Calling dibs: pocessiveness over baby names.

[maebelle]

I'm so bad that I check up on my favorites on mother's day (when the government posts the top 1000 girls and boys names from the previous year) to make sure they haven't gotten too popular

We've got a lot of friends that will have kids before us, and we're less worried about them stealing names and more that we want to avoid the drama of calling dibs.

On the other side of the coin, some of my friends are also not shy about opinions and I know they'll hate our name choices down the road, so I'm not saying anything til after its on the birth certificate, that way they won't bother me for nine months about changing my mind

So anyone have any good baby name stories? Or is brave enough to share?

(ok, I'll bite, but only because I'm fairly anonymous!: Felix and Eleanor are my favorites)

 

[missy]

I don't have any good stories to share except to recount my sister's experience. She didn't tell anyone her choice of baby names when she was pregnant because she and her dh didn't want any criticism of their choices as it was no one's business but theirs. Turned out to be a good decision because I absolutely hated her choice of name for her oldest and I would have been pressed to keep quiet if I had know beforehand. Now that I know and love my niece the name is beautiful to me so that's really how it works. It's not the name so much that means anything but the person who has the name. While there are names I dislike once I get to know the person my opinion of the name may change if that makes any sense.

I will share some of my favorite names since you asked. Keep in mind lots of people hate my choices LOL.
For some reason I love the name Veronica for a girl. Don't know why but I have always loved that name.
I also love the name Lila and Sophie and Audrey.
I hate names that are different for the sake of being different with crazy spellings.

For boys I like Sam, Max, Jack and Matthew. Nothing unusual there. Good solid names IMO.

FWIW, I don't think anyone has the right to call "dibs" on any name LOL. I cannot understand the drama over that. No one owns any name.

 

[maebelle]

See missy, I actually love all of your names, especially Veronica!

I also think calling dibs is crazy!

As for a story, My mother and her cousin were pregnant at the same time and talked about names, my mother had wanted to name her first girl my name since she was little, the cousin liked something else. But when she had her girl (6 weeks before me) she took the name! So I have a 2nd cousin with the same name, because my mother refused to change something she wanted for so long. I actually quite liked sharing a name with her growing up

 

[Phdecorate]

I hate weird (really weird) names and bad spelling too. I went to school with a Rialate (pronounced Reality) and I once came across a lady named Happiness Dike. I swear I could not make this up. I have a more unusual name, which I appreciate more now that I am older. Can't tell you though, sorry It is nice to be the only one (although I have since met/encountered some others) and especially good for business use as people always remember you without having to be, say, Michelle blank-last name versus Michelle blank-other-last name, even if it has been years since you have seen each other. However, sometimes, it makes you stick out and makes you more easily identified which may or may not be good!

I am not planning to have children but I love the name Brooks for a boy. (but i would hate Brooke for a girl, funny huh?) I have always liked "proper" sounding boys names. I like Lawson, Landon, Xander, Warrington, names like that. I am less sure of a girl's name.

 

[audball]

I don't get the calling dibs thing either. It's a name. Most of the names I really like are very classic and traditional. They are not going to be the only ones with the name anyway.

I'm pretty particular about names that also have nick names. If I hate the nick name, the name is out no matter how much I like it because you just can't control what others will end up shortening it to someday.

Andrew and I have a list of names that we jointly like, but don't love. But the ones I love, he doesn't, and vice versa.

My all time favorite for a boy that Andrew just doesn't like:
Nathan (and Nate as a nickname)

Also like:
Graham
Ross

My favorites for a girl that Andrew doesn't like:
Claire
Karen
Annette
Nadine

Our joint list:

Boy first names:
Nicholas (and Nick as a nickname)
Grant
Scott

Girl names:
Kate
Eliza (pronounced Uh lie zuh)
Vanessa
Anita
Laura

I prefer names that sound adult, something that will carry them through life. I also dislike cutesy names. They are going to be an adult way longer than a cute little toddler. I've also ready a lot about female names and how women with name ended in a consonant sound are taken more seriously than those ending in a vowel sounds. But that of the vowel sounds, ending with 'a' is more preferable than 'e' or 'i'. Andrew has shot down every name I like with a consonant ending sound. And they are my favorites (as you can see above). He prefers a endings, which is better than the others, but still, not my favorites.

