[ashj_1218]

So naming kids is hard. Lol.

I want to know how you and DH go about it. Do you agree on lots of names? Do you like totally different styles? Do you write lists and try to get a match off of them? How hard do you think it is for you (say, on a scale of 1-10 or compared to other folks)?

When it comes to naming siblings, do you feel inclined to follow a theme, style, or other "matching" type thing? Do yo avoid anything like that on purpose?

For those who have picked a name or named previous children...do their names "mean" anything special? Or are they named after family/friends/important people? Did you always know you would honor those people/important things? Or was it happenstance?

[Counting our Blessings]

Well our last 3 were named after delivery.

We named the first 8 after family (middle names) and than ran out of family . Both DH and my family are small.

We have all the kids start with a different letter, so we have a DVCSMTNLH is the beginning names. We label the bottom of all their socks with their initial, otherwise whites would be nightmare . So the only stipulation we have is the new baby can't have a name that starts with any of those letters.

Our naming style is pretty simple. We like traditional names, nothing trendy, hard to pronouce or something the kid will be embarressed by as an adult. Lots of names are cute on little kids but I can't imagine being an adult with certain names. Those we avoid.

I would love the name Molly, but as you can see we have already used M on our son Mark.....so it's out.

I love naming them though, so fun!

[Kristin828]

So hard!!!! Your whole life you think 'aww I want to name my child this' but then when it actually comes down to it it's not just fantasizing any more.. An actual child, your actual child, will have to live with whatever name you give them! Such pressure.

For DH and I it hasn't been too hard to agree. One person will say a name and the other can always tell their opinion by their reaction. We've pretty much narrowed it down to a definite name for a girl and 2 possibilities for a boy. So I'd say between us it hasn't been too difficult.. Maybe a 5 out of 10?

We have no other kids but I think we're likely go with some sort of theme.. Both our cats have 'ph' (Sophie and Daphne) and our 2nd cat Daphne was named around the 'ph' theme of Sophie's name.. I know we won't go with ph's for our kids, but maybe something along those lines to keep em related.

Middle names will be after family. We really wanted to do 1st names after family but there's no obvious choices that wouldn't then hurt someone else, so we decided to stick with middles.

[Erin80]

Haha, no. DH and I don't agree on pretty much ANY names. It took us 7 months before we agreed on Julianna's name. He wanted Julia, I felt it was too common, so we agreed on Julianna. Alexis we agreed on right away surprisingly. This time, we are having an impossible time. He loves common names - like THE most common names. I like unique names, or just names that aren't super popular, but he refuses to back down in the least.

We don't follow a trend with naming our kids - though I like 3 or 4 syllable names because our last name is one syllable. Alexis and Julianna work well, as does Olivia - which is the name we have picked out so far for a girl. I like it, but feel it is WAY too common, but like I said, he won't back down.

My two girls aren't named after anyone or anything, but their middle names are both special. Lexy's middle name is Elizabeth - so she's the 5th generation to have Elizabeth as her middle name on my side. Julianna's middle name is May. Both DH's and my mom were born in May, so that's why we chose it. If our third is a girl, her middle name will be Katherine - we just like that name, but not as a first name because we don't like any of the short forms.

So yeah, our two name choices this far are Olivia or Liam - two of the most popular names right now.

[MrsNHigh]

We struggled with our son's name. We wanted one syllable and something with a cool meaning. We started out with just Seann Reese. Seann is dh's name. Reese means ribbing(and my child is living up to that meaning!) after he was born, dh wanted to include his fathers name, so we now have Seann Charles Reese. He goes by Reese or Seann Reese. If this next baby is a boy, we plan to keep the double first name/ two middle name thing going. We like Justin Carter right now.

[anothermother]

We just picked our girl's names because we liked them. We had the name Chloe Michelle picked out before we were even married, just because we liked it so much.

With Alexis' name we were actually going to go with Brea. But I also really liked the name Brielle. When I saw the name Alexis is just hit me, and it sounded awesome with the middle name Brielle. And it rhymed with Chloe's middle name. DH loved it too. I kinda wished we went with Brielle for the first name because I still love it so much.

