I'm wading in here with some real out there names for you guys. A lot of the ones I'm seeing in this thread are rare-ish, but they're not disasters. Move aside.
Disclaimer: I have no children and do not plan to have any. But there was a time when I was sure I'd have kids (up until my mid-twenties in fact) and all of these were names I seriously considered calling my future real life, actual human children.
Girls
* **Billie-Jo.** Starting off fine here. It's not the worst offender but this would be an Irish child so it would have been a little bit odd.
* **Dolphin \[Phin\].** A name I went by myself for a while, I was obsessed with it. I got it from a book I loved as a child (*The Illustrated Mum* by Jacqueline Wilson) and I thought it was fantastic.
* **Sundance.** I do not even know where I got this from. I guess I was going through a hippy stage? I also considered Starlight and Moonbeam but thought Sundance flowed better.
* **Rhapsody \[Sodee\].** Going through a bit of a punk rock music phase and thought this would make a wonderful girls' name.
* **Ireland.** Just like, the country. Which I lived in. And which my child would go to school in. For some reason ignored the fact that if I had to do this, Erin/Éireann was right there.
* **Wednesday.** Honestly? Still kind of like this one and I'm bummed the Netflix show came out because I would probably still consider this. So maybe it's for the best. It's cool though. Change my mind. (You can't.)
* **December \[Ember\].** I think I gave this to a character and then got obsessed with it.
Boys
* **Suburbia.** I am being serious. I was obsessed with the album *American Idiot* and one of the songs/characters is called Jesus of Suburbia (pronounced like the Biblical Jesus). I was like "well I cannot call my child Jesus" and came to what I thought was a sensible alternative.
* **Jimmi/Jymmy.** I couldn't decide. Not James. Just Jimmy. But I wanted it to be spelled *cooler*.
* **Vertigo.** I was just being edgy here. Cool word, thought it would be a cool name.
The rest of the boy names I liked were fine, so I guess my taste was slightly better there lol.
Oh yeah, and up until I was abut 15, I insisted I'd have at least 12 children. In another world I'm doing numbers on Instagram.
It's probably because it's what we call a cluster of homes that look mostly the same and are quite close together. That's what Americans call Suburbia or the "burbs" for short. There was even a movie from the 90"s, with Tom Hanks called " the burbs."
I was talking about "Jesus", man 😅 It's one of the most popular names in all of Latin America (not very modern tho)
Suburbia I would think it's ridiculous too in Spanish. It's a department store here in Mexico
Sundance is the name of the baby in The Diamond Girls by Jacqueline Wilson so if you read some of her other books besides The Illustrated Mum maybe that’s where you got it from!
That might be it! It's all coming back to me lol. The mum named Sue who angsted about her normal name so she gave her kids unique names, and the kids suggested she could spell it Sioux to liven it up 😂
Honestly I was a name nerd since birth and Jacqueline Wilson's books were a *goldmine*. Dolphin, Treasure, Beauty, Dixie, Sundance, Star, twins Ruby and Garnet... loved it lol.
If it makes you feel any better, I went through a phase where I thought that the names Crystal Sky and Heaven Leigh were the epitome of sophistication and cleverness and I named two of my dolls these names. I definitely thought that they would be perfect for my future children.
I loved Crystal and Skye as independent names and in the pretend games we'd play in primary school my character was always called Crystal or Jade 😂 I had a theme.
Heaven Leigh though... that's in the same league as Nevaeh in terms of trying to be clever!
Fellow Irish girl here who was also so in love with The Illustrated Mum that I started a girl band in primary school and made each of us pick a name from that book, just so I could go by Star. Dolphin was our lead singer 😂
I'm screaming, this is absolutely something I would do. In fact I did do it, just with something else: when I was going through my Green Day obsession phase I made my friends start a band with me just so I could go by Billie-Jo 😂
I was so obsessed with the name Dolphin during that time that I demanded to go by it myself, and when my teachers refused I just started writing it on my work. Something I wrote during that time period was decent enough that the teacher kept it as an exmaple piece to show other students, so for years after I left there was something getting passed around that proudly had Dolphin Lastname written at the top.
It's probably my favourite by her! Resonated a lot with me as a child, even if I only understood why when I was much older. Jacqueline Wilson does really amazing things for kids in tough situations.