I also would like something a little more unique than the standard classic names, but I don't want anything unusual, difficult to spell, or difficult to pronounce. That's one reason I loved Nadine. It's easy to say, easy to spell, strong sounding, classic, but not particularly common. But he shot it down hard and fast. Sigh.

ETA: And for what it's worth, and for those of you who don't know, my name is Sabrina.

 

[audball]

maebelle! I like Eleanor a lot, it's really cute for when they are little, but still strong for an adult. And she could always go by Ellie, or Nora or something to that effect more casually if she wanted.

Felix isn't my favorite, but that's only because I work with a jerk named Felix. I never had a negative opinion about that name until I met this guy.

Do you guys have anything like that? A name you used to like until you met someone that left the name with a bad taste in your mouth? I hate that. Especially when someone ruins a really good name for me.

ETA: And as madelise suggested on the other thread, I have tested the scream method! I need to be able to say their full names when they are in trouble! Try it

 

[maebelle]

I like the double nick-names for Eleanor too!

It's funny, because the boys name I don't like purely because I've known jerks names that is Nicholas/Nick! Apparently we'd agreed on girl names, but have to fight it out about the boys

 

[missy]

Audball, I totally forgot one of my other favorite girl names and that is Sabrina!!! I really love that name!

 

[audball]

I like the double nick-names for Eleanor too!

It's funny, because the boys name I don't like purely because I've known jerks names that is Nicholas/Nick! Apparently we'd agreed on girl names, but have to fight it out about the boys

That's hilarious maebelle!

 

[audball]

Audball, I totally forgot one of my other favorite girl names and that is Sabrina!!! I really love that name!

Awww! Thanks missy!

 

[pandabee]

I haven't thought about names too much, mostly only girl names because I feel kinda indifferent about boy names at the moment lol. I've always wanted to name a girl Elaine Aurora...I just love the name Elaine (and I know quite a few who are great people) and I've always loved the northern lights. Plus her nickname can be Rory (love gilmore girls lol). Recently I also thought of Magnolia for a first name...nickname could be Maggie! But honestly that's about as far as I've gotten. As far as boy names, all I've gotten so far are boy names I *wouldn't* want based on boys I've known/dated hahaha. DBF has no idea of these names and we aren't nearly there yet so I won't bog him down with these ideas quite yet hehe.

I also don't like those ridiculous spelled names just for the sake of being different. I do want my kids to have pretty unique names so they aren't in a classful of the same, but I would also give them a more "normal" first or middle name to balance it out.

 

[snow12]

My close friend and I were actually discussing baby names this past weekend and found out her boyfriend and my fiance both like the same name for a boy, Mehdi. Which is fine for me because my FI will name our future boy that no matter what. The problem is that its a family tradition to have all the childrens names start with the same letter. All my aunts and uncles on one side have names with L and there kids with all the same letters too. A, K, L, C, and E are all taken from the alphabet! It's something my grandmother started and I'd like to continue that.

With that being said, with my FI loving the name Mehdi, our little girl (hopefully!!!) will have to have an M name too! I've been going over name after name and havent found any we agree upon! It doesn't help that his last name starts with M and is 10 letters long! My parents think its funny that their initials will be M & M with the fact my FI lovvvees candy.

My list for M girls:
Mae
Mirabella
Maebella
Maylin
(anyone have suggestions?) lol

But no, we're not calling dibs.. i just told her that FI would not change his mind. He's had this name picked out for years!

 

[Ravenne]

I've known for years that I wanted to name my first girl Evelyn Rose. DBF doesn't like the name Rose, so I'm trying to make him warm up to it, but I'm looking at other good middle names for Evelyn.

I'd never really had a boys name I really liked until DBF and I started talking about them. We wanted a name that couldn't be easily shortened (he hates nicknames and calls me by my full first name. He's the only one aside from my manager). And he wanted either a biblical or historical name. He came up with Cyrus. I fell in love with it as soon as he said it. I'm thinking the middle name will be Dean. That's my father's middle name.

