Debbie writes:<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve only recently found your site and I\u2019m so impressed with the thoughtfulness and creativity of the names you suggest. Please help!<\/p>\n
Our baby girl is due in three weeks and my husband and I are stuck in a naming rut. It\u2019s not that we disagree, but we are not completely in love with our list and nothing new seems to be jumping out at us. We like classic names that are preferably not extremely common or very unusual.<\/p>\n
Our 2 year old son is named Samuel John, which I suppose is not uncommon. However, naming Samuel was easy as my husband had always had this name in the back of his mind (after his grandfather \u2013 another boy would be called Henry), but we are struggling to think of girl names that are both pretty and say \u2018take me seriously\u2019.<\/p>\n
Our surname is relatively uncommon where we live, starts with M and has two syllables, like Halston and with possibly similar pronunciation issues (actually pronounced like \u2018Hol\u2019, but usually guessed incorrectly as \u2018Hal\u2019). We\u2019d rather not use a name or nickname that rhymes with either pronunciation (eg: Holly or Callie). Our first names are Deborah and Michael.<\/p>\n
Names that have been on the list:<\/p>\n
Emilia (familiar sound yet we don\u2019t know anyone with this name)<\/p>\n
Eleanor (nn Ellie, which has a family connection)<\/p>\n
Natalie\/Natasha (for its Christmas DD connection, but don\u2019t like nn Nat)<\/p>\n
Evelyn (again Christmas with Eve or Evie as nn)<\/p>\n
Jemima (not sure this works with our M surname)<\/p>\n
Ashley (husband likes, nn Ash, I\u2019m not completely sold on it)<\/p>\n
Adeline (love this, nn Ada, but vetoed by husband)<\/p>\n
Caitlin (nn Cate, too common?)<\/p>\n
Names we like but have been used by close family\/friends:<\/p>\n
Amelia<\/p>\n
Charlotte<\/p>\n
Chloe<\/p>\n
Eliza<\/p>\n
Helena<\/p>\n
Isabelle<\/p>\n
Madeleine<\/p>\n
Rachel<\/p>\n
Mackenzie (this one is left of field given the rest of our list, but husband likes it. Has been used by a couple of friends).<\/p>\n
Names considered and rejected:<\/p>\n
F names like Freya, Frances, Felicity<\/p>\n
Anything that sounds like Sam, such as Samara, Camilla, etc<\/p>\n
As mentioned, names that sound like they rhyme with our surname.<\/p>\n
At this stage I think we\u2019d use Emilia as either a middle name or a first name (although I\u2019m not sure about nicknames Emmy, Em or Milly with our surname). If we use it as first, for middle we\u2019d probably try to find a short name in keeping with Samuel\u2019s, perhaps something like Claire, Kate, Leah or Beth.<\/p>\n
Samuel was early and this naming problem is starting to keep me awake at night, just when I need my sleep!<\/p>\n
Thanks so much<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nLooking at your lists, what stands out to me is that you mostly like common names—but you’re trying to avoid them, and this could be what’s making you feel stuck. I’ll try to gear my suggestions toward less-common options, but also it’s fine to choose a very common name if you LIKE very common names. Common isn’t what it used to be: even the top ten is not necessarily the kiss of death<\/a>.<\/p>\nEmilia is not very common, but it feels significantly more common than it is because of all the Amelias and Emmas and Mias. And I agree with you that the nicknames are not ideal with your surname: so much M and L. I also agree with you about Jemima: that’s a lot of M with your surname.<\/p>\n
The name Emeline might just switch us from one frying pan to another, but I’m mentioning it anyway because of Madeleine on your can’t-use list.<\/p>\n
Caitlin and Ashley are finally on the way down after years of high popularity: their decades of commonness and huge number of spelling variations make them feel even more common than they were, and I think I would avoid them at this point–especially since they don’t meet your classic\/traditional preferences.<\/p>\n
Instead of Ashley, I wonder if you’d like Audrey or Aubrey?<\/p>\n
One of my favorite “pretty but serious” girl names is Genevieve. It has the Eve you like from Evelyn, and it’s a nice old name. It might be a little rhymey with your surname, though.<\/p>\n
Another of my favorites is Eloise, and it reminds me of Eliza and Helena and Evelyn and Eleanor from your list. As with Genevieve, the “ee” sound might be too rhymey with your surname.<\/p>\n
I think Evelyn from your list is a very good option: it was leaping up the ranks for awhile there, but now it’s had two years in a row at #39 so it might not get to the top ten.<\/p>\n
Eleanor too seems like a very good choice. It has the popular Ellie nickname, and also has Nora if that suits her better.<\/p>\n