Intro-ish & some names

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

So, I've been lurking in this community for quite a long time, because I absolutely love names. Now, I'm 8w5d pregnant with our first, and I'm curious as to what you guys think about some of our names. :)

I'll start with girls names, because we really don't have many at all, LOL. I've always loved Zoey, but my BF is very iffy about it. He says all he can think of is the tv show Zoey 101. -__- Sigh. My next suggestion was Soleiry (pronounced so-LAIR-ee). Someone with that name came into work once, and I thought it was beautiful. I asked her about it, and she said her father made it up from the Spanish and French words for sun. My BF's response? "It sounds like a made up ghetto name." UGH. So yesterday, the name Sawyer randomly popped into my head (I think I was thinking about Lost :P). But, as a girl's name. I think it's really pretty. And surprisingly, BF liked it too! I did some google searching, and found quite a few mentions of it as a girl name. Right now, it's the only name we've been able to agree on. Subject to change, of course, but I really want to know:
WDYT of Sawyer as a girl's name?

As for a boy's name, we've had it picked out since way before we decided to have kids, haha. It's completely set in stone, but I really want to hear some opinions on it.

Jullian Miguel Joseph Martinez

I've ALWAYS loved the name Julian, but I've heard some weird mispronunciations of it (namely HOO-lian. Which, I know there's the Spanish pronunciation, but I don't like it at all). Then, a couple years back, I worked with someone named Jullian, and I just completely fell in love (with the name, not him, LOL!). I love the way it looks with the two l's, and it eliminates mispronunciations. My BF is all for the name as well. I think the added bonus of the nn Jules is what sealed the deal for him, though (Pulp Fiction is his favorite movie). As for the middle names, Miguel is from my BF's grandfather (maternal) who is basically his father figure, since his own father isn't a part of his life. Joseph is from my grandfather (paternal), who died when I was seven, and that I was very, very close to growing up.

So, WDYT of our boy's name?

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Comments

[so-there.livejournal.com]

two L's makes it look more feminine. I read it as Jillian at first.

[gf-girlie.livejournal.com]

I agree with this.

[silvermidnight.livejournal.com]

i agree as well.

[gf-girlie.livejournal.com]

All of my comments are personal preference, YMMV-

I do not like traditional boy names for girls.
I do not like 2 middle names, because unless they are Tom Bob Bill Smith, it makes for a super long name, which if you've ever had to fill out legal forms is a huge PITA.

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

We're still going to look at other names, we're not set on Sawyer, just got excited that we found one we could agree on. :) One of the the things to think about though is how most people will say its a boy's name and shouldn't be used for a girl. So still up in the air.

As for the middle names, I'm actually a fan of two middle names, as long as they sound good together. The ones we chose flow very well (in my opinion) plus they are very meaningful to us. To each his own, like you said. :)

[ninjanette.livejournal.com]

I like Julian but not with two Ls.
Sawyer is one of my favourite boys names, so I just can't see it as a girls name at all, sorry!

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're definitely not set on Sawyer, and that's one of the biggest things to think about, how most people will see it as only a boy's name.

I actually like it better for a girl than a boy; when I hear it as a boy's name, the first thing I think of is Tom Sawyer. (Except for Sawyer from Lost; I think it fits him perfectly, lol.)

[piperwest12.livejournal.com]

I like Sawyer for both sexes you can soften it up for a girl with something like Sawyer Rose, Sawyer Grace. I love your sons name, in fact my boys name will be Julian Lorenzo after both my grandparents, Julia and Ruben Lorenzo. I do not like the double l's it makes the name so feminine and it will be a lifetime of correcting the spelling first for you and then your son as he introduces himself. Also in Spanish the double l sound is like a j, so you will hear u-jee-an for Jullian a lot in Spanish speaking circles.

[piperwest12.livejournal.com]

By the way I agree with your husband, Soleiry is a made up ghetto name.

[nobodynomore.livejournal.com]

The two L's makes it look like you're trying to be "special snowflake" and not trying to avoid mispronunciation. And regardless, if people read Julian as Hoo-lian, they're going to do it no matter how many L's are in it.

