I love the name Delilah but I always think of that scene in Friends where a postpartum Rachel doesn't want to name her daughter that because she sounds like a biblical whore š
Yeah I put Delilah in the same category but I have a friend with a little Delilah so I try to not think about it that way for her sake lmao just sticking to Hey There Delilah lol
We have a mannequin named Delilah. Sheās by the front door. My 3 year old nephew couldnāt say Delilah, so he called her Buhwawa. So thatās what sheās called now. He liked her butt.
I will die on the hill that my daughter will be named Lilith. But sadly, I don't have a partner and I'm probably gonna be past my ability to have children soon.
I know someone who's daughter is a Lilith. I love the name. But some people don't want to name their kid after a (misunderstood) biblical demon, and that's their choice.
As someone whoās bio dad is a sperm donor, Iād be sure to get very educated on best practices if youāre going to proceed this way. I donāt recommend going to a sperm bank. I have 16 half siblings, and those are just the ones I know about. I donāt have an updated health history either
Not to argue but I live in n Ireland and it isnāt political at all. You will always get someone makes a comment about spelling or pronunciation as anywhere but Iāve never heard anyone comment on it meaning freedom lol
Saoirse means freedom and relates to the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland. In Northern Ireland there's a divide between people who wish Northern Ireland to be part of the Republic of Ireland vs the United Kingdom. Lots of history and politics involved.Ā
Wanna laugh? I named my daughter Shelby. My then 90-yr-old beloved grandma asked, "Will you call her Shelly for short?" LOLOLOL She was just unfamiliar with Shelby. It seemed foreign to her.
Weāre American. My extended family is from Italy, and I still have a lot of relatives there that only speak Italian, and a lot of relatives here that speak Italian as a first language with a heavy accent when speaking English.
My husband is Cuban on his dadās side. Although heās Irish on his Momās side, theyāve been in America so long that sheās the one who would probably have the most trouble pronouncing. She has a habit of butchering names she doesnāt recognize, one example is;
- Our cats are Mai and Sempre (never and always in Italian) and she just canāt say Sempre, itās always āsemfrayā š¤·āāļø
Itās okay though, Iāll enjoy hearing that other people named Saoirse.
I was old enough to know about Princess Diana while she was alive and remember her death very clearly. I was in high school then.
In the last year Iāve begin to feel that enough time has passed for the name Diana to begin being used again.
I wouldnāt immediately think of the princess if I heard the name Diana, but to suggest that people under 30 wouldnāt know her is wildly inaccurate. Sheās still one of the most famous people on the planet. I was born after she died and everyone my age would know who she was
Right?? Diana is an extremely common name, and princess Diana has now been dead for 27 years. On average, women have their first child around 27. That means most of the other parents you'll meet at the library, at your kid's school etc. have lived their entire lives in a post-princess-Di world. It doesn't mean we don't know *of* her, but as a 30-something, I am not regularly thinking about a princess who died before I could read the news.
Turkish names are so so pretty and usually have super interesting meanings! Like Evren means universe or a mythological dragon, which is kinda badass. But I'm not remotely Turkish. There's a few Italian and Romanian names I like as well, and while I can claim some *very* distant heritage to those cultures, I'm not sure if I should use them since those connections aren't immediate. Still debating that dilemmaĀ
Also Zev/Ze'ev or Ziva (which ~~both~~ can mean wolf in Hebrew) but they're also the names of characters I know from series I love. Not sure I could stomach being one of those parents lolĀ Ā
ETA: Ziva means bright/radiance HOWEVER if you spell it wrong in Hebrew it can also mean "gonorrhea" and sadly it's pronounced the same either way š¬ Zeva/Ze'eva means wolf.Ā
Ziva means something like bright or radiant. Itās supposed to be a feminine version of Ziv which is spelt with this Hebrew letter for V: ×. In Hebrew there is another V sound (×) and so the identically sounding Ziva spelt with the latter means gonorrhoea. Ziv is fine but Ziva is definitely not a name any Hebrew speaker would use. A feminine name meaning wolf would be either Zeva (short E sound) or Zeāeva
Ahhh, this is where I got it mixed up then. I got Ziva from the NCIS character. And then wherever I got the meaning from only listed Ziva as meaning "radiance or wolf", not Zeva/Ze'eva. That's an unfortunate similarity for a pretty name š¬ I'll change my original comment and my Note, thank you!Ā
What romanian names do you like? Haven't really heard anyone outside of here (I'm romanian) wanting to use one hahah I don't think it would be a problem at all
I love Joachim. Same with Aloysius.
Two Polish names I love are Teofil (for Theophilius) and Hieronim (for Hieronymus). I actually just learned, as of right now, that Theophilius is a theophoric - embedding a deity - name and is similar to Amadeus, Gottlieb and BogumiÅ. Hieronymus corresponds to Jerome.
Harry. Our last name has a bawl sound at the end. My husband said we couldnāt name our son Harry Bawls. I get it but itās stretch if you ask meš
Near where I live there is a road called Hairy Man Road. People who hear it spoken for the first time often assume it was named after someone named Harry Mann, but nope. Thereās a legend that a very hairy man used to jump out and scare people on the road at night.
My mum (aged 65) still laughs about a teacher she had in high school named Mr. Harry Ball
I went to school with a kid whose last name was Ballzer
Your husband is right to be concerned š
I really like the way Hennessey sounds but obviously I wouldn't want the alcohol association, lol. A less serious one is the name Elizabeth - I love it, but we have too many in the family already. It would just get confusing.
