The Name Game: Outstanding Outliers
Somewhere in between Bronx and Bob, there are a whole host of celebrity baby names that live on the fringe between “out there” and “traditional.” According to nameberry.com co-founder Pamela Redmond-Satran, these so-called “outlier” names have the added benefit of being “truly original” while remaining recognizable as established, tried-and-true names.
Among Pamela’s favorites are Paulina, as recently chosen by former baseball star Mike Piazza. “Her middle name Sophia might be a trendy top ten favorite,” Pamela notes, “but Paulina, which has that same feminine exoticism, is a fresher choice that could launch a new trend.” Bronwyn, as chosen by Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance, is “lovely and vastly underused,” according to Pamela, who also singles out Helena, as chosen by Kelly Rutherford. Of the latter, she says the name is “classic, original, yet outside the expected fashion choices.”
Parents keen on selecting a virtue name can bypass the more common Hope or Faith by going with the outlier name Honor, as chosen by Jessica Alba. Madonna’s daughter Mercy also fits the bill. Sarah Jessica Parker’s twin daughters both have outlier names, Pamela notes, with Sarah Jessica’s 7-year-old son James Wilkie responsible for selecting Marion, who goes by her middle name of Loretta. “Both names were last fashionable in the 1940s, and are definitely off the beaten track now,” Pamela explains, “and the biblical Tabitha is much fresher than biblical sisters Leah or Deborah.”
 Helena Giersch, Frank & Dexter Costello, Callum MacLachlan; Astrid Stawiarz/Getty; WENN; Splash News Online |
As for the boys, solid outlier names include Madonna’s choice of Rocco and Karolína Kurková’s choice of Tobin, a surname derived from Tobias. Also earning high marks is Callum, son of Kyle MacLachlan. Popular in Great Britain, Callum is rarely heard in the United States and represents “a more original choice than cousins Connor or Colin,” Pamela adds.
Some celebrity parents have split the difference with outlier names. Diana Krall and Elvis Costello did as much with twins Frank and Dexter, with the former qualifying as an outlier and the latter being “more in the hipster fashion mold,” according to Pamela. The same goes for Brooke Shields, who opted for an outlier with daughter Grier, “while first daughter Rowan’s name walks closer to the fashion line” according to Pamela, who adds,
“For a name expert, celebrity parents choosing these outlier names is really exciting, because they shine the spotlight on names that are truly distinctive and deserve more attention.”
In addition to her work with nameberry.com, Pamela has co-authored ten baby-naming books with Linda Rosenkrantz. Their newest title, Beyond Ava & Aiden, is available now.
– Missy
What’s your favorite outlier name? Are there any outlier names you dislike?
- Posted on Nov 13, 09 at 2:00PM
- Permalink
- 71 Comments
November 13th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
My eldest is Gwendolyn. She does go by Gwen, which is hipper than it used to be ( thanks, Gwen Stefani), but it is no way on multiple baby names lists.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
I’ve been having this thing for the name “Tove”… I just love it!!!
November 13th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I am VERY much an “outlier” kind of person when it comes to names.
I like names that are not so trendy or common that you walk into a classroom and there are multiple kids with that name, but I don’t want something so out-there or weird that it constantly results in a “What?” response from people.
And @ Noelle, Tove is a really nice name!
I like it, probably because it is similar to the name TOVA (or TOVAH), which I like too!
Names that make my “Outlier’ list:
Sheridan
Torrance
Veda (Vayda)
Adina
Nolan
November 13th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I’ve always loved the name Dorian (does that count as an Outlier name?), although I don’t know if I would call a child it. Bronwyn is lovely too.
November 13th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I’m just amused at the way people spell Bronwyn. That is the male version. Welsh names end with a ‘y’ for boys and an ‘e’ for girls. Hence Gwen – girl and Gwyn – boy. Definitely for a girl should be Bronwen.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
yes,Tove is a beautiful name. Tove is an old scandinavian name.Tove is a danish version of the swedish name Tova.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Vixen, under another baby names post some people thought that it was silly to have a female/male way to spell a name. I agree with you though. My brother Aaron was named after our grandfather. If he would’ve been a girl it would have been Erin.
