My friend Mairzy and I first bonded over baby names. In fact, I’d say that if you include the “Hey, Mairzy! Hey, Swistle!” and the “See ya, Mairzy! See ya, Swistle!” as part of the conversation, our first chats were roughly 95% baby names. About right, Mairzy?
It’s still our favorite topic. We both own tattered copies of The Baby Name Wizard (Maizy’s is more tattered: she generously loans hers out, whereas I hoard mine like miser’s gold), and we like to page through them together, calling out opinions. Anyone seeing us in a coffee shop would assume that both of us were pregnant–and certainly we go into name overdrive when one of us IS. But baby names are not a pregnancy topic for us: they’re an ALWAYS topic.
We are interested in EVERYONE’S baby names. We have heard it many times, but we are still surprised when people say they “just chose” a name, as if it were not an activity involving piles of baby name books, hundreds of discussions, and multi-page lists. Not because it’s “necessary” to do it that way, but because it’s SO FUN. If choosing a baby name is a no-big-deal, boring task…perhaps you’d let US name your baby?
Here is what Mairzy and Swistle would like to know today: What did you name your dolls when you were a child? This is not limited to literal dolls—you could include stuffed animals or pets—but what we’re looking for here is your budding baby-naming skills. Not relevant: descriptive names (“Fluffy” for a stuffed cat) and jokey names (“Fred” for a hamster–unless you really did think that was an awesome boy name you’d use for a future child).
I had two dolls I gave names to. My first was a baby doll, and I got her the Christmas I was five. I named her Jeanette Isabella after my favorite Christmas carol. Later I changed her name to Sarah; later still, I changed her name to Nina. My second doll was a Cabbage Patch Kid, and I named her Megan.
Mairzy had two dolls she played with a lot. She named them Anna Nicole (she notes: “not Smith”) and Katherine.
We are not sure what these names Tell Us, but we are Very Interested all the same!
My dolls were always Elizabeth. I usually only had one doll at a time that was a favorite. I had a Great Aunt Elizabeth and my mother’s middle name is Elizabeth so I guess that’s where I got it from.
My 3-year-old Daughter names all of her stuffed animals and dolls Henry, whether or not it is a boy.
I had a stuffed bear named Gertrude and a stuffed monkey named Russell. I remember that Gertrude was named after the old lady who lived across the street from us. I don’t remember where I got Russell from.
I had lots of dolls with lots of names. My CBK was Daisy Amiletta, obviously named by Xavier Roberts. I had a My Child doll that I named Kara. And a very sweet baby doll with blinky eyes, whose name I can’t recall (and that is making me feel old and stressed). When friends and I would play house together, we’d usually name the dolls we were playing with that day with whatever name inspired us that day. Popular ones were Jessica, Ashley, Amanda, and Samantha. Oh! I also had an anatomically correct newborn boy doll that I sent away for by mail. I named him Justin.
What a fun topic!
I received two CPK dolls as a child and immediately proceeded to rename them. The girl became Cleopatra Anna Marie and the boy became Nebudchadnezzar Eli. I called him “Nebby” for short.
I have always wanted to have a daughter and name her Tallulah. My husband refuses.
Obviously, my baby-naming skills have not improved in the last 20 years.
I had two baby dolls named Emily Ann and Robin and two stuffed Hedgehogs named Humphrey and Hubert.
I would not recommend naming any children the latter two. ;
My first baby doll was named Baby Jenny. And I had a stuffed elephant that I LOVED named Snuffalupagus – Snuffy for short. My 5-year old named her first baby doll Little Baby. Not very creative. She calls a spade a spade!
I loved the name Cindy for some reason and named my favorite bear Sunny.
Jennifer, Diana and Lucy were my dolls. Stephanie was my “barbie name” (used for whatever doll I was playing with.
My favorite doll was Rachel. We also bread puppies when I was young and my parents let us name one. Mine was ALWAYS Joleen.
I never did really play with dolls, but I had a teddy bear named William. My parents brought him back from the Hershey factory in Pennsylvania and I named him William after William Pitt, the founder of Pennsylvania. Just proves I was a) a total dork even in childhood and b) meant to get a degree in history.
I had one hard plastic doll I named Rosie and two homemade CPK dolls, one was Bonnie and the other was Holly. I really have no idea why I chose these names, but there it is.