I like Sawyer for either sex, but the middle name needs to be more feminine if you use it for a girl, like someone else mentioned.

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

I work in labor & delivery/maternity and I've seen Julian be spelled "special snowflake" many, many times, haha. Julyen. Juilien. Juliyen. Julyn. I wish I was kidding. I think Jullian pales in comparison to those. Maybe I don't think of it as "creative" because I've known someone named Jullian for so long that I consider it normal, but I really think it looks better spelled that way. When I see people named Julian now, actually, the first thing I think is "they spelled it wrong."

And yeah, if we do go with Sawyer, we'll definitely be picking a softer feminine name to go with it. :)

[charuby.livejournal.com]

I love the name Sawyer for a girl. I think it's a very unique and quite classy name for a girl. I like it more for a girl than a guy to be honest.

I agree about the Jullian being a bit too feminine with the two L's. I think you should just use one L.

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

I like it better for a girl than a boy, too! For a boy, the first thing I think of is Tom Sawyer. The only guy named Sawyer that I think it fits is Sawyer from Lost (and it's not even his real name!).

As for Jullian, we both think it doesn't look feminine with two l's. I actually think it looks more normal that way. Like I said to previous commenters, the Jullian I worked with went on to date one of my good friends, so we were kind of friends through association. I did ask him about his name once, and he said he never had any problems with it.

[silvermidnight.livejournal.com]

Soleiry sounds like celery, no?

[piperwest12.livejournal.com]

I once had a student named Kelery!

[pirahan.livejournal.com]

Zoey is a pets name.

I agree with one l in Julian.

[piperwest12.livejournal.com]

My bird is named Zoe, lol

[mirhanda.livejournal.com]

Really don't like either of your names. Sawyer is a boys names and I really hate boys names for girls. Always think the parents didn't want a girl and didn't plan on a girl so just used the boys name they picked out rather than be bothered to find a name for her.

Jullian just looks misspelled and will lend itself to an uglier mispronunciation than hoolian IMO.

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

That's one of the things we'll have to consider; how most people will think it's a boy when they see the name.

As for Jullian being misspelled: to me, it looks normal. Maybe it's because I'm so used to it from seeing the Jullian I know. The first thing I think when I see Julian is that they spelled it wrong. And like I said to one of the previous commenters, the Jullian I worked with went on to date one of my good friends, so we were kind of friends through association. I did ask him about his name once, and he said he never had any problems with it.

[dustthouart.livejournal.com]

I like Julian but I would pronounce Jullian as if the first syllable rhymed with gull. Trying to spell things to enforce a desired pronunciation always makes things worse IMHO. You're better off spelling it according to an established spelling, and then correct people's pronunciation if necessary.

I agree with Celery/Soleiry. Also "sun" is masculine in both French and Spanish.

Surname names are not my style.

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

I see it as Jul-lian, not Jull-ian, so I don't get the "dull" pronunciation at all. And I'm beginning to feel like a broken record saying this but, the Jullian I worked with went on to date one of my good friends, so we were kind of friends through association. I did ask him about his name once, and he said he never had any problems with it.

[eveyalecia.livejournal.com]

Agreeing with everyone else about the double L's in Julian. I like Sawyer for a girl! I think some boys names work for girls, although overall I dislike the trend of using ANY boys name for a girl. Agree that Soleiry sounds ghetto, sorry. :/

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

Usually I'm not a fan of boy's names on girls either. Names like Dylan and Ryan on girls are really not my kind of thing. For whatever reason, I DO like Sawyer on a girl, though. It's something to think about, anyway. :)

[solitudete.livejournal.com]

she said her father made it up from the Spanish and French words for sun

Riiiiiight.

Sawyer is not my style, but not bad. Julian is a wonderful name but its pronunciation technically changes with the extra L, which looks silly as well.

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

Sol = sun in Spanish; soleil = sun in French. I dunno, I had no reason to not believe her. I still think it's a pretty name, and it suited her really well.