Do Vivan, Wanda, Charlene, and Vivan count as outlier names? Those are all my aunts names
November 13th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Whoops I said Vivan twice lol. The last Vivian should have been Gloria.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I LOVE LOVE the name Gwenivere! It is sooo pretty, it sounds like a royal princess name. Its on the older side, but not as bad as say Esther. I like 3 syllable girls names because they sound so glamorous. I like Sheridan, Torrance, and Dorian too (the above post). I like Lillien too, spelled that way. All the names I like are girls name lol.
November 13th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
My own mother chose an outlier name for me, there were eight Danielle’s in my graduating class, but I was the only Daniella. At least a dozen of my cousins have looked back to our heritage & have begun to give their children traditional Gaelic names (some even with the traditional spellings) to honor our very strong Irish heritage & our ancestors who immigrated to the US in the 1930s & 1940s, most of whom changed their names upon arrival.
Some of my new little cousins names are:
Aislinn (pronounced Ash-lin)
Aoife (pronounsed ee-fa)
Baine
Cara
Cathal
Delaney
Eoin
Kieran
Murphy
Nolan (due in December, my cousin’s in love with the name)
Rowan
Shanley
Shauna
November 13th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Aoife, Aislinn, Rowan, Nolan, Ciaran, Calum, Briar, Miranda, Roselaine, Eloise, Annika, Helena, Rhiannon (love this one), Oliver, Owen, Camille, Allegra, Esme, Elliot, Jude, Joel, Charles, Malachi, Seamus (love this one), Lachlan (love this one), Finnegan, August, Declan, Deaglan, Talon, Estrella, Phoebe, Penelope, Finlay (for a boy), Kian, Sebastian, Cohen, Conan, Vanity, Hazel, Aspen, Isla, Faye, Story, Rosalind, Freya, Maisie, Sage, Francesca, Beatrix (Beatrice), Iva, Antoinette, Grant, Jonah.
Are alot of my favorites.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Who picked calling this type of name the “outlier”? In math, the outlier is the one number that is very different from all the others and doesn’t fit in!
November 13th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I love names that are out of the norm but not so far out there that they are odd.
Current favourites for girls: Corbin, Townsend, Camden, Evelyn, Isla, Imogen, Isobel and Carys
Current favourites for boys: Alistair, Cillian, Declan, Lachlan, Rylan, and Van
My husband had a name that was very popular and I had a name that wasn’t and although I hated it at the time, I have now come to appreciate being a little out of the norm. I can’t imagine any of these names getting super popular, or at least I hope they don’t!!!
November 13th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Devon: Most of those names I love! Though I’ve never heard of Corbin as a girl’s name
My cousin’s son is named that!
November 13th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Love the name Kendall for a girl. Also, really love the name Daniella.
Devon: Wondering if your Mom got your name from All My Children. There was a character named Devon way back. Just curious because I got my daughter’s name (Amanda, age 27) from a character on The Guiding Light.
November 13th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Diane: I just wanted to say that I love Amanda!
November 13th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Diane, my grandmother actually came up with Devon. My mum had never heard it before and it was years after I was born that she found out that it could be a boys name too. My mum was thinking of naming me Candace (I’m so glad she didn’t, since that’s my MIL’s name!) My grandmother has never watched soaps, so I’m not sure where she came up with it!
Jessi, we’ve got good taste! I’ve never heard Corbin for a girl either, but I think it sounds feminine rather than masculine. The meaning is also very symbolic for me. Corbin means raven. My cousin who I greatly loved and admired passed away, at the age of 28, and was half First Nations. I would love to honour her and her culture and give a little bit of her to my daughter. If I get my way (and have a daughter) she will be Corbin Isobel or Corbin Isabella (Isabella is my great aunt’s name, but she was born in Scotland and Isobel is the Scottish version). For a boy, if I get my way, will either William Henry (I forgot to add that to the list and William is pretty popular) for both my grandfather (and uncle) and my husbands two grandfathers or Alistair Michael, after my husband and our Scottish heritage. I’ve got my husband to agree on boys names and he’s receptive to Corbin, but isn’t sure. I would love to use Imogen too but I think that’s a lost cause…hubby hates it! I think Townsend would be the next best option, and hubby sort of likes it!