Other than that... haven't given it too much thought. Lol

I love some of the names on this thread though!

 

[Ravenne]

Snow12: Just read your post. Some M girl names.

Miranda
Makayla
Michelle
Maureen
Molly


That's all I can think of for now. I'll come back if I think of any others.

 

[audball]

pandabee! I also love Elaine! That's my grandma's first name. Andrew didn't like it though He's a tough one to crack! And he's more about saying no than making any alternative suggestions. Sigh.

 

[audball]

Ravenne -- I know what you mean. I've been hoping Andrew would warm up to a few of my favorites but so far no dice. I like your girl name! Very cute for when she's little, but also grown up sounding for later. And Cyrus is very nice! Easy to spell, different, but not super unusual. Good one.

I think if we could, I'd love to give a son Andrew as a middle name since that would be his Dad's first name. Andrew's middle name is his dad's first name, so it could start a little tradition. I thought Nathan Andrew was very cute, and would work well with his last name, but so far he's not buying it. But he does like Nicholas Andrew. I'm really liking Grant, but not as much with Andrew (Grant Andrew).

I love Claire Eliza. I like Eliza Michelle.

The one concern I have is that FF has a very common last name. I don't want to pick anything too plain because they'll be more likely to meet others with their EXACT same name in full.

What do you guys think of Anita? It makes me think of the lady from 101 Dalmatians (Perdy's Mom) that marries Pongo's Dad. Does anyone have a bad interpretation on it? I have mixed feelings on it. I go from loving it to disliking it and back again over and over.

 

[audball]

snow12 -- that's a cool tradition! In my family, all the girls have "S" names. This wasn't intentional, but just happened. 2 years ago my sister had a daughter, and named her Melody. So now maybe we'll be on an "M" train. Melody for your M name list? Or Melanie? Melissa? I love Maylin! My friend has talked about that name but she was thinking of spelling it Maelyn.

 

[snow12]

snow12 -- that's a cool tradition! In my family, all the girls have "S" names. This wasn't intentional, but just happened. 2 years ago my sister had a daughter, and named her Melody. So now maybe we'll be on an "M" train. Melody for your M name list? Or Melanie? Melissa? I love Maylin! My friend has talked about that name but she was thinking of spelling it Maelyn.

Snow12: Just read your post. Some M girl names.

Miranda
Makayla
Michelle
Maureen
Molly


That's all I can think of for now. I'll come back if I think of any others.

FI doesn't want an "american" name. LOL I like Makayla and already mentioned that to him but he says its too close to my name which is Calley. its not even close to my name but how he pronounces my name is more like kayla than calley. lol

snow12 -- that's a cool tradition! In my family, all the girls have "S" names. This wasn't intentional, but just happened. 2 years ago my sister had a daughter, and named her Melody. So now maybe we'll be on an "M" train. Melody for your M name list? Or Melanie? Melissa? I love Maylin! My friend has talked about that name but she was thinking of spelling it Maelyn.

Melody is a nice name! I also like the spelling of Maylin with the E in it... maybe Maelyn for a long name and call her Mae for a nick name? I wonder if he would like that.

The only name he really likes is Emma for some reason.. it breaks the M rule and is also my cousins name! Even my parents adopted dog has a name that starts with a C.. not intentional but

 

[Phdecorate]

Audball - love your real name! So funny, before I realized the aud part was for the AuD you are going to get, I thought it was short for Audrey. I also like how you have gone so far as to analyze the difference between ending in a consonant or a vowel. That must be your planning analytical side!!

Snow12 - how about Madeline, Marguerite, Margaret, Marian or Maeve for more M names? I like that tradition. My SO's siblings are all the same letter too!

