Baby Name Discussion: Names that First Come to Mind

132 Replies

I dreamed last night that I was in the hospital, in labor, with a baby I hadn’t realized I was going to have. Of course my mind skipped right over all the other details (how did this happen? do we have a car seat? why is this hospital room so enormous and luxurious?) and went directly to “What will we NAME the baby?” In real life, I’d call someone to bring me a baby name book and a notepad; in the dream, I had to come up with names off the top of my head.

For boys, the names that first came to mind: Oliver, Henry, George, Charlie. (Henry is the pseudonym of my fifth child; it was very close to being his name, and I’d be glad for another chance to use it.)

For girls, the names that first came to mind: Genevieve, Penelope, Annabel, Clarissa.

What are the first names that come to your mind, if you imagine needing to name a baby on short notice? No consulting lists or baby name books! Just write down the ones you would think of if you were alone in your hospital room. (I didn’t cheat, and you can see in the comments section how repeatedly sorry I was.)

132 thoughts on “Baby Name Discussion: Names that First Come to Mind”

      1. Maree

        Seriously??? I have a Naomi and John and I thought I was being different :)

        Two good names but I have never met another of either in the under 5 age group.

        Reply ↓
  8. estella

    Lavinia, Augusta, and Theodora/Theodosia!

    Frederick, Arthur, George!

    This is assuming I have sole naming rights, without my husband’s input :)

    Reply ↓
  11. Susan

    Michael Alexander nickname Max was our backup boy name for our last baby, so I imagine that’s the only name I’d be able to think of.

    I’m drawing a complete blank for girl names. Emmeline Louise, nicknamed Emmylou, maybe? Or Auden Thomasina, the name that we didn’t have the courage to use for an earlier, much more traditionally named, daughter.

    Reply ↓
  12. Isa

    When I did the exercice the names that came to mind was mostly names from my name list for a potential future sibling to my daughter.

    Ella, Lily, Alma, Adelaide, Adele, Mattea, Thea, Vivienne, Michaela.

    Noah, Oliver, Oscar,Theodor.

    Reply ↓
  13. alix

    Alone in my room with a fresh baby? Hmmm…
    Girls!
    Darwin “Winnie”
    August
    Amelie
    Everett
    Maple
    Mabel
    ?????? all of them ??????

    Boys!
    Wilder
    Oisin
    Bronwyn
    Fable
    Abel
    Atlas
    Ezra
    oh god, I’ll never be able to name this child!

    Reply ↓
      1. alix

        I never really cared for Everett – much preferred Emmett – but I’ve called my grandmother “Retsy” my entire life and I recently had a gut punch and falling in love with the possibility of using it. I worry Merritt would lead to Mary and ANYWAYS lots of thought for first-to-your-head hypothetical baby!

        Reply ↓
    2. alix

      So, I already have “combos” for names I love…

      Wilder Bronwyn
      Oisin Fox
      Fable Augustin

      Darwin Clara
      Everett Birdie
      River Amelie

      Lord.

      Reply ↓
  14. kgd

    Josephine (Posy), Eloise, Henrietta (Hattie), Norah!

    August, Otto, Montgomery, Graham!

    (This is my “surprise, you just had octuplets” scenario…I couldn’t choose just one)

    Reply ↓
    1. Sarah Goldie J

      I recently got married and went from Sarah Ashley G0ldberg to Sarah Goldie J0hnson! I love that someone else loves Goldie!

      My top names would be Gabriella Goldie, Penelope, Nora, Cameron (for a boy), Noah, Charlie and Archer.

      Reply ↓
  23. April

    Now I’ve read all of the comments, I have many more in my “first list”! ;) Actual list:

    Girls:
    Lydia, Eliza, Clara, Rose, Catherine

    Boys:
    Caleb, Simon, William, Maxwell

    Reply ↓
  24. Candice

    Georgana, Rowena, Stella, Cassidy, Atlea

    Weston, Ivan, Hugh, Korbin, Gavroche

    I really tend to love names nobody else is inclined to pick.