November 14th, 2009 at 12:05 am
oh I love this! I too prefer names that aren’t too common but not off the wall either… I think most of the following fit the topic at hand…
Girls: Evalena, Camille, Brynn, Isla, Nadia, Talia, Josephine, Cora, Leia, Livia (but don’t like Olivia), Marcheline, Magdalena, Kaye
Boys: Leyton, Lachlan, Kelan, Declan, Beckett, Barrett, Bennett, Callum, Cullen, Roman, Grey, Asher, Miller, Shale, Cohen, Davis, August
November 14th, 2009 at 12:29 am
Funny reading some of these ‘outlier’ names cause some of them definitely wouldn’t be outliers by Aussie standards. Bronwyn for example. I grew up with several Bronwyns and its definitely considered a pretty ordinary name by most people I know (no offence to any Bronwyns, just what I’ve noticed over here).
November 14th, 2009 at 12:59 am
Girls names – Mason, Harley, Emerson, and Addison.
Boys names – Landon, Jackson, Austin, Dallas, Elijah(biblical), Ryder, Aiden, Spencer, and Jagger.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:48 am
Most of the names I like are not overly “outlier” but not too common either. I love:
GIRLS: Summer, Regina, Harlow, Avalon, Fleur, Finley, Clementine, Frances, Nouvelle, Savaani, Milla, Lito, Lily-Rose, Emilia.
BOYS: Beckett, Kassius, Asher, Saxon, Hendrix, Kai, Henry, Zoltan, Malachy, Ryder, Cohen, August/Augustin, Elliot, Elwood.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:26 am
do not like either loretta or marion.
love helena.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:21 am
I wasn’t sure if our daughter’s old Nordic name (Freya) was one, but noticed it popped up on Jessi’s list! Also like Isla, which was mentioned by a couple of posters here, as well as Esme, Joel and Jude. There are a few interesting ones….We also have a niece, Tahlia, in Australia, which I really like, and so do a couple of our friends when we’ve mentioned her name (one friend of mine was considering it for her 2nd daugther til her hubby veteoed it last year for being a bit exotic I think for his little one…!).
November 14th, 2009 at 4:42 am
My daughter’s names are Trinity Savannah and Oriana Liberty – not sure where they sit in this to be honest!
November 14th, 2009 at 5:11 am
Addison is definitely a trendy name, not an outlier name. And considering Aiden is in the top ten for boys names, I would not call it an outlier name either . . .
November 14th, 2009 at 6:00 am
It’s interesting reading this because so many of the names people are mentioning are ones you come across all the time here in the U.K, especially a lot of the Gailic names like Aidan, Callum, Connor, etc.
Devon is a county here so would definately be out there if you used it.
My husband’s Welsh and I’m Scottish-English so we chose some good, unusual names but that aren’t too ‘out-there’ here in our adopted home of England.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:40 am
i agree with ratty, that it often just depends on where you live. someone mentioned the name daniella for example, i knew several daniellas where i grew up and the same goes for helena.
i think the only names of my kids that would fit this category are my second oldest son’s name, Jude, named after the beatles song. i just love that name. and my oldest daughter’s middle name Everly – after the Everly brothers and i just thought it went really well with her first name. and although my youngest is called Elliot we call him Eli (pronounced Eeli) most of the time.
some names mentioned here i really like, some i still think are a bit weird and have strange connotations for me (like Baine, just makes me think of the child being the bane of your existence) but to each their own.
some of the other ones i like are: Elias, Ellis, Silas, Ezra, Elijah, Joyce.
November 14th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Ratty, there was a Bronwyn in Neighbours wasn’t there? Maybe that’s why it’s more popular in Australia?
Also, CJ I’m intrigued as to why you consider Erin to be the female form of Aaron? For a start, to me they’re pronounced differently, and secondly Aaron is a biblical name and Erin is an Irish name! The two names aren’t related at all.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Celeb names I like that have been more traditional lately are Ruby, Helena, Tobin, Archie, Max, Francis (for a girl), Charlotte Grace, and West and Easton (although I know those two are not traditional; I just think they are really unique).
I don’t like the names Tabitha (reminds me of “Bewitched”), Loretta, Marion, or Lilian- but I mean absolutely 100% no offense to anyone who have these names, though!- I just don’t like them personally. Nor do I like Otis, Frank, Dexter, Bronx, Romeo, or Brooklyn (for a boy), though Francis I like for a male middle name, as it was my grandpa’s middle name.
I also think that Ava, Lola, Emma, and Jack are terribly overused nowadays, at least in the celeb world.
