Now I know my ABCs...I think.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_x_blackroses_x/]

My mom and I were playing a little game with our baby names book (Name Your Baby by Lareina Rule: bestest evar!) the other day--the one I invented called, “Would You Rather Be Named __, __, or __?” By the time we made it through playing the entire alphabet, I decided it was time to try and update my favorites list. I came up with a Top Ten for each letter for girls, and just a bunch of lengthy lists for boys… though I’m going to try and narrow it down to Top Fives just to share here. Whatcha think?

I have edited it a teensy bit...



Astrid*
Anya
Ariel
Alma
Adelaide

Beatrix**
Britta**
Bebe**
Bella* [also Bellatrix** & Belladonna**...wasn't at first going to list such "out-there" ones, but heck, they are real names and I love 'em.]
Bernadette (Bernadine is also pretty. I rather like Bianca, Blanca & Blanche too...eh, it's sort of a tough letter. But then so many are. :p)

Claudia*
Cassidy
Cleo
Clementine
Caprice

Delilah**
Delphina*
Donna
Dagmar
Dominique

Electra**
Elle**
Estella*
Esmeralda*
Eudora (between that and Eulalia)

Freya* (Freja)
Fern
Felicity
Florence
Frieda

Georgette*
Gretchen
Gerta
Ginger
Germaine (just edged out Ginevra or Genevieve, w/ the French pronunciation.)

Heidi
Henrietta
Helga
Hilde
Hesper

Ilsa**
Ivy**
Imogene**
Inga**
Ilka

Jemima**
Johanna
Joyce
Janine
Josephine

Katina
Kirsten
Kathleen
Kim
Kristine

Lola** (I also love Lolita.)
Loretta
Lydia
Laverne
Lucretia

Margo**
Mercedes**
Myra**
Mariah*
Mavis (Martina is almost in the top 5…very close…)

Narcissa
Noel
Naomi
Nicola
Nellie

Ophelia*
Opal*
Oceanna
Octavia
Olympia

Petra** (I also love Petronella.)
Paige
Penelope
Prudence
Priscilla (I also like Peg/Peggy a lot, but decided not to count it since it's only listed as a nickname...={ )

Forget Q! My favorite is Quintana though.

Rita**
Roxanne**
Rosanna*
Regina
Ramona

Sybil** (Or Sibyl, I'm never sure which spelling I prefer!)
Sasha**
Sage
Sheila
Sonia

Tallulah*
Thelma
Tabitha
Tess
Theodora (Either that, Tuesday, or Trixie--though I’d use the latter as a nn.)

Ulla**
Uma
Ursula
Uta
Una

Vivian** (I like variations such as Viviane, Vivienne, & Viviana, but just straight Vivian is my fave.)
Valentina*
Violet
Viveca
Virginia (edges out Velvet, Vera, Vanessa...)

Wednesday
Whitney
Wanda
Willow
Wynona

X=Xena

Yvonne
Yvette
Yolanda (that’s about it for Ys)

Zsa Zsa
Zelda
Zinnia
Zoe
Zaida

That was somewhat difficult. XD I love names. The ones with asterisks (single or double) are my overall favorites.

Now for the guys. I have to say, they’re even harder, because I like some truly old-fashioned or foreign or otherwise just plain WEIRD ones, and sometimes it seems it’s either that, or really common ones that I’m not such a huge fan of…but I’ll try not to make the lists too bizarre-looking.

Austin
Argyle
Alistair
Adrian
Algernon

Bradley
Boris
Bjorn
Benedict
Bernard

Cagney
Claus
Calvin
Chase
Chester

Douglas
Derek
Dietrich
Darius
Dimitri (not so sure about this one, I like quite a lot of Ds)

Everard
Emery
Edmund
Esteban
Earl

Felix
Fletcher
Flint
Franz
Fiorello

Gordon
Gunther
Graham
Gage
Glenn

Hector
Hans
Howard
Hastings
Herschel

Ingmar
Isaac
Ignatius
Ivan
Ian (either that, or Irving, or Ira)

Jules
Julian
Jackson
Jorgen
Johan

Karl
Kendrick
Kent
Killian
Kirby

Luca
Lars
Leif
Leonid
Luther

Miles
Magnus
Maxmilian
Merlin
Milo (or Maddox)

Neal
Noah
Nathan
Nicholas
Niles

Orin
Owen
Oliver
Olaf
Odin

Preston
Patrick
Philip
Pierce
Percival

Quentin, Quincy…

Roland (Rollo)
Reeve
Rigby
Renshaw
Randall (almost tied w/ Royce, Russell)

Seth
Sebastian
Sven
Seymour
Sinclair (another of the more difficult letters…I just barely knocked Siegfried out)

Talbot
Terrence
Thurlow
Timothy
Thatcher

Uriah
Ulric
Ulysses
Upton
Only gots 4 for that one. ^^

Virgil
Vernon
Vaughn
Vincent
Vladimir

Walden
Wade
Wheaton
Winslow
Wyatt (I wanted to include Wolfgang, though. ^-~ And Walter. So I’m mentioning them.)