My daughter has two dolls. One is Baby Pink (because of it’s clothes, I assume) and the other is, inexplicably, Baby Chug-a-mug. She came up with it from somewhere and there was no deterring her, so Baby Chugamug it is. :)
I had two stuffed bunnies named Rachel and Rebecca. They were cool early 90’s names. Of course, those names don’y do too much for me anymore.
95% is about right. I’d say higher, but I remembered that we also talked about babies who don’t sleep through the night. (Yay Elizabeth. Yay Dilly. Help.)
I love these names! Lots of you were developing quite the naming edge. Others, um, not so much (sorry Cindy and Nebby. “Cleo” might have a fighting chance in today’s world, though.) I’m remembering other names I used(because I named EVERYTHING, including my best friend’s dolls) were LeAnn, Abby, Gloria, and, yes, Cindy. Maybe that name will come back in a generation or two?
Tell more! I’m interested to see if there were traceable styles among us young namers.
My first bear was named George, but I don’t think I named him. Next I had a beloved doll I named Jennifer. My CPK were Jonathon Ray (I renamed him that- UG!) and Greta. Oh, and I just remember my home-made cabbage patch. Her name was Gretchen, which I believe I chose.
But my favorite names, names I would have told you as a kid that I would choose to name my own daughters, were Samantha and Elizabeth.
I have 3 daughters. None of them have any of those names.
The only one of those that I would still consider would be the “Ray”, probably for a middle name (boy or girl). It’s a family name.
My CBK doll was Greta May, I think? And I remember having several baby dolls named Samantha. I also had a boy doll named Isaac. Later, when playing mainly with Barbie dolls, I was very fond of Dante or Andre for boys, and the names Genevieve and Annaliese for girls. I still like those girl names quite a bit.
my two dolls were Cerise (hello thesaurus) and Rosylin (both wore pink dresses). then most of my stuffed animals were descriptive names except some “exotic” girls names like Babette, Julia and Debbie… heh.
I was seriously obsessed with Little House on the Prairie as a kid, and being a Lara, felt it was close enough to Laura that I may have been her in a former life…
So when my mom made me a big rag doll (yes, made! she is awesome (mom and doll…) and still have her (mom and doll…)) she was, of course, Charlotte.
Which is a name I would consider for a baby too, although it’s getting a little too popular for my liking.
The doll names that I remember are Sally and Sarah. I did have more than 2 dolls, but I don’t think any of the other names were consistent. My Barbie names changed around, but they were most often Diana, Jessica and Christine for the girls and Rick and Chris for the Ken dolls.
I still like all of those names, at least a little, but am not sure whether I’d give the names to my (hypothetical) kids.
My favorite doll was Linda, and my favorite bear was Danny.
My first doll was named Spike…but I’m pretty sure that my dad helped come up with that name. I had Thelma Louise the CBK, although I’m not sure if she was already named when I got her or if I picked that. I think I’m hoping that she was already named…
GREAT topic…I like the idea of evolving naming ability (esp. right now, when my 6-year son has bears named “Truck” and “Michael”–the last after his dad, and my 3-year old has a range of babies with the wildly original names of “Pink Baby” “Purple Baby” “White Baby”). My earliest doll was named Nicole, after one of my friends; I also had a stuffed Frog named George. Later, as an eight-year old, I had a doll named Laura (after Laura Ingalls, of course), a doll named after myself, a doll named Naomi (I still love this name but my husband nixed it), and a doll named Helen. Now I have a daughter named Helen. I’m wondering, too, if my challenge with boy’s names is that I never had enough boy dolls on which I could try out names. What do you think? Do other women have this problem?
My first REAL doll was Rebecca (which is what I named my first REAL child, as well! That name stood the test of time for me!) My parents said they were going to name me Rebecca but didn’t, and ever since then I loved that name.
My main CPK came named Caty Lindy. I kept that name. I still think it is cute!
Another CPK, I renamed: Allison Elizabeth (it came named Fanny Leonora. Gross). And, if I ever have another daughter Allie is in the running for names…WEIRD.
I named my boy CPK Brandon though. That one I DO NOT like anymore.
Cool post!
I had several dolls when I was younger, but never could settle on names for them. No surprise then that baby #3 is still nameless.
(I do think I had one named Emily.)
With dc 1, naming was fun! Wee! This is new! Cool!