I always liked Sophie, Sadie, Evelyn, Estella, Jacqueline, Jackson (like it just think it’s overused), Vincent, Ezra, Dylan, Shane, Indio, Enzo, and William Rose. I also like Sage, Aerin, Jagger, Landon, Isla, Tasha, Lindsey, Annie, Katie, Ariel, Karsyn, Kensie, Sydney, Autumn, Brooklyn (for a girl), Luca Bella (“beautiful light”)and Saoirse Roisin (Seer-sha Ro-sheen), meaning “Freedom Rose”. It’s Irish, but I could never name a girl this b/c no one would ever be able to pronounce it!
November 14th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Rachel-Jane: When my daughter was in kindergarten, there was a boy named Aaron, and a girl named Erin. I guess to a 5-yr-old, the names sound the same because my daughter always referred to them as “Erin the girl” and “Aaron the boy”.:o)
November 14th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
My mom named me in honor of my great grandmother. While I was growing up I never ran across another Christina. Always Christine. Now that I an older, I hear Christina all the time.
When I named my son, I wanted an original name, so I went with Brannon, not Brandon. Again he was named in honor of a person. It was the persons last name. Though I see the name Brannon every once in awhile, it still is original and not over used.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I noticed when they were referring to Frank and Dexter, the twins of Elvis Costello and Diana Krall, they refer to Frank as being the outlier and Dexter as being the trendy name. The way I view an “outlier” these days would be the LEAST common name NOW. When I was a kid I knew tons of Franks but not a single Dexter, however these days someone named Arthur or Harold would be the outlier where as Rory or Finn would ACTUALLY be the norm!!!! This is hard to adjust to! My kiddos are Juliauna and Hayden, classic but not every other kid had the name was what I was going for, we are hoping to add a couple more and we have picked Spencer for a boy and Bridget for a girl, still nice but not horribly common.
November 14th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I also prefer names that aren’t so popular… we ALMOST named my daughter Emma, until we realized we just couldn’t do that… give our daughter a name that would ensure she’d be one of many in her class with the same name.
So instead of going with my grandma’s middle name, we went with her first name…. Ruth… and to make it longer, put Anne (my grandma’s other middle name is Anna, and my sister’s middle name is Anne, so I thought that was great)… Ruthanne… I guarantee I have not yet heard ONE person have a child with the same name. I’ve run across the OCCASIONAL Ruth who was younger, Ruthann who was in her teens, but it’s a VERY unused name… Ruth and Ruthanne both, really.
my oldest, I wanted something that wasn’t used in our family, as the only “outlier” male name in our family was Lloyd and I didn’t like that for my first baby… so I just went through baby books and found Damian… I loved it… from the first I saw it I just new that was my baby’s name… I got a lot of heat for it… but that lead me to research Saint Damian and when I read all that history, I wanted that name even more… and was able to defend my choice better…
Jeffrey isn’t uncommon, but it isn’t really popular, either, so when, with my second, my hubby changed his mind and WANTED a junior, I said okay… we did have a backup name (our first son looks like me and my side anyway, so we decided if we did do a Junior, it had to be the one who looked like my hubby)… when he came out, though, he was the spitting image of my hubby… and there it was.
But all of my kids have pretty popular names for their middle names… Damian Alexander, Jeffrey Allen, and Ruthanne Grace.
For the first and third, it was more important just because I wanted them to have that choice of going by something more “normal” down the line if they wanted… and I think it balanced the name…. for my second, it just happened to be his father’s middle name.
November 14th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
I’m a mother of five (I know :p), I really love my kids’ names. They al contain at least one ‘a’ and I think they fit perfectly together. I think girls should have double names, but boys should have one strong, manly, name.
My kids:
A seven year old daughter: Milla Rose
A five year old daughter: Ella Rae
A three year old daughter: Luca Bella
And -five months old- twins: Nolan and Max
November 14th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Sharon, I also like all your kid’s names! (although of course main thing is you do anyhow, but putting in my two cents, lol). Cute. did you get Luca Bella idea from jennie garth, or already like the combo of names?, same with Ella Rae. Is Mark Wahlberg’s daughter also Ella Rae? Just curious..
Milla’s very pretty. Know a girl locally by the same name but don’t hear it that often, which appeals, not commonly used. I agree about having an ‘a’, I like the fact our little girl’s name ends in an ‘a’, as love girls’, specifically like names ending in ‘a’ for some reason. Liked the ring to it (Freya) – not that her name may be everyone’s choice/thing – however, we like it!