This time around we had the name Everleigh Noelle. Another name I just saw and fell in love with, DH liked it too. He's not so sure about rhyming the middle name again, he thinks it'll get weird. But I like it

As far as boy names, it's been really difficult. I'm very open to a lot of names, but the 2-3 names that DH likes are the ones I don't care for. It's just overall a lot harder for us to name boys. Chloe was going to be Blake William. Alexis was going to be William Joseph. Both names we more just liked because they are what we agreed on, not because we absolutely fell in love with them. Well, I really do love the name William (call him Will) but we've had so many friends name their babies William that it kinda killed it for me. DH still wants Blake this time around, but I'm not sold.

With this boy name I *made* DH pick 10 out of the 100 I picked out. So we have something we are working with. His favorite is Jett. I'm liking Oliver. DH suggested Oliver Jett. So we'll see. Oliver goes nicely with our girl's names, not so much Jett. But I still wouldn't mind it since it would be a boy. I think we'll wait to see if it's going to be a boy or a girl before we make the name firm.

[anothermother]

Also, I refuse to name our babies after anyone. There are just too many people on both sides of the family and I don't want to enter that world of offending people.

[pressedfairie]

DH and I have very different tastes in names. With DS, there was only one name we both liked, so I fear that if we have another boy, we won't be able to agree on a name! But we're definitely taking a more casual approach this time. Every so often one of us will run a name by the other to get a reaction. We both Like Juliet for a girl, but I'm not big on the nickname Julie. We have our middle names picked out already (family names) I'm sure we'll find something eventually.

[rheaimedved]

Originally Posted by Erin80

Alexis and Julianna work well, as does Olivia - which is the name we have picked out so far for a girl. I like it, but feel it is WAY too common, but like I said, he won't back down.

I have never encountered a person named Olivia!

My husband is Russian (and I just got interested in Russian stuff while in university and have lived here a little over 2 years) so we're gonna stick with Russian names, but ones that will be fine in English (i.e. names like Boris or Olga are beautiful in Russian but unpleasant in English, Valeriy or Daniil are nice boys names but are too close to Valerie or Danielle in English, etc.) I also think it will be a nice way to keep them connected to their heritage, since we'll be living in the States. For middle names they use something called patronymics, which is a form of the name of the father. In our children's case it will be Nikolaevich for a boy and Nikolaevna for a girl.

We haven't thought much about names (only after we got asked a bunch did we talk about it briefly once or twice), but both like Alexander for a boy. There are relatively few names used in Russia so pretty much all names are really common.

In general I'm opposed to themes or particularly unusual names, even though my name is Rhea and there are relatively few of us.

There's definitely a lot of pressure when it comes to naming children, especially if you've read books like Freakonomics.

[Erin80]

^^ Well that's good to know, makes me feel a bit better about naming her that!

Tanya - That was my issue with the name Julianna - I HATE the name Julie, always have as long as I can remember. I made DH promise me that if we named her Julianna, then that's what we'd call her. He agreed, so we went with it. We also told family that they aren't allowed to call her Julie. If anyone does call her Julie, my 4 year old immediately says "we dont' call her Julie!, it's Julianna!". LOL. She does have nicknames and we barely ever call her Julianna. Her main nickname is Jubey, or Jubes (replaced the l with a b I guess!), we also call her Jibby. LOL. Just nicknames that happened naturally after she was born. I've had so many people say "what's her name??" when they hear me call her Jubey, and so many people think it's a cute nickname!

[lilsands]

Well.. DF and I totally disagree on names. &when I say disagree, I mean that I come up with a name and he says, "No, I don't like that." LOL. So it's become really hard here lately to find any more names that I like and that he won't shut down! He said he is not looking into naming until he knows if it is a boy or a girl. I guess it's just too hard for him to think of both right now, lol. Thank goodness we aren't having boy and girl twins or we'd be in for it!!