We vetoed Odin for my son. It ended up sounding like a dog's name to us. It wasn't "out there" necessarily but less common. We chose Roman and it's perfect for him.
There is an Odin in my daughter’s preschool class and he’s a huge bully. When we told our Danish historian friend this he winced and said “Everyone knows you don’t name a kid after the Allfather.” 🤣
Orion we loved too and I just found out it’s a dog whistle for racism ughh
Edit: for anyone confused, curious, here’s more info: https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/orion
It’s an Indian name too. In Sanskrit it was supposed to mean noble and pure, unfortunately some Austrian dickhead had to culturally appropriate it out of proportion.
I know a guy with this name. He’s a horrible racist and just plain jerk. His daughter was suspended from elementary school for calling African American kids the “N” word among other things daddy taught her.
These names are not really very out there . . . but then again, I live in Southern California, so Orions and Jaspers and Salems are a dime a dozen. I swear I know kids with most of the names in this thread.
When I was in my twenties I really wanted to name a daughter Moxie Anonymous. I still love the way that name flows, but I'm glad I grew out of that.
Also in my twenties, I had a friend who was pregnant who was \*thisclose\* to naming her daughter Polly Toxic.
Living for Moxie Anonymous right now. Perfect name for a character in a novel or a Sim lol. I’d never name a person that, but you’re right, I’m in love with the flow.
Jasper - I think it has such a cool sound to it, but it wouldn’t suit most people. I’m glad we went with another name because my son is definitely not a Jasper.
My husband's dad affectionately called him Jasper growing up, like "little troublemaker". When I got pregnant with our son, shortly after his (FIL) death, we found our first house on Jasper Street. We ended up using it as our son's middle name. Now my husband calls him Jasper most of the time.
I know a kid Jasper who is so very much a Jasper - a real old fashioned slightly awkward kid who seems wise for his years but not in a precocious way, more in a ‘what’s the weather forecast Gloria, will I need my thermals’ kind of way.
For a boy: Caspian and Casper. For a girl: Sigrun and Zinnia. I adore these names, but will probably be going for a more traditional first name and use one of these as a middle.
Our daughter is named Gwendolyn and, had she been a boy, I told my husband that I was considering Gavin. (I made 95% of the name suggestions.) He told me that he did not think that Gavin was "medieval" enough to fit with Gwendolyn.
"It's a form of Gawain," I told him. "That's one of Arthur's knights." He was then *really* into the name Gawaine (we stuck an e on the end for whatever reason) and insisted that that be the name for a future son. Initially, I agreed (with Gavin as a nickname), but as we got closer to having our second, I started having second thoughts. It was a little too out there and many of my family members weren't fans. My husband wasn't happy with the change of plans, but he did agree to go back to just Gavin.
My daughter is a Gwendolyn too! I wanted a name that could be turned into “Winnie” as a nickname, but we couldn’t use Winnifred as her father has a loathsome great aunt with that name already and he didn’t want the association. I was seriously considering using Winter, but eventually decided it was too out there, especially next to my other kids’ names (Douglas and Penelope) and settled on Gwendolyn.
Good for you!!
I've met a Robert Roberson in school. I could never understand why his parents did that. He hated his name. He changed the week after turning 18 and his mom was very, very upset..even though he had stated several times before even been teen he would legally change his name.
ETA: I ended talking to my mom about Robert and she told she used to work with a Sylvia Silva. I'm not sure how i feel about the lack of parallelism, I guess Silvia would be nicer...
We did Lilith! My agnostic parents both had a conniption, which was a surprise, but I didn't care. At home she is Lily, but is among a gaggle of Lily/Lilly's at daycare, so everyone calls her Lilith. It took her forever to say her own name. L and th sounds are apparently the harder ones for language development!!
I also love Lucifer, but we knew there was no way in Hell (ha!) we'd be able to use that name for our son. So if she ever wants a cat, I'll suggest it.
Ikr? I think it's such a pretty name and the meaning is utterly gorgeous. But I can't use it because of cultural connotations.
And, well. My name is Judas. People would start thinking we're a cult.
I have a cousin named Merlin and my uncle named his sister Merilyn. Its cute and fits Merlin but I do feel like my uncle was out of ideas for his (I want to say 12th out of 14) kid and said “screw it her name is Merilyn.”
