Do you have a naming 'style'?

[ElviraCondomine]

I'm fascinated by the different approaches to naming and was wondering, does anyone else consciously have a particular approach or style?


I am firmly in the "nobody else in the school" (let alone class!) naming camp, but I like 'real' names with a history rather than newly coined. I am genuinely delighted not to have met another child in 11 years with the same name as DD2.

I like to consider the meaning of names.

I also believe that sibling names should work together - I find it odd when a family has children called e.g. Orlando, Gabriel, Cressida and Bob. Or Lily, Joshua, and Athene. It doesn't 'feel' right to me.

However I am not keen on matchy matchy names either!

And I really don't like traditional diminutive forms given as full names. I'd name a child Katherine rather than Katie, although I think Katie's lovely as a childhood nickname for example.

I've given my DC more classical/ plain/ commonly found middle names which are also family names as I thought unusual x 3 was a bit of a hippy pretentious overload (so I'm not totally airy fairy) They are all family names. And I was scrupulously fair so that they each have a name from DH's family and from my family.

It's such a very personal thing I've probably offended lots of people already.

Equally, I am sure lots of people hate my children's names - I've seen at least one of them described as bully bait on this very forum! But I am genuinely interested in other people's approaches. Anybody want to share?

[ElviraCondomine]

This is fascinating!

My children's names are definitely marmite. And there are some names I react very strongly against. Poor DH didn't get much of a say in the end as he came up with not a single idea, and just crossed off the worst excesses of my flights of fancy. His initial reaction to DD2's name was one of horror. Then he saw me give birth (VBAC after traumatic C-section) got all emotional and said it was up to me. Ha!

[looki]

I am like the OP with the exception of the 'only kid in the school' name.

Ironically, my children's names don't 'match' as unknowingly I chose one very such name for my second child after giving my first a very traditional name.

I still hesitate when saying the two names together as they sound like they are from different families.

If I could name again, I would choose two very traditional names.

[CheerfulYank]

Rockin Jasper? It's a red stone and I think it sounds nice with Scarlett and Rose. :)

I'm like Looki...similar to the OP but I don't mind if there are others with the name. I have Samuel (Sam) and Margaret (Maggie). DC3 is due in June and will be William (Will) if he's a boy. I don't know about a girl yet!

I really hate nicknames as names. My best friend just had a Charlie and that's all it is on the birth certificate. I was horrified! :o

[Chips1999]

I prefer short names, although need two syllable names to sound nice with our surname. DH and I chose names we liked rather than looking at lists of names and I liked the meanings of the names we chose as well.

[lecherslady]

I liked feminine but strong names.

Nothing too cutsey. So the full name did not have an -ie/y/ee ending

Full names that can be shortened should the DC desire (and they have)

Lots of different possibilities for the DC to play around with their names and find something they like

Names that are known, but not popular (DC only children with their names in their school)

Full name, not the diminuitive version

Not necessarily classic names, but names with a bit of history to them. Not modern names.

Three syllables (to go with surname).

Classless names, I didn't like names with any strong associations (such as class). I wanted names that didn't automatically lead to a stereotype.


Personally, I didn't care about:
meaning behind the name
language / culture the name came from
famous people with that name
matching names

[rockinrobintweet]

cheerfulyank DH loves Jasper.. thank you !! i think he'd love a boy this time too

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Mine have Bible names, with proper diminutives for everyday use, (think Samuel/Sam). I have a bit of a dislike for try hard names.

And yes to the poster who mentioned boys going by their surnames or nicknames in High School; I have had a few funny situations where I couldn't for the life of me think of the names of one of DS's mates and ended up calling him Greeney, or something similar to his Mum or a teacher. I thought for years DS had a friend called Jimmy. Turns out his name is Andrew (he is originally from Glasgow).

[GreatAuntDinah]

Red boy has to be Rufus, surely?

[Frikadellen]

I like what I call " unusual but not weird names" So our children were all 4 given names that people would have heard of but perhaps never met one of. With dd1 this however backfired and her name soared into the top 30 list.. When she was named it was not in top 100. She has spent her life being one of 2/3 others with this name. - Phoebe

DD2 I have never met another with her name, I find it strange as I often get very positive comments on her name however I am happy that is how it is. She is Eloisa.

DS has a marmite name for sure - Conrad. People either adore it or loathe it. we know 1 other and when we met him he was 36 and told us our Conrad was the first - other Conrad - he had ever met.

dd3 has a Irish name. Aoife it is 250 something on the lists.. We have never met another but I do know of others who has a dd with her name.

By the time we had named DS we also somehow had got a situation were all our children had " o's " in their name so that was a criteria for dd3 too. We gave up on finding her a " o name" with 6 letters though. (that both dh and I liked)

If I was to have a child tomorrow to name I would still use the same set ups. Now it HAS to have an o in it and I prefer it outside of the top 500 list However still a name people know of and don't think errr what?? you made that up.

[squoosh]

Rory is a 'red' boy's name too.

[CheerfulYank]

I thought of Rufus and Rory but if she's already got a Rosie...

Ugh I need baby names!