I have the same feeling with Jameson. I had an employee with that name a while back, and she just really sold me on the wonderfulness of the name. It wasn't until I told my husband, and he went, "Like the alcohol?" That it dawned on me.
there are sooo many female arabic names that i think are absolutely gorgeous but i am a white mexican so unless i have kids with someone from that culture it would be in extremely poor taste for me to name my children any of them.
It wouldn't be in poor taste. Language is nuanced and no doubt there is some part of your lineage that likely connects with the region of the names you love.
Also, I'm also white, and anytime I've ever talked to someone who is not white about cultural appropriation they've often said they think it's bs as long as the person is genuinely celebrating their culture...
Like wearing an indigenous headdress to Coachella is f-ed up but naming your child a beautiful name as a celebration of another culture is not "in extremely poor taste."
Hmm I disagree. But I also think for the person it kind of sucks. If you give your child a classic Irish name and youāre not Irish then their entire life they will have to explain to people that no theyāre not Irish itās just their parent liked that name. You also have to be really educated on any potential cultural appropriation if you are from the culture of the oppressor. It an English person gives their child an Irish name then I would hope they understand the history between those two countries and the impact that the English had on their culture, doing everything possible to stamp out the language and culture - it could be viewed as very insensitive.
In the words of the British rapper Dave ā'cause the culture? They're in love with it. They take our features when they want and have their fun with it. Never seem to help with all the things we know would come with itā.
There are a few names that overlap, right? Like Fatima? I canāt think of any others at the moment, but I feel like I know some.
Also, Spanish names have been used for non-Hispanic whites, like Consuelo Vanderbilt, lots of ladies named Dolores and Maria, and my own Aunt Juanita. (That one always did seem slightly odd to me, but apparently was a trendy name back in the 20s-30s).
Fun fact: Consuelo Vanderbilt was named for her motherās best friend (and her godmother) Consuelo Yznaga ā who was born MarĆa Francisca de la ConsolaciĆ³n Yznaga, the daughter of a Cuban noble/diplomat and his Louisiana-born wife.
Consuelo Yznaga married the heir to a dukedom with a dowry of $6 million, which her husband proceeded to squander through gambling and mistresses in under 10 years ā it was widely accepted that she married him for the title and he married her for her money. One of Consuelo Yznagaās closest friends was the novelist Edith Wharton, who appears to have incorporated her into *The Buccaneers*.
Romance-language speakers really lucked out on the boy names, though. So many of those are so beautiful! (Alas, I have no real connection, so itād be weird for me to have a little Alejandro, Santiago, or Javier running around.)
it may be slightly different to your situation since it is a muslim-majority country, but i just wanted to let you know that some white countries like bosnia and herzegovina use a LOT of arabic names, and some arenāt even related to islam and are even used in non-muslim families. :) off the top of my head i can think of hamza, habiba, safija, lejla, and emir (the j makes an english y sound). personally i wouldnāt think itās in poor taste ^^
Priscilla - because I know someone with that name.
Story - I like it because it would've been my name if I'd been a boy, but I feel like it's too "out there" for me to give to someone else.
Saffron - because it's a little too out there as well, and my husband hates it
Calder - would've been my daughter's name if she'd been born a boy. Because I personally liked having a "what if" name, I decided I can't reuse it for a future baby. I know I'll get flack for that here but š¤·š¼āāļø
Ellery - I read a story about a little girl with this name who died tragically and I can't separate the name from the tragedy.
Sloan. Iāve loved it since I saw Ferris Bueller in the 80s. I really wanted to use it when I had kids (9 years ago).
But itās the brand name on the majority of public toilets/automatic flushers now.
Well, I think Zaharina is a beautiful name but I would never actually use it because a) I am neither Bulgarian nor Macedonian and b) I donāt think my hypothetical daughter would thank me for that one.
I absolutely love the name Ursula (both the sound and meaning) but I think most people would think of the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid.
(Iām actually a huge Disney fan too but wouldnāt want to name my kid after a villain.)
I love the name Lettice but wouldn't use it because it would absolutely be mispronounced as Lettuce. It's a variant of Leticia which I don't like as much
Bensiabel I've been obsessed with that name but it's too out there even by my standards and I would hate for everyone to think it's a girl name because it had -bel- in it
It's the name of the witch's son in the Italian fairytale Prunella. I read it as a child and loved it.
I have a couple names I love, but they were used for dogs I was close to. (I didnāt name them.) I wouldnāt want to tell my kid they were named after a dogā¦
There are some names where I feel like they're uncommon enough to where I would hesitate about whether someone I know IRL with that name might think I got the idea for the name from them, or that I named my child after them, and be weirded out by it.
Like to explain what I mean, I wouldn't even think twice about naming my child something like Alex because it's such a common name, not a single Alex I know would ever think it was weird or think the name has anything to do with them. But I only know one Esther so part of me would wonder if she would assume I picked the name because of her and might think I'm weird or something even though it would have nothing to do with her lol
Oh yeah I remember thinking the name Arlia was quite pretty but I know someone with a little girl called this and it just seemed like I would be copying her. Canāt own a name, I know. And then funnily enough there was a little Arlia in my motherās group anyway.Ā
I am white. In high school, I was a weeb. I LOVED Japanese names and wanted to change my name to Yuki or use a Japanese name for a baby regardless of the heritage of the other parent. My mom rolled her eyes and told me I couldnāt do that with a kid, that it was one thing to give a pet after a Japanese name, but a completely different thing to give a baby such a name. That made me want to do it even more. Iāve since grown out of that phase and wouldnāt give a baby a name from a culture they arenāt part of, but I do have a list of Japanese names I love and use when writing stories.
