Unusual middle name

[glitterglitters]

Were expecting dd#2 and we've already decided on her first name which is unusual but only because it's Welsh (husband has Welsh heritage and Welsh names are a thing in his family).

We both adore New York and had a NYC location name selected (not Brooklyn!) if we had a boy.

I've come across the name Astoria on one of those "quirky names to watch out for" and think that it would a) work well b) has meaning and c) is quite unusual without being too weird.

Middle names can be a tad more outlandish right? My sister's is after an Arabic port after my parents had a drunken wager in the 60s

There are some wonderful names in NYC;

Flushing
Bushwick
Bronx
Canarsie
Averne
Annadale

or maybe;
Flushing
Bushwick
Brownsville
or my favourite
Throgs Neck.

I'm sure Auntie Suez would love that one...

Edit fail...

Just makes me think of the old London Astoria. Had some great nights at G-A-Y, back in the day.

@GreedyDuck lol I used to spend so much time there with my best mate. She worked in the box office! 😂 One place I really miss #goddamncrossrail

@CardinalSin we did think of DUMBO but we were worried people would think she was shouting about flying elephants on job applications.

@GreedyDuck do you remember the Metro Club on Oxford Street?

You can definitely get away with a more outlandish name as a middle name imo. I'm not massively keen on place names for humans myself. Astoria isn't a million miles away from Aurelia and I've definitely heard worse middle names...

Aurelia is nice though, have you considered Aurelia?

Just realised it sounded like I thought Aurelia was a place which was near Astoria. I meant "not a million miles away" metaphorically!

Any French sounding names have to be nixxed sadly. Husband's accent makes anything remotely European sounding awful.

I really loved Genevieve as well 😭😭😭 but Jen-veeev didn't work overall well.

Aurelia would be Oree-eller 🙈

@Rockaby 😂 Don't worry. I understood! 😙

Never been sadly, I agree with you about Crossrail though, it's destroying so many memories.

To answer your original question though, definitely choose a more out there middle name. I was born in the seventies when literally 75% of girls had Louise as a middle name...so dull.

Makes me think of the London venue too. I miss the Astoria.

I do actually quite like it as a middle name though

I'd actually forgotten about the London Astoria. I have some awesome memories of living in London so it means even more now!

I love Genevieve .

I think you should go for it OP, if you both love it. It does sound like a name iyswim. I probably wouldn't have it as a first name, but think you can get away with a lot more with a middle name. It's easy to spell and pronounce too.

I like it! (Another one with happy memories of the Astoria (and the Metro as well!))

@soundsystem 😁😁😁 oh I miss Metro with their random microwave pizza and Pringles you could buy from the cloakroom ❤❤❤

@Rockaby thanks. Me too I've had a lot of names shot down for being too "posh" as well. I think with a quirky middle name you can hide it if you like. Our DD#1's middle name is Lana which I love but lots of (very unhelpful) people have pointed out what it spells backwards 🙈 Not so much of an issue with a middle name as a first name.