    Reply ↓
  25. sarabean

    Mine aren’t quite as romantic as some listed, but I would go Molly Victoria or Lucy Guistina for girls. Charles or Oscar for boys.

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  26. Karen L

    Not even looking at the comments – YET!

    Do have have to have my husband’s agreement?
    If no:
    Ian, Malcolm, Graham, Reuben, Raphael
    Elspeth
    If yes:
    Benjamin, Gabriel, Aaron, Simon
    Rachel, Sarah, Anne

    The above assumes hypothetical baby would share the last name of my children. It is very hard to work with, especially for girls’ names. If not:
    Mary

    Reply ↓
  29. Beth C

    For girls, I immediately go to Cora and Adele, two names I couldn’t use for various reasons but still love, and Jane which was our backup name. Boys are harder–we named our son the only name we ever agreed on and never really thought about it again! If I had to name a boy right now…Noah, Finn, Declan, and Nathaniel come to mind.

    Reply ↓
  31. Yolihet

    Girls: Alexa, Amanda Zoé, Arya, Juliana and Eliza.
    Boys: Christopher and Alexander
    I have a lot of girl names I love not so many for boys. This was fun!

    Reply ↓
  32. Barb

    Boys: Calvin, Howard, Walter, Oscar. Different style, but Rachmaninoff nn Rocky (my husband’s name that got away).

    Girls: Mary, Catherine, Sue nn Susie, Rosemary, Marigold, Clara

    Reply ↓
  36. Kas

    Girls- Ivy, Freya, Eden, Willow, Eve & Cora

    Boys: Lawson, Flynn, Sutton, Hewston & Camden

    Camden was my number 1 choice for all 3 of my sons but its very similar to our surname so I couldnt use it! We just had our fourth and final baby, Im a little sad I wont get to use any of these names!

    Reply ↓
  38. megan

    A few with 3 names: Fiona Kate Louise, Lydia Grace Pearl,

    Then Alana or Elena, Elisabeth, Gemma, Cora/Cordelia/Corinne, Adeline

    Seth Augustus, Samuel Dalton, Andrew Jordan nn AJ, Henry, Evan, Blake

    Reply ↓
  41. Margaret

    This is kinda hard to do because I am currently pregnant, and thus already have names picked out for both sexes (Veronica and Alexander), plus backups (Isobel and Dominic). So, I’m going to pretend I already have children with those names and so have to scramble to pick new names for an unexpected baby number 7!

    Boys: Sebastian, Gregory, Benjamin, Gabriel

    Girls: Penelope, Anastasia, Felicity, Madeleine

    Reply ↓
  43. Ginny

    Edmund
    William
    Tobias

    Margaret
    Valerie

    Weird. My family and I have pretty much settled on gender-neutral names for our future kids, and so my long list of favorite gendered names has apparently left my head. I stared into space for a while trying to think of more, with no success.

    The unisex names are easy:
    Rowan
    River
    Kai
    Jules

    Reply ↓
  44. Kate

    A girl would unquestionably be Margaret, I have always loved the name AND it’s the name of my boyfriend’s beloved grandmother. For a boy? I honestly have no idea!

    Reply ↓
  45. Kate W.

    These are my favorite names that didn’t get chosen for our (still in utero) boy/girl twins, so they’re very much still on my mind:

    Girl: Beatrix, Juniper

    Boy: Dashiell, Calvin

    Reply ↓
    1. Meghan

      How is Maelle pronounced? I read it as “My-Elle”, just curious if there’s another way. It looks so pretty to me

      Reply ↓
      1. Matti

        I’ve heard it pronounced like Miley, but I imagine it’s pronounced differently in different families. I agree it’s a beautiful name.