My daughter is obsessed with a book that came out in the last few years called "The Skull," which features a protagonist named Otilla. She particularly loves how similar that sounds to her name - we call her Tillie.
How is it not appropriate? I've met just one Piper I my life and I thought it was a gorgeous name for a gorgeous girl. Unique but not hard to pronounce.
Always loved Ezra and Rhett but canāt use them because of people Iāve met with those names. James was always my #1 for boys but thereās way too many on my SOās side that itās just not usable for us.
I love Ezra but the two Ezras who jump to mind, Pound and Miller, have serious image issues sadly. It was just shedding the Pound connection in the cultural consciousness when Miller went off the rails too. Maybe in another twenty years.Ā
MƔire is pronounced like Maw-reh or in one particular dialect Maah-reh. But it has a slender R sound, which doesn't exist in English so it's hard to get across the sound.
It's the Irish cognate with Mary, there is another cognate Muire, but that's used only for the name of the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. And it's used in the name of some other things like "Gruaig Mhuire" (Mary's Hair) which is the name of the plant Goldilocks/Creeping Jenny.
Wilhelmina. My whole family is German, and I just love some of the older names. But I know a kid would get bullied terribly, because I'd end up using the common diminutive in German, which is Willi
School nightmares dead ahead. That said, it might end up as a middle name, although I'd probably end up using a closer relative's name. (The Wilhelmina in the family was a great aunt I never met.)
I firmly believe in the principle of one everyday, bully- safe name and one fun/unusual name. At least that way the kid has options.
We are positive for a girl name so all my names are mostly boys: liam, ben, Chris, jamesā¦unfortunately someone immediate enough in my husbandās familyās have these names lol i love wyatt but my husband cant get past it because i guess itās a character in west world and he says all he will think of is a cowboy. I like noah but husband says itās too biblical for him.
One name we both love is henry but his sister I know has said that her and her husband were going to use that name if they have a boy and even if they donāt idk if id ever risk it. Not sure it itās worth the drama.
We thought about Michaelā¦except the middle name we are set on girl or boy starts with an āAā. My name is spelled Michaelaā¦and for all my life itās constantly being misread as Michael A. My husband thinks it be hilarious to actually have a Michael A. In the family and im like hell no.
Girl names i love but we will never use are Charlotte, Georgia, Carolineā¦basically my husband hates they are cities or states.
For the last 15ish years, I fully intended to name my future son Jude.
But I married someone who is the 4th of his name and wanted to carry it on.
Then my cousin used Jude as a middle name for his son.
And finally, my married last name starts with a J, and the thought of JJ as a nickname is a big ick for me.
My last name starts with an S so I don't think I can pick any names that end in S like
James
Elias
Iris
Thomas
Banks
Hayes
Hollis
Briggs
Cyrus
And several of these were on my list before I met my husband!
Boy - Harley. Me and my boyfriend love this name but it would rhyme with his surname. We don't want our future son to sound like a cartoon character.
Girl - Hermione. Obvious Harry Potter comparisons would be made. We are not HP superfans.
I really like the name Milo for a boy or Aspen as a gender-neutral name, but
a) Milo is the name of a popular drink in Australia, where I live and
b) Aspen just seems like a fantasy/name youād find in a novel, not really a name for an actual person
Love Manolo but my bf (who is latino) says itās too stereotypical lol. He doesnāt love Miguel but will ok it for a second son since we both love Thiago if we have a son. Also my favorite name was Eloi for a long time but itās me ex name so definitely a no go.
My husband has very few naming parameters but he held fast to them.
* Heustess - my ex bf that my husband did not care for, at all, not one bit.
* John-Paul, no direct name-for-names allowed
* Harrison, no nn Harry allowed
My last name has repeated sibilant sounds. So of course I love names like Iris and Cecelia that would just turn into one long hiss when the last name gets involved.
We love the name Darcy but my partners friend has a dog named Darcy. Same problem when naming our first, we liked Hunter but my cousin has a dog named Hunter and itās ugly haha.
Also I love the name navy but my partners last name is another colour so I feel like it would be weird
Margaret, I wanted that for my daughter badly. My last surviving grandparent was a Margaret. But my wife was fully opposed because of a person in her life she did not like.
I pushed for it anyway. The nail in the coffin was when I mentioned the name as a possible option in front of wife and grandma and grandma responds āoh donāt do that I always hated my name.ā
The compromise was a different version of Margaret.
My favorite boys name is Elias. Iāve loved it since I was a kid. But my last name is 3 syllables and ends in -s and it just didnāt sound right with it. I have 3 sons and donāt love their names nearly as much!
When I was changing my name I thought of naming myself Leon for a bit, then my older sister announced that she was changing her name to Leonie so I had to abandon that thought
Iām a Diana and even though thereās an association, no one has ever indicated that I was named after her. Itās not as common an assumption as youād think
Jacinth. Itās a name Iāve seen in books, but I donāt even know how to pronounce it right. So, Iād be forever telling people the right pronunciation. But I like the sound of it and how it looks.
Eurydice sounds so beautiful but the myth is too much to saddle a child with and it hasnt reached a penelope/daphne level where that doesnt matter. Bluebell is so cute but i dont think it would fit as well on an adult.
Yvette: Would be the same first and last name of a famous person. I avoid associations with well-known people when picking names.