I love how everyone has a different philosophy for names and why they should pick something, not to mention what they like or don't like. just goes to show you!! I think a name can sound different when paired with one last name versus another. And I totally agree with a certain name getting a negative feel after you meet someone with that name and have a bad experience. Also, be wary of nicknames. A friend of a friend named her son Cooper. My friend said Cooper, the pooper. Now, I always thought it was a cute name, but after that....same friend had another friend with a baby named Tucker....well that poor kid was Tucker, the -ucker. Uh oh!!

 

[audball]

FI doesn't want an "american" name. LOL I like Makayla and already mentioned that to him but he says its too close to my name which is Calley. its not even close to my name but how he pronounces my name is more like kayla than calley. lol
Melody is a nice name! I also like the spelling of Maylin with the E in it... maybe Maelyn for a long name and call her Mae for a nick name? I wonder if he would like that.

The only name he really likes is Emma for some reason.. it breaks the M rule and is also my cousins name! Even my parents adopted dog has a name that starts with a C.. not intentional but

Ah, I get that. I don't want an ethnic sounding name. But that's because I'm not! I know when I read someone's name, like at work or school, I get this picture of what they look like and it confuses me when I'm SOOOO wrong. Melody is pretty traditional so that may not fly. I like Maelyn spelled with the 'e'. Even as Maelin. Mae is a somewhat common female middle name so I don't think it would be interpreted as one of those obnoxious odd spellings at all.

Emma is really cute! But does break the "M" rule if you're going to try and stick with it. Funny about your parents and the dog with a C!

Hmm...I'll try and think of some more M names. I really love Mia, simple and pretty, but it would NOT go with FF last name without sounding funny. I also like Mallory.

 

[audball]

Audball - love your real name! So funny, before I realized the aud part was for the AuD you are going to get, I thought it was short for Audrey. I also like how you have gone so far as to analyze the difference between ending in a consonant or a vowel. That must be your planning analytical side!!

Snow12 - how about Madeline, Marguerite, Margaret, Marian or Maeve for more M names? I like that tradition. My SO's siblings are all the same letter too!

I love how everyone has a different philosophy for names and why they should pick something, not to mention what they like or don't like. just goes to show you!! I think a name can sound different when paired with one last name versus another. And I totally agree with a certain name getting a negative feel after you meet someone with that name and have a bad experience. Also, be wary of nicknames. A friend of a friend named her son Cooper. My friend said Cooper, the pooper. Now, I always thought it was a cute name, but after that....same friend had another friend with a baby named Tucker....well that poor kid was Tucker, the -ucker. Uh oh!!

Aww, thanks I do like my name. And I really like it with my middle name. My Dad chose it! I like the name Audrey! But Andrew doesn't

I totally did analyze the name endings thing...totally the planner in me. It's crazy, but think about it. I've been on search committees for new employees before and people really do make snap judgments on names alone. A female named Pam or Joan is more likely to be taken seriously than Neveah (a super trendy name right now...Heaven spelled backwards) or Nikki or something. It happens. I'd like to prevent my potential hypothetical future daughter from discrimination like that.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Ok, I'm a weirdo that sort of called dibs, but only because the name is my Grandmother's. Her name was Ella and she is/was my most favorite person in the whole world. I have been close with her all my life and it was about 5 years ago that I decided that I wanted to name my daughter (fingers crossed I'll be blessed with one eventually) after her. My cousin was pregnant and found out she was having a girl and she said "well, I was thinking about naming her after Grandma, but I know you'd kill me" lol...I mean, she could have named her after Grandma, but I would have too! I'm the oldest grandchild (and the last girl to be married...yay for September!) and I have always been the one closest to her throughout my life. She passed away in February and that just solidified that I need to name my daughter after that amazing woman.

 

[audball]

Ok, I'm a weirdo that sort of called dibs, but only because the name is my Grandmother's. Her name was Ella and she is/was my most favorite person in the whole world. I have been close with her all my life and it was about 5 years ago that I decided that I wanted to name my daughter (fingers crossed I'll be blessed with one eventually) after her. My cousin was pregnant and found out she was having a girl and she said "well, I was thinking about naming her after Grandma, but I know you'd kill me" lol...I mean, she could have named her after Grandma, but I would have too! I'm the oldest grandchild (and the last girl to be married...yay for September!) and I have always been the one closest to her throughout my life. She passed away in February and that just solidified that I need to name my daughter after that amazing woman.