With dc 2 it was less fun. What goes with dc1? Still slightly fun.
With dc3 it is work.
All of my answers would be thrown out.
My son is lucky his name doesn’t end in an ‘uffy’.
I do want to mention that the first stuffed animal he won out of a claw machine was a red elephant (he was three at the time). I asked him what he was going to name it and his answer was “Colleen”. To the best of my knowledge, my son has never known a Colleen so that made it that much more intriguing.
Oh how I wish I could sit with you and Mairzy at a coffee shop, discussing names. FUN! Maybe I should put an ad in a paper “seeking a female friend for coffee and name discussions.”
Anyway.
I never changed my CPK names because my mom wouldn’t let me get them new birth certificates from the Cabbage Patch (which you could do, if you remember.) Mine were Deidre Aggy and Karyn Dodi. Ugh.
My doll that I loved more than anything was named Melissa, because when I was in 3rd grade, Melissa was the most beautiful name in the world.
My favorite dolls had German names, Trudel and Annalise. I loved Felicity, Chastity, Elizabeth. And, I think I once posted on this site about my childhood desire to own an orphanage so I could name babies!! My children are Stryker (after the street we lived on), Scarlett (O’Hara, all the way) and Merrick (gotten from the top fifty list of names in 1919 and sounds like an evil character on Yugi Oh which is why my older two picked it out of the list of options).
Hi Swistle,
What a fun topic.
I don’t remember many of my dollys names, but I had Rachel the Rabbit, who was my favorite until I forgot her at the elementry school gym after some practice. I cried for months!
I like Amy and Suzy mostly, and then liked Abigail, Ida, and Adora.
I named my daughter Phoebie Rose.
I remember having a stuffed cat named Karen. But I’m pretty sure I also remember wanting to name it poopoo and being strongly steered in another direction by my mom. So I’m not sure what that says.
And my hamster was named Genevieve because I thought that was beautiful.
I had a koala bear that I LOVED and his name was Curry. Curry was named for the family who gave it to me, not the spice. I was not eating Curry at the age of 4. As I got older, I was obsessed with the name Alex, but only for a girl. My Barbies were often named Alex. I had a CPK Preemie doll whose name was George.
So I’m pregnant and we’re beginning to discuss names. Any ideas for me? I’m only 12 weeks so I don’t know what I’m having yet, but we are going to find out via the amnio.
I had alot of stuffed toys when I was younger. I named one of them Minerva, Nina, and gracie.
The boys name were Micah because I had a crush on a kid named that in kindergarten. The other boy name I seemed to like at that age was Timothy. I have a few cousins named that too!
I didn’t choose any of those names for my two boys though. I would however have named my daughter Gracie if I had one. I think that name is so beautiful.
Jillian
I didn’t really play with dolls, but when I played house my name would ALWAYS be Victoria. And I called my favorite Barbie Rhea (I pronounced it Ray-a). She was Tahitian Barbie or something like that, and I thought it was so exotic.
Love this question. I also love talking about baby names. That is a number one reason to go to a baby shower!
My Barbies were always Kathy Bricker. (Gah!) The Bricker comes from Love Boat. And it was the ALWAYS the last name, it really does sound good with almost any first name.
I also had a doll named ‘Mandy’ from the Barry Manilow song.
-Kaite
Ok, this is funny but I had a PLANT that I named EDWARD. I talked to it all the time, calling it Edward, chatting the day away.
I named him that because I liked the name Edward…
I got this plant back in college from a yard sale, and nurtured this damn plant, repotting it several times as it grew bigger and bigger.
I LOVED Edward.
Sadly, last winter, Edward died of hypothermia on my front porch. He was not brought in soon enough before the cold got to him.
It took me a long time to clean out his pot.
Sniff. Miss ya, Edward.
Oh and my cat, when I was a kid? I named her Isabella Renee Ellanora Lee Babre. Yeah. I liked naming!
I saw the post on baby names and I just had to comment. I contribute articles on baby name news to Baby Names Hold – check it out on your free time (lol)and let me know what you think (the Contact Us option). As far as dolls go – Linda and Pasha. Oh and a stuffed toy named James Bond. Gotta have one of those.
Oh, Meegan. So fun. If I were you, I would start at the Social Security baby name website, just to get a feel for what’s being used. And of course I recommend the book I ALWAYS recommend: The Baby Name Wizard, by Laura Wattenberg. And don’t skip the chapters before the names start: I found them VERY USEFUL and also CALMING.
