My Ideas For Unique Girls' & Boys' Names

[BigFatBully]

I don't think I've mentioned on Mumsnet yet but I recently found out that I'm pregnant again!!

We are quietly excited and have the 12 week scan tomorrow.

We are wanting to keep the gender as a surprise for when they come along but we've been toying around with some ideas for unique names. We don't want to follow the crowd, we want a unique name that will also be presentable on a CV when they are older.

These are the names we've thought of so far. We wondered what you all think.

Girls:
Matilda
Lynne
June
Estelle
Martine
Louisa
Elaine

Boys:
Jonas
Antonio
Derek
Norman
Lawrence

Congratulations! How are you defining 'unique'?

Nice, but not unique.

Thank you! We don't want names that are currently "trendy". We also want to avoid celebrity names or for example, names that the Monarchy are calling their babies. Ideally so that they will be the only child in class with that name. For example, we wouldn't choose the name Charlotte as the Royal family have a baby Charlotte and it will be very popular at the moment as a result.

Congratulations 💛

Girls:
Matilda - This is a lovely name but I’ve heard quite a few children with this name.
Lynne - Love the potential nickname “Lynnie”
June - I love this, this was also on my list.
Estelle - Not too bad.
Martine - Not a fan.
Louisa - Nice.
Elaine - God no.
Boys:
Jonas - Nice.
Antonio - Do you have Spanish ties?
Derek - No.
Norman - Cute.
Lawrence - Will 100% be shortened to Loz if you like that?

Louisa
Jonas

That is all.

Thank you. No, we have no Spanish ties. Do you think it would be rather crude as an English heritage family to name a child Antonio? It would probably get shortened to Toni or Tony, which I'm not keen on but I think as a whole it's interesting.

Okay, so looking at the lists more closely, apart from Matilda, which you do see for little children, and Jonas and Antonio, these are all names which are completely normal names that exist, but aren't currently used much for babies. If you're quite young, OP, you probably don't know many people with them - I do, but they're all 45 or older. I think you've pitched this solidly at 'names associated with older generations, but which haven't come back into fashion as granny names yet'. So you're probably fine to pick any of them except Matilda and if you're lucky, all the other new parents this year won't have had the same idea.

I don’t know really with names, whether it would be okay? I would just assume an Antonio would have Spanish roots somewhere in the family 😂 same with Jonas. I don’t know what the rules are anymore. They’re both nice names though!

I really like the name Matilda but it's very popular at the moment with the self-titled film having a resurgence in popularity recently. But it's a good name in that it can be informally shortened to Tilly to family and close friends but I think formally would look good on a CV or university application for example. We just want to avoid having to always specify "which one" if there are others with that name in class, nursery etc. If that makes sense. 😂

You could also have Mattie as a nickname for Matilda (in case there’s already a Tilly in class).

None of them are unique!

I like Estelle & Antonio

Have you considered Balonz or Jimberleigh?

Tilda is nice

Except for Jonas all your boy choices are all a bit "old man" (that's going by Antonio ending up as a Tony).
I hate to say this but they're a bit ugly.
Sorry 😬
Jonah is maybe better than Jonas (I think of it as a surname thank to the Jonas Brothers)
Another variation on a "Jo" name is Josiah which I always think is quite fancy.
I like Matilda, Estelle and Louise (rather than Louisa) out of your girl list.

Matilda - I like it but I’ve definitely heard of a few
Lynne - nope
June - surprisingly I like this one
Estelle - meh
Martine - I just think of McCutcheon and eastenders
Louisa - ok but a bit middle aged
Elaine - definitely not
Jonas - brothers?
Antonio - Banderas
Derek - absolutely not
Norman - another surprising maybe
Lawrence - makes me think of Fox and he’s a nob

I like all your names apart from Derek and Norman but not a one of them could be described as unique
Especially Matilda and Jonas
What I find funny about baby names is loads of parents have the same idea for a "unique" name at the same time. Usually because it is a name that is about 60 /70 years old.
There were two Hamishs in our baby music group in east London. The mums used to glare daggers at each other.
Also, to be fair, Sage, Livingstone (girl) and Huxley which I haven't come across others of
By the way I really like Elaine. The Lily Maid!

Lovely names!

Girls:
Matilda - love, there's one at dd (4) nursery but don't know a ton of them
Lynne - less keen for some reason
June - lovely also love April
Estelle - lovely don't know any
Martine - nice, I think prefer Martina
Louisa - beautiful (I'm a bit biased with this one 😝, never met another Louisa though!)
Elaine - like but not as much as the others

Other options - Celeste, Daphne, evangeline, Marianne, Serena

Boys:
Jonas - like but prefer Jonah, I know 2, 1 is 17 the other is 2.
Antonio - I think it sounds a bit like you're actually Italian.
Derek - not keen on this one.
Norman - not keen on this one
Lawrence - love, I know 2 but not hugely popular.

Other options - Victor, Reuben, Tobias, Benedict

You sound confused, OP. You say you want a ‘unique’ name, but list a lot of really ordinary names, though most, with the exception of Matilda and possibly Jonas, are associated with an older generation, but are not old-fashioned enough to have come back into fashion yet.

DEREK? You can’t be serious.

All nice enough, really love June but personally I think Norman is shockingly bad, I’d be so embarrassed to introduce him, far too try hard. Save it for a pet.

Do you understand what ‘unique’ means OP? None of these names fit that criteria.

those

Norman Price is the naughty boy in Fireman Sam so would avoid that as it’s likely to be the only Norman that a child has ever come across before.

Good grief, Elaine, Derek and Norman? I was just reading about Lord Norman Foster yesterday, and pitied him for his name despite all his success. Also, Fireman Sam is still a thing ... May I suggest Anton rather than Antonio? The latter just doesn't sound right in an English accent.

I love Matilda, but be aware it is popular right now. Have you considered Eloise?

Matilda or Jonas. None of the others.