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Reading through a massive list doesn't appear to be the most fun of approaches....any other ideas?
First pets name with mothers maiden iirc?
Our Daughters name is Alexandra, and when we looked at names that if shortened would still sound nice.
Most people call her Alex in which she is very happy with.
Sandy Remington.
Works for both boy and girl. Genius.
My parents wrote a list each, without conferring. Compared lists, and there were only 2 names on both - mine and my brother's names ๐
Listening to The Cult. But my wife preferred it as Evie. Her twin - we had no idea until after she was born and just decided in the delivery suite.
Pick half a dozen or so of varying styles, Wait til child appears then see which one seems to fit. Worked for us
Sort of like Duane... we had a white board and each just basically over months jotted down ones we liked. But the other person could strike through ones they didn't like. We ended up with a couple for each sex and then made the final decision after the birth. I'm in Canada though and you legally can't leave the hospital until the child is named where as I think in the UK you get a bit more time?
My three sons all have proper solid names, and each have three of them.
*hacks DT78's hotmail account*
I remember it being quite hard work coming to any sort of agreement (with the added problem of choosing something pronouncable by speakers of two languages), but when he was born we just knew the right name. So don't sweat it too much.
Asked our parents for names that had been used in our families in previous generations.
Ours were ones we liked, no big list looking. They should not be names to be shortened (our Ben corrected his teacher last week when she called him Benjamin - I am Ben, on my birth certificate he informed her... ) last one was not to have odd/sill combination of name or initials.
My parents wrote a list each, without conferring. Compared lists, and there were only 2 names on both - mine and my brother's names
That was a lucky coincidence!
son is named after his great grandpa, from iceland via aberdeen.
daughter is named after wifes great granma.
We followed a family tradition. My mothers side of the family are Brahmin priests, we consulted the Vedic astrologer that gives the first letter(or sound really) according to their chart. Certainly helped narrow things down!
in the UK you get a bit more time
42 days to register the birth, although interestingly you can register as "unnamed" then you have up until their first birthday to re-register with the name.
Wife's parents are Indian and I didn't want months of debating names before the birth so we did the astrology system where you give the date/time and place of birth and you get a couple of letter/sounds (phonetic) to start the name with.
Not entirely sure we got a complying name (after much back and forth with family) but one we're happy with.
the alcoholic drink that led to their conception
make some noises to keep the wife happy and then just accept whatever name she comes up with.
Wrote lists then employed four simple tests:
- discard any names that result in dodgy/silly/amusing initials.
- discard any names that could be mistaken for the name of a pet
- discard any names that you can imagine Jeremy Kyle saying.
- The Doorstep Test: shout name in your best regional accent as if standing on the doorstep and calling in your child from the estate e.g. "Hoooow, Shard-Don-aaay! Yer tea's oot!". Discard any names that sound too natural.
My 2 1/2 year daughter old chose my sons name whilst my wife and I were discussing his name.
She saw our neighbour over the road and said "Tom window".
We dropped the window though.
I set some basic rules for the wife:
1) Must be able to be shortened to one syllable, but have a longer/posher form that they can use when they're arrested.
2) Must be vaguely British and been around for a while.
3) Will be a great name when they're sitting in the corner of the bar of the local when they're 70.
My boys are called Fred, Wilf and Sid.
Format is.. An alcohol, a monarch and another alcohol ..
Middle daughter is Stella Elizabeth Rose
Conor (mc cloud), from the clan mc cloud ๐
My wife and I read through a few books, noting ones we liked and laughing at the ridiculous ones. We enjoyed it.
It [i]was[/i] tricky for us though. Ever heard the expression, 'you don't realise how many people you dislike until you have to name a child'? It's very true and really hard for two teachers.
We didn't want to name them after parents, grand parents etc. as you'll leave someone out / someone'll wonder why you chose one over the other. In the end we got Patrick (boy #1) and Tiernan (boy #2).
I am trying to convince MrsDummy that "Stephen is a good unisex name which is both timeless and classless".
It is also my all-time favourite name for a dog.
If that fails, I am working on the theory that all the best names are already taken by country and western singers.
๐
Ours is due in 2 weeks. George Thomas.