I was sometimes extremely creative with my toy names, and sometimes I liked to name them after Brady Bunch kids (Cindy was a favorite.) My most creative doll name was probably Polly Molly. She was a homemade Cabbage Patch Kid, and was always the bad baby. I also had two teddy bears named Pinecone and Phenomenon. I just liked the sound of those words.
my cabbage patch came w/ the name candy. or candi. can’t remember. but i follow rules, so re-naming her was NOT even a thought. [why do i remember she was “born” on oct. 1st?]
i had an adoption doll right before that (remember those?) and i named her meg- b/c my sister gave her to me. and her initials are M.E.G.
i have a stuffed bear that my friends got for me in college from walmart. it’s kinda lopsided. so i named it zig-zag.
the last day of school of my first teaching year, a kid gave me a pink bear. i named her pinks. (original)
we’re currently pregnant. and tho we have the first names down pretty pat- middle names are stressing us out! no clue!
but i doubt the names mentioned above would suffice.
fun topic. i talk too much.
i have imaginary playmate names and pet names to discuss as well…. ha!
I had a giant stuffed mouse that I thought was a rat. I named him Rasmus. I have NO idea where that came from. Maybe my mom influenced me.
I was a compulsive naming crazy-thing. I had dolls with First and Middle Names. And named all the stuffed animals. I remember counting once and there were over 100 stuffed animals in my collection. Needless to say, I feel like I was privileged in the toy department. Anyway, for your reading pleasure, but only because you asked…
Dolls:
Betha Gaye
Katrina Sue
Cynthia Anna
Sarah Elizabeth
Joseph Michael
etc.
So, what do my tea leaves say about me?
Can we back up to baby names?? I just found out I’m pregnant and I’ve already had a few people ask me about names. Here is the deal: my husband is a Marine, we are stationed in Japan. And while we are Americans and will be moving in another year, this baby will be born in Japan and both my husband and I thought it would be sort of neat to give the baby a Japanese middle name- something to tie her (Im calling it a her- thats my hunch) to the country we have called home for several years as well as the place she was born. I’ve gotten sort of mixed reviews. It will be a name within the realm of normal (ie Mia) and something that can “pass” in English. Is this a weird idea? I have a son who’s middle name is a family name. I like choosing middle names because they have some meaning/reason behind them. Not just “because it sounded good.” Can you help me?
I love this discussion for many reasons. One being that I love baby names and my mom and I discussed naming our dolls many times. Plus I named everything (and still do). My son’s stuffed animals and everything have names. And secondly I’m so bad that I dreamed last night about having a baby and my husband naming it without my knowledge (huh?), and I didn’t mind the first name but it wasn’t my choice and the middle name was not good.
OK, so here’s my imput: my CPK preemie was named Alyssa (which ended up being my cousins name 6-7 years later). I had stuffed bears named Rose and Violet. I had a doll or something named Grace (after my great-grandma). I know there were more, but that’s all I can remember right now.
And to Desperate Housewife and K in the Mirror- I love Genevieve and have hashed it over in my mind for a future girl many times. What do you think of it, Swistle?
Oh, I forgot the part about my mom and I discussing doll names. When my mom was a girl, her two favorite dollies were Tabitha and Samantha. Growing up two of my closest friends were Tabitha and Samantha (Sami). Cool.
I had a teddy bear named Bailey. My dolls were named Laura, Mary or Carrie… anyone else’s parents read them Little House on the Prairie?
I named my girls Tessa and Emma. BUT I considered Meredith for Tessa because I wanted to call her Mary for short. Hmmmm.
I used the Beyond Jennifer and Jason books when naming my kids because I’d never heard of the “wizard” book.
I looked up each and every name I considered and wrote down every category the name fell under.
I typed each name choice with about 10 different fonts, and with multiple different middle names and taped them up around the house to help us make the choice.
Do I quality for the VERY interested in naming babies club? Hehehe.
And how many times has Little House on the Prairie been mentioned? So funny because my mom grew up reading the book series (Little House in the Big Woods) and loved the name Laura since she was a kid. It stuck with her long enough for her to name me after Laura Ingalls!
I renamed my CPK Melissa Elizabeth and still love both names, but never used either. Great topic, I’m glad I’m not the only one who loves to obsess over baby names!
