What's in a name?

[lls_mutant]

I hate baby naming.

So, here's the criteria for a baby name:

1.) Both hubby and I have to like it, and

2.) We want something unusual, but not weird. (Perfect example? Toby.)

So, we were talking about names last night, and found one we both liked: Brandon. Being a fan of ASOIAF, I liked this even more, although for all I know Bran may end up the Evil Sorcerer-Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms by the time George R.R. Martin is done. But still. We like the name.

#27 in popularity last year.

ARGH.

Any suggestions of boys' names that are unusual but not weird? Disclaimer: suggesting does not remotely mean we'll use it, and us not using it does not remotely mean I think you have bad taste. Names are such weird territory, and prior associations make such a difference. (Hubby rejected "Shane" because it was the name of the big German shepherd that used to live next door to him through his childhood.)

Comments

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Nathaniel?

[rian219.livejournal.com]

I like Bram, myself. Unusual, but not unheard of.

[jlarinda.livejournal.com]

:/ Rowling should make a baby names book. Although I think those would fall under the 'weird' category..

I can't really help, the one name I adore is 'William' and it's really common..

[elektrik-storm.livejournal.com]

Elias - Eli for short

Lewis

Rhys

Joss

[lovemoony4ever.livejournal.com]

Marcus? No, turns out that's rather popular. Marius or Magnus? Personally, I love the names Benjamin and Alexander, but those are very popular. The french Julien is pretty, especially when pronounced the English way:)

[werewolf-lib.livejournal.com]

If I were to have a male child, among my personal choices for names are: Ian, Julian, Alexander, Clive, Hugh, Stuart, Gavin, Tyler, Roald, Owen, Aubrey, Anselm, Anson, Nicolas, Derek, Gabriel, Emil, Emory, Florian, Aidan/Aiden, Adrian, Eamon, Rowan and James.
All terribly old-fashioned, mostly British names, I'm afraid.
You should see the list for girls' names!

I have an ancestor who was named Ysidro and my great grandfather was Russell Spain.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Hmm ... Edmund, Claudius, Hugh, Maximilian, Jeremiah, Jonah, Bernard, Saul, Samuel, Horatio (OK, maybe not), Asher, Gilbert, Walter, Gareth?

Is there a real problem with being #27 in popularity, though? I mean, if you like the name, who cares how many other people are using it? And I've never heard of a kid being embarrassed or unhappy about having too common a name, although one far at the other end of the scale can be a problem.

[velvetmouse]

my brother is named Kenneth (he's always gone by Kenny or Ken), which is not one I've heard very often in any age group...

[skylark74.livejournal.com]

(Hubby rejected "Shane" because it was the name of the big German shepherd that used to live next door to him through his childhood.)

I had to giggle at this because the first thing I thought of was Henry Jones Sr saying, "We named the dog Indiana!"


Naming is such a fun part. You could always throw several you like in a hat & draw. As far as suggestions, I love Irish names: Aiden, Connor, Liam, Reilly.

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... If you both like the name Brandon, why don't you want to use it? It seems silly to me not to use a name simply because it's in the top 50 or 100 boys' names. JMO, of course.

Then again...True story: one year, my brother Scott was in a class with four other boys who were also named Scott. The teacher numbered them so they all knew which one she was calling on. *g* I can understand you wanting to avoid that situation.

If you're looking for unusual-but-not-too-weird names, I like Conal and Bruce. My son's named Cuinn, which is the original Gaelic spelling for Quinn. I rather like Noel, too (another brother's middle name), but there are too many opportunities for teasing with that one.

i can't believe you haven't considered...

[gunderpants.livejournal.com]

ALBUS SEVERUS

I dunno. I was going to suggest Theo, but given you've already got a son whose name starts with T you might want to skip over it. And my Australian!bias is telling you that anyone called Shane will end up with a mullet, a pannel van and married to Kylie Minogue - which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[aome.livejournal.com]

No specific suggestions, only that we used that Soc Security Top 1000 listing as our guide, as it seems that you are doing, too. Any names on that list, from #50 down, say, that appeal to you?

Incidentally, some names are not-so-unusual in basis, but aren't really that often used anymore, either, like Scott.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I actually like it, but one of hubby's best friends has a son named Nathaniel. :P Sadly, the kid is a total terror, too.

I am very bummed that none of the Firefly guys have good names. Mal is all right, but I don't like Malcolm. Never been a fan of Simon. And I think Jayne and Hoban speak for themselves! :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Bram is interesting. Thanks! :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Heh. With Toby, Howard instituted a "No Harry Potter names" policy. Which was okay with me. While I love the name Sirius for a fictional character, I'd never inflict it on a real child. And none of Rowling's more conventional names (Harry, Ron, Neville, etc.) really resonate with me. Nothing wrong with them, but they just aren't my taste, y'know?

William IS a nice name. It's been automatically axed though, because even more firm than "no HP names" is no family names. (We decided to offend everyone equally.) But my stepfather would be tickled if we went with William! :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I actually really like both Rhys and Joss, but they sound horrible with our last name :P (It's monosyllabic, and two of the letters are "s" :) )

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

We both love Alexander, too, but it doesn't sound right with our last name. Too bad, but my mom is glad because she says all of the Alexes she's had recently have been real brats. :P (Not that I'd let that stop me, but the last name thing is a bigger deal.)

[kyasuriin.livejournal.com]

if you like Brandon but find it too common, maybe consider Brendan?

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I ADORE the name Adrian. Sadly, hubby has rejected it back when we were naming Toby. Which is just as well, since it's a character in a novel I never finished. (Of course, so is Toby.)

I also really like Rowan. I'd like it even better as Roan, as that's my maiden name. But I'm not sure I can get away with that, thanks to our no family names rule. Love Gabriel, too, but it's our nephew's name. :P

Seriously, this naming business sucks!

Although at least we'll skip Ysidro! :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I've actually considered Gareth, but it flows very awkwardly with our last name.

There's not a real problem with the name being popular. We haven't tossed it out. We didn't even discuss names pre-sonogram, because we were hoping they'd be able to tell us the gender and we'd only have to discuss one set of names. (Success!) So, we may settle on Brandon anyway. But we also still have till December, so no need to settle immediately on the first name we agree on! :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Oooh, thanks! :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

One of the best lines ever! :)

I like Riley, actually, but I have to time that suggestion well. We just watched an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that was not at all flattering to Riley, so last night was definitely not a good time to suggest it!

Re: i can't believe you haven't considered...

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you know Lissa's full name, but that name is even funnier when you combine it with her last name. And if the poor kid had a lisp he would never, ever live it down.

*giggles*

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Well, we may still use it. It's got a strike against it, because ideally we'd prefer less common. But it's not off the list yet!

And yeah- that's exactly what we're trying to avoid. :) I'm very mindful of it as there are three Sophia's in Toby's Gymboree class!

I love Noel, especially since this baby is due right at Christmas time. But yeah- way too many teasing opportunities. ::Sigh::

Thanks!

[adrenya.livejournal.com]

I like Brandyn, that's my son Skyler's middle name. If Olivia had been a boy I would have named her Kaelin Matheson. It wasn't until after I was set on her name I found out Olivia is number 8 in the US and number 1 in quite a few other countries. But it's close to my maiden name and her middle name is my mom's maiden name so we kept it.

You could always browse this (http://www.babycenter.com/general/1506831.html) and stay near the bottom of the page.

or go here... (http://www.alternativebabynames.com/) those are a bit... um... interesting :)