November 14th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I know a Barrett, Beza (a girl recently adopted from Ethiopia), Brayden Thorn & Brody Gage (brothers), Jake Thomas (Thomas not too popular or too unusual), Winter & Lily Nicole (sisters), Lillian (shortened to Lilly), Elena, Mollie Louise and Ryle (sister & brother, Ryle pronounced like Kyle but with an ‘r’), Maren (girl), Ezra Gray (girl), Samuel, Kiana, Jadon Gregory, Draven, Rose Emily & Macy Lynn, etc. Some are more popular first names paired with uncommon middle names, several with the middle name Grace. Some I like, some not so much!
I really like Declan, Malachy. I just really like names in general, I guess!! Some more outlier names, some fairly common, some overly used, etc.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I forgot to add that one of my cousins has 4 boys: Garrett Logan, Grant Elliott, Graham Quentin and Grayson Wirth. All of the middle names are from different sides of the family. Her sister has 2 boys and a girl: Cale Anthony, Connor Scott and Kennedy Leigh. They both have a bit of a them going on! With a good mix of different style names, IMO.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Sam and Freya’s mum,
)
Yes I got the idea for Luca Bella from Jennie Garth’s daughter. From the first time I heard ‘Luca Bella’ I loved it!
Same with Ella Rae, but I didn’t got the name from Mark Wahlberg’s daughter…
I chose all of the names (for my girls) because the names are also used in Belgium (where I come from, but I’m married to an American
Milla, Ella and Luca are also used in dutch language, but we added an amercian name to it. But my boys are all american names!
November 14th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Devon: I really like those names!
Sam and Freya’s Mom: Yes I really like Freya
November 14th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I love names that carry a meaning. As i am Irish there is a wealth of these kind of names common to me. My own name Roisin (Rosheen) means little rose and I have a sister named Aisling (Ashleen)which means vision or beautiful dream. They however are names that are chronically mispronounced by anyone who isnt familiar with the basics of Irish pronunciation. My sister faired a bit better with Rachel (not at all Irish) which means spring lamb, i chose that name for her when I was ten years old.
The boy’s name that I want to go for is Eoin (Owen) as I have heard that it is the Gaelic version of my fiance’s name, John. It isnt exactly outlier, quite common here but its all in the traditional spelling to make it different. My fiance would like us to name our first girl Aeris, I think it is a lovely name but having researched it the closest meaning i can find is to Eris, the goddess of strife (not good!) or as a term meaning atmosphere which I think is quite lovely! In truth my fiance is a geek and fell in love with the sound of the name from a video game!
I really like the name Athena but i don’t think im winning with that one! fiance does not like it! I think it would be quite fitting as Athena and Eris were sister goddesses in Greek mythology.
I also really like the Irish name Niamh (Neev) as it means saint.
I also really like the name Rueben or Angel for a boy (literary references). But my best pal’s little girl is called Angel.
November 14th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Even though I had a common first name, the spelling was different and I have since added my middle name to my first name. Family names that are coming back in my generation are Senia, Joy & McKelvy for girls and Malachi for boys. One neice is Rylee – her daddy is Ryan Lee, another neice is Madelyn – spelling the Lyn like mine, another neice is Breann and nephew is Bryce. Also have a Macie due in February. Very partial to Irish names due to family being from Ireland.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
My daughters names are older names that are common sounding but, yet, we have only ran into one or two people with their names. We have never met anyone else with my youngest daughter’s name (although Willa Cather is a famous author).
Joanna Elise
Eliza Katherine
Willa Kristine
Son: Joseph Peter (very common)
I kept thinking that Eliza’s name (she is 9) would become more popular since it seems to fall along the Ella, Ava, Elizabeth, Emma line but so far it has not. My girls’ names remind me of pioneer times, simple, sturdy, and strong.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:08 am
I don’t really know where my kids’ names fit in but I have:
Giavonna Michele, Jaxon Avery, Jayden Isaiah, Sawyer James and Silas Maksim.
Amazingly they have so far been the only kid in their class with that name (except for Sawyer and Silas who are 2 and 1). Although, I haven’t heard anyone at the playground or out and about yell Sawyer or Silas so so far so good:) Jaxon and Jayden seemed to miss the massive use of their names by a year or so either way. And my daughter Giavonna well it depends where you are but no one in our area had her name it is just now getting popular here.
November 15th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
For the guys who do not know where the name Devon comes from, here in the UK it is a beautiful county down south.