As far as the scale of 1-10 on naming, I think for me it's probably a 7. It's not that it's hard for me to come up with names, it's just the deciding factor at the end and me thinking "this baby will have to live with his or her name forever!!" Hopefully, this will all come together before baby comes home from the hospital, lol.

This is our first child, but if it's a girl, I would like to name her after my Nana who passed away a few years ago. We were very close and my middle name is based on her middle name, so it's just something I believe lets her be a little more connected to this experience.

[Sweet_Mama]

we have 2 boys already and I dont like any boy names at all. I like DH brothers name but feel its weird to name a baby after his brother but if we did I like Jeremiah James. If its a girl we are absolutely in love with Amaya. Baby mya is what I have been calling my belly

[ashj_1218]

We dot struggle as hard here as I hear some folks do...but it's still REALLY hard. My DH likes super-common (mostly boring to me) names. Like, all chart-toppers. Liam was not on the charts when we picked it (if it were, I am not sure I would have been drawn to it as much). We do the list thing. We make lists of our current favorites and then discuss ones that are possibles (aka: no one said NO WAY). One of the only names DH and I agreed on immediately was Blake for a boy. So why don't we have one? It sounds awful with our last name So we won't be using it. I say we have about a 6 out of 10 on the hardness scale for picking names. I am still working on him for the boy name this time. He picked the girl name and I like it.

I do feel that siblings sort of "need" to fit together. Not necessarily the same letter or origin, but a similar naming style of sorts. Like a good friend of mine has a son named Donato. It is very italian. And she is expecting her second son and was talking about naming him another Italian name. And I was like...you kinda have to! It would be weird to have a kid named something WAY out there and a second child named Michael or something very classic. But that is just my thing. My boys have very Irish names and I plan to continue that for another boy. A girl we will veer off the irish names, but still one that fits nicely with their names.

We do use "original" first names (aka: not after anyone). And the middle names are family names. We got lucky that our families have quite a few duplicate names. So Liam's middle name (Thomas) has one namesake on my side and two on DHs side. Kierans middle name (Patrick) only has one namesake, but I always knew I would name a child after my grandmother, who is an awesome person. So I knew eventually I would use either Patrick or Patricia. I am kinda glad it ended up being the male version, since I have a cousin named after the female version. We plan to name this baby either my dads name for his middle (mark) or my maiden name (Edward). A girl is going to be after my mom and myself. I like that sense of family connection. I am named after a grandmother I never met and it does make me feel like I have a connection with her.

[Sweet_Mama]

I am such a ditz! Lol I wanted to say that I like "J" names for boys and my oldest DS middle name is after DH and my younger DS is named after my dad. For a girl her middle name will be after my sister and husbands sister that passed away last year

[Elee1021]

I thought picking a name would be impossible since my husband has a hard time making a decision about anything but tonight he told me he would let me pick the name as long as he had veto power. I've been making a list of names I like as they come to me so we went through it and he actually vetoed very few! This may be easier than I thought! I think we decided on a girl name already because I picked a name I knew he loved. Boy may be harder to narrow down.

I really like unique names but not so weird the kid is destined to never be interviewed. My nephews' names are Alex and Andrew and there's about five in each of their classes. I don't want that scenario. I don't think we will go with any scheme or naming pattern, but I guess I can't say since this is our first.

I had originally wanted to use family names for middle names but I'm not set on it so I guess we will see.

[EverydayJoy]

Seems like my DH picks the names for everything, he's named the dog, cat, and DS. I really liked the name he picked out for DS, I am just annoyed that I can't seem to pick something myself. lol. I think it's cause I agonize over it too much.
He picked the name Ethan for DS at 5 months, and I really liked it, and then we tossed around middle names. I wanted to do Ethan David, (David is DH's middle name,) but then his initials would be ED. lol. So that was out. DH landed on Ethan Michael and we both really liked it.
Now DH already has an idea for a girl name that I like, Autumn. I don't know any mean or nasty Autumns in my past, so it hasn't been ruined by anyone I've met. And I do like the name. Maybe I can pick the middle name!

