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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

What inspired your baby name choice?

56 replies

Fairybobbin · 07/12/2019 12:09

What's your Little One's name/name to be? Did you hear it on a TV programme? Film? Family member? Google search? Mumsnet? Tell me your story!

OP posts:

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Enko · 07/12/2019 14:49

Dd1 is named after JD Salinger's the catcher in the rye. When dh was 14 he read it and said to his mum
"If I ever have a girl I'm going to call her Phoebe as she is the coolest sister in the world" sadly friends happened and most think is from friends but she is not. Her mn was my paternal grandmothers middle name and the English variant was Mils middle name.

Dd2 I dreamt when with dd2 we had a dd and called her Eloise. Dh didn't like it. By the time we were expecting again he said ok but I prefer it with an a at the end. She has sils mmname for her middle name as they worked well together.

Ds is the ONLY boys name dh and I could agree on and it is a marmite name he is Conrad. His middle name is after late BIL

Dd3 I think dh felt bad he had picked both the girls names so he went w my luck. She has a Irish name as I just love it Aoife. For her mn she has the feminised version of my step grandfathers name. It has a vocal in it that doesn't exist in the English alphabet ø So she has a name none can say or spell but its beautiful. We went to the Danish embassy this week and they struggled w her first name calling her A o If he but could say first name without issue. Made us smile.

I actually asked my dad about mine the other day and he told me he had come across the name through work as a colleagues wife was called it. He had liked it and suggested it to my mum who also liked it and so it came to be. My mn is after my late aunt.

Omashu · 07/12/2019 15:52

My daughters name came from a cartoon me and OH love!

Omashu · 07/12/2019 15:55

Oh and I was named after a singer my parents like.

Honeybee85 · 07/12/2019 15:56

I just loved DS’ name. It’s classic and it sounds beautiful.

It’s also a very unusual name in DH’s country, since we live in Asia and DS’ name is European.
It was a lovely coincidence that the doctor who delivered DS told me she has a son with exactly the same name!

BikeRunSki · 07/12/2019 16:05

DD - her name is an anagram of MiL’s name (but also a name of its own). Her middle name is after a beautiful place DH and I used to live (but also a girl’s name).

DS’s name is a name I have always liked, and was the name of a very sweet child I used to babysit. It’s also the bane of every eldest son in the eight generations of dh’s family before FiL, and miL’s father’s name. We couldn’t really not use it. His middle name is after a relative I was very fond of.

LobsterQuadrille2 · 07/12/2019 16:13

I was working in Bermuda when I had DD, and the shipwreck in The Tempest is allegedly set off the coast, so I called her Miranda.

ikeakia · 07/12/2019 16:17

DD1- I found it in a baby name book, not unheard of but was used mostly in America, particularly Hawaii. I read it means moon goddess. Her middle names are my GM’s name and my favourite breed of dog.

DS1- he has a combination name that I have not seen anywhere, even googling brings up nothing. I couldn’t decide between the two names and mashed them together. I get so many comments as it sounds very similar to one of the names, and everyone has said how lovely it is. Middle names are Paternal GGF and my uncle’s names.

DD2- she’s named after a character from a TV series but despite it being a beautiful name she goes by her animal name middle name.

DS2- his is the most commonly used name, my mum chose it and he has his paternal GF’s name and his dad’s favourite footballer as middle names.

RuthW · 07/12/2019 16:19

The criteria were:

Something that could be shortened as my name can't.

Something not in the top 100 ( that backfired as 23 years later it's in top 20).

Three names as I only have one.

One of her names is May as she was due 15th may. She was three weeks early!

Original poster

Fairybobbin · 07/12/2019 17:26

I'm curious about what all these names are! So interesting hearing everyone's inspirations.

OP posts:

Anniecott · 07/12/2019 21:45

My son is named after my late grandfather, who died just after I was born, middle name of my fil, same middle name as my dh. If he'd been a girl he was going to have the feminine version of my grandfathers name with my mils as middle name.

mumsiedarlingrevolta · 07/12/2019 21:50

I was reading a book of the letters of Clementine and Winston Churchill when I found I was pregnant.
She was fascinating.
My DD is Clementine.