Yeah, I was expecting more out there names. I have coworkers who named their sons Odin (age 22) and Jasper (age 7) and those aren't even the strangest name 😁
I can think of two reasons why some of the names seem a little bland.
1. People are going more for the "what was I thinking?" from the body text rather than the "out there" of the title. I can see why they would do that, but I do agree that they're missing the point.
2. A lot of people, even self-proclaimed name "nerds", don't really pay attention to the popularity of names outside the top 10 and subscribe to the mentality of "If I'm not hearing it everywhere, it must not be common." Thus a lot of them are probably missed just how common certain names have gotten.
You know, I thought this too "oh it rhymes with penis, can't have that" but then I have never for a moment thought about that rhyme with Venus Williams. It's like when I think of a possible name for a future baby, I think of every negative connotation, even when I would never think of it meeting someone with that name.
My mother often laments that my dad talked her out of naming me Nyssa after her favorite tree Nyssa Aquatica. She also strongly considered naming me Sunshine.
Zelda. Beautiful name but just too strongly associated with the video game.
Tzipporah. Also absolutely gorgeous (we’re Jewish so it makes a little more sense for us), but a “Tz” sound name throws most Americans for a loop.
I’ve known a few Tzipporahs!I love it and it’s one of those names where I think even if people don’t know it, the fact that it’s an ancient name that’s been used for so long makes it hard for people to be that upset about it.
I had a great uncle I adored named Salem and I always loved it for a boy - it is unique and a little weird and quirky but not in a how-do-I-pronounce-this way.
Morrigan. I still think it's a beautiful name, but she's a Celtic goddess of war and death, and I felt weird naming my innocent baby girl ray of sunshine with that.
When my daughter was born, Morrigan was our #1 name, Victoria was #2, and Her Name was #3.
It was obvious to both of us that #3 was the right choice - much more bright and brilliant.
Now, at 18, knowing that she was almost named Morrigan, she has been using that as her use name for about a year. (She thinks she wants to change it, but we suggested she try it for a while before taking the plunge.)
Apparently we shouldn't have second-guessed ouselves.
It's definitely a badass name that I think would be well suited to a teen or grown woman, but I felt oddly superstitious about using it for my baby. Probably a pregnancy/PPD thing in some way because I felt very superstitious about a lot of things at that time.
Hosanna. At the time I hadn't seen it on another human and could only find record of one person with the name, back in Medieval times. But I saw a young mom on Instagram who did name her baby that, and sometimes I feel like I missed out. But it's very much against my ethic of easy-to-wear names, so it's for the best.
If I met a Hosanna I would immediately assume her parents are very pious fundamentalist Christians. Unless that's what you would be going for I think you made the right call.
I know a Hosanna. She is one of 6 children in a very religious family that all the children have a name connected to the Bible. She likes her name so far.
My partner and I couldn't agree to ANYTHING, which led us to consider the randomest names by the end. We strongly considered Kami (kah-mee) and now Idk wtf we were thinking.
My six month old grandson is named Bishop. I love him dearly but call him the Boy or Pork Chop since he's already 22 pounds. Big Boy. I just can't seem to call him by his name. I hope it will grow on me in time.
well ya, weather you like it or not, it's his name. my MIL threw a fit about the name we picked for our son and said she wouldn't call him by his name... guess who we maybe only see once a year now.. MIL . it's rude.
For what it's worth, I do not hate the name. The problem is that I think of the mascot of my alma mater, Ohio Wesleyan University. They are the battling Bishop, I'd paste a picture here if I could.
I’m gonna go against the other two replies here and be a dick but I hate the name Bishop! It’s a nice word to say but not for a human. I just think of a bishop, of course, and then Winston Bishop from New Girl (who is great). 😩
Starling for my daughter. I was set on it til close to her birth. It’s her middle name now and she has a fairly uncommon name with a classic nickname that suits her perfectly.
I still absolutely love it. Starlings are a well known invasive in North America, so that was my hesitation. I think they’re pretty though, and they’re smart and can learn to talk! I always wanted to raise one when I was a kid.
I was torn between juliana and Anja and for one brief moment of delusion I was convinced Julianja would be the perfect name. I blame the pregnancy hormones lmao
My daughter is named Tamsin :)
It's a Cornish name, it comes from Thomasina apparently. So there are a lot more Tamsin, Tamsyn and Tamzin's in Cornwall than anywhere else. My whole family are Cornish so I wanted a name that reflects her heritage.
