Saturday, December 23, 2006

Baby Girl Names I Have Suggested to My Pregnant Sister, All of Which Have Been Rejected

Isis
Milkweed
Angora
Eula Mae
Pomona
Chevrolet Caprice
Tosca
Elizabeth Zimmermann
Enid
RuPaul
Electra

They already have a boy name: Philip Emerson. Great. He'll fit right in at Choate.

95 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Chevy Caprice is a good one. We have some friends that named their daughter Chevon, that they call Chevi. Guess what he wanted her middle name to be?!?!?!

Anonymous said...

P.S. Merry Christmas to all

Anonymous said...

Your sister is a wise woman.

Anonymous said...

I love the name Enid. I don't know why she would veto that one. I also like Ivy and Eugenia...

Anonymous said...

When I was young, I contemplated naming a future daughter Fimbrethil, after a character from Lord of the Rings.

However, I never had kids. This seems to have turned out to be A Good Thing.

Anonymous said...

How about Elizabeth (as in Zimmermann)? You should keep on suggesting...coming up with a name for your baby is surprisingly difficult!

Anonymous said...

In honor of you, I suggest "Frances."

Anonymous said...

I used to tell my son that if he'd been a girl we'd have named him Beulah Bathsheba. Not true, but it made for a good story.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever noticed: people seem to give boys names they can imagine on a letterhead or lawyer's office door; girls can be given funky names, however, since their names... That's my theory anyway. Think of all the Ariels, etc., in the '60s (some of whom are now bloggers). Ah well, have a good holiday despite global insanity.

Deborah said...

I suggest Phyllis as it was she who told me about your blog.

Anonymous said...

How about Orla? It means "golden"

Sew Happy said...

How 'bout Sophie, Chloe, Zoe.....

Sew Happy said...

How 'bout Sophie, Chloe, Zoe.....

Anonymous said...

I laughed at Chevrolet Caprice, I have a co-worker who named her son Yukon...

I don't care if I'm not politically correct...Merry Christmas Franklin and All!

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you left out my personal favorite, Hannah Banana. Humph. If they need another boy name, say if the fetus in question turns out to be two, might I suggest Titus Lumumba?

These were the names my husband and I came up with whilst waiting in the doctor's office for the results of the amniocentesis. We ended up going with Matthew Robert. Boring, I know, but asaik, he has never been teased about it.

Anonymous said...

I like Isis--it is different and it sounds beautiful.
Keep helping out, coming up with names is a difficult part, just keep dropping names. Have you suggested Dolores? hehehe

rho said...

Here are a just a few of actual names from my family (some haven't been used in awhile thankfully) but feel free to tell them to your sister for consideration.

Rhoda (me)
Blyde (cousin)
Electra (cousin)
Iantha (cousin)
Temperance
Deliverance
Mehitable
Patience
Capitola (distant cousin)
Isadora
Hattie (great aunt)
Ada (great aunt)
Elouisa
Iola
Albina
Hulda
Corydon
Adella
Barzilla
Emeline (grandmother)

how funny that this came up - I had just posted these on KR in a funny name post - you don't want to know the mens names LOL - but I guess I can't say any names are funny can I?

Anonymous said...

Sheesh! I can't believe she didn't like your names :)

Eileen said...

Why not Dolores, for goodness sakes?

Flossie in Stitches said...

Is it just me, or do some of the other commenters not get the joke?

Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate! xxx

Jessica said...

When I was pregnant my husband and I came up with a list of words that might accidentally be used as names. I've forgotten most of them now. My best was Atrocity for a girl and his best was Kevlar for a boy.

Anonymous said...

There was one hilarious scene on this topic in an episode of "Kath and Kim" (from Australia, not sure if you get it there). The heavily pregnant Kim, fresh from a visit to the hospital, told her mother (Kath) that she came across some really lovely baby names while she was there. Her favourite was Enema for a girl...

Anonymous said...

When I was choosing names I decided to go by this advice: "Stand at the back door and yell the name loudly 15 times. This is the way you will be hearing it in the future. If you still like it, it's a keeper."

