Name Ideas

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Baby Number 2 is on the way right now. So, I'm making a list of names for the hubby that I am considering for the baby and then he approves or disapproves accordingly. My name list is a bit long so I'm wondering if you guys could help narrow it down for me. However, before you do read it, I'm going to warn you that I like odd names and geek names (like Elven names and names from fantasy books) as well as Scottish/Gaelic origin names, so please be gentle with the criticism. My husband is equally, if not more so, a geek than me, so I know he'll approve of most of these on my list. We are both also very into the Gaelic origins of names (I am obsessed with Scotland and the history of it). The point is, I just want to narrow the list down. :D

Things to know:
My oldest is 8 months and his name is Gavin.
We don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl and we probably won't find out until it's born. Not quite sure yet though.
I chose middle names after I have the first name figured out. Gavin's middle name is Joseph after my husband's middle name.

Thanks again for your comments. They're much appreciated.


In no particular order:

GIRLS:
Aileen
Evangeline
Daenerys
Bronwyn(n)
Guinevere
Aviendha
Arya
Lysanna
Rhiannon
Delilah
Shaelynn
Avaleen
Mhairie
Ginny
Aurora
Willow
Laurana
Anya
Nynaeve
Alhana
Daisy
Lily
Reese
Maria
Kylie
Melanie
Inara
Michaela
Quinn
Meg(ara)
Christy

BOYS:
Tam
Gerard
Eddard (Ned)
Collin
Jonas
Silas
Rand
Bran
Camden
Oliver
Connor
Eamon
Garrett
Liam
Tanis
Ainsley
Rhys
Kendric
Cayden
Eian
Kenneth
Seamus
Caedmon
Tristan

Comments

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Lol. I tend to like girls names better. I don't really know why. I've been leaning towards Evangeline a lot lately though, so I'm glad to see someone likes it. :D

[miss-tee.livejournal.com]

Girls I love:
Guinevere
Aurora
Willow
Lily

Boys I love:
Silas
Liam
Seamus
Tristan

and another Scottish/Celtic boys name that I love that's not on your list:
Angus

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how i feel about Angus. I'm gonna give it some time and see if I like it more tomorrow. That's how names usually work with me.

[politicking.livejournal.com]

i love:
Arya
Rhiannon
Anya
Lily
Reese
Kylie
Quinn
Aileen
Delilah

Collin
Jonas
Bran
Oliver
Connor
Garrett
Liam
Rhys
Tristan

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

You really like Arya? It's from a book series by George R.R. Martin that my husband and I love. Not many people outside of those fans like that name. I'm glad to see that you do! :D

[straight-outta.livejournal.com]

Top 3 favorites of each gender...

Girls: Evangeline, Lily, and Reese

Boys: Jonas, Oliver, and Seamus

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Evangeline is my top girls name right now and Jonas is my husband's top boy name. :D You are a good picker. ;-) Actually, as I commented above, it's good to see that someone else likes Evangeline because I thought I was one of the only people and I really really like that name.

[withoutanif.livejournal.com]

whell of time! *ahem* lol. :D

Names I particularly like from your list:

girls: Evangeline, guinevere, aviendha, rhiannon, delilah, ginny, aurora, willow, anya, nynaeve (i love!), Lily, Quinn

boys: gerard, collin, jonas, bran, garrett, kendric, cayden, seamus, trsitan.

i like most of thoses names. :)

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Lol. Yes. I love the Wheel of Time series (well, most of it). Glad to see someone knew where the names were from! :D

Also, as I said above, I really like Evangeline so I'm glad to see that you do as well. Aviendha was my favorite character in the series out of the girls. How do you pronounce the name? Do you pronounce it the Jordan way according to the glossary in the back or a different way?


And apparently we have the same kind of taste if you like most of the names. :D

[the-good-ship.livejournal.com]

Like: Guinevere; Delilah; Laurana (although, think second "a" looks better as an "e"); Ginny (however, sounds more of a nickname - looking at your style I'm guessing you might like Ginevra (a derivative of Guinevere, plus - if you like Harry Potter - Harry Potterness) over Virginia); Anya; Meg(ara) (never heard the name Megara, but think it's quite pretty, and like Meg as nickname); Jonas; Oliver; Connor; Kendric (unusually for me I like this one).