Xavier!
And York is my favorite Y.

Zeke
Zachary
Zale
Zane
Zared



P.S. How do you pronounce Arabella? (I always switch among saying “Air-uh-bella,” “Arr-uh-bella” or just sorta “ara-bella”…)

Comments

[lind-saay.livejournal.com]

Astrid
Alma
Anastasia
Delilah
Elle (only as nickname)
Frieda
Gretchen
Johanna
Josephine
Lydia
Lucretia
Naomi
Nellie (only as nickname)
Ophelia
Penelope (with Nell[ie] as a nickname)
Tess
Vivian
Violet

Alistair
Adrian
Bernard
Calvin
Felix
Fletcher
Graham
Hans
Isaac
Julian
Luca
Leif
Lawrence
Miles
Noah
Nathan
Nicholas
Oliver
Patrick
Philip
Seth
Sebastian
Timothy
Thatcher
Vaughn
Vincent
Wade
Walter
Zeke
Zachary

[blue-suspenders.livejournal.com]

I say Air-uh-bella.

I like

Astrid*
Cleo
Delilah**
Felicity
Ivy**
Nicola
Ophelia*
Sonia
Tess
Vivian**
Violet

Alistair
Adrian
Dietrich
Dimitri
Felix
Graham
Isaac
Ivan
Julian
Luca
Miles
Noah
Owen
Oliver
Odin
Quentin, Quincy…
Seth
Sebastian
Sven
Xavier
Zeke
Zachary

[skittles22088.livejournal.com]

I like:
Astrid
Adelaide
Anastasia
Bella - this is my chinchilla's name
Cassidy
Cleo - this is my cat's name
Electra
Freya
Sage
Tallulah
Tabitha
Vivian
Valentina
Willow - this is my other chinnie's name (short for Willowby)
Zelda - this is my other cat's name

Alistair
Emery
Glenn
Jackson
Killian - starting to grow on me
Merlin
Milo
Maddox
Nicholas
Owen
Sebastian
Wyatt

I pronounce Arabella as air-uh-belle-uh.

[nothingtolose19.livejournal.com]

Haha, I love doing this! I used to try to get my sister to do it with me, but she'd want to give up like, in the A's or B's, *sigh*. :P

Anyway! Of your names, I discovered that of the ones I like, most of them I waver on. Some days I like them, others I don't :P

Astrid
Ariel
Bella
Felicity
Gretchen
Imogene - I love it pronounced Im-oh-JEN, but not like Im-oh-JEAN
Johanna
Penelope - Loving this more every day :)
Tabitha - Love this one, too. Very pretty.
Tess
Violet
Virginia
Willow
Zoe - I like this better spelt with a y, though :)

Austin
Alistair - I had never really thought of this name until I was playing a game on here where I had to come up with lots of A names, and it randomly popped into my head. It's growing on me :)
Edmund - very iffy on this one
Luca
Noah
Oliver
Patrick
Sebastian
Timothy
Wyatt
Zeke
Zachary


:)

[sunshinelucy.livejournal.com]

You have a lot of great names on your list!

My favourites are:
Astrid
Beatrix
Delphina
Dagmar
Elle
Estella
Esmeralda
Eulalia!!!!!! (!!!!! EULALIA! In case that wasn't clear enough <3<3<3 I'm so shocked to see it on someone else's list, yay!)
Fern
Felicity
(Ginevra <3<3)
Henrietta
Ilsa
Inga
Inez (I used to want this as my middle name, lol)
Jemima
Johanna
Lydia
Ophelia
Opal (yay!)
Octavia (yay again!)
Petra
Sibyl
Tabitha
Tess
Theodora
Ulla (I don't really like this, but I want to put Olalla out there. It's the Spanish form of Eulalia)
Ursula
Vivian
Valentina
Virginia
Zsa Zsa (I actually love this. It's on my list as a nickname for Susannah)
Zaida

Alistair
Adrian
Benedict (I really like this as Benedikt, too)
Claus
Calvin
Dietrich
Dimitri
Everard
Emery
Edmund (THIS IS MY FAVOURITE NAME OF LIFE!)
Felix
Franz
Gunther
Graham
Hans
Ingmar
Isaac
Ivan
Ian
Julian
Kent
Killian
Luca
Leif
Luther
Miles
Maxmilian
Milo
Nathan
Niles
Owen
Oliver
Patrick
Philip
Pierce
Quentin
Seth
Sebastian
Sven
Sinclair (love this!)
Talbot
Ulric
Vincent
Vladimir
(Wolfgang & Walter)
Xavier (love this pronounced in French and in Catalan, but not in English)

How do you pronounce Arabella? air-uh-BELL-uh

I don't really think I did a whole lot of narrowing down, eh? These are fantastic!