Anonymous said...

A friend of mine has an ancestor whose first name was Dent (as in Arthur Dent, but without the preface). I'm just sayin.'

Anonymous said...

anonymous and I had the same idea, although I prefer Francesca to Frances, myself. Or maybe just Franke.
Urban legend says a woman heard the word Placenta in the hospital and thought it had a lovely sound for her newborn daughter's name...

HPNY KNITS said...

they rejected Elizabeth Zimmermann? No baby items for them for the next 10 years! especially no baby surprise.

Anonymous said...

definitely some great choices there :-)

But, the burning question I have today is whether or not there is "meet up" to knit while listening to Lessons and Carols from Kings tomorrow? I believe your blog was where I first heard about this tradition and I immeddiately loved you for mentioning it.

Beth R.

Anonymous said...

I actually was rung up by a cashier with the name Latrina.

Poor thing. I'll bet she never became an avid outdoorsy-type.

A fascinating tracker of baby names can be found at:

http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

Warning! This is a Major Time Eater!

Anonymous said...

The first thing to do is to go to one of yhose internet lists where you can find out what the most popular names are, and then rule them ALL out. We loved the name Jacob for our son, and thankfully checked the lists to find out it was the most popular name around the time he was born. Now there are literally dozens of Jacobs at our small local elementary school. While he is one of two Noah's.

Anonymous said...

Corvette or Alpaca would be great girlie names, imo...keep suggesting, 'cause pregnant women change their minds all the time.
Happy holidays!

jodi said...

Enid is a lovely name.

I knew a family growing up who named their boy and girl Dallas and Destiny. I always wondered if they got the other show wrong.

Anonymous said...

Genitalia is my personal favorite girl's name.

I had to opt for Jennifer for my first-born, howsome ever.

But we do call her Jenn.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps they'll go for Dolores.

Just imagine the explanations...

Anonymous said...

My husband, an infectious diseases researcher, has suggested the following names for our soon-to-be twin daughters:
Gonorrhea (Gu-NOR-ee-uh) and
Clymidia (Cly-muh-DEE-uh

God help us.

Anonymous said...

My sister works in mental health. She had a client who named her poor daughter Clitoris. Have you heard the one about the guy who needed a name for his new son? He looked at the doors of the ER and the lightbulb went off in his head. He named his son "Nosmo King". Merry Happy to all!

Carol said...

You forgot:

Jezebel (Jezzie for short)
Pussy Galore
Heavenly Hiraani Tigerlily
Ophelia
Persephone
Fallopia (if twins, Ovaria is a good additional choice)
Moxie Crimefighter

No wonder she didn't like any of yours.

Carol said...

And I forgot about the woman who put her identical twin boys up for adoption. One was sent to Egypt, and his new parents named him Amal. The other was sent to Mexico and named Juan.

Years later, Juan learned he was adopted and tracked down his birth parents. He sent them a long letter and a picture.

The mother cried, and said to her husband, "I wish Amal would send me a picture so I could see what he looks like now."

Her husband replies, "They're identical twins. If you've seen Juan, you've seen Amal."

Anonymous said...

Best laugh I've had since the beginning of Advent. Merry Christmas and all.

Anonymous said...

How about Alpaca? Then she can be referred to as baby Alpaca? Or if she has a future as a knitting stripper, a good name would be: Chenille Cashmere. Or if they want a British sounding knitting stripper: Rowan Bliss. Stop me now! I could do this all day!

Madge said...

Well, with my name I can understand...

And I used to have a friend, whose mother named her children after Catholic saints. My friend's name? Dimpna. After the patron saint of insane people. (Why didn't she pick Teresa? Or Catherine?)

Happiest of holidays to you and yours!

Anonymous said...

At first I accidentally read Isis as Iris and thought oh, I like that name!

Occasionally I encounter someone, learn their name, and all I can think is, oh, how tragic for you.

la takahashi said...

I like Purl.

Sharon Rose said...

If she has twin girls: Ginger & Josephine

Liz said...

