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Original poster

Longing for an unusual name for a common surname

56 replies

guinealady · 14/12/2011 19:17

OH and I just found out yesterday that our baby (due in April) is almost certainly a girl.

I'm very chuffed as I love unusual, pretty and old-fashioned girl's names...but we have a couple of issues...

OH is not so keen on some of my unusual name preferences, and to be fair my favourites have changed many times over time (of course I have been picking out children's names since I was a girl myself, whereas it's all new to him...). Current favourites for me are Ramona, Astrid, Seren and Lamorna.

The other problem is that the baby's surname will be White. Lots of names don't go with White - you can't call a girl Daisy, Pearl, Rose or Lily without sounding like the Dulux paint chart, and names ending in T don't work (try saying Harriet White out loud - it becomes Harriet Twite).

He also has two nieces with the same surname, so we want to avoid names too similar to theirs, or ideally not starting with the same initials, as we're going to be a family of so many girls!

Anyone else had to tackle finding an interesting name to go with quite a common surname? I really want to avoid names in the current top 10/20 as she will probably end up meeting people with the same name over and over as she goes through life!

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Offspring · 15/12/2011 02:17

Suggesting Luisa/Louisa, Susannah, Delphine. I really like Seren from your favourites.

If you're looking for unusual and old-fashioned, I knew a Jessima (died this year age 82) which could be a compromise between your OH's Jessica and your search for something different.

3isamagicnumber · 15/12/2011 09:55

I agree in that with such a short, 1 syllable surname, you could go with a nice long first name:

Natasha
Dominique
Natalia
Agatha
Matilda
Claudia
Bethany
Sienna
Rebecca

BlueChampagne · 15/12/2011 13:09

I love Meredith too, so sorry to hear that's been vetoed! How about these:

Meryl
Rhiannon
Tamsin
Rosanne
Corinna
Vashti

msbaublestwinkle · 15/12/2011 13:29

2 of my 3 DD's names have already been suggested, so I'll add the other one!

Felicity

We also have a common, one syllable last name...I liked being able to choose long first names for them!

cheeseandmarmitesandwich · 15/12/2011 13:42

Inspired by another thread, how about Isadora?

Ps Felicity is beautiful too

otisreading · 15/12/2011 13:44

Milicent

TheSecondComing · 15/12/2011 14:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

shouldnotbehere · 15/12/2011 14:42

Estelle White

shouldnotbehere · 15/12/2011 14:47

I think Ramona White is beautiful by the way.

StuckInTheFensAwayFromHome · 15/12/2011 14:58

How about my name - I rarely come across others and I love it - different but at the same time very familiar...
Annaliese

midoriway · 15/12/2011 19:52

I would love a common surname like White, or Jones or Smith. You can get away with the most outlandish names around.

I'm having a Clytemnestra moment here. Clytemnestra White. You wouldn't forget that in a hurry.

Original poster
guinealady · 15/12/2011 20:37

Thanks for all the latest suggestions - Natalia, Delphine and Susannah are all ones I like and hadn't considered. (Never liked Susan or Suzanne much as a child but Susannah has a whole different ring to it, and I like Susie as a nn).

I've always loved Stella/Estella but have an Ella in the family so would steer clear of anything too similar; ditto with Beatrice (I love Beatrix in particular!)

Ramona is still a long-term favourite, I loved it since reading the 'Ramona and Beezus' books as a little girl, but had forgotten it until Maggie Gyllenhaal called her daughter Ramona. Glad to hear at least one other vote for Ramona White!

Clytemnestra is an interesting one - if you have read Greek drama, you'll know she's not a very nice character, but I do love Greek and Roman names. I'd be tempted to put forward names like Flavia, Cornelia, Allegra or Antigone but I think they'd get vetoed.

OP posts:
belgo · 15/12/2011 20:43

Seraphina
Margarita

midoriway · 15/12/2011 21:02

Eidothea, a greek sea nympth.

SilkStalkings · 15/12/2011 22:25

Rowena
Lowenna
Amandine (pron AMondeen)
Marianne (nn Maggie?)
Dido
Poppaea
Sylvianne
Lena

glittershoes · 16/12/2011 11:45

Love Ramona and Ramona White is lovely and goes with mn Jane!

Plus you can shorten to Romy which is also gorgeous and sounds great with White as well!

quirrelquarrel · 23/12/2011 19:20

Virginia White, seriously?

Sophie White
Lena White
Gabriella White
Elizabeth White (makes me think of meadows and laundry :o)
Anna White

thepeoplesprincess · 23/12/2011 20:05

Polly.

blushingm · 23/12/2011 20:48

Sorry but seren is quite common here - seems most baby girls are grace, eve/a or seren

MissHonkover · 24/12/2011 13:42

Love Astrid.

What about Georgina? Mathilda?

Original poster
guinealady · 24/12/2011 16:33

Thanks for all the latest suggestions on this thread...some lovely ones!

I love the name Polly but mainly because she was my favourite doll as a child - so I strongly associate it with my own childhood. If I thought my OH would go for it (he won't...) I might suggest Paulina with Polly as a nn!

OH not keen on Matilda/Mathilda and I suspect it will become v popular due to the musical, so I'd avoid it anyway.
Never been very fond of Georgina or Sophie, not sure why as they're pretty names, but just not very 'me'.

Love Elizabeth but a family member has a similar name so will not be using that as a first name. May be a second name though.

At the moment our only front runner is Miranda, which we both like, but I'm a bit wary of using as the name suggests (to me) someone very elfin, delicate and blonde - and I am not willowy or blonde, so I doubt my DD will be either!

However we remembered that a current well-known Miranda is Miranda Hart, who is not what you'd call delicate or elfin either, but is a very cool and funny Miranda, so a good person to share a name with.

I also suggested Veronica to OH the other day - he quite likes it, I'm not sure. That's a possible, anyway.

OP posts:
TheOldestCat · 24/12/2011 16:40

Ramona is a great name; loved those books. Miranda is gorgeous too. Looks like you're spoilt for choice!

Original poster
guinealady · 24/12/2011 19:26

TheOldestCat we would be spoilt for choice IF my OH liked any of the other names I've suggested...at the moment we only both like Miranda for definite and Veronica as a maybe.

Ramona and Laura (my suggestions) he liked to begin with but then went off.

To add some balance, these are the names he likes that I've rejected:
Samantha
Emma
Abigail
Jessica (like but too popular at the moment)
Elizabeth (like but for a middle name)
Mary (ditto)

As you can see we have VERY different tastes. Here's hoping we both still like Miranda in 4 months when DD, fingers crossed, arrives!

OP posts:
aethelfleda · 26/12/2011 20:38

Just wanted to suggest a lovely name that you probably want to avoid:

Isla White

(say it out loud....and if she married a relative of Brian Ferry she could be the Isla White-Ferry....)

Have you thought about Laurelie, Josephine and Ottilie?

oikopolis · 26/12/2011 21:26

Your surname is super popular. Veronica White is definitely going to be one of several dozen in her generation, for example, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But if you really want more unusual names, here is my unusual-to-weird list:

Allegra
Anastasia
Callista
Corinne
Coralie
Cosima
Cordelia (may be popular in some areas)
Cassia
Christabel
Clemence/y
Columbe/a
Jocasta
Jonquil
Seraphine/a
Scheherazade
Sebastienne/Sebastiane
Tabitha
Valentine
Valentia
Verity
Zara