        Reply ↓
  53. Sheri

    To go with my Afton Rhys:

    Carys Quinn
    Tamsin Blythe
    Freya Wren
    Violet Stirling
    Or some other combination of those names

    Malcolm Stirling- family connections for that one. Can’t really imagine another boy name combo

    Reply ↓
  54. Maureen

    Fun game! Forcing myself to make a very fast decision, I came up with Ruth for a girl and Theodore for a boy. Both of these names came up briefly when discussing names for our real-life children, but didn’t make it our Top Five Names or anything. Now I wonder if I do indeed like these names more than I gave them credit for…

    Reply ↓
    1. Lilly Handmade

      I wrote these without looking at the comments and they reminded me of a bunch of names that are on my list. Unfortunately my partner hates many of my favourite names. I suggested Hamish and his response was a spluttery ‘Are you KIDDING me?’

      Reply ↓
  58. Heidi J

    My list from top of my head, without looking at the comments.

    Boys: Miles, Peter, Blaise, Simon

    Girls: Miriam, Adele, Eva, Naomi, Magnolia

    Reply ↓
  60. Matti

    And why doesn’t this hospital have wifi? I need to reference Swistle’s website :)

    For a girl:
    Tabitha
    Sabina
    Beatrice
    Penelope

    For a boy:
    Eamon
    Edward
    Julian
    Arthur

    This is SO fun! I’m going to make my husband play this game later and scare the heck out of him ;)

    Reply ↓
    1. Tori

      Aww, our daughter is Tabitha & I so rarely see anyone mention her name. Even though I love it and we wanted something somewhat unique, it still surprises me how seldom it’s seen. I think you made my day! For the challenge, Tesslynne Angeline for a girl. John Benjamin for a boy.

      Reply ↓
      1. Matti

        I’m so glad! It’s my top girl name and I would love to use it some day. So cute. So spunky. Such great nicknames. So classy.

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  62. Laurel

    Boys – Darcy, Marty, Woody, Valentino, Kelly.
    Girls – Darcy, Willow, Esme, Midori, Jocelyn.

    I’ve had a similar dream to this twice and on both occasions my boyfriend named them in the dreams. Dream boyfriend chose Catharine Cecily Otylia (those spellings) and Casper Guy Valentino (but called Guy).

    Reply ↓
  64. Karen L

    So, I had noticed my daughter’s name, Margaret, was suggested 8 times already, so I started to wonder about other duplicates I wasn’t noticing. So I geeked out with a spreadsheet. 462 names were suggested , including duplicates. There are some complications. I counted nicknames and middle names as 0.5 to give them less weight, though I realise that this is not perfect at all. Also to keep in mind is that some people listed only one or two names and others listed a dozen or more. So for what is worth, here are the names that have been mentioned more than once:

    8 Margaret
    6 Benjamin
    6 Cora
    5 Arthur
    5 Isa/Isobel/le
    5 James
    5 William
    4.5 Alexander
    4.5 Charlie
    4.5 Claire
    4.5 Thomas
    4 Amelia
    4 Calvin
    4 Eliza
    4 George
    4 Henry
    4 Josephine
    4 Malcolm
    4 Mary
    4 Nora/h
    4 Penelope
    3 Adele
    3 Annabel/le
    3 Beatrice
    3 Catha/Cathe/Katherine
    3 Charles
    3 Declan
    3 Edward
    3 Eloise
    3 Emmaline/Emmeline
    3 Gabriel
    3 Grace
    3 Graham
    3 John
    3 Oscar
    3 Rosemary
    3 Theodor/e
    2.5 August
    2 Adelaide
    2 Anna
    2 Blake
    2 Camden
    2 Cordelia
    2 Freya
    2 Gemma
    2 Genevieve
    2 Helen
    2 Hugh
    2 Ian
    2 Jane
    2 Julian
    2 Juniper
    2 Lucy
    2 Lydia
    2 Naomi
    2 Noah
    2 Oliver
    2 Otto
    2 Paulina
    2 Peter
    2 Reu/Rueben
    2 Rosalie
    2 Simon
    2 Veronica
    2 Virginia
    2 Vivienne
    2 Walter
    2 Wyatt
    1.5 Augustin
    1.5 Clara
    1.5 Ford
    1.5 Pearl
    1.5 River
    1.5 Will
    1 Augustus (middle twice)
    1 Louise (middle twice)

