ottilie - no.
Proenza - no. This sounds like an amalgam of several biology terms.
Belphoebe- oh for god's sake.

I'm struggling to hook on to your style... But what about Bethia? It's a bible name. LIke Beth + thea. I know of somebody who knows of one. Quite nice I think. Irene is the best on your list.

oh I'm sorry, I'm with your bf! Felix is the only one I'd personally consider and I am not really all that keen on Felix either.

Never mind, you'll agree on something in the end. Can take a while.

Did you choose it because of Jack Kerouac?

I'm not so keen on Jethro - it seems to have hillbilly connotations to me. I think that the other boys' names are O.K.

I'm not keen on Clotilde and I think that Proenza sounds like a drug. It's the first time I've come across Belphoebe.

I don't think you're crazy, but to me, the majority of these names seem more unusual than most

If he agrees to Felix and Irene then those are both nice.

Sorry everyone x posted and apparently came up with the same objections (On the Road, hillbillies and drugs).

have to say there are some shockers in there and i agree with everyone else's comments really..

Boys:
Nichol - Sounds unfinished or a surname. Eiterh go the full hog Nicholas or go for Nico
Fyfe - no. After Dangerfield? Sounds pretentious.
Felix (BF doesn't mind this) - OK
Kerouac (I love this) - after Jack? No. Maybe use as your indulgent middlename choice. But it's just a Breton surname
Auden - No, again a surname.
Jethro - No. Beverly Hillbillies

In fact, all of you names seem to be inspired by writers/poets/popular culture ... but in a bad way Sorry.

Girls:
Kimya - um, don't know what to make of that. Sounds made up
Irene (pronounced eyereenee) - Quite like this actually pronounced this way. It's a Willie Nelson song
Perdita - Too fussy
Clotilde - Nice but not sure I'd rely on people pronouncing it correctly. She'll end up being called Clot
Ottilie - Nice
Proenza - sounds like a drug
Belphoebe - No idea what this is. Why not just Pheobe?

God, names threads are cathartic aren't they?

I'm reading teh rest of the comments now. LOL at "Belphoebe- oh for god's sake"

Erm... wouldn't be my choices by a long stretch but then i was plagued by an unusual difficult to spell name all my life so went for short and simple with y kids... but for what it's worth:

Nichol - not too bad but it's a bit more a nickname than a name no? I'd go for Nicholai instead
Fyfe - i just think of scotland and bananas.. doesn't seem like a person's name iykwim?
Felix - catfood and trying too hard middle class tpes
Kerouac - wtf?
Auden - I keep hearing Audi in my head when i read it... is it pronounced Awe-den or Ow-den? Awe-den isn't too bad but a bit girly
Jethro - I hear banjo music in my head whe i see this name

Kimya - Really? No... just no
Irene - pronouncing it wrong might make it sound better but it'll just lead to a life of:
'Eye-rene'
'Actually, it's Eye-reen-ee'
'Oh... ok. Really?'
Perdita - not too bad but i'd be more inclined to use it for a cat than a human
Clotilde - get a grip woman
Ottilie - lovely... only one of your names i'd consider in a million years actually using.
Proenza - sounds like some sort of bacteria
Belphoebe - why jam too not very nice names together to get an even worse name?

Ok, I was wondering if BF was just conservative but no, it's me!

I'm really not conservative; multiracial family containing a buddhist monk (cousin) and buddhist mother, another cousin currently in Vietnam, lots of hippies etc. I think I wanted the name to fit in with all that. Maybe, though, these names won't work in South London.

To confirm: Kerouac is after Jack Kerouac, Auden is from WH Auden, the poet.
Perdita is the heroine in The Winter's Tale. Clotilde is French and for an old family friend. Belphoebe is indeed a name, also spelt Belphebe, a character in Spenser's The Faerie Queene. Which was published in 1590 so I get the confusion.

Quite happy to let Jethro and Proenza go ... have heard good arguments against them. Ok, thanks, so now I know to maybe temper it a little!

Yes, they are pretty bad.
Nichol - meh
Fyfe - not good
Felix (BF doesn't mind this) - nice enough
Kerouac (I love this) - as a first name? bonkers.
Auden - ok
Jethro - ok

Girls:
Kimya - baaaaaad
Irene (pronounced eyereenee) ok
Perdita - no
Clotilde - no
Ottilie - no (are you french? If not then french names are very try hard)
Proenza - pmsl
Belphoebe - unbelievably bad

Hmm, see I don't see much difference between Clotilde and Ottilie?

We have a family friend called Clotilde who is lovely, perhaps I've gotten used to it.

I also suffer from the feeling that if a name has been used in 'real literature' then I am free to saddle my child with it i.e. Belphoebe. But its such a good book and one of the cornerstones of English literature ...

sigh. I'm going to try to be more sensible.

Ericnorthmansmistress (brillaint name btw):

Not French but family has French origins and embraces French names rather.

what kind of name does your bf like?

I dont like those names at all. Why not try to come up with something original and that suits you and your BF? All of those names are too try hard and pretentious in a "desperately trying not to be" sort of way.

I am sorry, to be so blunt, but most are going to cause your child untold abuse and bullying in S London.

JazTellersOldLady: I did think of trying to come up with something original, but ... any 'original' names are likely to be crazier!

I think what confuses me is that these names reflect a)my family and b) my friends and family friends and c) my own interests i.e. literature. They genuinely reflect my lifestyle and my interests, and wouldn't look out of place in my family at all.

My BF hasn't really come up with any suggestions yet, just laughed at mine, so I feel bit demoralised.

let him make 2-3 suggestions for boy/girl and then see what you can make of them. Maybe there'll be something you like or can adapt.

I would keep looking if I were you, but it's your baby and you have to know

Kerouac is terrible. And IMHO doesn't pass the "Prime Minister or Postman" test. So self-consciously poncy. As is Auden and Fyfe.

Kimya sounds made up. Is it? I concur with an earlier poster who said Proenza sounds like a pharmaceutical product. What about Carenza/Kerenza which is a traditional Cornish name if you like that "sound".

I wouldn't go with such obviously French names if you're not French. Belphoebe- sounds made up even if it is Olde English- what about Phoebe by itself?

Irene- sounds like you're trying too hard to fit in with the current "old names" trend and the vast majority of people won't pronounce it your way.

What about some of the Shakespearean names? Obviously not the too out there ones but lots of interesting ones