That's sweet! I actually don't find the "dibs" in that situation obnoxious at all. You are closer to her and it makes more sense AND the other person is also in your family. And that name is in memory of someone specific, NOT just a name that your mad about your neighbor's friend choosing before you.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Ok, I'm a weirdo that sort of called dibs, but only because the name is my Grandmother's. Her name was Ella and she is/was my most favorite person in the whole world. I have been close with her all my life and it was about 5 years ago that I decided that I wanted to name my daughter (fingers crossed I'll be blessed with one eventually) after her. My cousin was pregnant and found out she was having a girl and she said "well, I was thinking about naming her after Grandma, but I know you'd kill me" lol...I mean, she could have named her after Grandma, but I would have too! I'm the oldest grandchild (and the last girl to be married...yay for September!) and I have always been the one closest to her throughout my life. She passed away in February and that just solidified that I need to name my daughter after that amazing woman.

That's sweet! I actually don't find the "dibs" in that situation obnoxious at all. You are closer to her and it makes more sense AND the other person is also in your family. And that name is in memory of someone specific, NOT just a name that your mad about your neighbor's friend choosing before you.

Thanks! I'm completely fine with anyone else using it, but my Grandma was one of my very best friends and I want to be (hopefully) the only one in my family to have a child with Grandma's name. If my daughter can be half the woman my Grandma was, I'll be an even luckier woman. It's definitely to signify a person and not just because I like some name in a book

 

[audball]

Thanks! I'm completely fine with anyone else using it, but my Grandma was one of my very best friends and I want to be (hopefully) the only one in my family to have a child with Grandma's name. If my daughter can be half the woman my Grandma was, I'll be an even luckier woman. It's definitely to signify a person and not just because I like some name in a book

This is the key between obnoxious and not I think. You fully know that you don't "own" the name, anyone could use it, including you. Very sweet to commemorate your grandma.

My grandma's name is Elaine. It was mentioned above. I really like it but my FF doesn't. My grandpa's name is Ken, I like Kendra, but he didn't like that either.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

I like Elaine! Maybe he'd be ok with that as a middle name?

 

[audball]

I like Elaine! Maybe he'd be ok with that as a middle name?

Maybe!

Oh! I forgot my other favorite! I've more/less written it off since he shot it down, but I was thinking Brianne (or Breanne...not sure on spelling). His Mom's name is Mary Anne and my name is SaBRIna. I thought Brianne woudl be a nice combination of the two. He didn't bite, not even for that.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

I like Elaine! Maybe he'd be ok with that as a middle name?

Maybe!

Oh! I forgot my other favorite! I've more/less written it off since he shot it down, but I was thinking Brianne (or Breanne...not sure on spelling). His Mom's name is Mary Anne and my name is SaBRIna. I thought Brianne woudl be a nice combination of the two. He didn't bite, not even for that.

Lol...I blame it on the fact that he is a guy. Sometimes they just don't get it! Scheesh! Although I think that since you're the one who will be going through the pain, you have an extra vote on the matter

 

[audball]

Lol...I blame it on the fact that he is a guy. Sometimes they just don't get it! Scheesh! Although I think that since you're the one who will be going through the pain, you have an extra vote on the matter

I've already told him that he is going to have to stop the vetoing! I told him he can't just say no to everything and make no suggestions. OR I told him that if that's what he wanted to do, I was just going to make a list of 5-10 favorites and he could pick from the list, lol. But I do think the ladies should double votes for having to endure labor!

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Lol...I blame it on the fact that he is a guy. Sometimes they just don't get it! Scheesh! Although I think that since you're the one who will be going through the pain, you have an extra vote on the matter

I've already told him that he is going to have to stop the vetoing! I told him he can't just say no to everything and make no suggestions. OR I told him that if that's what he wanted to do, I was just going to make a list of 5-10 favorites and he could pick from the list, lol. But I do think the ladies should double votes for having to endure labor!

I 100% agree!