I have met a few Devons here and also when I lived in the USA and they were all lovely people ( both male and female )
My third son has the middle name Austin where he was born and my friends here think it is really cool to have a name after where he was born, my 4th son ( yes I am the proud single mum to four gorgeous boys ) was also born in Texas and I Loved the name Sam ( Samuel when he is naughty !! ) and also thought of ” Uncle Sam ”
so I have a Max ( Maxwell when he ticks me off ! ) George, Harry Elliott ( who thought he had a supermarket named after his initials HEB !!! ) a Daniel Austin and a Samuel Harvey.
My American friend here did a similar thing and had a baby boy here and named him Brackley ( but goes by Brax ) after the town close by which is now famous for Formular 1 car racing.
I love the variety of names that you guys are brave enough to take on, and actually the old traditional names here are gradually fading out. If I had of had a girl I would have loved to have named her Maddison or Georgia, Elise, Ava, India and I really liked the name Ayesha too….sadly was not meant to be but here’s hoping I get at least one grandaughter !!!
November 15th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Many of these names certainly are outliers, but so much of it depends on where you are from. Growing up in a Christian church I’ve known many folks with the name Ruth, Ruthanne, Elijah, Joel, Micah, etc. And growing up in a predominantly black community I’ve known plenty of people with the name Damian, Dominic, Dominique, India, etc. I’ve enjoyed how my racially diverse community enjoys creativity in naming their kids, but when the outlier names become popular it sometimes means you’ll find a class with two Dominics, two Latoyas, and several Joceylns. When my brother was born in 1991, my mother knew only a few other Alexanders. Then – WHAM – every other girl or boy in class has a form of that name.
My choice “outlier” name I guess would be Auburn, for a guy or a girl, but the husband won’t go for that, so we’ll go for something else, regardless of whether or not it’s popular at the moment.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I love the fact that “outlier” names are making a come back! I just had a little girl and my husband and I decided on an unusual name…Angelica Lorelie (the middle name came from my MIL that passed away two summers ago). Both names are not ones that you hear very often and I want my children to have strong names that not everyone in their class will have, especially since I am a teacher!!
November 16th, 2009 at 1:20 am
“I also think that Ava, Lola, Emma, and Jack are terribly overused nowadays, at least in the celeb world.”
Haha, I have always thought so too! I don’t know too many Jacks, but I swear every other celebrity has a son named Jack!
November 16th, 2009 at 1:38 am
I remembered I know a Kiana Grace. Her mom is due in January with another girl. Her first name will be Kensington. They’re thinking Hope for a middle name. To balance out the longer first name. And it goes well with her sister’s middle name.
November 16th, 2009 at 8:08 am
I used traditional, common names for both of my girls’ first names and tehn went with “outlier” names in the middle-I have Abigail Celeste and Kathryn Lorelei. I love both of thier names! I used Celeste on my oldest after my mom, and then decided to follow the same format for my second. My son also has an outlier name, but his is his first name-Terry. You don’t really see that on little boys anymore, he’s only 3. His middle name is a combo of 2 traditional names, and it’s a family surname-Winstanley. I love all 3 of my kids’ names!
November 16th, 2009 at 10:25 am
If I have a daughter I like Ingrid Aurora for middle names. Ingrid after my grandmother whom I love dearly and Aurora because it´s sweet and poetic (meaning red light of dawn in Latin). Her first name will perhaps be Millie, Juni (the month of June in Swedish.
For a boy I like Vincent, Sebastian and Gabriel.
My name Lena (a shorter form of Helena or Magdalena, meaning the light one) is common here in Sweden. Also Lene is common in Norway and Denmark.
Sam and Freyas´s mom: Here is some more information about the name you chose. Freya (spelled Freja in Swedish) was the goddess of love, beauty and fertility in the Norse mythology. Her twin brother´s name was Frej, he was the god of joy and peace and ruler of good weather and fine harvests.
November 16th, 2009 at 11:40 am
My parents and older brother moved to a small inuit town in northeren Canada while my mom was pregnant with me because my dad was transfered there to do dental work. My mom was his dental assistant and found my name on a dental file of a girl named Copa Saila. My mom considered naming me that but decided that she would go with just Sayla. My middle name is Mandy after my cousin/mothers god daughter who was six when my family moved north. She and my mom were very close and so sad to be parted that my mom told her if she had a daughter she would name it after her. I love my name, the only part that wasn’t cool was never being able to buy pencils with my name on them from the dollar store.
my favorite girls names are:
-Ruby (because you can call her Bee and it’s so feminine and reminds me of wizard of oz)
-Clara (I could call her Claire and it was my great aunts name and I love the nutcracker and Christmas)
-Isabella
-Daisy (grandmothers name)
-Briarlea (the farming community where my mother grew up and where I spent summer holidays and Christmas’)
-Ditte (its one of my best friends name she is from Denmark and we have always said we will name our daughters after each other)
-Mya
-Seraphina.