[awoodnymph.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend's aunt is named Arabella and she pronounces it "Air-uh-bella".

[kilobites.livejournal.com]

Astrid
Bella
Cleo
Delilah
Estella
Freya
Georgette
Hilde
Ilsa
Josephine
Kathleen
Lydia
Margo
Nicola
Olympia
Petra
Rosanna
Sasha
Tess
Ursula
Vivian
Wednesday
Yvonne
Zinnia

Adrian
Bernard
Calvin
Dietrich
Everard
Felix
Gage
Howard
Isaac
Julian
Karl
Leif
Miles
Nicholas
Owen
Pierce
Reeve
Sebastian
Talbot
Ulysses
Vincent
Wyatt
Zachary

[sittingsage.livejournal.com]

Astrid
Alma
Beatrix
Claudia
Delphina---i prefer Delphine
Freya---love
Fern
Felicity
Frieda --prefer Frida and also love
Germaine (just edged out Ginevra or Genevieve, w/ the French pronunciation.)---prefer Ginevra or Genevieve

Hesper
Ilsa
Imogene
Inga
Jemima--unfortunately all I see is Aunt Jemima syrup :(
Josephine
Lydia
Lucretia--would never use but guilty pleasure name
Margo
Mavis--reminds me of another M name i love that isn't used much anymore--Marvel
Noel
Petra--love! but it reminds my husband of 'petrified'
Penelope
Prudence
Sibyl
Sasha
Sage
Tallulah
Uma
Viveca---LOVE!
Xena--prefer Xenia
Zelda
Zinnia
Zaida



Alistair
Dimitri
Felix
Graham
Isaac
Luca
Lars
Leif ---Love! in all likelihood this will be our sons name if we have another
Merlin--my husband really likes Merlin for the meaning but I could never use it
Milo---I like Milo but sometimes it seems more of a little boy name to me
Orin
Owen
Pierce
Percival--another good Arthurian name :-P
Quentin
Sebastian
Vaughn
Wolf/e over Wolfgang
Xavier

[my-little-voice.livejournal.com]

Astrid
Adelaide
Beatrix
Bella
Cleo
Clementine
Delilah
Elle
Imogene
Janine *had to pick that one as it’s my name…correct spelling and all*
Lydia
Ophelia
Paige
Penelope
Sage
Tess
Vivian *Vivienne*
Violet
Willow
Zoe

Emery
Graham
Ian *my brother’s name*
Julian
Jackson
Luca
Miles
Noah
Nathan
Nicholas
Owen
Oliver
Pierce

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

Aww, I wish I had someone to play name games with. I feel embarrassed even mentioning my weird obsession to my boyfriend.

I have a top 4 for each letter for both male and female names. I'm kind of anal about it, I guess, because some of them are stretches so I would have 4 for each letter. I don't think I could manage 10 for every letter, but it sounds like an interesting challenge.

Several of yours are in my top four:

Bella
Dominique
Edmund
Estella
Hilde (Hilda, in my case)
Ian (Ian's my #2, Ira's #3, and, lacking much love for any other particular I name, Iain is #4)
Ilsa (Ilse for me)
Isaac
Ivy
Julian
Nathan (Nathaniel)
Noah
Nicholas
Oliver
Ophelia
Owen
Paige
Penelope
Philip (Phillip)
Quentin (I don't like any other Q name's for boys, so #2 is Quinton, #3 is Quenten, and #4 is Quintin)
Randall
Seth
Tess (Tessa)
Ulysses
Una (I cheated with U--the ooh-nuh pronunciation is my #1, yoo-nuh is #2)
Upton
Uriah (my male U #1, but there's another cheat--#4 is Uria)
Violet
Xavier

[laminy.livejournal.com]

I like:

Astrid
Anastasia
Beatrix
Cassidy
Regina
Ramona
Sage (but never, ever on girls; boys only)
Valentina
Violet
Wednesday

Austin
Chase
Kent
Luca
Milo
Noah
Orin
Seth
Sebastian

[http://users.livejournal.com/_x_blackroses_x/]

Oh wow, did I include all your pets?! Lol.