I had many dolls, but here are the ones I remember:
Timmy
Ethel –CPK, she came with the name, and I never really liked it
Susan
Polly
Christopher — probably named after my best friend at the time that I got the doll
Ashley
My stuffed animals never had people names. The main ones were Kissy Bear, Blackboard Bunny, BunBun, and Pumpy
I never played with baby dolls… But I remember when my Barbie got her own name. It was Delaney Jade; my mom thought I was weird.
She gets it now, though. My daughter’s name is Taryn and my soon-to-be-born son’s name is Devereaux.
Ha, I remember some names, but they’re all in the Nicole-Debbie-Christina realm that those of us born in the seventies or eighties MUST remember.
My favorite baby doll was named simply “Honey.” God, I loved that doll.
To Lisa (just found out she’s preggo): I think the Japanese middle name idea is AWESOME! I think your child will really appreciate having a special story to accompany his/her name and birthplace. Go for it!
Girl CBK was named Amanda until I met an evil little Amanda in the third grade, then she went back to being Lottie, her XR-given name. And my boy CBK with the little tuft of yarn on top was named Otis.
As an aside, with my first two kids my husband and I did the whole ‘poring over a half-dozen name books and making lists’ thing (well, I did, at least. He mostly shot down perfectly sweet names without offering any suggestions of his own. Ahem.) But with our third, it really was spontaneous. We were on the phone, I said, “How about Berkeley?” He said “I like it.” And so she’s Berkeley.
I always named by toys by what they were, but “doll” seemed mean, so I always turned to my mother for help.
Years later I found out she was using up all the names she’d considered naming me – so that’s one thing to do if you have too many names and not enough children.
Lisa – A Japanese middle name is a great idea… as long as it’s pronounceable and spellable enough not to be a headache. I met a little girl the other day named Suna. It’s Korean — her (American) parents are Buddhist, and their daughter was named by a monk. It was a little odd, especially on a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl, but it was appealing.
I’m relishing this discussion! Y’all are making me laugh out loud with your names… and the THINGS you named!
I don’t remember what I called my dolls, and I don’t know if this is relevant, but when I got to choose my own name in French class, I was Anne Nicole.
I didn’t play with dolls much (compared to playing with things like frogs and sticks and mud and My Little Ponies) and when I did I don’t remember if I used a name for them. I sort of think I used a different name any time I played with them.
However, I did name every lizard and frog and snail and turtle and spider and snake I found, but I can’t remember what I named those, either, because it was always a catch and release situation. My first cat I named Maxwell Smart, and I thought it was an excellent name. And I named my guinea pig Patches, because (gasp) he had patches of white fur.
Laughing Mommy- Oh, I LOVED Beyond Jennifer & Jason! Before the Baby Name Wizard came out in 2005, THAT was my top favorite baby book of all time.
Mommy Daisy- Genevieve was THISCLOSE to being Elizabeth’s real name! If we hadn’t thought of another name in the 11th hour, I think she would have been Genevieve. So…I love it!
Lisa- I love the idea of a Japanese middle name.
This is funny! I’m late responding, but I had 2 different dolls who were named Lisa, so I’d have to say that was my favorite doll name.
I also had a boy-doll named “Gibson,” whom I nicknamed Gibby, and I thought that was AWFULLY clever of me.
The only other ones I remember were a Holly Hobbie friend (not Holly herself) named Amy, and one doll named Mandy.
I do not remember. I am sure I named things but I have no idea. I think I liked to change the names to suit the day. I most was in LOVE with horses and I remember naming those A LOT but again they names changed depending on the day. Fickle, eh!?
I do not remember. I am sure I named things but I have no idea. I think I liked to change the names to suit the day. I most was in LOVE with horses and I remember naming those A LOT but again they names changed depending on the day. Fickle, eh!?
I do not remember. I am sure I named things but I have no idea. I think I liked to change the names to suit the day. I most was in LOVE with horses and I remember naming those A LOT but again they names changed depending on the day. Fickle, eh!?
My first baby doll was a stuffed bodied, huge baby that I named Cheri, after my favorite cousin. My second, a much smaller stuffed bodied doll that I named Mariah, after a friend’s baby girl. And Mariah? Oh how I thought that was cutting edge….at 5. You went against the adoption papers and named your own Cabbage Patch Kid???? Wow! Now that’s cutting edge. Mine was named Mollie by Xavier…
Oh wow. I think you have found out my secret shame. I spent hours compiling lists of doll names, complete with middle names.