We lived on Des Voeux Road in Hong Kong, where he was conceived. Sir George William Des Voeux was a former governor of Hong Kong ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Des_Vลux), hence George.
He will be born in Singapore, which was founded by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford_Raffles), hence Thomas.
Made our job a bit easier and fortunately we liked both names. He could have been Des Voeux Raffles of course which sounds like a great name for the best in show at Crufts but might have caused him a few problems at school!
"Raffles" is a magnificent name! ๐
Name of an ex that you still have a thing for.
My next born would be called Thor. Seriously.
My sons middle name is Fox. First name Zachary.
For the first child, we had all the books given to us (they are useless) and tried all the websites. Jude made a list, but I couldn't come up with anything.
I downloaded the list of names registered in Scotland in the last year or two. Over a couple of evenings I deleted all of the bad ones and was left with a list of 4. Two were the same name with different spelling, one (I had genuinely forgot) was the name of a very short term ex, and I can't remember the other. Jude had one of the names on her list too (with the better spelling, harder to mispronounce) so we went for that one.
Child 2, we updated the liar and added northern Ireland and English resisters. Only two names this time, and one of them wasn't that great. Fortunately Jude had picked the good name too.
I have no idea how Jude picks names, but we have similar tastes.
Took a while narrowing down options with our first. When twins were on the way we handed over responsibility to our then nearly 3 years old Lucy. It wasn't just an abdication of responsibility but an attempt to make sure she felt part of everything.
If that fails, I am working on the theory that all the best names are already taken by country and western singers.
You should go for Waylon then.
no books.
first (son) called after my father & grandfather with a good scottish middle name (now his known name)
second (daughter) with good scottish name we both agreed on along with a couple of middle names for my aunt, mother-in-law and my mother's name..
The name is dependent on whether you live in a crappy council estate or nice posh middle class suburbia.
the alcoholic drink that led to their conception
How are Mad Dog and 20/20?
The only one of my wife's list that I didn't hate....
We had a few rules...
For me, no Irish names with difficult spellings. Hell, mine isn't even that difficult but with a strange spelling, pronunciation and an accent, it's been a bit of a pain in the arse living in the UK.
No former kings or queens (as first name).
No "everyday" names but with silly spellings.
No "Top Ten Names"...although whether we actually decided that or just didn't like any of them anyway, I can't quite remember.
Whether a diminutive name would be used for everyday use, fair enough, but birth cert would always have full name.
First name my dad second his other grandad .
Wife said a few names she liked.
I said yes or no to them.
Then kept saying 'no'.
Then said 'let's use the first one we both liked'.
Then told the registrar that name.
DrP
I wanted to call our first boy Hercules or Telemachus but fortunately for the child i'm not in charge. Using the books we compiled a short list of 'normal' names and when he was born we employed the native American Indian tradition and named him after the first thing we saw*. He was born with one eye closed so became Jack.
Can't remember naming the second one but suppose we must have.
* Tall Man Crying didn't go with our surname.
If you're a traditional Highland Scot, it's dead easy. The list comes from your ancestors.
1st born male gets paternal grandfather's first name, 2nd gets maternal grandfather, then uncles. Ditto for girls/grandmothers.
Makes genealogy dead easy. ๐
With my boys we chose names that were unusual but don't sound like it and for my daughter we couldn't agree and in the end our oldest son chose a name for her. A tradition in my family is to give the middle name from the grandparents.
My sons name is Thomas. We chose this because neither Maddie of myself have ever met a bad Thomas and it can be abbreviated many ways to suit his personality as he grows.
My first daughter Molly was named after Molly from the Enid Blyton books such as the Far Away Tree.
Second daughter is Alice was going to be Sally until I remembered the trout up the road by the same name so we chose Alice purely on a bit of a whim but left registration until the last minute in case it didn't fit. It does.
I find choosing a name more difficult than deciding whether to have another child or not.
First born, we spent absolutely ages crafting a name that we thought sounded lovely, was uncommon, didn't have comedy initials etc. Second born - it was more a case of 'oh that'll do' ๐
We went on a cold wet walk in the lakes and worked through the alphabet. After an 8 hour bimble we had a short list of 3 for a boy & girl. We then spent the next 5 months not giving it much thought and then when it popped out it was a boy and 'Dylan' felt right.