Names (First & Middle): Thoughts?

12.22.2011


**This is not a Christmas post, however I've been wanting to write about it for awhile and I felt I needed to balance the negativity of my previous post with something more fun.**

Since about, oh third grade or so, I have kept a list of names to remember for when I get to name my kids someday.

In elementary school my favorite name for a girl was Natasha. Or really anything with an "asha" on the end...Sasha, Natasha, etc. I thought asha names were the coolest. (My BFF(AAFBRR) Rachel was a fan of Olivia and Madeline (we were into the movie). 

In high school I actually started a physical list in my journal because I realized I'd hear names I thought were awesome and then forget them. So I have legitimately been keeping, adding to and updating said list for years. 

(I'm going to skip the disclaimers about not being pregnant because by now your should all know that I like to write about babies and have had them on the brain for going on a year now. Besides, you can't tell me you haven't thought about it, single or not. It's so fun to think about inflicting a name on another human being! Muahaha).

My philosophy on names is that I want to use names that are unique but not weird. Aka something people have heard of (that I didn't make up) but that they don't know a lot of people who have it. Like my name---Noelle...it's not strange or made up, you've probably met one or two before, but I personally have never had a friend named Noelle and rarely meet them. I've always like that about my name.

John Paul and I started talking about names before we were even engaged (that boy was never scared of commitment) and I showed him my aforementioned list somewhere along the way. Luckily, he was on board for a lot of them, but of course he got to veto the ones he didn't like and add new ones he loved. We knew we might change our minds or hear new names we liked, but by the time we were married we had a list of 6-8 (first and middle) names picked out for our future children. Most of them we came up with together and a few from my list made it as well.

I like names with significant meaning whether from the Bible, literature, or family. I love family names and last names as first names. I like certain nouns as names. I also like boys names on girls.

I'm not talking gender neutral names like Aaron/Erin. I'm talking girls with names like Charlie (Charlotte), Andy/Alex (Alexandria), Sam (Samantha), Spencer, Dallas, Austin, Ryan, Blake to name a few. John Paul is not as big of a fan of this so I have one boys name on my girl list and it will probably get used as a middle name (although he approved it as a first). But these still aren't that strange...lots of girls go by these names.

Recently I heard of two little girls with names that you pretty much never hear on a girl---so quite unique. One was Micah, and the other was Isaiah.

What do you think about these two names (or masculine names on girls in general)? Cool/unique? Going too far?

10 comments:

  1. I know a girl named Micah, so that doesn't seem as weird, but Isaiah sounds more masculine to me...

    I was expecting this to have your list of names on it... Is it a secret?

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  2. I absolutely want to name my daughter Ryan!:-) BUT, after seeing my coworker named Randi have to explain why her prescriptions are OK for her to pick up because she IS a female :-) I decided that I will probably do Jemma Ryan , with Ryan as the middle:)

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  3. First of all, I've always loved your name! I haven't heard of many girls being named things quite as masculine as Micah and Isaiah...I think everyone has their own choice, but of course there's something to be said for being mindful of how your child will be treated based on the name too. I know a family with the last name Bush and named their kid Blueberry...no joke. For the most part I too, am drawn to women's names that are masculine sounding- i love charlie for a girl! not so much buys names that sound feminine which is kind of silly i guess.

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  4. Well the plan is that when we get pregnant we want to find out the gender but have the name be a surprise when the babies born. That way there's something to wait for but also we avoid all the "opinions" about the name. People tend to keep their criticisms to themselves when it's already on the child, haha.

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  5. I like boy names for girls. Especially Riley or Cody. Also I grew up with a friend Micah who was a girl. I didn't know it was a boy name til I was a teenager. ALSO! My parents were really close to naming me Tyler.

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  6. My middle name is Ryan and my best friends name is Joey and She's a girl. I'm a fan as long as you don't make it some crazy spelling

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  7. Kaylan---My former boss names his daughter Poppy and their last name was Cox.

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  8. I'm not big on the reverse either. Although I did like the character Angel in Buffy and thought Ashley in the boyband Otown was pretty cool when I was in elementary school, haha.

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  9. Those are great names! My cousin named her daughters Blake and Ryanne. I'm far from having children, but I have my boy first name picked out. :)

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  10. I have a friend who will find out if she is having a boy or girl this month. IF she's having a girl, she's naming her Micah. I think it's cute!

    I love a name with a good meaning.
    In fact, I really wanted to name my daughter (this pregnancy) Novella, but the meaning was "a short story" and my husband didn't want to have that stigma over her life and we opted for Selah instead. :) I'll be tuned in September to see what baby's name is!

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