One of the best parts about Facebook is seeing the parade of baby names that comes across my feed, as friends far and wide share pics of their adorably wrinkled newborns. I love the new trendy names (Ava), I love the classics (Elizabeth), I love the fun nicknames (Izzy!), and I love puzzling over the daring choices (Megan is one of the most bold choices I’ve seen recently. Megan!).
Just for fun, here are some of the names that I have heard recently:
- Cora (on a reddish-hued lass to boot. Sweet.)
- Aurora, nicknamed Rory. Fantastic pairing of serious first name with a fun-loving nickname.
- Iris. Really fun to say. Although Iris Hegg would be “Irish Egg” so you can see why we didn’t use that one!
- Meredith. Delighted to see this awesome name chosen by some friends for their girl.
- Olga. Seriously folks. Just think about it. Olga. I love it!
Now that we safely have our two girls, I’ll share our much argued over but unused boy name: Milo Foss. We had a hard time giving up on Foss (which was Adam’s grandpa’s middle name), so much so that we almost gave it to Blythe. Maybe we’ll name our next cat Milo Foss.
Our girl name runner-up was Orla. Orla June, possible nickname: O.J. Sigh. Never to be! You either love or hate Orla. I was put off when I read about the possible nicknames Whore-la and Oral. Pass!
Baby Orla June? Naah. I don’t think it would have suited her.
My boy-name (the name I would have had if I was a boy) was Jake. My parents also considered Carrie and Jocelyn before settling on Breanne.
We’re very happy with our girls names but commiserate with parents in that although it is very fun to think about names in the abstract, it’s much more difficult to select one for your child!
What were your back-up names, or what names are you loving?
P.S. Welcome to the world, babies born this week: Evander, Isaac, and Wyatt! Congratulations dear friends!
P.S. from Jen
When we named Owen it was something around the 130th most popular boy name; last year it was 38th. It is such a great name that I’m not surprised, but as one of dozens of Jennifers graduating in 1992, I liked the idea of a less-common name.
When we chose Noah’s name, I was more concerned with choosing a two-syllable name that could not be nick-named than popularity. Once I settled on Noah, it’s place on the top-10 list would not dissuade me. I can’t think of another name that would suit him so perfectly!
Hi, Breanne. I am a friend of the Tonneson’s but love ready both yours and Jen’s blog posts. I love names too! It’s one of the best things of having babies!
If I were inclined to ever change my mind, my 20 year old Brianna Kary would have been Dakota. If she were a boy, she would have been Jordan Cole. She’s gone through a series of “I wish you would have named me XXX”, none of which I would have remotely considered, but I think she’s happy with Brianna.
Thankfully our next two were boys because we were very decided on them. Trey Francis was named for my husband Terry and his dad Fran. If he had been a girl, he would have had Erin in the name (in memory of a dear friend). I liked either Erin Sophia or Erin Isabella, but would have used the middle name as the main name. My husband didn’t like that idea, but I didn’t like the two “a” sounds together when flipping them. My Jensen David would have been Jensen whether he was a boy or a girl. Jensen is my mom’s maiden name, and David is in memory of my husband’s brother. The girl option would have been Jensen Kate (Kate after my husband’s grandma).
I love names and learning how people choose the names they do. Thanks for the great post!
Thanks for sharing the story of your kids’ names! I’m glad your Brianna likes her name — she gets to share the great nickname Bri/Bre with me, which is my favorite part of my name. Dakota sounds like such a different person! I love your boys’ names and their stories. I love working in a tribute to someone in a name… It’s nice to have a reason for a name beyond that you liked it.
We are plume out of names so we had better stop at two. 🙂
Thanks for your nice words!