I see it as Jul-lian, not Jull-ian, so I don't get the "dull" pronunciation that a few people have mentioned. And like I said to many others, the Jullian I worked with went on to date one of my good friends, so we were kind of friends through association. I did ask him about his name once, and he said he never had any problems with it.

As for it looking silly: honestly, I think Julian looks silly. The first thing I think of when I see it is that it's spelled wrong. Jullian looks right to me. I've told/showed it to many people (been my favorite for a while now) and I've never heard the crazy pronunciations etc from anyone else until people commented here.

[schexyschteve.livejournal.com]

Zoey is too cutesy for my tastes. I mean, it's not awful, but I just don't think it grows well on a person.
Soleiry is pretty bad. It would constantly be mispronounced, and it looks made up. There already are Spanish and French words for sun. No need to go making up your own.
Sawyer is a last name to me, first, and then a male name. I can't picture a girl named Sawyer, no matter what middle name she has to "soften" it up.

Jullian looks pretty feminine (I read Jillian). Then when I read it the "right" way, I want to say Jull ee an, not Joo lee an. And if you're worried about Spanish pronunciations (given the mention of Hoolian and the last name of Martinez), wouldn't it end up being Hoo yee an a lot of times, with the double L?

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

As you noticed with the last name of Martinez, my boyfriend and his entire family are 100% Hispanic and speak Spanish fluently. They already know we picked out that name (his mom is not so subtle and very excited, lol). No one, including his very hard of hearing grandmother who saw the name written down before she even heard it, had any trouble pronouncing it. Not to mention, "Hoo yee an" is really quite the mouthful and difficult to even say, so I would assume people would know that isn't it just by that fact.

As for rhyming with "dull" as a couple of people have mentioned, I see it as Jul-lian, not Jull-ian, so I don't get that pronunciation at all. Broken record here but the Jullian I worked with went on to date one of my good friends, so we were kind of friends through association. I did ask him about his name once, and he said he never had any problems with it.

[ladydreamfire.livejournal.com]

I really dislike Sawyer as a name, especially as a girl's name. I do however LOVE your boy name. I have friends who spelled it with two L's also, but she does it to be different on purpose. So while I'm used to it I would rather see it normally.

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The ONLY person who actually said something positive instead of telling me to change the spelling (even if you do prefer it the other way!). I'm not spelling it that way to be different, though, I just honestly think it looks better that way.

[raze--the-rose.livejournal.com]

I like Zoey; I've known some wonderful women named Zoey and it makes a cute little girl's name also! As for Sawyer, I don't like it as much as Zoey. I'll always think of Tom Sawyer but it could work as a girl's name.

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

I've always loved Zoey! It means life in Greek, which just makes it even better for me. I really like "Zoey Adele" because taken down to its roots (Adela), Adele means noble, so together they mean "noble life." Plus I think they flow really well.

I tried telling my BF that if we have a girl, by the time she gets to school, no one is even going to know what Zoey 101 was. But then he responded with, "But I will, and I'll always want to call her 101!" Men, sigh.

[sictransitsuzy.livejournal.com]

I agree with many people above who've said Jullian just looks wrong. Sorry :\

I do, however, love Sawyer. Never thought of it for a girl's name and I really adore it now, for both sexes. It's cute and pretty unique, imo.

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

It's okay; like I said in my post, it's already set in stone and I was just curious what people had to say about it. To each his own. :)

As for Sawyer, the more I think about it, the more I love it for a girl. I agree that it's cute/unique. As my boyfriend put it, "it's weird, but not TOO weird." Men, lol.

[jeweledvixen.livejournal.com]

I already commented about the pronunciation of Jullian, so I'll just say that I ~much~ prefer it spelled Julien.

Sawyer for a girl just doesn't work for me. I don't really care for it on a boy, but if I had to use it, it would be for a boy.

I love the name Zoë, but not spelled that way, or Zooey either.

Soleiry is really bad. It absolutely looks made-up.

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

I have to agree about Soleiry. It's just...what.

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

Julian would look better (and more masculine) with one "l", but Julian Miguel Joseph is pretty cool, and I like how you've managed to honor family members with the middle names.