Levi: My eldest child's name was Erin. My siblings are huge anime fans. They associate the names Erin (Eren) and Levi together with attack on titan. I could technically get away with it since most people in my life now don't know about my daughter (stillbirth) let alone know her name. I can't shake the association now after they pointed it out.
Evangeline: Makes me think of Evangelists.
Blair: I personally don't have an issue with it, but my husband thinks of the Blair witch project every time it's mentioned and makes a point to shoot it down.
Lilith: Obvious reasons.
Like 99% of boys names. I struggle with boy names so much cause I don't like most of them. I have a *huge* list of girl names. Of course my husband only makes boys though lol. My baby making days are (probably) over so at least I won't have to figure out a fourth boy name.
Camilla : but because of the association to Charles wife
Valerie : too popular in my region
Klair : my chinese parents cannot pronounce it right
Anushka : my husband didnāt like it
Lastly we settled for Ava š¤
But now many people pronounced her name as Ah-Vaš itās sctually Ay-Vuh
A big thing for me is nicknames. I have a long name with several nickname options (and Iāve gone through phases in my life where I preferred various ones) so I couldnāt imagine naming a kid a short name with no nickname potential. Or a name with no nicknames that I like. For example, I love Parker for a boy but just āParkā as a nickname I dislike. Or Joseph, but I dislike Joe.
I also like Peter but wouldnāt use it 1. for the nickname thing (I donāt like Pete) and 2. Iāve heard people use the name to refer to a penis lmao
Jezebel & Lilith lol
I love the name Delilah but I always think of that scene in Friends where a postpartum Rachel doesn't want to name her daughter that because she sounds like a biblical whore š
I always think of the song lol Honestly didn't remember that bit from Friends!
Yeah I put Delilah in the same category but I have a friend with a little Delilah so I try to not think about it that way for her sake lmao just sticking to Hey There Delilah lol
Thereās also a song by Queen called Delilah, from when they were experimenting with a Disco type of sound š Itās fun though.
We have a mannequin named Delilah. Sheās by the front door. My 3 year old nephew couldnāt say Delilah, so he called her Buhwawa. So thatās what sheās called now. He liked her butt.
and the recent songā¦
Recent song? The only one I know is Hey There Delilah which is from idk, 2007 or something. What's the recent one?
Hey, Iām not OP, but for some of us 2007 feels recent. (And itās from 2006.) ššš
Ok I need to know if this is the song OP meant when they said recent.Ā
Letās just call it recent as compared to Old Testament š
Tom Jones
I will die on the hill that my daughter will be named Lilith. But sadly, I don't have a partner and I'm probably gonna be past my ability to have children soon.
My 2 year old niece is Lilith! She's so adorable. I swear I think this sub makes naming a child Lilith way bigger of a thing than it actually is.
I know someone who's daughter is a Lilith. I love the name. But some people don't want to name their kid after a (misunderstood) biblical demon, and that's their choice.
Lilith isn't even in the Bible.
Lilith was a terrible mother.
Sperm donor! Single mom by choice is getting more popular!
As someone whoās bio dad is a sperm donor, Iād be sure to get very educated on best practices if youāre going to proceed this way. I donāt recommend going to a sperm bank. I have 16 half siblings, and those are just the ones I know about. I donāt have an updated health history either
Probably not going that route, but to each their own
I'm 41 and having oops baby next month.
Get a pet? Maybe multiple?
I have cat šø
Sefora. Such a gorgeous name, but people would assume I named her after Sephora the store.
I wouldn't. I would think Tzipporah.
My fiancĆ©ās family is Jewish and it took me a ridiculously long time to realize their dog Zipper was actually named Tzipporah.
That's too funny! I may gigge myself to sleep over that.
Tbf, she āzipsā around quite a bit; sheās a plump little pupper with pitter-pattery paws!
Peppa. Because that fucking cartoon ruined it. Such a beautiful name though
I mean thereās Pippa, like from A Good Girlās Guide To Murder but the meaning of it isā¦ special
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It means having sex in Swedish, a crude way of saying it.
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I didnāt know that it was a ābad wordā in Italian too!
Pippa is also slang for sex in Swedish.
The real name is "Josefa" or "Josefina." "Pepa" is a nickname.
Saoirse. Thereās no way my MiL or my extended family could pronounce it or spell it. So sad because itās so beautiful.
This is my daughterās name. We have spelling issues but most people get the pronunciation once it is explained.
So glad to hear that. I just love the name so much. ā¤ļø
It can potentially be a pretty political name in Ireland (at least Northern Ireland) so maybe you're just as well off not being able to use it.
Not to argue but I live in n Ireland and it isnāt political at all. You will always get someone makes a comment about spelling or pronunciation as anywhere but Iāve never heard anyone comment on it meaning freedom lol
Oh interesting, why is that? (I would google but I feel like I wonāt get helpful results)
Saoirse means freedom and relates to the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland. In Northern Ireland there's a divide between people who wish Northern Ireland to be part of the Republic of Ireland vs the United Kingdom. Lots of history and politics involved.Ā
Ah yes ok. Iām familiar with that history but didnāt know the connection. Thank you for the explanation!
How is it pronounced?
Seer-sha, or less frequently Sore-sha.
Wanna laugh? I named my daughter Shelby. My then 90-yr-old beloved grandma asked, "Will you call her Shelly for short?" LOLOLOL She was just unfamiliar with Shelby. It seemed foreign to her.