Dislike: Shaelynn; Avaleen; Reese (rhymes with grease); Kylie; Silas (=> silage in my mind. Not good.); Rand (might get Randy as nickname. Again, not good.); Bran (Flakes.); Garrett (=> garrotte - Spanish capital punishment by strangling; apparatus for this; execute, kill thus.); Rhys (as above); Cayden; Tristan.

The rest I'm not too fussed with either way.

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Laurana is actually from a series called the Dragonlance series. She is Elven and her full name is Lauralanthalasa but I didn't want to do that to a kid so I chose what people call her as a nickname which is Laurana because I don't know, the name sounded very pretty. I like the way it sounds. (Lore-ay-nuh). Oddly enough I don't really like Ginevra and DI don't really know why. I like the Harry Potter series, but I just don't like the name for some reason. Megara was actually heard on the Disney Hercules. She says, "The names Megara but friends call me Meg at least they would if I had any friends." I loved it so that's why I am debating Megara or just Meg. I liked the name Meg originally from the Time Quartet series by Madeline L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time is the most well known and first book in the series).

The reason like Reese because Reese Witherspoon is one of my favorite actresses. Silas is my favorite Biblical character so that's why I chose that name. Rand and Bran are both from my books and didn't think about those nicknames. I hate the name Randy a lot and didn't even cross my mind.

Thank you for you imput. You brought up some good points. And thanks for the suggestions. :D

[nobodynomore.livejournal.com]

Lily, Reese, Quinn, Christy, Rhiannon
Camden, Oliver, Connor, Eamon, Lian, Caedmon, Tristan

I like all those a lot. =]

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

:D Thanks. You're the very first person I've talked to who likes Eamon.

[megumi-nagase.livejournal.com]

I like girls names better, so... my favorite names: Aurora, Willow, Reese, Inara, Michaela, Quinn.

Hope it's a help to you! ^^

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

It is. Thank you so much :D You're the first person to like Inara.

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

They look better when narrowed down like that, don't they? Are they in order from like to last or just going down my list?

[blue-suspenders.livejournal.com]

For girls I like: Rhiannon, Delilah, Avaleen, Lily, Reese and Quinn.
For boys I like: Silas + Seamus.

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your input! :D

[solagirl.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of good names on here. I really like Ginny and Quinn for girls and Silas, Seamus and Garrett for boys.

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

I'm liking Ginny the more I see it. I have always liked it since I first picked up a Harry Potter book and read it. Seamus I also got from the books. Thanks for your suggestions! :D

Pronunciation confusion

[neroli.livejournal.com]

I would think twice about using the ones below. I found the pronunciations unclear, and suspect this means that other people would as well. I wouldn't want to doom a child to a life of having to correct people's pronunciations all the time.

Daenerys ??
Arya (AR-ee-uh? uh-RYE-uh?)
Lysanna (LICE or LISS at the start?)
Avaleen (AV-uh-leen? AY-vuh-leen?)
Mhairie (I know Mh is V in Gaelic names, but I doubt you're going to convince many English-speakers ;))
Laurana (you said this was pronounced like Lorraina, but I was saying Laur-AH-nuh)
Nynaeve ??
Alhana (oll-HAN-uh? oll-HAH-nuh? or is the first syllable AL instead?)
Eian (EYE-un? EE-un?)

Re: Pronunciation confusion

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Well, the first two are subjective to me since the author hasn't said how it's pronounced yet. But these are how my husband I say the names:
Daenerys (dah-nair-ays)
Arya (are-ya) I like both of the other pronunciations as well, but for some reason I'm partial to the way I first started pronouncing it when reading the books.
Lysanna (Lie-san-ah)
Avaleen (av-uh-leen)
Mhairie (Mahr-ee) is how we decided because of the english speaking people who don't the gaelic origins. and since I live in America it'd be a middle name and it would go away from the traditional "v" sound that "mh" is supposed to have together. I like it the traditional way, but I know that my child probably wouldn't since we're not in the UK where that pronunciation is more popular.
Laurana - I like the way that you were saying it and perhaps to avoid confusion I should maybe add a letter like Laurayna to help it? But I'm not really for adding unnecessary letters if I don't have to. But it doesn't look that bad that way and perhaps it would help?
Nynaeve (nigh-neev)
Alhana (al-hah-nuh)
Eian (ee-un) This is an Irish variant of the spelling of Ean and Ian.