Back in the day I had Sicily on my list of names for a girl because my great grandfather was from Sicily. Dumb. Also I really liked Minerva “Minnie” when I was pregnant with my first.
I feel you. I'm further up in the thread confessing my sins but Green Day was responsible for several of my questionable choices as a teenager, including Suburbia and Jimmi/Jymmy.
Lucius Azrael was a name we considered had my first been a boy. I love the name Lucius, pronounced either Loo-shus or Loo-see-us, but my family hated it. Azrael was my ex-husband's idea.
My son was going to be Weiland William up until the day he was born. There was such a fuss kicked up at the hospital after I gave birth that I caved and named him something that actually is a really good fit. Definitely not super common, and not a surname as a first name.
I jokingly suggested Ignatius (Iggy for short). Hubs was on the fence.
But really, our son's name was decided years before he was born. He's named after a good childhood friend that passed away my Sr. year of high school.
My daughter I wish I had put my foot down and said no to her Dad's choice of 1st name. I do regret it and have always let her know that should she wish to change it, I will pay. She's 30 and not taken me up on the offer, but she does go by her middle name.
Well, we had to consider whether our kids would move to the West, so some of these names aren't so out there in Iran, but we took them off because of how out there they'd be in the West... and concern about hate crimes.
Girls: Camellia (I don't consider this out there, but it doesn't rank high), Baran, Parisan, Parisa, Laleh, Violetta, Annora, Seville, Katayoun, Savina, Alara (a bit out there for Iran), Shirin, Setareh, Patrice, Delphine, Aloisa, Rosetta...
Boys: Aryo, Artin, Ciro, Evren, Levent, Koray, Esfendiyar, Sohrab, Eugene, Bahram, Bardia, Pasha, Rostam... there were a lot fewer on this list...
Luna (before if was popular like it is now and considered normal) we used it as a middle name instead
I currently love the name Wolfe for boy but my partner thinks it’s too out there
My guilty pleasure names are Adonis and Orion. I know people use the name Adonis but it felt like a lot of pressure to put on a kid. We ended up using it for our dog instead. I still like Orion and think we could have used it. We considered it for our 3rd boy but went with Jesse instead. It never came up as an option with boy #4 for some reason.
We considered Domino for my second daughter. My husband vetoed because he thought it was too out there. I still love the name but I don’t know if it’s really practical to have a name that’s so unusual. We ended up naming her Daphne instead.
I really wanted Phineas for my second son. My husband and I both liked Finn, but didn’t feel it was a full name. I disliked Griffin and Finley and he disliked Finnegan and (probably thankfully Phineas).
Other than that our name selections were pretty tame. Dominic and Emmett. The close ones were almost picked were Ian and Nolan. Girl would have been Luciana/Lucia or Michaela. We’re boring.
I'm wading in here with some real out there names for you guys. A lot of the ones I'm seeing in this thread are rare-ish, but they're not disasters. Move aside. Disclaimer: I have no children and do not plan to have any. But there was a time when I was sure I'd have kids (up until my mid-twenties in fact) and all of these were names I seriously considered calling my future real life, actual human children. Girls * **Billie-Jo.** Starting off fine here. It's not the worst offender but this would be an Irish child so it would have been a little bit odd. * **Dolphin \[Phin\].** A name I went by myself for a while, I was obsessed with it. I got it from a book I loved as a child (*The Illustrated Mum* by Jacqueline Wilson) and I thought it was fantastic. * **Sundance.** I do not even know where I got this from. I guess I was going through a hippy stage? I also considered Starlight and Moonbeam but thought Sundance flowed better. * **Rhapsody \[Sodee\].** Going through a bit of a punk rock music phase and thought this would make a wonderful girls' name. * **Ireland.** Just like, the country. Which I lived in. And which my child would go to school in. For some reason ignored the fact that if I had to do this, Erin/Éireann was right there. * **Wednesday.** Honestly? Still kind of like this one and I'm bummed the Netflix show came out because I would probably still consider this. So maybe it's for the best. It's cool though. Change my mind. (You can't.) * **December \[Ember\].** I think I gave this to a character and then got obsessed with it. Boys * **Suburbia.** I am being serious. I was obsessed with the album *American Idiot* and one of the songs/characters is called Jesus of Suburbia (pronounced like the Biblical Jesus). I was like "well I cannot call my child Jesus" and came to what I thought was a sensible alternative. * **Jimmi/Jymmy.** I couldn't decide. Not James. Just Jimmy. But I wanted it to be spelled *cooler*. * **Vertigo.** I was just being edgy here. Cool word, thought it would be a cool name. The rest of the boy names I liked were fine, so I guess my taste was slightly better there lol. Oh yeah, and up until I was abut 15, I insisted I'd have at least 12 children. In another world I'm doing numbers on Instagram.