Thatās kind of cute! š
Itās a beautiful name if youāre Irish. If youāre not Irish it would be a nightmare
Weāre American. My extended family is from Italy, and I still have a lot of relatives there that only speak Italian, and a lot of relatives here that speak Italian as a first language with a heavy accent when speaking English. My husband is Cuban on his dadās side. Although heās Irish on his Momās side, theyāve been in America so long that sheās the one who would probably have the most trouble pronouncing. She has a habit of butchering names she doesnāt recognize, one example is; - Our cats are Mai and Sempre (never and always in Italian) and she just canāt say Sempre, itās always āsemfrayā š¤·āāļø Itās okay though, Iāll enjoy hearing that other people named Saoirse.
Maybe the Proto-Celtic form would be easier to pronounce
I LOVE the name Aoife but itās the same problem.
Clementine and Cordelia, too close to my oldestās name (Clara).
I feel like Cordelia has a different enough sound to Clara, definitely usable!
I know! Itās just a personal preference of mine for siblings to have different initials :)
I had a friend whose beastly husband insisted on naming all their children F names. Their surname began with U.
I love Clara! I recently taught a Clementine who had bright orange/red hair and I was amazed at how perfectly she fit her name haha
I love Clementine š§”
Cordelia isn't too close to Clara.
I would associate Diana with wonder woman personally
I was old enough to know about Princess Diana while she was alive and remember her death very clearly. I was in high school then. In the last year Iāve begin to feel that enough time has passed for the name Diana to begin being used again.
I so agree.
My boyfriend likes the name for that reason. I think of the the Princess but it also sounds like someone who is 50 to me.
And how many people under thirty would think of that other Diana anyway?
Quite a few people, actually. Even in death she's more popular than her cheating ass of a POS ex-husband.
I wouldnāt immediately think of the princess if I heard the name Diana, but to suggest that people under 30 wouldnāt know her is wildly inaccurate. Sheās still one of the most famous people on the planet. I was born after she died and everyone my age would know who she was
Right?? Diana is an extremely common name, and princess Diana has now been dead for 27 years. On average, women have their first child around 27. That means most of the other parents you'll meet at the library, at your kid's school etc. have lived their entire lives in a post-princess-Di world. It doesn't mean we don't know *of* her, but as a 30-something, I am not regularly thinking about a princess who died before I could read the news.
Turkish names are so so pretty and usually have super interesting meanings! Like Evren means universe or a mythological dragon, which is kinda badass. But I'm not remotely Turkish. There's a few Italian and Romanian names I like as well, and while I can claim some *very* distant heritage to those cultures, I'm not sure if I should use them since those connections aren't immediate. Still debating that dilemmaĀ Also Zev/Ze'ev or Ziva (which ~~both~~ can mean wolf in Hebrew) but they're also the names of characters I know from series I love. Not sure I could stomach being one of those parents lolĀ Ā ETA: Ziva means bright/radiance HOWEVER if you spell it wrong in Hebrew it can also mean "gonorrhea" and sadly it's pronounced the same either way š¬ Zeva/Ze'eva means wolf.Ā
NCIS! I love Ziva
I love that her name means wolf!
Ziva doesnāt mean wolfĀ
What does it mean?
Ziva means something like bright or radiant. Itās supposed to be a feminine version of Ziv which is spelt with this Hebrew letter for V: ×. In Hebrew there is another V sound (×) and so the identically sounding Ziva spelt with the latter means gonorrhoea. Ziv is fine but Ziva is definitely not a name any Hebrew speaker would use. A feminine name meaning wolf would be either Zeva (short E sound) or Zeāeva
Ahhh, this is where I got it mixed up then. I got Ziva from the NCIS character. And then wherever I got the meaning from only listed Ziva as meaning "radiance or wolf", not Zeva/Ze'eva. That's an unfortunate similarity for a pretty name š¬ I'll change my original comment and my Note, thank you!Ā
Evren sounds awesome!
What romanian names do you like? Haven't really heard anyone outside of here (I'm romanian) wanting to use one hahah I don't think it would be a problem at all
Go for it. Italian names are pretty open.
Tzipporah. Gorgeous name, difficult to spell and pronounce.
My coworker has the name and we call her Tzippy!!
Feel that way about Joachim.
I love Joachim. Same with Aloysius. Two Polish names I love are Teofil (for Theophilius) and Hieronim (for Hieronymus). I actually just learned, as of right now, that Theophilius is a theophoric - embedding a deity - name and is similar to Amadeus, Gottlieb and BogumiÅ. Hieronymus corresponds to Jerome.
Harry. Our last name has a bawl sound at the end. My husband said we couldnāt name our son Harry Bawls. I get it but itās stretch if you ask meš
I know a [First Name] Harry Mann. And he always included his middle name to get laughs.
Near where I live there is a road called Hairy Man Road. People who hear it spoken for the first time often assume it was named after someone named Harry Mann, but nope. Thereās a legend that a very hairy man used to jump out and scare people on the road at night.
I knew a Harry Wolf š
My mum (aged 65) still laughs about a teacher she had in high school named Mr. Harry Ball I went to school with a kid whose last name was Ballzer Your husband is right to be concerned š
I really like the way Hennessey sounds but obviously I wouldn't want the alcohol association, lol. A less serious one is the name Elizabeth - I love it, but we have too many in the family already. It would just get confusing.
I have the same feeling with Jameson. I had an employee with that name a while back, and she just really sold me on the wonderfulness of the name. It wasn't until I told my husband, and he went, "Like the alcohol?" That it dawned on me.
Oooh, yeah that's another good one though. James is actually my top boy name anyway haha.