It seems most people say "air." I think I usually tend to say "arr." But again, I like it whichever way...^^

[http://users.livejournal.com/_x_blackroses_x/]

Hee! =) Aww, that's too bad, it is so much fun. xD I'm lucky my mom likes names about as much as I do. Sometimes she and I like the same ones, other times not.

Oh, I'm the opposite with Imogene, I like the 'jean' way.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_x_blackroses_x/]

Ha ha, we obviously have *very* similar taste! XD You kept a lot of the ones that are my real overall favorites, not just by letter. :D

I like Zsa Zsa as a nn as well. And Eulalia is great! Even my mom liked it. But yeah, you hardly ever see it turn up. The Spanish version is interesting too.
Ulla is actually my dog's name. xD *points at icon* ^^

[skittles22088.livejournal.com]

All except my gerbils and my other chinchilla lol.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_x_blackroses_x/]

Aww! xD;

Yeah, it's actually tough narrowing it to an equal number per letter, 'cause after my definite top faves--the number of those obviously varies letter to letter--it gets difficult to choose which ones to put, and which order! The top ones generally don't change too much, but as the lists go on, they'd be shifting and changing all the time if I were updating them daily, lol. I mean, picking ten for each wasn't TOO hard, but I got less sure as I got toward 10 and there ended up being too many potential choices..

Anyway, I like some of your variations like Nathaniel, Phillip, Tessa...and both pronunciations for Una are good, but I too like 'ooh-nuh' much better.

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

I say Ah-rah-bella.

My own ABC:

Astrid (yay!) / Adam
Belén / Bram
Cassia / Carmine
Dagmar / Dominic
Eve / Elias
Florence / Francis
Gemma / Grey
Helena / Hadrian
Indigo / Ira
Jillian / Joseph
Kate / Kai
Leah / Leland
Maeve / Morgan
Neve / Nathaniel
Odette / Otis
Pippa / Philip
Róisín / Roman
Sadie / Simon
Tamsin / Taliesin
Valentina
Yonina
Zorah

I really don't like any names starting with U, W, Q or X, or any boy names with those letters and V, Y & Z. Although I do think Vaughn, from your list, is quite nice! =)

[bmwbabe007.livejournal.com]

I like:

Cassidy
Elle
Heidi
Ivy
Joyce
Lydia
Vivian (I prefer Vivienne)
Violet
Vera
Whitney


Austin
Bradley
Chase
Emery
Isaac
Jackson
Killian
Leif
Noah
Nicholas
Orin (but I prefer the spelling Oren)
Owen
Wyatt

[ifancylust.livejournal.com]

i like:
Beatrix**
Delilah**
Elle**
Freya*
Kirsten
Kathleen
Lydia
Noel
Petra** (I also love Petronella.)
Penelope
Ramona
Sasha**
Sage
Tallulah*
Tabitha
Tess
Valentina*
Violet
Zinnia
Emery
Felix
Graham
Isaac
Jordan
Killian - i like cillian better though
Luca
Leif
Miles
Orin - i prefer oren
Owen
Preston
Sebastian
Sven
Timothy
Thatcher

[http://users.livejournal.com/_x_blackroses_x/]

Ooh, I love Astrid (of course!), Carmine, Dagmar, Dominic, Elias, Gemma, Hadrian, Leland, Maeve, Morgan, Nathaniel, Odette, Otis, Philip, Simon, Valentina, & Zorah....and I also like Bram, Cassia, Florence, Francis, Grey, Helena, Ira, Neve, & Sadie. Some of the others, like Indigo, are quite interesting too. ^^

Btw, how do you pronounce Belen and Roisin (don't know how to insert the accent marks)?

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

Thanks! =)

Belén = Bell-LAYN
Róisín = Ro-SHEEN

[http://users.livejournal.com/_x_blackroses_x/]

Ah, that's how I thought the first one would be, and the second one surprised me a wee bit but I like it, it's different. =]

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's Gaelic, so the spelling pretty much never relates to the way it sounds ;) But yeah, I really like it as well.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_x_blackroses_x/]

Ha ha, yeah...I wish I knew more Gaelic, so many of the names I look at and think, "Gee, I'll bet that's really pretty if I only knew how to say it!" xD

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

Yeah I feel the same way!
There are some names on Baby names of Ireland (http://www.babynamesofireland.com/), there you can even listen to the pronunciation. The most common Gaelic names are on there, I think. It's handy =)!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_x_blackroses_x/]

Oh, sweet! Thanks for that! :D