[lneef.livejournal.com]

For someone who says she likes odd names, these aren't too bad. I wouldn't use any that don't have history outside a fantasy world though, no matter how pretty they are. The ones I would personally consider are:

GIRLS:
Evangeline
Guinevere
Rhiannon
Delilah
Aurora
Anya (though this is properly spelled Aine, I prefer this Anglicized version)
Maria

I'd consider Daisy, Lily, Reese, and Kylie as nicknames only.

One I'd suggest to you is Eira, a Welsh name I considered and think is so pretty.

BOYS:
Gerard
Jonas
Silas
Oliver
Liam (as a nickname for William only)
Kenneth
Seamus

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Hm. I kind of like Eira. I'll have to let that one sit with me for awhile. Anya is pronounced (On-ya) and I've loved it ever since the kid movie Anastasia came out. I don't think I'd first name my child Daisy, but it's after a grandmother I loved and want to pass it on.

[bornto-fly.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Liam, Silas, Jonas, Garrett, and Seamus, and I think they all sound FANTASTIC with Gavin. Cayden, Connor, and Camden seem way too trendy-sounding - ESPECIALLY Cayden, but the rest are okay names.

For girls, I really like Aileen, Ginny, Anya, and Michaela (and YAY for correct spellings of Michaela!!!!! You SO get a gold star!).

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :D I was trying to find names that would go good with Gavin and still keep that Gaelic feel or at least a meaningful feel.

Thanks for the gold star. Lol. I like it spelled the traditional way.

[bunnyliciousae.livejournal.com]

I really like: Arya (i have a friend named arya!!), Delilah, Shaelynn (also have a friend named this), Lily (on my list of top names), Kylie, Quinn

And boys names I really like: Collin, Camden, Oliver, Connor (my #1 top boy name!!), Garrett, Liam, Cayden, Seamus (on my top list also), Tristan


=]

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

How does your friend say her name (Arya)?

:D Thanks for your input. I really really appreciate it.

[thursdayx.livejournal.com]

For girls I like:
Evangeline, Delilah, Lily, Reese, Maria, Kylie, Michaela, & Quinn.

For boys I like:
Gerard, Collin, Connor, Garrett, Liam, Cayden, & Tristan.

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestions! :D And for helping me narrow down that list. :D

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

These are the ones I'd stay away from:

Shaelynn - Sounds very made up
Ginny - Nickname, what about Ginny as a nickname for Guinevere?
Reese - Getting very trendy
Kylie - Very 80s
Quinn - This seems more masculine to me
Christy - Nickname, everyone would assume her name was Christine

Connor - There are a lot of Connors, but otherwise it's not bad
Liam - Nickname
Ainsley - This seems more feminine to me
Cayden - Trend city
Tristan - See above

That said, these are the ones I really like:

Evangeline
Lily
Maria

Collin
Oliver

I think Gavin and Oliver, and Gavin and Lily, or Gavin and Maria sound best together. I actually kind of love the pairing Gavin and Oliver now. Well, good luck, and congratulations!

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestions and pointing out some of the flaws. It honestly helps me a lot in the decision making process. Thanks again! :D

Name Ideas

[lindsalope1.livejournal.com]

Hello Briannablade,

After two and a half grueling days of work, I'm treating myself to a lunchtime baby_names break and your posting caught my eye since you're imminently expecting and you like Gaelic names like my husband and I (in part because our families are part Irish-American).

None of the girls' names jumped out as being on or high on our list but Evangeline is nice, more so if your family is at least part French. It might be considered a name that is a bit trendy and coming from a show, "Lost", but it's nice. Some on the list that are definitely more trendy and remind me of shows are Willow and Lily (similar to the fad toward the "Sex in the City" names like Aiden, Charlotte and Miranda). I'd personally only choose a more trendy name if it was a family name or had other value.

Fortunately, I can speak more to the boys' names since William and Seamus are on our list and we like the nickname Liam and even considered just using it, in part because they are family names. Just some relevant variations on our list include Joseph William (Joseph being another family name), William Joseph, Paul William, William David (David being another family name), and William Seamus. Seamus is actually being a variation of our current son's name, James. Some might find naming our boys essentially two versions of "James" to be odd but we like both names and both are family names.

Congratulations on your imminent birth and good luck :).

Catherine

Re: Name Ideas

[lindsalope1.livejournal.com]

To clarify, "Evangeline" is not in "Lost" but Evangeline Lilly is ;).