When I got my generic Cabbage Patch, I probably spend a month thinking up the perfect name: Samantha Josephine (I called her Sammy Jo for short).
I also had notebooks filled with potential baby names. The ones I can remember were Catalina Isabella, Catherine Elizabeth, and Claire Collette (it seems I was hung up on “C” names.)
In high school, my friends and I all created new names for ourselves and one of our teachers heard our conversation. He was the announcer at my track meet and after I won a race, he announced my name as my chosen name: Gabriella.
Oh wow. I think you have found out my secret shame. I spent hours compiling lists of doll names, complete with middle names.
When I got my generic Cabbage Patch, I probably spend a month thinking up the perfect name: Samantha Josephine (I called her Sammy Jo for short).
I also had notebooks filled with potential baby names. The ones I can remember were Catalina Isabella, Catherine Elizabeth, and Claire Collette (it seems I was hung up on “C” names.)
In high school, my friends and I all created new names for ourselves and one of our teachers heard our conversation. He was the announcer at my track meet and after I won a race, he announced my name as my chosen name: Gabriella.
Oh wow. I think you have found out my secret shame. I spent hours compiling lists of doll names, complete with middle names.
When I got my generic Cabbage Patch, I probably spend a month thinking up the perfect name: Samantha Josephine (I called her Sammy Jo for short).
I also had notebooks filled with potential baby names. The ones I can remember were Catalina Isabella, Catherine Elizabeth, and Claire Collette (it seems I was hung up on “C” names.)
In high school, my friends and I all created new names for ourselves and one of our teachers heard our conversation. He was the announcer at my track meet and after I won a race, he announced my name as my chosen name: Gabriella.
the only names i can remember are a doll with red hair, audrey, who i called audoo as a tot so…now that i think about it, my mom must have named her – and a raccoon named rebecca, becky for short. i think there were other animals – a pink bunny and a rusty teddy but i don’t remember their names.
what i DO remember was going through a making-a-list-of-my-future-kids’-names phase. oh how i wish i had those lists still! i know alexis was big, as was janine. oh and nigel and simon for boys – i was obsessed with duran duran. :)
I named my favorite teddy bear (with whom I slept until I moved in with Hub) Charles, after Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie. I always kept my Cabbage Patch Kids’ assigned names. I really wasn’t in to dolls otherwise.
When we played pretend though, I always used names that I wish I had, for example: Connie, and Juanita.
I named our first cat Sebastian because I loved it and Hub told me we would never have a child called Sebastian.
I find it very interesting that CA has named the twin baby girls she got for Christmas “Justin” and “Michael”.
Mairzy & Swistle,
A PRESSING baby name issue for you two: I am pregnant with #2, due in September. I’ll find out boy or girl ASAP (April?) but until then I am stuck deliberating over boy and girl names that will “go” with my first son’s name, Soren (it’s Danish). I don’t want my kids to have same first initials or anything cutesy like that, but it seems like they should have some similar quality. What the heck goes with Soren that’s not Sven or Bjorn? I am much more worried about boys names.
Help!
Mommy Daisy– I also love Genevieve. It was my French name when we had to pick them for French class in high school.
You are TOO funny.
I named one of my baby dolls Caroline which was my absolute favorite name and i may have even named my real child that except my ex had a cousin with that name, so no.
My other fav. baby doll was Sarah. I still like that name.
I had another doll named Samantha, but that was an American Girl, so she was already named. Except that Samantha was runnner-up to Sophie on my “name my real child” list.
I had 8 gazillion dolls but those are the ones I remember right now.
One doll: Charlotte Danielle Grettie Catherine Greenwood. My pound puppy was Emily Winnifred.
Cedge- It’s funny you would bring this up: Mairzy and I were JUST talking YESTERDAY about how we are SADLY LACKING in any international prowess, baby-name-wise.