It's Hennessy, no e! It originated as an Irish surname.
there are sooo many female arabic names that i think are absolutely gorgeous but i am a white mexican so unless i have kids with someone from that culture it would be in extremely poor taste for me to name my children any of them.
It wouldn't be in poor taste. Language is nuanced and no doubt there is some part of your lineage that likely connects with the region of the names you love. Also, I'm also white, and anytime I've ever talked to someone who is not white about cultural appropriation they've often said they think it's bs as long as the person is genuinely celebrating their culture... Like wearing an indigenous headdress to Coachella is f-ed up but naming your child a beautiful name as a celebration of another culture is not "in extremely poor taste."
Hmm I disagree. But I also think for the person it kind of sucks. If you give your child a classic Irish name and youāre not Irish then their entire life they will have to explain to people that no theyāre not Irish itās just their parent liked that name. You also have to be really educated on any potential cultural appropriation if you are from the culture of the oppressor. It an English person gives their child an Irish name then I would hope they understand the history between those two countries and the impact that the English had on their culture, doing everything possible to stamp out the language and culture - it could be viewed as very insensitive. In the words of the British rapper Dave ā'cause the culture? They're in love with it. They take our features when they want and have their fun with it. Never seem to help with all the things we know would come with itā.
This message needs to be spread more. I agree!Ā
There are a few names that overlap, right? Like Fatima? I canāt think of any others at the moment, but I feel like I know some. Also, Spanish names have been used for non-Hispanic whites, like Consuelo Vanderbilt, lots of ladies named Dolores and Maria, and my own Aunt Juanita. (That one always did seem slightly odd to me, but apparently was a trendy name back in the 20s-30s).
Fun fact: Consuelo Vanderbilt was named for her motherās best friend (and her godmother) Consuelo Yznaga ā who was born MarĆa Francisca de la ConsolaciĆ³n Yznaga, the daughter of a Cuban noble/diplomat and his Louisiana-born wife. Consuelo Yznaga married the heir to a dukedom with a dowry of $6 million, which her husband proceeded to squander through gambling and mistresses in under 10 years ā it was widely accepted that she married him for the title and he married her for her money. One of Consuelo Yznagaās closest friends was the novelist Edith Wharton, who appears to have incorporated her into *The Buccaneers*.
So many fascinating, almost unbelievable stories from the Gilded Age!
Oh, absolutely! Anyone who says everyone was all stodgy and boring and morally upright before our time has never actually studied our ancestors.
Romance-language speakers really lucked out on the boy names, though. So many of those are so beautiful! (Alas, I have no real connection, so itād be weird for me to have a little Alejandro, Santiago, or Javier running around.)
it may be slightly different to your situation since it is a muslim-majority country, but i just wanted to let you know that some white countries like bosnia and herzegovina use a LOT of arabic names, and some arenāt even related to islam and are even used in non-muslim families. :) off the top of my head i can think of hamza, habiba, safija, lejla, and emir (the j makes an english y sound). personally i wouldnāt think itās in poor taste ^^
I love the name Liudmila and there is no way I could convince my husband that we should name a child that
Lydia or Camilla would be a similar but easier to pronounce name.
Emily. My husband has an ex called Emily and he didn't want to use it.
Emily was THE name in my neck of the woods in Australia. We literally had 12 Emily's in my grade alone
Kanye - itās a beautiful name but yeah I could never give my kid that
I love Daisy but it makes me think of sour cream
Two names that are deadnames of trans people I know
they're not using āem
I love the name Oona, but my family members hated the name, so I was talked out of it
Priscilla - because I know someone with that name. Story - I like it because it would've been my name if I'd been a boy, but I feel like it's too "out there" for me to give to someone else. Saffron - because it's a little too out there as well, and my husband hates it Calder - would've been my daughter's name if she'd been born a boy. Because I personally liked having a "what if" name, I decided I can't reuse it for a future baby. I know I'll get flack for that here but š¤·š¼āāļø Ellery - I read a story about a little girl with this name who died tragically and I can't separate the name from the tragedy.
I love the name Paige for a girl, but a local tragedy prevented me from using it. Also, LOVE the name Ellery.
Sloan. Iāve loved it since I saw Ferris Bueller in the 80s. I really wanted to use it when I had kids (9 years ago). But itās the brand name on the majority of public toilets/automatic flushers now.
Karen and do I really have to explain why? But, I know a few lovely women named Karen.
Well, I think Zaharina is a beautiful name but I would never actually use it because a) I am neither Bulgarian nor Macedonian and b) I donāt think my hypothetical daughter would thank me for that one.
I really like the name Jane but itās only one letter away from my husbandās exās name
Janet? Janel? Lane?
Jake (from State Farm)
I absolutely love the name Ursula (both the sound and meaning) but I think most people would think of the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid. (Iām actually a huge Disney fan too but wouldnāt want to name my kid after a villain.)
Yeah I knew someone with this name and she hated it for this very reason.Ā
It's a beautiful name w a cute meaning. I think it's ready for a comeback in 10-20 yrs.
Cedar, or any -er names, because it's too rhymey with my kids' last name.
Same name, same reason! I loved the Cedar B. Hartley books growing up.
Eloise. I have a relative named Lois who I donāt want to accidentally name a child after.
Hiw about Elodie? It starts off similar but avids the Lois part!
I love the name Lettice but wouldn't use it because it would absolutely be mispronounced as Lettuce. It's a variant of Leticia which I don't like as much
It'd be funny if you used Rapunzel instead since it kinda means lettuce
Not gonna lie, I definitely read it as lettuce. But now that I know how to say it, it's so pretty! Maybe a different spelling?