[Yorkshirelassreturns]

I tend to like classic, traditional names which meet the high court judge test but have lots of good nicknames. DD is Annabelle / Belle and a future DD would be Juliet / Etta or a DS William / Billy.

I do know three sisters called Felicity, Verity and Prudence so I think their parents must have liked virtue names!!!

[RoseTheHat]

Interesting thread
Hmm - I went with a "modern classic" for Dd, didn't think of checking the most popular name lists - just always liked the name. Think it's probably top 20 but she is the only one in her year group (we got lucky there!)
Number 2, I let DH pick and he went with something quite unusual (I think it may be "emerging" though, have heard it mentioned on here once or twice, but haven't come across one in real life yet)
So one popular, one unusual - but I think they are both vaguely Shakespearean. .so that is my theme

[DramaAlpaca]

My naming style is classic with an Irish twist . I like short, neat names that can't be messed around with too much.

I'm English & DH is Irish, so our children each have one Irish name that is easy to spell & pronounce, and one classic name. The Irish names were quite unusual in the UK when I chose them, but have since become much more popular.

Two of the DC have family names as middle names, but I chose DC3's middle specifically for its meaning, although I like the name too.

I dislike cutesy names, granny names and nicknames being used instead of the traditional versions. I also don't like made-up names or silly spellings.

[rockinrobintweet]

cheerfulyank what's your theme for baby names? you having boy or girl? baby no.1?

thanks for name ideas!! i don't want an R name because of Roselyn though do love name Rufus! DH is absolutely inlove with Jasper. can't thank you enough cheerfulyank

[nooka]

My children have names that are bang on trend for the millennium (1999 and 2000 babies). Which was totally unintentional. ds is named after a great historical king, and dd after two of her great-grandmothers. So essentially they have granny-chic names.

Criteria was that both dh and I really liked them. My name preference is for a bit of flexibility, so a long formal name with a few diminutive choices. We were aiming for something in between dh's name (very popular for his year) and my name (extremely unusual) but accidentally picked top ten names for them both. However if dd had been the both we were expecting she would have had something much more unusual (we spent months picking it and were sad not to use it).

[oneboy3girls]

This may sound odd .My 4 DC names just came to me during pregnancy, that those were the names.They were not favourites'but they were definites.Even dh agreed without hesitation. They suit their names.Three of the names match.

[CPtart]

Full, traditional, classless names that have one obvious spelling and are rarely shortened. Not overly popular either (top ten) and definitely no ie ending names. And as FIL has learnt to his disgust, the tradition of using "family names" is definitely out!

[Thurlow]

Classic names here too, and we prefer the full name. I like names which are completely familiar but not that regularly used - not because we don't like the popular names at the moment, just that seems to be our taste. DD's name is a slight twist on the classic four-syllable 'A' name, but she's always known by the common derivative, though from what I've seen it's a much more common derivative for boys than for girls. We also prefer the long name on the birth certificate.

I did have a funny conversation with a friend recently where we were discussing names we liked for DC2's. Among those I mentioned were names like John, Maggie, Joanna etc. Friend thought these were completely weird

[Strokethefurrywall]

DH and I both favoured surnames for first names which is what both our boys ended up with, although DH has a Scottish surname for first name so probably swayed him that way.

DS1 has an not popular in UK, but popular in US/Australia name and DS2 has my favourite name of all time which isn't popular in many countries at all except as a surname in Ireland!

Both names have had "oh cool name" reactions but we don't live in the UK so may have something to do with it!

If we'd had a girl, she would have been called Dylan though so our taste is definitely slightly quirky/masculine.

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

I think most people do. It just seems daft if you don't. My naming style is short sweet pretty and girly for girls and strong manly catholic or bible names for boys.
One example I can give you about mismatched names. I know someone who has got a daughter named Ariadne and another one named, Stephanie. Both lovely names but ridiculous together.
If I had twins. I would give them rhyming names.

[marshmallowpies]

Iliveinalighthouse I know some twins with really mismatched names - they are so unusual I would be at risk of outing myself though!

[LizzieMint]

Mine are very traditional, very classic names. And all fairly popular, although not as popular as more 'in' names. There are a few that share my ds's name at school but I figure that's because it's a great name!
My dd2's best friend shares the same name too, they call each other by firstname surname when they are together, it's very cute!
Oh, and they all have the same length (short) names! I wanted short names as I got fed up with mine being long, and after two noticed that they happened to be the same number of letters so we stuck with it for the third!

[Inkspellme]

Well my criteria were that they were Irish names to reflect our heritage but not very difficult to spell for people outside of Ireland. they needed to be short as we have a long surname. They also needed to be short as I didn't want anyone shortening them.

Most families seem to have a naming pattern and yes families that don't just seem to me like they might have changed their mind about liking the first name so have gone for something else instead. (I do appreciate this is probably utter rubbish but is what goes through my head when you have a cute name with a classic name for example)

[squoosh]

I know someone who has got a daughter named Ariadne and another one named, Stephanie. Both lovely names but ridiculous together.

Really? I think Stephanie and Ariadne go quite well.