Boys:
-Oliver
-Jude(after my mom Judith)
-Finn (It reminds me of water and Fish or mermaids)
-Forrest(lush and green and Forrest Gump and the Gump in Return to Oz)
-River(Navy blue and strong)
-James (classic and reminds me of navy blue)
-Xander
-Cole (for my brother/best friend)
-Luca
-Eric(for my best friend)
-Henry
-Osbourne(I would call him Oz or Ozzy and it reminds me of the wizard of oz)
Im big on names that shorten nicely because its bound to happen, like Natalie is pretty but Nat… not so much, it reminds me of lice or something. I think its funny that in this next generation names like Kyle and Ryan, Nicole and Jessica that will be outliers and everyone will think they are so unique and lovely and the cycle will start ALL over again!
November 16th, 2009 at 11:43 am
OMG I CANT BELIEVE I FORGOT MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BOY NAME!!!….WALLY! and I love Noel oh and Nola for a girl.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
We did Adelyn Jayne for our daughter – my mother was Teresa Jane and I liked the similar sounds in Adelyn to my middle name of Allyn and then our little boy who is en route is going to be Weston Joseph. My grandfather is Weston and Joseph is my hubby’s middle name
November 17th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I thought I was being different when I named my first daughter Sacha back in ‘94, but then I started hearing the name all over the place. When she became a fan of Bratz she started spelling her name Sasha. I wonder if we can change the spelling when we legally get her last name changed to what it should be (rather than my last name before I got married to her daddy)
Since I was young when Sacha was born I went for an “outlier” name, Sacha Rae. Ten-and-a-half years later my second daughter was born and we named her Angelina Isabella. I call her Angel (hell’s angel is more fitting a lot of the time, lol)
I’m not having any more kids, but if I had had a son I would have loved to name him Aiden Layne, but my husband would never go for that. He wanted to use the name Harley David (one of his uncles was a biker). There was NO WAY in hell that I was going to carry on the tradition and call my son John Sullivan III. However, fate made the choice for us, giving us 2 beautiful girls, but no boys.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
For girls I love the names Asia, Jenna, Katara, Lola, Madalaine, Rayna, Shyla, Star and Psyche
For boys…Aiden, Cage, Gypsy, Hunter, Gage, Patrick (but NOT “Pat”!), and Kane
November 18th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
My daughter’s names are Kendall, Finley and Darby. I was way ahead of the unusual baby naming.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
We went back and forth with names for both of our children. We eventually settled on Harlie Nicole for our daughter. We changed the “ey” to an “ie” to make it a little more feminine and chose her middle name after my husbands cousin and my grandmother. We named our son Brett Alan Robert. He goes by Alan which is not heard much at all anymore. He is named after his dad (Brett Alan) and the Robert is from both grandfathers, a great-uncle, and great-grandpa. Both kids middle names were a nice way to tribute members of both families and tie them all together!
November 19th, 2009 at 2:26 am
My son has a common name: Harry. I didn’t want a popular and to avoid a long story lets just say it was all my husband and I could agree on. Anyway, the funny thing is it doesn’t bothre me at all that there are other Harrys. There is almost an instant bond with other boys his age with his name. He walks into his sister’s school and all her classmates ruffle his hair and call out “Hello Harry Potter!” or “Here comes Mr Potter!”. In some ways though I wish I had called him by his middle name “Richard”. Its my dads name. And darn it I like it, and Gregory and Ian and all those names. But I couldn’t get over the obvious nickname issue.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I love a lot of the names I’ve seen here, especially these for girls: Paulina, Elena, Everly, and Myah. And for Boys: Beckett, Bennett, Weston, and Grayson. My four kids names are a bit different except for my first and third son’s name.
My first son: Tyson Ben. (10)(Ben is the same middle name as his Father.)
My second son: Larkin Jamie Leif (6)We just really loved the name Larkin, (it’s irish)(Jamie & Leif are after my husbands brother (Jamie) and my brother (Leif).