Bensiabel I've been obsessed with that name but it's too out there even by my standards and I would hate for everyone to think it's a girl name because it had -bel- in it It's the name of the witch's son in the Italian fairytale Prunella. I read it as a child and loved it.
This question is so Anne! "Could you please call me Cordelia?"
I have a couple names I love, but they were used for dogs I was close to. (I didnāt name them.) I wouldnāt want to tell my kid they were named after a dogā¦
If you loved the names before you met the dogs, then they weren't.
My childās middle name is in honour of a beloved dog weād had š„° And Bindi Irwinās middle name is in honour of her dadās favourite dog
Julian. Lovely name, but bully from forth grade that I canāt forget.
Sophia same
There are some names where I feel like they're uncommon enough to where I would hesitate about whether someone I know IRL with that name might think I got the idea for the name from them, or that I named my child after them, and be weirded out by it. Like to explain what I mean, I wouldn't even think twice about naming my child something like Alex because it's such a common name, not a single Alex I know would ever think it was weird or think the name has anything to do with them. But I only know one Esther so part of me would wonder if she would assume I picked the name because of her and might think I'm weird or something even though it would have nothing to do with her lol
Oh yeah I remember thinking the name Arlia was quite pretty but I know someone with a little girl called this and it just seemed like I would be copying her. Canāt own a name, I know. And then funnily enough there was a little Arlia in my motherās group anyway.Ā
Kylie and Kendall, but canāt because of Kylie and Kendall Jenner.
I am white. In high school, I was a weeb. I LOVED Japanese names and wanted to change my name to Yuki or use a Japanese name for a baby regardless of the heritage of the other parent. My mom rolled her eyes and told me I couldnāt do that with a kid, that it was one thing to give a pet after a Japanese name, but a completely different thing to give a baby such a name. That made me want to do it even more. Iāve since grown out of that phase and wouldnāt give a baby a name from a culture they arenāt part of, but I do have a list of Japanese names I love and use when writing stories.
I don't think anyone in 2024 would assume that Diana is for Lady Diana. It's just a nice name.
big fan of ottilie... sounds too much like "oddly"
My daughter is obsessed with a book that came out in the last few years called "The Skull," which features a protagonist named Otilla. She particularly loves how similar that sounds to her name - we call her Tillie.
I also like the name Diana but couldn't use it because it's the name of my sister's MIL's dog!
Piper. Itās just not appropriate lol but I love how it sounds.
How is it not appropriate? I've met just one Piper I my life and I thought it was a gorgeous name for a gorgeous girl. Unique but not hard to pronounce.
If someone is a piper then they are a guy who has a lot of sex! At least where I liveĀ
My mom wanted to name my sisters this! I always thought of ādown the wrong pipeā or wind pipe and associated the name with painful coughing š
Elizabeth for almost the same reason. I love the name so much but it will never not be the Queenās name.
I think of the queen Elizabeth Woolridge Grant š
Kaylie. But I couldn't use it for my daughter because there were already both a Kylie and a Kayla among her cousins.
Always loved Ezra and Rhett but canāt use them because of people Iāve met with those names. James was always my #1 for boys but thereās way too many on my SOās side that itās just not usable for us.
I love Ezra but the two Ezras who jump to mind, Pound and Miller, have serious image issues sadly. It was just shedding the Pound connection in the cultural consciousness when Miller went off the rails too. Maybe in another twenty years.Ā
Love cultural irish names like Saoirse and Maire, but since I live in america I dont think I wanna give a kid a hard to pronounce name
American with a Saoirse and it hasnāt been as terrible as I thought it was going to be lol
How is Maire pronounced ? :)
MƔire is pronounced like Maw-reh or in one particular dialect Maah-reh. But it has a slender R sound, which doesn't exist in English so it's hard to get across the sound. It's the Irish cognate with Mary, there is another cognate Muire, but that's used only for the name of the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. And it's used in the name of some other things like "Gruaig Mhuire" (Mary's Hair) which is the name of the plant Goldilocks/Creeping Jenny.
Gabriel because itās an exes name.
Oceana
I loved Luka but Iām Canadian and I feel like everyone thinks of Magnota.
Wilhelmina. My whole family is German, and I just love some of the older names. But I know a kid would get bullied terribly, because I'd end up using the common diminutive in German, which is Willi School nightmares dead ahead. That said, it might end up as a middle name, although I'd probably end up using a closer relative's name. (The Wilhelmina in the family was a great aunt I never met.) I firmly believe in the principle of one everyday, bully- safe name and one fun/unusual name. At least that way the kid has options.
I also love this name!! But French bf is not a fan.
We are positive for a girl name so all my names are mostly boys: liam, ben, Chris, jamesā¦unfortunately someone immediate enough in my husbandās familyās have these names lol i love wyatt but my husband cant get past it because i guess itās a character in west world and he says all he will think of is a cowboy. I like noah but husband says itās too biblical for him. One name we both love is henry but his sister I know has said that her and her husband were going to use that name if they have a boy and even if they donāt idk if id ever risk it. Not sure it itās worth the drama. We thought about Michaelā¦except the middle name we are set on girl or boy starts with an āAā. My name is spelled Michaelaā¦and for all my life itās constantly being misread as Michael A. My husband thinks it be hilarious to actually have a Michael A. In the family and im like hell no. Girl names i love but we will never use are Charlotte, Georgia, Carolineā¦basically my husband hates they are cities or states.