You are truly hilarious. I vote RuPaul.

I have a friend who has a redneck cousin that named their daughter Lexxus. (This is a family that has more than one person that answers to the name of "Cooter". Human persons. Not dog persons. The dog person is named Fred.)

I once recommended the boy name of Grant to a friend. His last name is Kenyon. I'm not very nice, but I found it hilarious that it took them three days to figure it out.

Anonymous said...

I used to work with a gentleman whose surname was Manella. When he and his wife were expecting their first child, I suggested Louella or Saul.

My best friend's been an adolescent psych nurse for twenty years. She always said that giving a child a weird name is like getting on your knees and begging for mental illness.

Anonymous said...

Well, Francesca Dolores is probably out as well.

I'd go for the traditional method, as someone
mentioned. You grab the missal on the day
the kid is born and that's the name day as
well as birth day. Of course there
is the risk of ending up with a kid
named Assumpta, or Pelagia the
Harlot but you take your
chances with the humor of the universe.

Better Choate than St. Paul - just saying!

Anonymous said...

"Milkweed" . . . that one TOTALLY cracked me up! And I had a friend in grad school whose name is Isis, and it really fits her, actually.

When my sister-in-law was pregnant with my niece, we nicknamed the fetus "Tequila Sunrise" . . . but for some reason, they decided to name her Katie instead.

Anonymous said...

I always liked the idea a friend had "Justin Other" Especially good for the third or fourth kid, so not applicable to your sister.

Moorecat said...

Alpaca isn't so far out.

After all, Suri has already been done...

Anonymous said...

LOLOLOL. Gee, can't imagine why they wouldn't go with any of those... (Elizabeth w/o the Zimmerman? I mean, c'mon, so many variants!) At least you didn't suggest Ewegenia! ::with a nod towards Eric Flint's 1632 series::

Watch out for name meanings. [eg] Some of 'em are wild. I always liked mine, which means 'wise advisor.' (And yeah, I do tend to be asked for advice, altho ghu knows why.) But my brother Randall - one meaning of his name could be 'raised by wolves'. I always wondered about that...

Anonymous said...

Eula Mae? How could they reject such a classic? It rolls off the back porch so nicely.
How about Squametia (Lizard Girl)?
Alpaca? Been done - Suri.

Anonymous said...

When we were expecting our youngest my husband took to telling the curious that if a boy the name would be Einstein Archemides, and if a girl it would be Pallas Athena. (He's a physicist.) This usually made the questioner go away. We had a girl and actually named her Teresa Elisabeth. Later my sister named a girl Sage, and my husband swore that was the variation on wisdom that we should have used.

Carol said...

I like Enid. Sounds secretively old family. Merry Christmas to you and yours and thanks for all the inspiration & great reading. x

Anonymous said...

Charlotte.

Anonymous said...

It doesn't matter what the first name is as long as it compliments the surname. Too many people overlook this and it can be disastrous.

Anonymous said...

Your readers...need to seek professional help. Or maybe I do, as hard as I'm laughing.

When I was in college, I knew a girl in town, the offspring of one-tab-over-the-line hippies, who had been named, I swear, Bluesky Summersquash.

Oh, now that I'm remembering, another, a guy, was named Sun King after the Beatles song. Maybe drugs should stay illegal.

Of course, the best one ever was in Monty Python's Life of Brian when Caesar revealed the name of his good friend Biggus Dickus' wife as Incontinentia Buttocks.

OK, now, lessee...Franklinette? Franklinora? Frankenscencia? Um, let me work on it for a while. Maybe by the second cup of coffee...

Anonymous said...

"Who is Sylvia, what is she, that all the swains adore her?"

Nana Sadie said...

Smart sister!
My DD and I went rounds over each of the three grandson's names...I gave in only on the third one, as it wasn't that bad...
(((hugs)))

boobookittyfug said...

Someday I want two kittens who need to be named Bobolink and Griffith.

I have no idea about people names. How about a really simple first name and an outrageously distinctive middle name?