The Baby Name Wizard doesn’t have an entry for Soren, but does include Soren as a suggested brother name for the name Carsten. Other names suggested in that same sibling group:
Stefan
Tristan
Gunnar
Evert
Anja
Larkin
Sabine
Elke
Arden
There’s also a whole section of Scandinavian names, and Soren is in there along with (sorry, this is going to get long):
Annika
Astrid
Britt
Britta
Dagmar
Dagny
Elsa
Frida
Greta
Ida
Inge
Ingrid
Johanna
Karina
Kiki
Kirsten
Kristina
Lempi
Linnea
Lise
Lovisa
Magdalena
Maja
Matilde
Meta
Runa
Saga
Signe
Sigrid
Sofia
Sonja
Thora
Tilda
Tove
And for boys:
Anders
Arne
Arvid
Axel
Bjorn
Einar
Emanuel
Emil
Erik
Finn
Gunnar
Gustav
Hans
Hannes
Harald
Henrik
Jan
Jesper
Johan
Johannes
Kai
Lars
Leif
Linus
Mads
Magnus
Niels
Nils
Olaf
Ole
Oscar
Per
Rasmus
Rolf
Rune
Sakari
Soren
Stefan
Sven
Thor
Torsten
Valdemar
Viggo
I didn’t really have dolls; I wasn’t a girly-girl, and most of my stuffed animals had fantastical names, like “Sneath” for my stuffed anteater (which, incidentally, I did not make up; it’s the name of an exit on I-280 north of my house).
However, I had two Cabbage Patch Dolls, both boys, and their names were Kenneth…Edward? I think and Christopher Jay. Kenneth was a factory name, and I thought it was good enough. Christopher’s name I made up because I loved the name Christopher and I had a crush on a boy named Jay. I didn’t want to name my kid Chris, though, I wanted to marry one. This, in the 5th grade. I am now married to a Chris, one with blue eyes and blond hair, natch. Some silly dreams do come true.
My children, on the other hand, have weird names. Daughter, Talitha; son-on-the-way, Dashiell. I hope my friends are not reading this.
I never named my dolls when I was a kid. I don’t know why. Maybe because I hated my own name when I was growing up.
But now I have a daughter and I love the names she comes up with for her dolls. She has one named Ashella – a name she made up all by her little 3 year old self. I think it’s a pretty cool name. She also has a doll named Mitchell. I’m pretty sure this doll is a girl, though it lacks any gender specific qualities. Maybe by the time she has children, Mitchell will be a girl’s name.
Cedge — Scandinavian names are very interesting, even when they’re downright odd. As you can see from Swistle’s list, you’ve got LOTS of options to choose from. Even boy names. A list of exciting boy names doesn’t happen every day. You’re really lucky you’re not going with an Anglo-Saxon theme.
My personal boy favorites from that list (and ones I think translate well into Amerian) are Anders, Niels, Leif, Kai, and Lars. I actually knew a boy named Axel. Thor probably would be too much of a stretch. Viggo, although way cool, probably should be reserved for boys who grow up to play Aragorn in an epic fantasy trilogy.
I think every damn doll I ever had was named Ashley. SO CREATIVE.
Oh, and Mary Anne- after my favorite member of the BSC (Babysitters Club of course).
The one that sticks out most in my mind is the cabbage patch doll that came with the name Yolanda. I was very into the whole “adopted from a cabbage patch” idea, so I kept it, even though I never liked it much. I had a doll I named Sara I sort of remember. Mostly I named my baby dolls (and I LOVED baby dolls) baby. Very creative, eh?
I can’t remember all my dolls names, that was way too long ago, but my favorite and longest lasting baby was named Davidy. I know, too weird. I can’t even remember why I took a boys name and added a y on the end. She was great until my brother cut her hair, telling me it would grow back. After that she had a more butch look that probably worked with the name Davidy. Since my brother turned out to be gay, he probably knew through his developing gaydar what she needed.
I too could talk about baby names all day and all night–in my sleep even! I have written lists and taken polls before I’ve named any of my cats (who all have middle names too). I talk about baby names with my future baby’s daddy at least thrice a week. Can I be in your club? Please?!
My first CPD was Carrie, after the youngest daughter in “Little House,” which I was obsessed with, in book and tv form, when I was small. Subsequent dolls were Ashley/Alicia (swapped often), Anna (after my best friend), Jenny (it was the eighties!), twins Lucas and Adlai (WTF?), and Maryanne, after my favorite character in the Babysitters Club series. (Yes, I was still totally into dolls at that age).
The list of names for my future children is fifty miles long and growing.
