Children's Names

Emily was named for the Pink Floyd song 'See Emily Play'.  Elizabeth is a family name on both sides, and Molly was the only name that was on all four(Mine, James' Emily's and Lizzy's) of our baby name lists.

I grew up with a name no one had ever heard (until the world's worst tv show) so feel quite strongly about chosing traditional names.   

Eve is a nice name. I have an aunt Evelyn who goes by Eve. I also like old family surnames as middle names. My aunt Eve, for instance, has Russell for a middle name. That was my great grandmother's maiden name. My uncle Geoff's middle name is Meyrick, the other great grandmother's maiden name. And my poor uncle Roland (RIP) was stuck with Gay for a middle name -- my grandmother's maiden name.

My middle name is Zeenat, a Muslim name. My dad is Muslim, so he chose it. I also have an aunt on that side of the family with the same name. It's sort of morphed into a nickname of Zizi, which is what most people call me -- even though my first name is Helen (another "old lady" name).

Speaking of weird names, I went to college with someone actually named Suzy Sunshine.

Speaking of weird names, I went to college with someone actually named Suzy Sunshine.

Now that's just cruel.

Marilyn Manson's fiancee, whose stage name is Dita von Teese, has the legal name of Heather Sweet.  Her father had wanted to call her 'Candy', but her mother thought 'Candy Sweet' as a stripper's name.  Heather became a stripper.

We had clients at a firm I worked for in the US who had 3 boys - including a set of twins.

Their names were:  Richard, Rick and Ricky.

Honest.  I swear - I saw their birth certificates...

Their names were:  Richard, Rick and Ricky.

That's nearly as bad as George Foreman's kids!

I like different names.  I had a whole slew of old lady names but my husband vetoed all of them.  He didn't like any of the Irish names and his family is Irish.  We had an agonizing time choosing names for our two.

My daughter is Sandelyn Margaret and my son is Jared Julius James.

My daughters name is Sidney Claudette.  My husband hated the name Sidney because he assumed it was only for boys, but I told him over and over again that there are girls in the U.S named "Sidney" even his whole family asked me why I wanted to name our daughter a boys name, but I loved the name and was not budging.  I didn't like Sydney with two Y's.  I let him choose the middle name Claudette after his deceased sister, I didn't like the name Claudette but I admit I really like it as "Sidney Claudette" and I know that is holds a special meaning.

Or naming kids things that are clearly not meant to be names -- Chardonnay, for instance. GAG.

I have an aquaintance who named his daughter Isabelle Syrah (he owned a wine bar) and when she was a tiny baby he insisted on calling her Petite Syrah. 

Or naming kids things that are clearly not meant to be names -- Chardonnay, for instance. GAG.

Oh yes... I remember reading about little Chardonnay. Blech!

I love many of the names you people have listed on here... you folks have great taste.

I'm definitely choosing real, classic names for my future children... you can't go wrong with the classics. Not trendy, not place names, not last names and not misspelled -- just real names.

You also have to choose names carefully if you're raising dual nationality children... some names that work in the US are weird in the UK or have bad associations (eg, Kevin is considered a chav name), and would set them up for alot of teasing, so make sure you get lots of opinions first!

Right now there seems to be a trend in the US to name your daughter Nevaeh, or "heaven" spelled backwards. Now THAT makes me want to gag. I also really don't understand the current obsession with Madison (Madysyn, Mydissyn, etc) in the US... it's not even a real girls' name, yet it's topped the charts for years now... and unfortunately it's spreading here too!  Make it stop!

Right now there seems to be a trend in the US to name your daughter Nevaeh, or "heaven" spelled backwards. Now THAT makes me want to gag. I also really don't understand the current obsession with Madison (Madysyn, Mydissyn, etc) in the US... it's not even a real girls' name, yet it's topped the charts for years now... and unfortunately it's spreading here too!  Make it stop!

I hate Madison, too! It's a street, not a girl!!

I can't believe the Nevaeh thing. That's absurd. And cruel. Some people should not be allowed to breed.

I agree with those of you who dislike weird spellings.  I know parents are trying to make their kids unique, but come on!  Emily = EmmaLeigh, Hayley = Heylee, Lydia = Lideah, Jason = Jaysun, etc (these are all real names I encountered as a teacher).  Doing that a) makes life difficult for the kids when learning to spell and b) makes the parents look like complete idiots.  

I agree with those of you who dislike weird spellings.  I know parents are trying to make their kids unique, but come on!  Emily = EmmaLeigh, Hayley = Heylee, Lydia = Lideah, Jason = Jaysun, etc (these are all real names I encountered as a teacher).  Doing that a) makes life difficult for the kids when learning to spell and b) makes the parents look like complete idiots.  

Yeah, not only that, it makes parents look like they can't spell properly. And no, a different spelling does not make a name more unique. Emmah-Leeigh will just be one of a dozen other Emily's in the class... the only thing that will make little Emmah-Leeigh unique will be the fact that she'll be the one who always has the bother of having to spell her name out!

I hate Madison, too! It's a street, not a girl!!

It's the whole 'surname as forename' trend.  As if that's so 'unique'.  Gag.  Gender ambigous as well.  

My husband is forever amazed at currently popular American forenames , the vast majority of which he considers unbelievably daft.  I have to agree w/him on that.

We had a student last year called Armani.  I kid you not.  His twin brother was Bryce.  They are identical and people just started calling them Armyce.

We had a student last year called Armani.  I kid you not.  His twin brother was Bryce.  They are identical and people just started calling them Armyce.

I can't tell you how girls named Chanel I have met. One of them was almost my age too.

I can't tell you how girls named Chanel I have met. One of them was almost my age too.

I hope we won't see a ton of little Chavettes named Burberry in a couple of years!