Beth Wollenstein
Marjorie Oxblood
Linda Periwinkle
Sarah Plenipotentiary
Rose Millefiore

Oh, you get the idea.

Stasia said...

My sister named her daughter Xylia Rhianna, despite my assertions that growing up with an odd name (not to mention being a grown-up with an odd name) is not fun.

My parents referred to her as "the baby" for months because they were too afraid to ask how to pronounce "zy-LEE-uh". And they were the ones who named their kids Anastasia and Nathania...

We now call the baby Xylophone when my sis isn't around. She is SO going to get beat up in grade school, poor thing.

Congrats, hugs, and happy holidays from the Tuppinz Farm in Wisconsin!

(Someone named their kid CHEVON? Isn't that GOAT MEAT?)

Unknown said...

I'm afraid my vote is for Francis too~ Francis? Francie? Frannie? Hmmmmmmm.... The possibilities....

Anonymous said...

I'm startled your sister would reject Eula Mae. Did Dolores contribute that one?

Aidan said...

There is really only one good boys name out there: Elvis Aaron. No need to keep looking.

Anonymous said...

We have a daughter-in-law that named one of our granddaughters Araya Sunshine. You m'dear have far better taste with your choices.

Anonymous said...

Kristin Marie


from
Margie

Anonymous said...

Francesca. I like Francesca Dolores.

Alas, it seems like kids' names keep getting more and more out of the ordinary. As one of 86 "Kate"s (or some variation thereof) in my high school class, I think this might be a good thing. The latest two additions to the family here are Basil and Lilith. However, during my days as a med student and then my brief stint as an OB/G, I came quickly to realize that there was a limit to this novelty. Some of the farthest outlying names in whose deliveries I was involved:

Asia
Neo (yep, after the Matrix)
Meconium (like, the baby poop)
Placenta (they thought it was an even better name after I told them how the placenta is often called "the tree of life")
Agatha (okay, I liked that one)
Ahmyunike (say it phonetically)
JeT'aime
Jeselina (the first baby I ever delivered)

There were others. My very favorite, though, was a tiny, like, 5 lb little pile of adorableness (he was really very cute) named Theodore Hampton Maston V. I looked at his mother and said "There's more name here than baby!" She just shook her head a little and said, "Finn. We're calling him Finn."

Other thoughts? I had great-aunts named Drucilla and Manitoux. Other names in our family are Plato, Pandora, Canella (Greek for Cinnamon), Oudinia, Diamando, Yanoula, Evyenia, and, my personal favorite, Gadifiya (Greek, again. Means "carnation").

Or if all else fails, there's my verification word: omhzgmaz.

Jasmine said...

I've consider naming my daughter Tosca but that's too oblious and the kid will definitely be made fun in school. So I've decided to give Tosca's first name, Flora, as a middle name.

Anonymous said...

Why not in honour of Debbie Stoller's Dutch mother (our knitting SnB grandmother!!!) some really Dutch names like:
Sien, Dirkje (or Dirckje, Rembrandts lover),Geertje, Saartje, Antje, Janna, Stientje, Aaltje or Geraldina?
Best Wishes from Deventer, The Netherlands and wonderfull days to you all and Franklin: your blog is a joy to read!!!

Sara M said...

PURL! Perfect baby girl name. And Gansey, if it's a boy :D

Anonymous said...

I have some odd friends.

One has the last name Wright. He named his first two sons Orville and Wilbur, and when the third child was also a boy, Justinian (Just for short). They are not quite old enough to start hating their father for this yet.

Another named his first child Tuscanooga Baptist after the church across the street. So as not to let this child feel left out, the second was named Tyrus Volentyn. Their nicknames are Tug and Ty, as their father liked baseball, and they already had a dog named Hank. Their mother later remarried and had a daughter named Nina.

After much arguing with her baby's father, my coworker gave in and named her baby girl (over my strenuous objections) Chas'te Christian. The baby's father convinced her that the apostrophe made the 't' silent, so she can call the baby 'Chase'. I predict years of correcting those who call her Chaste or Chastay, followed by a hasty trip to have it changed on her 18th birthday.

rosesmama - who had the name choose her at about 5 weeks gestation and never worried about it since

Anonymous said...

