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?

I like Auden, Kimya, Irene, Perdita. I could be persuaded on Nichol and Fyfe perhaps.

I think your child is going to end up with a great and interesting name!

I had no idea Fyfe was a type of banana! This is all very educational.

I don't like Rufus (not keen on Wainwright though obviously lots of others out there) and I'd like it on someone else's child. Love Rudyard but not sure I want my kid to be associated with his literature. It's not my favourite and all a bit colonial.

The only completely unacceptable ones seem to be Proenza and Jethro?

Excellent. Got some good suggestions!

GormlessHeart: thanks for the warning! I'll have to ... double bluff it or something

The bananas are Fyffe (I bought some today!). Thanks for liking Rudyard/ Rudy. I wish I called my son Rudy...his name is close, but not close enough.

Oi I have a Rufus!

Chose it because it didn't sound like the child of a single parent.

Unfortunately we do know of a dog, a horse and and a donkey called Rufus. Good job he's a country boy....

The company that imports bananas is Fyfe, not the actual bananas themselves.

Not that it matters, still has banana connetations.

great and interesting name = (very often) weird and ridiculous name

You can have Felix. And Ottilie and Perdita at a push. And you can have Belphoebe if you promise never to use the name in full.

I have changed my mind and like Kimya very much now.

This is the thing. Names very, very quickly just become a name. Finley is very weird IMVHO - Fin? Like a fish? But of course, it isn't because we know it now.

I do (partially) agree with the advice not to tell anyone until baby is born. People then associate name with baby and it's fine. Good luck with decision making!!

The Irene one, you're going to have to put an extra E on the end otherwise she would have a lifetime of correcting people!

Perdita does indeed remind me of the Jilly Cooper character. I remember the first time I read it I had never heard the name Perdita said outloud and I pronounced it in my head as Perdeeta so when I finally found out the real pronounciation I was a bit but now I quite like it!

All the others im not keen on. But it's not upto me is it!
Get your OH to write up a list of names he likes, see if you like any of those, if not try to find similar but more unusual names that he might like!

You see, I think it is quite normal to pronounce Irene with an eee sound at the end so I wouldn't change the spelling.

They are probably on the several-years-ahead-of-the-curve end of naming, to be fair, except Felix which is very much a current trend.

Personally I like Nichol and Fyfe, would have my own "Seriously?!" response to Kerouac or Auden, and do like Jethro but have it inextricably linked in my mind to Mark Harmon in NCIS.

Kimya is very tied up with a particular ethnicity for me (and wasn't it originally a boy's name, or am I hallucinating that?). I like Irene, Perdita and Ottilie, have some complicated negative associations with Clotilde and would have a "Seriously?!" reaction to Proenza or Belphoebe. Proenza sounds a bit like some kind of new wonder drug.

Have been considering Rufus as a compromise boy's name myself although secretly plan to just browbeat DH into coming round to my preferred choice.

I don't think all these names are weird and ridiculous gerontius, I'd just put Proenza in that category, and maybe Jethro!

Irene(ee) reminds me of the Forsyte Saga.

IIRC Jilly Cooper's Perdita got called Turdita at school. Just in case, OP, you are at the stage of considering possible unfortunate nicknames.

Jilly should have made it worse, could have said turd eater

Several of them especially on the list of girls names reminded me of looking at my mum's medicine cabinet (shes a manic depressive). Sorry.

Pixie is right about imagining your child in the future and how the name would "fit" them as a person.

Another suggeston for an Irene alternative to avoid Eye-reen pronunciation. I know an Irina, she's Romanian. Actually the Romanians all seem to have gorgeous names for their girls. Anyway, it's pretty and a bit different.

There's an Eirene (Greek) at DD's nursery -- again with the right pronunciation (which is how I naturally pronounce Irene, but I am aware lots of people don't).

Yes. You do.

:-)

Sorry. they are all AWFUL, other than Felix, which is passable.

I am always staggered at these threads, your poor child has to live with this name and any connotations of it, for the REST OF THEIR LIVES!!!!

And there you are just trying to think of something to outdo your mates..

Get a grip.

I love love LOVE Auden.

Not that keen on your others though, sorry!!

Adair - [sorry a bit of a delayed reaction as I've only just seen your post]

Not everyone dislikes a name because of their 'provincial lives', it's often simply because they don't like the sound/connotation of that name.

What you said makes you sound just as judgey as the judgers you're slating!

I don't think it makes you any less provincial to say 'Oh yes, I adore Proenza - oh and Darthvadaria is sooo fresh and unused'

...and for the record, I much prefer unusual names: my own DS's name is on the OP's list - albeit it's one of the tamer ones - and one of the girls names was a hot contender for DC2.

Well, no of course not! I have loads of names I personally don't like. People like/don't like names for whatever reasons.

The 'provincial' comment comes from the many, many posters who say 'oooh you can't call them THAT, I've never heard of it therefore it can't be a real name. Won't they be bullied? Or people might think they are common/foreign?' Yada yada yada.

As I said, you don't really get this in London (city?) schools, kids just see a name as a name. FWIW I won't be calling my kid Panda, but hey, if someone else ADORED the name and wanted to call their kid it, well I;d pretty soon get used to it (in fact, even by the end of typing this, I'm thinking 'hmmm, Panda for dc3... )

Errrr

The only name on your lists that I have ever met a child called is Felix.

I know grown-up Irenes and a teenager called Kimia.

They are all rather unusual, that's for sure. I know a lot of children.

I agree with other posters, there is a middle ground between emily (which also would not be my choice as I know at least a dozen) and Belphoebe which I have never even heard of.

What about Fraser, Angus, Nico for boys? For girls, Ophelia, Matilda, Martha, Beatrice?