It just occurred to me that I also name cars, house plants, and the occasional appliance. Perhaps what I need is not a club but a support group. (Our rubber tree plant is named Romulus. Oy.)
Amy Noelle, Veronica Jolene, and Haddie.
As for my dolls these days, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’m a Webkinz addict. I’m the proud owner of Otis the pug, Amelia the basset hound, and Daphne and Hazel the black and charcoal cats, respectively.
I think my name taste has stayed fairly similar. I still love Noelle and Veronica, and they seem to be in the same slightly unusual but still classic family as my current choices.
I fail at the naming game. I only named one of my dolls/stuffed things and her name was Poochie. Not sure why or where it came from. I’ve had three live action dogs in my life, but only named one of them: Monty. But he is such a Monty! :)
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m66/fbartolomey/IMG_0590.jpg
I can’t remember what I named my dolls, but I had dogs named
Susan
Alex
Nicki
Annie
I had a cat named Scarface, and we currently have a cat named Milo.
I named most of my baby dolls Christina Anne. I LOVED the name Christina and it just FIT. It had the same starting sound as my first name and my mother’s. And it was important any future daughter of mine have the same middle name as my mother and me, too.
But when I became a teenager I made a very discouraging discovery. EVERY GIRL I associated with in high school who had the name Christina–or variation thereof–was a complete, total beeatch. Now, I know this is an unreasonable generalization, (I’m sooooo sorry to all you Christinas there, but it did seem an uncanny fact to me. And looking back, I do know of a FEW, decent Christy/Christina/Kris’s from my hs years–but boy were those mean ones just EVIL ones–you know, like the CAR). Anyway, the name QUICKLY got dropped from my top ten list–and NEVER appeared again.
My very first CPK, I decided to name after my grandmother…and I liked one of the names that came with her “papers” so much, I kept that, too. Loretta Adalaide was christened in the official adoption paperwork (YOU try to figure out which name was the company’s and which was my grandmother’s!). And the successive boy CP doll was named after the kid I had a crush on, and my dad. Mark Richard. The second CPK was named Christina Anne (I was a bit too young yet for high school), and I can’t remember the name of the poor, neglected fourth CPK.
So anyway, two of the fantasy names did keep–the middle names Anne and Richard. The traditional family names. BOR-ing!
Cesca- Poochie! Poochie for Girls! It was a fluffy pink dog back in the 80s. I had folders and pencil holders and stuff with Poochie all over them. :)
And I forgot to say my CPK names- Lisa Hilary and Marcie Rickie. I also had a generic one I named Karina Beth and a Koosa named Sigmund.
Pollyanna and Charlotte (Charlotte was my grandmother) when I was really little. Veronica when I was a bit older.
I guess I went from pretty and old fashioned to sort of vampy!
My first doll was named PJ — poor thing, 32 years later, her hair is still permanently sticking straight up because I carried her around by her hair with sticky baby fingers. And I had a CPK named Cassandra Arlene.
Oh, and also – at our house we are overrun with stuffed animals named after food. Hershey, Cocoa, Candy Cane, Marshmallow, Whipped Cream.
It’s super fun when you’re on WW and trying to FORGET all those things…
I got my first CPK when I was too young to care about her “real” name. All I cared was that MY PARENTS BOUGHT MY SISTER AND ME THE SAME EXACT DOLL. That’s right, same exact outfit and everything. I’ve never asked, but maybe they were the only ones left in the store and they had to beat someone up to get them. Anyway,I can’t remember if I ever gave her a real name.
My favorite doll I called Special Baby. Mmm, clever. So eventually I realized this was a stupid name (…a little later in life than I’d care to admit) and started trying to call her Michelle. I hope this didn’t have anything to do with “Full House.” The name didn’t really stick.
I also had a preemie boy CPK that I named Corey. I have no idea why, but I always made him talk with a lisp: “Coh-wee.” He was best friends with Sad Sam.
The stuffed bear my brother bought me for Christmas in high school I named Leonard, but it was clearly his real name as he wears a plaid bow tie.
The main naming experience I have is from early junior high when I planned to be an author. For some reason I always ended up naming my characters fancy A-names: Annabelle (ick!), Anastasia, etc. But looking back, I didn’t write many stories; I just liked to make up characters and their histories, including naming all 7 of their siblings. Then I got bored.
Some dolls I had: AnnaClaire, Timothy, Victoria, Charlotte