My third son: Riley Joel, (5) we really just loved the name Riley, and we chose Joel, because my father’s name is Joseph, and we wanted to at least have the “Joe” in his name.
And my fourth child, my little girl: Jenelle Emerine Stella (3) We really loved the name Jenelle, and Emerine is for my French Great Grandmother who I never met, but just really loved her name, and Stella for my husbands Grandmother, who was sick with cancer and died just a few months after Jenelle was born.
Other names I thought of for my kids but never chose were: For Boys: Triton, (my hubby’s hometown in Newfoundland), Judah (biblical), Sutter, Griffin, Micah (biblical), Baxter, and Braxton.
And for Girls: Ezra ( I know a strange name for a girl, it’s biblical, and my hubby thought it was different!), Ryla, Hailey Ann, Delancy, and Delissia. There are probably more, but I can’t remember all of them right now.
November 20th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I have a new grandson who is named Cade. Good strong name for a little boy. I love some of these names.
November 20th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
ChrisAnn (#59)- I know a boy named Braxton (10ish) and a girl named Ezra (2 1/2).
November 21st, 2009 at 8:33 pm
My daughters are Alyssa (said Aleesha) which is not at all common in the UK and Bronte Rhiannon. They are both outliers round here – it was always nice to call their name in the playground at home time and only have my two turn their heads. My mum objected to Bronte as she said it was a surname.
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 am
To CJ who posted on November 15 at 4:50pm – Erin is not the feminine version of Aaron. Aaron is an Old Testament name and comes from the Hebrew word “har” meaning “mountain”. Erin is a name that began being used in English-speaking countries during the last century and comes from the Gaelic “Eire”, the poetic term for Ireland. They are not even remotely related. They are also pronounced differently – Erin (air-en) and Aaron (long “a” sound-ren). Erin is a common name in Great Britain (esp. Scotland, N. Ireland and Wales).
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
We’re expecting our second child and we’ve decided on Madeline Rose for a girl and Max Jasper for a boy. I’m a little sad that my son’s name (Jack) is suddenly so popular. We chose it to honor my grandfather, but everywhere we turn there his name is. I always thought I’d go with a trendy name, but there’s a reason the traditional names have been around so long. They’re classic!
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 am
I have 3 boy’s Kent, Dylan,and Reid I have always thought their names seemed strong for a man and adorable for a boy. I also love the names Sawyer,Sanders,Saylor,Hammond,Trinten,Leah,Brackton,Kendyl,Kendre,Corrah,Caris, Brett(for a girl)just to name a few. I also had a friend who named her daughter Charlie, I thought that was so cute for a little girl.
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Olivia-Claire, Ruby-Claire, Claire-Olivia, Violet-Claire are some of the names that I’m considering for my baby if it is a girl. Also Leilani Claire or Olivia Violet.
For a boy it would be August Oliver, River Addison, or Ridge William. I don’t have very many boy names!
Also Lance is adorable. Roselaine and Rosalind. Amelia Rosalind is adorable. Also Anastasia. My names have already changed! haha
November 24th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I just love seeing how open everyone is to the use of unusual names. Even though my name often gets horribly mispronounced, I’ve never thought of changing it. Why would I? It belonged to my grandmother.
We went with Reilly for my daughter, but I like Rhiannon, Tamsyn, Glynis, Kestrel, Tripoli, Verity, Tirzah (pronounced TEER-zah,) for girls, Killian, and Rhys for boys.
November 26th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Eugenia: How do you pronounce your name? And I really like Reilly!!! And Rhiannon, Tirzah, and Killian and Rhys! Really like Rhiannon and Rhys!
but I went to school with a girl named Tamsyn and I have never heard of it since and never did hear it before school!!
November 27th, 2009 at 10:07 am
I’m due to have my baby girl in February and we’ll be naming her Stella Emilia Rose.
November 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I think a name should be looked back upon in 50 years and still be appropriate. I guess I think names should be timeless and classic. My names of choice:
Girls; Anabelle, Audrey, and Clara.
Boys; Sasha,Sebastian, and Oliver (I somehow find it harder to find good boy names)
December 12th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Well I have to say the name Tove is great since it is my name
I hated it when I was younger but now being 31, I love and appreciate it. I only wish it had been spelled with an “A”, but since I am Norwegian that is the way it is spelled in Norway. I also have two dots over my “+O”. So goos luck with whatever name you choose 