Thursday, January 17, 2013
baby name frenzy
I broke my own rule. I have regularly been disclosing the name we had chosen for our baby boy. I don't know what I was expecting...for people to jump up and down? Tell us that the name was just perfection without being over the top or trying to hard? Confirm that it went swimmingly with our last name like no other first name possibly could?
I don't know. Maybe that's what I was expecting.
Did it happen that way? Nope. People often would give a mediocre, "ohhh...nice." And that would be the end of it. (Granted, a couple family members did give a rather wonderful reaction...but I think it's because they are so excited that if we had told them we were going to name him Bilbo Baggins it would have been met with applause....you know?)
Now I'm annoyed with myself because I can't stay settled on a name. It's been consuming my thoughts all day. And I find myself toying around with other names on my fantasy list.
Like...DEXTER. Which is a beloved name to the fan base of loyal Dexter followers (sure he's a serial killer...but he is so loveable...and really...Dex is a rad name.) However, when I've mentioned that name to people I get straight up eyebrow raises...quizzical expressions...and one lady even started laughing at me and told me that was the most ridiculous name she'd ever heard and he would surely get picked on in school for that name (which made me want to kick her in the shins.)
I also still like Owen and Liam (neither of which flow with my last name at all), Milo (which my hubs has clearly vetoed), and I reintroduced Rhett to the list (which my hubs doesn't really like either.) I am still a fan of Luke, but have a couple friends with little Luke's and wouldn't that just be weird/improper? I also love the short names, Ben, Wes and Will - but am not a fan of their formal longer versions (Benjamin, Wesley and William...and again...my husband isn't sold on them anyway.)
If I never whispered "our name" to anyone and hadn't gotten mediocre responses I would surely not be in this silly position right now. (Or so I've convinced myself.)
Quick, list me your favorite male names...not "little boy" names...but man names...as this person will be a man much longer than a little boy. I need some more options. I'm going mad.
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You've listed some of my favorites, like Ben, Luke and Will. Along the same lines I love Teddy (but not so much Edward or Theodore).
ReplyDeleteOther faves are James, Colin, Rory, Brendan, and Nathan (Nate).
These came to mind as ones you might like...?
ReplyDeleteGarrett(Gary, or Rhett as nicknames?), Bradlee(Brad, Brady or Lee as nicknames), Myles(similar to Milo), Auden, Theo, Asher, Oscar, Jasper, Zane, Dane(could be paired with a J middle name.. thus DJ), Elliot, Tyler, Russ(my hubby's name... though its short for Russell I don't like the full name), Seth(love this name!), Van.
Please forgive me for saying this, but what's wrong with Bradley? Why would you need to make up your own spelling?
DeleteNothing is wrong with Bradley. I'm not one to make up names or spellings at all but I've seen it spelled both ways recently. It was merrily a suggestion.
DeleteWell if you like Wes but not Wesley you could do Weston. Or just name them the shortened version, you don't HAVE to use the full name.
ReplyDeleteOur sons name is Hunter which I personally think is cute for a little boy but also a strong man's name.
I love Owen... and Dexter! ;) I like the shortened names as well... but I don't see a reason that you'd HAVE to give them longer legal names... why not just go with "Ben"??
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorites also include: Sam (just Sam... no "uel"), Elijah, Josiah (I like vowels), Silas, Rhys. As far as more "mainstream names" I like Christopher and Matthew... but I have exes with both those names, so they are no gos for me. lol
I just had a little girl and therefore couldn't use our little boy name, James, who would never be Jim. We also liked Nicholas, who would be Nick.
ReplyDeleteYou've just confirmed that I should definitely keep our baby name a surprise until she's born! Unfortunately I have no suggestions for man names. We couldn't figure out any that we liked and decided if we were going to have a boy we'd name him after our grandfathers. Maybe for next time around.
ReplyDeleteIt never ceases to amaze me how blunt people can be when you share baby names. Our daughter is named Campbell and one sorta-friend on Facebook sent me a message that was paragraphs long as to why I shouldn't name her Campbell.
ReplyDeleteI love the names you chose. I think Dexter is great. Do you really think when he's 10 that series will still be around?? Remember that horror movie Carrie? And just look how many Carries there are in our generation.
I'm a teacher--a couple student names I've that I've liked are Bennet, Harrison, Augustus, Issac...
p.s. naming a baby after teaching for 8 years was really hard. LOL
I love "unusual"/less popular names so I definitely will be keeping this a secret when it comes time to name a baby in my life. I do love Owen and Luke- also because they were the names of 2 of my fav. kids at a daycare center I worked at for years. Other faves: Oliver, Henry, Jude, Bentley, Alden, Jake, Nathan, Nathaniel.
ReplyDeleteHarrison (Harry), Charles (Charlie), Henry, and Dean.
ReplyDeleteLove all your choices. My son's name is Griffin. My next one (if a boy) will probably be named after his great grandpa. It's a weird name but Young. As in Young Ewing. Jude, Logan, Robinson (after Jackie), and Shea (after the stadium) are all on my husband's list. He's kind of a baseball freak so the name has to sound like a good baseball players name to be "the chosen one" around our house. Screw everyone else and their opinions.
ReplyDeleteI hate mean people. I don't think I could ever tell anyone what the name of my baby will be not just for the bitchy people, but also for those who think its important to tell you about all of the evil crazies they know that have that name. With that said, I love the name Owen but that is my cousin's sons name so I couldn't use it. Also on my list Spencer, Blaine, Shane. But honestly, if I were to have a boy, he'd probably be nameless because G and I won't ever agree on anything.
ReplyDeleteWe disclosed our name (Xavier) pretty early on too. I don't regret it too much... there was only one person who said, "ugh, that name is UGLY in English"! (We speak French at home but wanted a name that would work in both languages.) Gee, thanks. We're still sticking with it, though... only two months left to change our minds!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh. I make this mistake all the time as ai have three girl names picked out and zero boy names. We aren't pregnant yet (hopefully later this year!), I'm just obsessed with names. I love talking about names with friends and colleagues and have this ridiculous fear that someone I know will unknowingly "steal" my favorite little girl's name. Some boy names I love but have been vetoed by the hubby; Elias (Eli), Mead, Gray, Emile, Owen (not vetoed, but is the name of my sister's ex boyfriend--couldn't do that to her!).
ReplyDeleteI like short names. Ones that might work for you: Abe, August (nn Gus); Flynn, Finn, Mac, Max, Rex or Sam.
ReplyDelete