ImportantWater · 07/12/2019 21:50

DH wanted names that were a bit Scottish
I wanted names that had some kind of history to them.
Middle names were our dads’ middle names.

Sleepyquest · 07/12/2019 21:51

@mumsiedarlingrevolta I've just had baby Clementine! How old is yours? X

mumsiedarlingrevolta · 07/12/2019 21:52

And her middle name is my middle name, and my mums and my grandmas and her mums etc. I love that.
DD has already said she will give to her daughter as a middle name.
I love the link and the family continuity

mumsiedarlingrevolta · 07/12/2019 21:54

@Sleepyquest 19!!
She is brilliant-I have gotten so many compliments over the years-I love her name.

Congrats on your baby Clementine

HotSince82 · 07/12/2019 21:55

Ds1 is named literally the only boys name I could agree upon with my ex

Dd1 is named after my gramdmother.

DS2 is called what I would have named DS1 if my ex hadn't been so objectionable.

DD2 was named after a girl in a song that DH and I loved.

DS3 is named after an archangel or a ninja turtle

grisen · 07/12/2019 21:58

First name is my grandad’s name who died when I was young. It was a no brained as my partner said he liked the name when we first started dating so it was always going to be the name of we ever had a boy.
Middle name comes from a film

puds11 · 07/12/2019 21:59

Both my children are named after literary classics.

raskolnikova · 07/12/2019 22:00

I was obsessed with the musical Hamilton when I was pregnant.

Still am, it's a great musical.

RosieposiePuddingandPi · 07/12/2019 22:02

My son's first name is my dad's middle name which I already loved and his middle name is a character from DH's favourite book.
DD's first name came from a nickname I loved through pregnancy and right at the end we decided on her name to give that nickname. I am completely in love with her full name though and we get lots of comments on it. Her middle name is from the same book as DS's.

codenameduchess · 07/12/2019 22:03

Both of my children have parents names as middle names.
Dc1 was a girl so got my mums name as a middle name, my mum is amazing and we felt it was a nice tribute to her. Dc2 was a boy so has my late dads name as his middle name. My dad died before either dc were born but it felt like a nice way of keeping him with us.

Both dcs first names were inspired by pop culture... dd from new girl, and ds is named after a pretty iconic sci-fi actor.

I asked my mum once how she chose mine and my brothers names and she said 'you/he just looked like an X'. Neither name had been decided before and they didn't have short lists or anything, our names just came to her. Me and dh spent months suggesting and vetoing names.

Bogiesaremyonlyfriend · 07/12/2019 22:11

Dd1 was named after a child I taught in school, I heard her name and had never heard that name before, loved it and knew then I'd call a dd it if I had one. Dh wasn't keen but I just referred to bump as the name from when we found out and he came round! Now it is a super popular name!! Dd2 was named by dh, just a name he loved and he chose very well, it's suits her immensley

elQuintoConyo · 07/12/2019 22:12

After the slobby Walter Mathau character in The Odd Couple, there was so much negativity around Felix, that we didn't even bother putting it on our list - even though it's an ace name and I still love it.

Or the grouchy one who lives in a bin in Sesame Street

We wanted something international (he has: English, Irish, German, French and Spanish blood!) that all relatives could spell. He doesn't have a middle name because as we're in Spain he has two surnames. Four is a bit excessive here.

He loves his name and has quite a lot of things with his name on (toy lorry, mug, fairy lights, keyring etc).

I was named my name because it was the 70s and quite popular, it is a classic name thank god. My middle name, however, is HORRENDOUS and really smacks of 1973

Aria2015 · 07/12/2019 22:14

Never really fell in love with a name so 3 days post baby just picked one I sort of liked. It's grown on me. Can't imagine lo being called anything now.

MrsCharlesBrandon · 07/12/2019 22:43

Dd1 has a Scottish name as I'm Scots born, also the name of William Wallace's wife in Braveheart. Middle name is my Nan's middle name.
Dd2 was always going to be her name from the minute we found out her sex. I always wanted an Eden.
DS - DH picked! No idea where it came from, he just really liked it.

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