20 years ago a pretentious co-worker of German extraction enjoyed mentioning that his family had dropped the "Von" upon immigrating to the U.S.
Of course, I couldn't resist suggest "Vaughn" as a baby name. I regret to say that he chose it.

I also spent time in the medical biz, and kept a list of names. A few I recall:

Gentle Handy
Tiffany Glasscock
Effie Tits
Ellie Tits

One of the docs I worked with swore that in his residency he encountered the twins "Si-PHILL-is" and
"Go-NO-rhea."

Chevy Caprice! Double goatiness--I love it!

I guess Phillipa (Pippa is the short form) Emerson will do.

Helen said...

The Registers in England and Scotland publish lists at the end of the year of the most popular names, see here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6192247.stm and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6197829.stm There are some good comments at http://www.tiny.cc/P4ymL
There is the usual depressing reliance on soap stars and celebs' offspring as inspiration but your sister might find something acceptable there.
My name is quite unfashionable at the moment, thank goodness.

Cece said...

I suggest Cecelia. That's my name, and I fared very well at Choate (class of 93).

Anonymous said...

I was surprised you didn't suggest Dolores. You know she'll make you pay, don't you?

Did I ever tell you about Mr. Head? He named his first son Richard, Dick for short.

Two real people I have known: Sapp Funderbuck, Jr. and Chevy Van Pickup. Honest.

Anonymous said...

Oooh, I'm totally voting for an EZ tribute. Though Caprice isn't terible (if maybe you lose the Chevrolet first...)

Philip Emerson sounds like someone who'll hit me with his Lexus and then sue me for denting his bumper and sullying the hood with my blood.

geogrrl said...

I’m partial to Frances, of course, as it’s my own first name, but I never go by that name.

My husband and I have always loved the name Valancy. As we’ve never had children I’m passing it on to you. He and I ran across the name in two different books: Valancy Stirling in "The Blue Castle" (1926) by Lucy Maude Montgomery and "Pilgrimage: The Book of the People" (1961) by Zenna Henderson. Valancy is also the middle name of the Canadian poet Isabella Valancy Crawford (1850 to 1887). I’ve never been able to find an origin for the name.

In general, I recommend Lucy Maude Montgomery’s books as a source of girls’ names.

My father’s first name, Glen, has been used a lot in our family, but never his second name—Carson. I’ve always liked that name for a boy.

My husband also likes Eleanor for a girl.

I also like Claire/Clara, Delphine (name of a friend of mine) and Adeline (great-great-grandmother’s name), Cecily (The Story Girl, The Importance of Being Earnest).

My brother really wanted to name his first daughter Morag, but his wife wouldn’t agree. They compromised with Meghan. Their second daughter is Erin Anne (Erin means “Ireland” and is a variation on the name of the Irish goddess, Eriu.)

Some other girls’ names in our family:

Ruth Beryl (grandmother)
Odette Suzanne Marie Antoinette (grandmother)
Julienne Cornelie (great grandmother)
Lucienne (variation on Lucy or Lucille)
Phoebe Winnifred (great grandmother)
Winnifred Rita (aunt)
Inez Marie (mother; Inez is the Spanish for Agnes)
Yvonne (aunt)
Anne Marie (niece)

Some other random names I like:
Bronwen
Morag
Fiona
Deirdre
Mathilda
Madeline
Emmeline
Cordelia
Lilith

FiberQat said...

Alice Elizabeth. No one will know she's named for a dead knitting gawdess, which would be the height of dorkdom to a child. The initials don't spell anything and she can be Alice from the Palace.

Anonymous said...

I really like Tosca. According to Kabalarians.com it "creates an interest in the deeper aspects of life". good enough for Choate?

And they have 414 000 female baby names!!! (http://www.kabalarians.com/cfm/surf-by.cfm?Baby=Yes)

More seriously, I enjoy Indian names: Rani, Shobhana, Anjali, etc. I find them gorgeous..