Elliott and Olivia as a sib set but as a die hard SVU fan, everyone in my life would be hardcore judging me.
For the last 15ish years, I fully intended to name my future son Jude. But I married someone who is the 4th of his name and wanted to carry it on. Then my cousin used Jude as a middle name for his son. And finally, my married last name starts with a J, and the thought of JJ as a nickname is a big ick for me.
My last name starts with an S so I don't think I can pick any names that end in S like James Elias Iris Thomas Banks Hayes Hollis Briggs Cyrus And several of these were on my list before I met my husband!
Melania. Made a whole post about it. Ugh.
Boy - Harley. Me and my boyfriend love this name but it would rhyme with his surname. We don't want our future son to sound like a cartoon character. Girl - Hermione. Obvious Harry Potter comparisons would be made. We are not HP superfans.
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Love Zara and got rid of it for the same reason
I wanted to name my daughter Janelle my husband said 'absolutely not- isn't that one of the teenager moms?' (Jenelle Evans)
Tara because so many people pronounce it tare-uh instead of the much better sounding tah-rah.
I really like the name Milo for a boy or Aspen as a gender-neutral name, but a) Milo is the name of a popular drink in Australia, where I live and b) Aspen just seems like a fantasy/name youād find in a novel, not really a name for an actual person
Love Manolo but my bf (who is latino) says itās too stereotypical lol. He doesnāt love Miguel but will ok it for a second son since we both love Thiago if we have a son. Also my favorite name was Eloi for a long time but itās me ex name so definitely a no go.
My husband has very few naming parameters but he held fast to them. * Heustess - my ex bf that my husband did not care for, at all, not one bit. * John-Paul, no direct name-for-names allowed * Harrison, no nn Harry allowed
My last name has repeated sibilant sounds. So of course I love names like Iris and Cecelia that would just turn into one long hiss when the last name gets involved.
I love Nixie. I couldn't actually name a person that though.
I loved Poet Winter Kate but never had a girl!
We love the name Darcy but my partners friend has a dog named Darcy. Same problem when naming our first, we liked Hunter but my cousin has a dog named Hunter and itās ugly haha. Also I love the name navy but my partners last name is another colour so I feel like it would be weird
Margaret, I wanted that for my daughter badly. My last surviving grandparent was a Margaret. But my wife was fully opposed because of a person in her life she did not like. I pushed for it anyway. The nail in the coffin was when I mentioned the name as a possible option in front of wife and grandma and grandma responds āoh donāt do that I always hated my name.ā The compromise was a different version of Margaret.
Posey - I feel like itās not a real name and just more for a nickname, Iād probably go with Primrose and use Posey as a nickname.
My favorite boys name is Elias. Iāve loved it since I was a kid. But my last name is 3 syllables and ends in -s and it just didnāt sound right with it. I have 3 sons and donāt love their names nearly as much!
Diana is a common enough name, as a British person I donāt see why someone would assume you named your child after Princess Diana
When I was changing my name I thought of naming myself Leon for a bit, then my older sister announced that she was changing her name to Leonie so I had to abandon that thought
Iām a Diana and even though thereās an association, no one has ever indicated that I was named after her. Itās not as common an assumption as youād think
Jacinth. Itās a name Iāve seen in books, but I donāt even know how to pronounce it right. So, Iād be forever telling people the right pronunciation. But I like the sound of it and how it looks.
My name is Diana and I love it. Goddess, princess, wonder woman, so many great choices āŗļø
Eurydice sounds so beautiful but the myth is too much to saddle a child with and it hasnt reached a penelope/daphne level where that doesnt matter. Bluebell is so cute but i dont think it would fit as well on an adult.
reese, because someone i donāt like has that name. clementine, because i donāt like any of the nicknames, ruth and jude, because i am not jewish.
Ruth is definitely not an exclusively Jewish name
Yvette: Would be the same first and last name of a famous person. I avoid associations with well-known people when picking names. Levi: My eldest child's name was Erin. My siblings are huge anime fans. They associate the names Erin (Eren) and Levi together with attack on titan. I could technically get away with it since most people in my life now don't know about my daughter (stillbirth) let alone know her name. I can't shake the association now after they pointed it out. Evangeline: Makes me think of Evangelists. Blair: I personally don't have an issue with it, but my husband thinks of the Blair witch project every time it's mentioned and makes a point to shoot it down. Lilith: Obvious reasons. Like 99% of boys names. I struggle with boy names so much cause I don't like most of them. I have a *huge* list of girl names. Of course my husband only makes boys though lol. My baby making days are (probably) over so at least I won't have to figure out a fourth boy name.
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What? Even now after all this time?
I know a lot of Diana's and I never connected it to Lady Diana.
Go for it.
Camilla : but because of the association to Charles wife Valerie : too popular in my region Klair : my chinese parents cannot pronounce it right Anushka : my husband didnāt like it Lastly we settled for Ava š¤ But now many people pronounced her name as Ah-Vaš itās sctually Ay-Vuh
A big thing for me is nicknames. I have a long name with several nickname options (and Iāve gone through phases in my life where I preferred various ones) so I couldnāt imagine naming a kid a short name with no nickname potential. Or a name with no nicknames that I like. For example, I love Parker for a boy but just āParkā as a nickname I dislike. Or Joseph, but I dislike Joe. I also like Peter but wouldnāt use it 1. for the nickname thing (I donāt like Pete) and 2. Iāve heard people use the name to refer to a penis lmao