    Reply ↓
    1. Karen L

      Now alphetically for easy searching
      2 Adelaide
      3 Adele
      4.5 Alexander
      4 Amelia
      2 Anna
      3 Annabel/le
      5 Arthur
      2.5 August
      1.5 Augustin
      1 Augustus
      3 Beatrice
      6 Benjamin
      2 Blake
      4 Calvin
      2 Camden
      3 Catha/Cathe/Katherine
      3 Charles
      4.5 Charlie
      4.5 Claire
      1.5 Clara
      6 Cora
      2 Cordelia
      3 Declan
      3 Edward
      4 Eliza
      3 Eloise
      3 Emma-/Emmeline
      1.5 Ford
      2 Freya
      3 Gabriel
      2 Gemma
      2 Genevieve
      4 George
      3 Grace
      3 Graham
      2 Helen
      4 Henry
      2 Hugh
      2 Ian
      5 Isa-/Isobel/le
      5 James
      2 Jane
      3 John
      4 Josephine
      2 Julian
      2 Juniper
      1 Louise
      2 Lucy
      2 Lydia
      4 Malcolm
      8 Margaret
      4 Mary
      2 Naomi
      2 Noah
      4 Nora/h
      2 Oliver
      3 Oscar
      2 Otto
      2 Paulina
      1.5 Pearl
      4 Penelope
      2 Peter
      2 Reu/Rueben
      1.5 River
      2 Rosalie
      3 Rosemary
      2 Simon
      3 Theodor/e
      4.5 Thomas
      2 Veronica
      2 Virginia
      2 Vivienne
      2 Walter
      1.5 Will
      5 William
      2 Wyatt

      Reply ↓
    2. Kay

      OMG! This is amazing! Thank you!

      Also–I almost mentioned Margaret myself. And I’m shocked that I’m the only person who listed Alice.

      Reply ↓
  65. megan

    Another fun one would be what names do you like but could never use because of some specific reason (wouldn’t go w other names, sister already used it) or no good reason (hate spelling, etc)

    Reply ↓
  66. Teej

    Well I had a very vivid dream last night where I was urging a friend to name her baby Lyle Coriander. Yep. So…I guess I am just fascinated that dreaming Swistle came up with such a lovely list that did not include any random seasonings.

    Reply ↓
  67. Annika

    Clarissa would go beautifully with Elizabeth’s real name.

    I know for sure what I would name another boy (Henry Howard and I’d probably call him Hank) and for maybe what I’d name a girl (Rose, but I love Katherine for a middle name and it doesn’t flow nicely with our last name, argh). But the name the got away is Margaret so maybe I’d use that? But Sammy, Gracie, and Rosie sounds so good. (Sammy, Gracie, and Hanky is a nonstarter though. Ack.)

    Reply ↓
  68. Borealis

    Rosamund, Margaret (Gretchen/Greta), Rowen, Tansy, Frances, Bethan

    Cairn, Sylvan, William, Linden, Tamarack, Hâkon

    Yep, I like R. Also, the girl names are all on the mental list, which doesn’t really need to be consulted it’s just there. The boys list is a bit more nebulous, except for Cairn, so those names are a bit more free floating, and some of them I probably wouldn’t actually use.

    Reply ↓
  69. Bkb

    I think about this question way too often. I think I’ve settled on Mae or Tessa for a girl. Tobias or Rory for a boy. I don’t know what I would name twin boys though, since I don’t think Rory and Tobias go together…

    Reply ↓
  72. Meg

    I am assuming in this scenario that I haven’t already looked at popularity/seen the movie Frozen…

    Girls:
    Isla, Elsa, Ana, Sonja, Freya, Vera, Zoë, Sloane, Vivienne, Neve

    If my last name didn’t start with ‘m’: Mila, Selma, Maren

    Boys:
    Arlo, Cameron, Smith

    If my last name didn’t start with ‘m’: Milo, Liam

    Reply ↓
  74. Kelsey D

    Mostly because I’m obsessed with names, as is my husband, we constantly talk about names so this was easy for me!