[dyeanotherday]

ii named Landon because i liked the name his middle name was chosen because of the meaning which is Howard and means watchman or brave heart and it was because i planned to have more children and liked the idea of him watching over his younger siblings

[mrsjl]

So first I read this, and I was like, "oh, that's too bad" but I was able to move past it:

Originally Posted by pressedfairie

We both Like Juliet for a girl, but I'm not big on the nickname Julie.

But then I saw this and it actually stung

Originally Posted by Erin80

I HATE the name Julie, always have as long as I can remember.

Okay, I'm trying to get past it, but it seems like no one really likes the name Julie. they say it's too 70's like Stephanie, Jennifer, Tiffany, etc and I just don't feel that way about it and I know it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks but it is starting to.

Rebecca isn't named after anyone. I picked the name Rebecca when I was 8. her middle name is Michelle. I regret it, I wish I had named her Rebecca Ann like I was going to until my friend told me it was a "filler" middle name and I changed it. Ann is my middle name. there hasn't been a day that has gone by that I didn't wish I had named her after me. Michelle came into play because my dad suggested it for a first name, and then when DH and I were trying to find a new middle name I just mentioned it and he really liked it. I wasn't sold but since I picked the first name I went with it.

Nathan's middle name is after DH. his first name we just liked.

this time the names we have are Julie Rose and Benjamin Thomas. I'm feeling kind of sad about Julie now since literally no one says they like it. some don't say anything about it at all, I'm guessing now it is to be nice Rose is my friend's middle name.

Benjamin is the only boy name DH and I agree on, and Thomas is used a few times in my family (my great grandfather's name, I had a great uncle I never met named Thomas, my birth father's middle name was Thomas, and my dad's confirmation name is Thomas) but I worry about how common Ben is. oh well, nothing is set in stone yet.

DH never offers up any suggestions, I have to go to him with them and he turns them all down, pretty much.

[bcogoli]

We are having a hard time agreeing on names. Picking a name is alot of pressure.

The only theme we want to go with is if its a girl we want her to have a second middle name. My DD is Rosalynn Grace Naomi, Naomi was my great grandmothers name and her twin was Ruth. So if its a girl it will be something something Ruth. We thought that would be cute and suttle.

[ashj_1218]

Originally Posted by mrsjl

Okay, I'm trying to get past it, but it seems like no one really likes the name Julie. they say it's too 70's like Stephanie, Jennifer, Tiffany, etc and I just don't feel that way about it and I know it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks but it is starting to.

this time the names we have are Julie Rose and Benjamin Thomas. I'm feeling kind of sad about Julie now since literally no one says they like it. some don't say anything about it at all, I'm guessing now it is to be nice Rose is my friend's middle.

No one likes our boy choice either. But, ya know, I just can't care. Mostly because it is MY kid and it is my choice to name a child. Not my mothers, my brothers, or my friends. MOST of my friends have named their children names I don't like either. I am generally pretty polite about it (I don't say I don't like them, since I don't feel it is my place to say anything, just as with choices I don't love on here). But naming is so personal. There is nothing wrong with the name Julie. It is just not some people's style. I do personally like Julie and tend to shy away from its variations (I do like Julia). I think if you take everyone's opinion to heart, you won't EVER find a name you can name your child. Someone will dislike it and be vocal about it. When we picked Liam for my older boy (in early 2009), it was number 75 on the popularity lists and everyone we told the name LOVED it. I don't remember getting a single bad review on it. They all commented how solid or handsome a name it was, even how "different without being weird." Fast-forward three years and people are "bored" of it. They say it's "too common" and "overused." Moral of the story...if you love it (and I STILL love Liam, I would chose it again for him, it fits him)...use it. Because Julie could be the next big trend or it could be considered "classic and elegant" in a couple years. And once the name is tied to an adorable child, it won't much matter. People won't knock the name to your face when your child is present and accounted for...it's like they feel safe crushing down the names when the kid is not born, but figure it's too late once the kid is here. Just let them know, it's already too late and you're sticking with it no matter what their opinion is!