Sawyer isn't quite my personal style, but it's intriguing as a girl's name. It would probably be cute. Also, if your BF has weird connotations about Zoey, why not use the original spelling: Zoe?

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

I feel like a broken record, and I'm sure you've seen some of my other comments, but we are staying with the two l's. We both like it that way, and I honestly think it looks more normal than the "normal" spelling with one l. But thank you for your compliment on the middle names! We picked them first and foremost for the family meaning, but they also flow very well together with the first name. :)

We're definitely not set on Sawyer for a girl's name, just something we both didn't say no to - so something to think about!

And unfortunately, it's not about the spelling for him, but more the actual name. Just hearing Zoe/Zoey he thinks of the tv show. He vetoed it either way, unfortunately. :(

[adamantplatypus.livejournal.com]

Zoey looks like "zoh-ee-ee" to me. I don't know how a Y can be put on the end of a name already pronounced "Zoh-ee" and yet it doesn't change the pronunciation.

[john-stevens-x0.livejournal.com]

To me, when I see Zoe, I read it as "Zo" without the "ee" sound at the end. I've seen the name a couple of times on people, and I've always seen it spelled Zoey. I see it "Zo-ey" with the ey making the "ee" sound.

[rubytitania.livejournal.com]

I think Sawyer is ok for a boy but it's not my style for a girl. I don't think it's awful, it's just not to my taste.

Knowing that Soleiry is made up puts me off. If I found out it was an actual name that I just wasn't familiar with then I might find it quite pretty.

I understand your feelings about Julian/Jullian from reading through the comments, but I'm afraid I have to agree with most people and say that it's better with one L. I didn't immediately think Jullian looked feminine as such, but I do think it looks odd and like it should be pronounced JULL-ee-un instead of JOOL-ee-un. I don't really see how the double L is going to solve any mispronunciation issues either!

I think Miguel and Joseph are really nice though :)

[rubytitania.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I agree with the above commenter about Zoey - the Y is unnecessary and makes it look like it should be pronounced Zo-ee-ee! I've never known anyone in real life spell it with a Y on the end.

[smeebubbles.livejournal.com]

I love Julian, but would spell it correctly. I like the nickname Jules too =) Middle names are both good, especially as they both have sentimental meaning.

I quite like Zoe, but again spelled correctly without a y.

Have never heard of Soleiry before but it seems like a strange choice for someone worried about people mispronouncing Julian! You'd constantly be telling people how to say and spell it, but that's not necessarily a dealbreaker.

Not a fan of Sawyer, sorry, especially not on a girl.

[smeebubbles.livejournal.com]

Oh, also - I'm only offering my honest opinions because you asked for them. At the end of the day, the hardest thing is getting both parents to agree on something they love (believe me, I know!) so if you and your BF are happy with your choice, that's what's important.

[roseofjuly.livejournal.com]

How is Soleiry made up for the Spanish and French words for sun? The Spanish word is "sol" and the French word is "Soleil". I have to agree with your bf, although I wouldn't use the term ghetto.

I like Sawyer as a girl's name.

I don't see how Jullian with two l's eliminates mispronunciations. Actually, it adds one - juh-lee-un (as opposed to jew-lee-an). I think that people are unlikely to mispronounce Julian anyway, as it's a common name. If you're in a heavily Spanish-speaking area, the first J is going to be pronounced with an H sound regardless of how many Ls you put in the name. And personally, I do not like the name spelled with two Ls - but I really like Julian with one L.

[earn-my-wings.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this yet, but if you like the sound and meaning of Soleiry, what about Solara? I mean, I have to agree with your boyfriend here and everyone else about Soleiry, but I understand the appeal behind the name. Just a thought :)

Also, I think Sawyer is cute for a girl. The only quip I have with it is that it doesn't seem to go with the last name as fluidly.

As far as the double L on Jullian, I don't think it's really that big of a deal to get everyone's panties in a bunch, although I am surprised to hear you say that your bf's family didn't pronounce it as a "y/j" sound (my Spanish speaking friends definitely would). But all in all, it's a nice boy's name.