    Boys: Charles, Louis, Walter, Wells, Winston (I so love Winston but don’t like any of the shortened names)

    Girls: Stella, Thea, Pearl, Giada, Vienna

    Reply ↓
  75. Portia

    Boys: Theodore, Christopher, Robert, Graham

    Girls: Sophie, Cecilia, Amelia, Caroline, Cynthia

    I also had a dream once where I had a baby unexpectedly and had to name it. But my then-boyfriend had already named her Chloeella (like Chloe-Ella but all one word) and I was HORRIFIED. I had to deal with getting the birth certificate changed and for some reason I could only change it to a very limited selection of names. So I named her Marie Christina. Who knows why.

    Reply ↓
  76. Grace

    Daniel, Robert, Alexander, Harvey
    Georgina, Mary, Rebecca, Felicity, Edie

    This s quite fun, but I am quite tempted to cheat and pull up my list

    Reply ↓
  78. BSharp

    Oooh, I love this game.

    Marianne, Margaret, Rebecca, Julia, Theodora, Anne

    Paul, Samuel, Peter, Phillip, Benedict, Frederick

    Reply ↓
    1. BSharp

      Also Rosemary, Cecily, and Guinevere. I’m rather pickier about boy names, but I love Cole. I love Sirius but probably wouldn’t use it. But: Stars! Diana Wynne Jones! Maybe Cyrus instead?

      Reply ↓
  80. Lawyerish

    Ok, I’m not letting myself look at the comments section first to get ideas.

    Here are my top-of-the-head names, although of course my mind is going blank now.

    Boy: middle name would be James (it’s a family name). Top contender: Calvin James. Second choice: Frederick (nickname Freddie). I love the name Tobias, but it’s too many S-sounds with James + our last name.

    Girl: Not sure about the middle name, but maybe Ann because it’s my mom’s middle name. For the first name: Tabitha sprung immediately to mind. I also think Clementine would be adorable as a sister name to Felicity but maybe too much of a mouthful/trendy feel rather than being classic. (It’s basically impossible for me to like a girl name as much as I love the name Felicity, but as you often advise letter-writers, I am letting that go.) Elsie was my paternal grandmother’s name and I adore it. I worry about it being too close to Elsa and all the popular Ella/Ellie-type names, though. Helen was my other grandmother’s name, and I like it a lot too, but it doesn’t give me a soaring happy feeling like some of the others. I have always loved Annabelle. Love the name Georgia, but we know several girls Felicity’s age with the name so it feels a little derivative now. I might consider Mary. Very pretty and classic.

    Reply ↓
  81. Lawyerish

    ARRRGHHH, I just realized I forgot the name that I sometimes think would be worth having another baby just for the chance to use it: MILLICENT.

    Millicent and Felicity.

    COULD YOU DIE.

    Reply ↓
  83. Amanda

    My tops names if I had baby tomorrow and had to chose

    GIRL: Cordelia, Iris or Delta
    Middle Name: Mary

    BOY: Ace or Dawson
    Middle Name: Ross or Christopher

    I think all those above names suit our daughters Piper and Felicity.

    Reply ↓
  85. Emily

    Boys: Ira, Gary,
    Girls: (much easier for me!) Joan, Ruby, Evelyn, and also Harvey

    I just read Flora up above…that’s going to have to be added to my list!

    Reply ↓
  87. Laura

    For a girl: Marlowe, Mabel, Camille, Linden, Eloise, Cambrie, Antonia, Rachel, Audrey, Isla
    For a boy: Arie, Miles, Desmond, Cyrus, Spencer

    Reply ↓
  88. Kim

    To go with our son, Simon Alexander:

    Girls: Martha (nn Mari), Matilda (nn Millie), Celia, Annabel

    Boys: Malcolm, Archer, Arlo, Leo

    Reply ↓
      1. Carly

        I love Mirabel (but our niece is Isabella) and Aviva! Aviva is so beautiful. I also like Matilda, I work at a daycare in the infant room and we have a little Matilda that goes by Tilly!