Hope this helps!

[todaydream.livejournal.com]

GIRLS:
Aileen - don't like it, but don't hate it either.
Evangeline - I love this name! It makes me think of Evangeline Lilly (the Lost-actress) but that's not a bad thing ;-)
Daenerys - I'm unsure how to pronounce it, but it looks like the kid would have a lot of difficulty to write it down right :P It's not my top choice.
Bronwyn(n) - don't like it, but don't hate it either.
Guinevere - it's okay, but not something I'd use.
Aviendha - don't like this one.
Arya - I love this one! (in fact, it's on my list too, only spelt 'Aria')
Lysanna - don't like it, but don't hate it either.
Rhiannon - it's okay, but not something I'd use (mostly because I know a girl who uses Rhiannon as her nickname and I don't like her)
Delilah - love it and it's also on my list, but I'd use the nn Lila(h).
Shaelynn - don't like it, but don't hate it either.
Avaleen - don't like it, but don't hate it either.
Mhairie - I assume this is pronounced like Mary/Marie, which I like, but this spelling is... not my kind of thing.
Ginny - it's okay, but I wouldn't use it, it makes me think of Harry Potter too much.
Aurora - I love this name, but would use it as a middle name only.
Willow - just screams 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' to me, sorry.
Laurana - don't like it, but don't hate it either.
Anya - also screams Buffy, but I like it more than Willow, and might consider using it as a middle name.
Nynaeve - I like it the way I pronounce it, but I'm wondering if there's an easier way to spell it.
Alhana - is this pronounced the same as 'Alana'? If it is, then I like it. Otherwise, I'm indifferent about it.
Daisy - not my style.
Lily - I love this as a middle name.
Reese - not my style.
Maria - it's okay, but I'd use it as a middle name only.
Kylie - don't like it.
Melanie - don't like it - I know a Melanie and she's a bitch.
Inara - hm... interesting. I might put it on my list.
Michaela - simply love this one.
Quinn - I'm not sure if I like this one.. it's more of a boys name in my mind.
Meg(ara) - don't really like this one.
Christy - it's okay, but I'm more fond of 'Chrissy'.

BOYS:
Tam - don't really like it.
Gerard - it makes me think of my grandfather, but I don't really like it. I'd still use it as a middle name, though, because of the sentimental value.
Eddard (Ned) - don't like this one.
Collin - it's okay, but I like it more spelt 'Colin'.
Jonas - I love this one, it's on my list too.
Silas - when I hear this name I automatically think of 'The Da Vinci Code'. Not a good thing. Don't use it :P
Rand - this isn't a name to me, it's the Dutch word for edge.
Bran - don't like this one.
Camden - don't like this one either.
Oliver - this one is okay.
Connor - not my style.
Eamon - makes me think of the singer. Don't really like it.
Garrett - don't like it.
Liam - I love this, but would only use it as a middle name.
Tanis - not really my style.
Ainsley - not my style either.
Rhys - hate this one.
Kendric - hate this one too.
Cayden - don't like this.
Eian - not really my style
Kenneth - I love this one.
Seamus - I love this one too, but wouldn't use it, it reminds me too much of Harry Potter.
Caedmon - not really my style.
Tristan - I love this one, it's on my list too.

Re: Hope this helps!

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

That really does help. I'd reply to them all, but honestly, I just took it like you said it and I am taking your comments on them into consideration when choosing for this child. Thank you so much for your opinion. :D

[bobinwales.livejournal.com]

Likes:
Bronwyn
Guinevere
Arya
Lysanna
Rhiannon
Mhairie
Aurora
Anya
Lily

Tam
Gerard
Rand
Bran
Camden
Garrett
Liam
Rhys
Eian

Wheel Of Time fan? :P

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

Lol. Yes I am :D

[soulsplinter8.livejournal.com]

Me likey:

Aileen
*Bronwyn
*Guinevere
Arya
*Rhiannon
Mhairie (but spelt Mairi or Maire)
Ginny
*Aurora
Anya
Collin
Silas
Camden
*Oliver
*Connor
*Eamon
Garrett
*Liam
*Seamus
*Caedmon (I've never seen anyone say they liked this name on this site before! You have no idea how exciting that is to me! :oD)
*Tristan

* = Favorites

[briannablade.livejournal.com]

I really like the name Caedmon even though it does remind me of the Christian group "Caedmon's Call".

Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it!