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised you didn't suggest Intarsia. Just saying.

Anonymous said...

I knew a rainbow, autumn, spring, summer, skye, ebony and a tuesday whilst growing up. And there were a lot more names too, much less descriptive (varya, annonay, miko, mariko).

My highschool teacher named her daughter socrates and may have named her son aristotle... And I grew up with an odd name myself, one that no one could seem pronounce: embarrassing.

Which is why my favorite names for a girl are the following: emily (emma), serena or sarah... and lately: eris (recent addition to our solar system).

Anonymous said...

The hospital I work has encountered twins Monique and Eunique and Male (MA-lee) and Female (feMAlee), a businesswoman named Latrina (a second one!needless to say she went by her middle name) and a little boy named Dijon. And more kids named Caitlyn, Courtney, Ashley, Brooke, Heather, Brooke, or Justin than you can shake a stick at. Sue F (whose first name was the Caitlyn/Courtney of the late 50's/early 60's). Your sister could be really individual and pick a name like Mary. Or Jane. or Bertha. Well, maybe not Bertha. Pick something that sounds good with the title "Doctor" in front of it.

Anonymous said...

I know a woman named Rainy Day...

:o

Anonymous said...

How about Rosemary so the girl will fit in at Choate too?

Anonymous said...

I'm a post late, but the best, most wonderful neices in the entire world have the amazing names of "Bailey" and "Emma." Their names suit them.

If my father'd had his way, my name would have been "Frances." Lately, I'm thinking that wouldn't have been so bad.

"Misty" is all right, though. I've grown into it.

Best of the season to you and yours.

Misty

junior_goddess said...

I'll go for Aurora, and I do not mean the town.

B

TurnipToes said...

I do love the Milkweed!

I met a couple of people in one of my past jobs whose names were:

Tequila Massingill (Girl)
Space Roach (Boy)

I just love the Space Roach name!

dpaste said...

While she runs a much lesser risk of being beaten up on the playground, do you really want your niece to have no date for the prom?

Anonymous said...

One of my most favorite ladies at the home where I work was named Eula Mae. She was a wicked spitfire, and would always greet me with a big smile and a hearty, "What the hell do you want?"

Hannah said...

Elizabeth Z! A conventional first name with a middle initial that gives some real mystery!

Jena said...

Talulah. Always classy. ;)

Gingersnaps with Tea... said...

Personlly… I love Enid, how 'bout Rowan? Jade Saphire? ;-D. Baby names are so much fun. My X and I battled it out over the girls names… he wanted Caledonia… I liked Allison (Hello Elvis Costello Fans?) We ended up with Christopher and he prefers Chris. Then my sister gave me heck for picking such a boring name (she who's sons are David, James and Stephen). There is no winning. My favourite is the guy who named his daughter Kanta… last name Forder.

Sean+ said...

I used to know a woman who did social work among "Native American" women, most of whom were very poor, not well acculturated in mainstream American culture, and had a minimal grasp on English (didn't speak any Cahuilla, either). She tells the story of one girl who found the prettiest name for her soon-to-be-born baby. Vagina. It's got a nice ring to it, I guess, if you're into that sort of thing. My friend had to dissuade her.

Anonymous said...

I am a retired adult education lecturer,(UK) and a story that did the rounds at my college related to a woman who had poor English skills and kept referring to her son 'Goooey'. Someone asked her where she got it from and she said it was from a novel she loved.

She was then asked: "How do you spell it?"
She replied: "Guy" (!) Aaahhh, bless!

Anonymous said...

I had great fun reading this...and my family thinks my child will be made fun of! (at least I am not naming her after a car, an opera, or a body part.)
Carolissa Brooke
I plan on calling her Lissie as a child and C.C. or C.J.Brooke etc looks very professional. I thought about Valancy, Cordelia, and such (being another L.M. Montgomery fan) but I was afraid having a long first name and middle name would be too much.) Still trying to decide on a middle name. I like Joy.

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