Introduction! :)

[emmaleficent.livejournal.com]

Hiya! The name's Emma :) Intros are always so awkward, aren't they? I guess I'll start with some things about me. I'm 21, childless, and I've loved studying words and names for as long as I can remember. I have 2 beautiful nieces and an adorable baby nephew, all wonderfully named (Mia, Ava, and Anthony). I love reading (fantasy and dystopian novels, mainly) and writing, as well as sketching, singing, and listening to music. My favorite genre is alt. rock, but I find something to enjoy in every area of music. My favorite bands are the Beatles, Muse, Coldplay, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I also like Sara Bareilles and Pokemon, as my avatar will show you. ;) Now onto the reason we're all here - names! (favorites bolded)

Girls: Althea "Allie", Beatrix "Bea", Caroline "Cleo/Clio", Eloise "Ellie", Florence "Flora", Genevieve "Evie", Helena "Leni" (Heh-LAYN-ah), Isadora "Izzy", Josephine "Josie", Karina, Luna "Lulu", Mary "Molly/Maisie", Petra, Rosemary "Romy", Serafina "Fina"

Boys: Adrian "Ari", Alexander, Anders, Asher, Benjamin "Ben", Callum "Cal", Elijah "Eli", Finn, Henry, James "Jamie", John "Jack", Julius "Jude", Leo, Micah, Nikolai "Niko", Oliver, Phineas "Finn", Rhys, River, Rowan, Stellan, Theodore "Theo", Wesley "Wes"

As you can probably tell, my naming style is generally traditional/classic with a quirky twist, along with slightly unconventional nicknames (Cleo/Clio, Evie, Molly/Maisie, Romy, Ari, Jack, Jude, etc). I'm generally not one for popular or trendy names for girls (I believe only two or three are in the top 100 on the SSA list - Caroline and Mary, I believe). I strongly dislike surnames or male names on girls, as well as replacing random vowels with Y to make a name "unique" (such an overused word). For boys, most of my names are very traditional and verging on old-man-names. I generally don't like occupation names for boys - or either gender, for that matter - such as Cooper, Hunter, Tanner, Fletcher, etc. I also don't like hyper-masculine McManly names either - again, like Hunter, as well as Gunner, Cannon, Gauge, Harley, Butch, Rebel, Riot, Maverick, Rogue, Danger, Diesel, Ryder, etc. I also don't like nicknames as full names, or female names that spell the "lee" sound as leigh to be kreatyve. I think the -ayden trend is very overdone, and the only names of the type that I like are Aidan (spelled thusly) and Hayden, for a boy.

Random names I don't like: Harper, Nevaeh, McKenzie (and all variants), McKinley (and all variants), McKenna (and all variants), Bentley, Braxton, Colton, Dalton, Dallas, Jackson/Jaxon/Jaxson, Destiny, Chastity, and Eugene.

Why yes, I am very picky. :-P Anyway, it'll be nice getting to know everyone! :)

Comments

[how-obscure.livejournal.com]

Callum is my most favorite name ever!

I also like the following, with bolded ones being ones I like enough to have on my list:
Beatrix
Eloise
Genevieve
Helena
Josephine
Luna
Petra
Benjamin
James
Jude
Nikolai
Oliver
Phineas
Rhys
River
Theodore

Places where our nns differ:
Callum - Cal but also Callie, especially when little
Helena - Lena
Josephine - Jo or Joey
Luna - no nn...well, maybe shortened to Lu on occassion
Benjamin - Ben is nice but I also adore Jamie for it.

I don't think there is a single name you listed that you dislike that I like, except one. I do love Mackenzie (on a boy only).

[emmaleficent.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I've never even thought about Jamie for Benjamin before! I love it! And I should have mentioned genders in the random names I dislike - I do like Mackenzie for a boy, but I think it would be very hard to live with these days. The main reason I dislike Mackenzie/McKenna/McKinley etc. on girls is because Mc/Mac is Scottish for "son of" - and sons are boys, not girls! Almost every unisex name out there, I prefer on a boy, even if they're almost 100% girl these days. Ashley, Kendall, Avery, Mackenzie, Jamie, Addison - which reminds me! All the -son names I prefer on boys too, for obvious reasons, with -son referring to boys. The only exception is Alison, which doesn't mean "son of Alice" but "little Alice". Thank you for the feedback! Also, just curious - how do you prefer Helena to be pronounced?

[how-obscure.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Mac/Mc and --son thing drives me crazy. I love names that were originally male back on boys. Mackenzie is the only one I would actually use...unless I'm forgetting one, but I do really like seeing them used. Other ones I really like are Lindsay (but I have a girl cousin named this), Lauren (but that's my name), Kelly, and Shannon. I also think Paige should be a boys' name. It supposedly comes from the occupation "page," which was itself derived from a French word for "little boy." That is, if this website is correct. I've brought up the name before in these parts and been soundly shot down! Haha! Also, also, I adore girly nicknames on boys, such as Jamie for James or Benjamin, Callie for Callum, and Eamy for Eamon (said ay-mee and ay-mon respectively.

Oh, and I think both ways of saying Helena are pretty, but Heh-LAY-nuh is how I would pronounce it so the nn would be "lay-nuh."

[missj0nes.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely in regards to your dislikes. Y and weird spellings to make the name 'unique' is so far off from what I view as good naming practice.
I am definitely a fan of Ellie as a nickname, sounds very cute!

[http://users.livejournal.com/-dahling-/]

lol, i love you.

And we have very similar tastes in names! Ellie is one of my favorite girl nicknames, but I love it with Eleanor (or Elinor- not to be kre8iv! Just a nod to my girl, Jane Austen!) But I have always loved Eloise as well! Henry and Micah are two boy names on my list, but no one else but me likes them. :[ Also love Anders, Asher, and Petra!

[emmaleficent.livejournal.com]

Eleanor is definitely my favorite spelling, but Elinor and Elanor are definitely legit to me! I have friends who each have daughters with the name spelled the last two ways. And you're not alone in your Henry and Micah love! Go to England and you'll be surrounded by Henry love. ;-)

[http://users.livejournal.com/-dahling-/]

Oh, and I forgot! I typically hate when the 'i' is switched with a 'y' too. For example, Bryttney....not cool. However, I recently suggested Alice to my SO. He poopooed it, ofcourse but asked "what about allison?" I thought about it. Not too bad...But the more I looked at it, I didn't like the way it looked. Then one day I saw someone's name spelled Alyson. I loved it! It made it seem more young and fun.

[emmaleficent.livejournal.com]

This is actually interesting, because I'm not sure if I consider Alyson to be legit or not. Alys is the Welsh version of Alice, so it would make sense that Alyson would be legit and mean "little Alys". Either way, I prefer Alison but it's an interesting thing to think about! I'm not a fan of Allison, in that it looks to surnamey for my liking and I always want to say "Ahhh-liss-on".

[ayamayei.livejournal.com]

I love your name choices. My daughters name is Molly! My hubby and I are trying for another one, so I may have to keep those names in the back of my brain!

[lilyandrea.livejournal.com]

Two of my top 4 boy names are on your list... James and Alexander :)

Hopefully I figure out my favorite in the next few months!!! (or it's a girl)