        Reply ↓
  91. Becky

    Ruby, Willa, Marigold, Lyric, Matilda, Maisie, Anastasia, Naomi, Daisy, Beatrice, Hazel, Sage, Virginia (Middle only! This is my mother’s name, and it’s really grown on me over the years, but can’t truly imagine saddling a baby with a name that includes the word virgin.)

    Ephraim, Rowan, Samuel, Benjamin, Owen, Oliver, Indigo, Finn/Phineas, Griffin, Elijah

    Reply ↓
  92. Carol

    (without looking at the other comments, and taking into consideration my daughter’s name [Lucy]):

    Annora/Nora, Eliza, Anna, Katherine, Claire
    Nicholas, Josiah, Isaac, Henry, Jonah, Benjamin

    Reply ↓
  93. Jamie

    I had a similar dream once!In that particular dream, I had a baby girl and named her Kate Lucille.

    Anyway, names that first come to mind:
    Girls: Cora, Violet, Hannah
    Boys: Walden, James, Daniel

    Reply ↓
  94. Carmen

    I had to really be stern with myself, to make me scroll to the bottom and answer before reading the comments.

    Boys: Brennan, Julian (this list was immediate and took zero thought)
    Girls: Calla, Calliope (Callie), Penelope (Poppy) (this list took 10 minutes of hard thought and feels unfinished and not quite right)

    Clearly I have an easier time with boy names.

    Okay, now off to read the comments and wish that I’d thought of other things. :) Thanks for a fun thought exercise!

    Reply ↓
  95. Carly

    I am pregnant so this may be cheating as I think a lot about names currently!

    Jane, Alaina (Laney), Naomi, Fiona
    Teague, Simon, Nolan, Asher

    Reply ↓
  97. Winter

    What comes to mind for me is:
    Girls: Charlotte, Corisande, Pirene, Esclarmonde/Clarimonde, Belsante, Yseult, Arabella, Godeleve, Clariandra, Annunciata (my old password), Sativola (my old password), Innozentia (my old password), Crecentia, Sinope, Sophroniea, Elsie, Parthenia, Luna, Percephone, Hedwig, Ermintrude, Laurie, Robin, and Karen.

    Boys: Tancrede, Cynewulf, Agilulf, Cornelius, Sophronius, Boris, Otto, Casimir, Demethenes, Metrophenes, Aurelianus, Nicodemos, Cynemund, Carol, Robin, Kelvin, Morgan, Rolf, Rudolph, Adolf, Wolfric, Frank, Charles, Basil, Montmorency, Bearesford, Vivienne, Kimberley, Kester, and Shawn.

    Reply ↓
  98. Bonnie

    Girls: Susannah Denise and Charlotte Joy (both middle names have family meaning)
    Boys: Hudson Isaiah and Andrew James

    Reply ↓
  99. Amina

    I’m getting to this really late, but I had to chime in.

    Girls:
    Aurelia
    Josephine

    Boys:
    Rafael
    Walter

    In addition to separate names, I think they would make great first and middle combos: Aurelia Josephine and Rafael Walter. Only one is actually on my list: Aurelia.

    Reply ↓
  100. Melissa

    We are trying so baby names are really on my mind!

    Girls: Isla Ruth, Violet Eden, Verona Bliss, Avonlea Scout, Azelea Wren, Laurel Aspen, Luna Mae (pretty certain i will pair Mae with any of these because it’s a family name on both sides)

    Boys: Roman Lake, Everett Breck, Ephram Gray, Liam Denver, August Finn

    Wow this really helped me narrow them down and also pair them up with middle names easier!

    Reply ↓

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