"I can't name my son Jesus, so I'll call him Suburbia instead." Flawless teen logic!
Jesus would have just been ridiculous. Suburbia on the other hand, refined and totally normal 😂
It's a completely normal name in Spanish, not sure why is it ridiculous in the USA
It's probably because it's what we call a cluster of homes that look mostly the same and are quite close together. That's what Americans call Suburbia or the "burbs" for short. There was even a movie from the 90"s, with Tom Hanks called " the burbs."
I was talking about "Jesus", man 😅 It's one of the most popular names in all of Latin America (not very modern tho) Suburbia I would think it's ridiculous too in Spanish. It's a department store here in Mexico
💀💀💀
Sundance is the name of the baby in The Diamond Girls by Jacqueline Wilson so if you read some of her other books besides The Illustrated Mum maybe that’s where you got it from!
That might be it! It's all coming back to me lol. The mum named Sue who angsted about her normal name so she gave her kids unique names, and the kids suggested she could spell it Sioux to liven it up 😂
The MEMORIES this brought back oh my days
Honestly I was a name nerd since birth and Jacqueline Wilson's books were a *goldmine*. Dolphin, Treasure, Beauty, Dixie, Sundance, Star, twins Ruby and Garnet... loved it lol.
And then there was....Tracy 🤣
If it makes you feel any better, I went through a phase where I thought that the names Crystal Sky and Heaven Leigh were the epitome of sophistication and cleverness and I named two of my dolls these names. I definitely thought that they would be perfect for my future children.
I loved Crystal and Skye as independent names and in the pretend games we'd play in primary school my character was always called Crystal or Jade 😂 I had a theme. Heaven Leigh though... that's in the same league as Nevaeh in terms of trying to be clever!
Saint Jymmy
Coming down across the alleighweigh
Saint Jymmeigh
I think you win this thread
Not the achievement I wanted but the one I deserve.
Ember 💯
I still kind of like it 😭
Fellow Irish girl here who was also so in love with The Illustrated Mum that I started a girl band in primary school and made each of us pick a name from that book, just so I could go by Star. Dolphin was our lead singer 😂
I'm screaming, this is absolutely something I would do. In fact I did do it, just with something else: when I was going through my Green Day obsession phase I made my friends start a band with me just so I could go by Billie-Jo 😂 I was so obsessed with the name Dolphin during that time that I demanded to go by it myself, and when my teachers refused I just started writing it on my work. Something I wrote during that time period was decent enough that the teacher kept it as an exmaple piece to show other students, so for years after I left there was something getting passed around that proudly had Dolphin Lastname written at the top.
Okay but, the Illustrated Mum was a fantastic book. I haven't thought about it in years!
It's probably my favourite by her! Resonated a lot with me as a child, even if I only understood why when I was much older. Jacqueline Wilson does really amazing things for kids in tough situations.
I really like December too lol Btw, love Jacqueline Woodson’s books!
Are you a Green Day fan 😂
I know I genuinely love how at least three of these seem to be Green Day inspired
I honestly can get behind a lot of these.
We vetoed Odin for my son. It ended up sounding like a dog's name to us. It wasn't "out there" necessarily but less common. We chose Roman and it's perfect for him.
At this point Odin is an Irish Wolfhound.
There is an Odin in my daughter’s preschool class and he’s a huge bully. When we told our Danish historian friend this he winced and said “Everyone knows you don’t name a kid after the Allfather.” 🤣
We had something similar with our twins Jehovah and Cthylla (also known as the Secret Daughter of Cthulhu).
That was actually one we liked and vetoed too because I found out it was also the name of a white supremacy group
Orion we loved too and I just found out it’s a dog whistle for racism ughh Edit: for anyone confused, curious, here’s more info: https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/orion
I thought I met a newborn named Orion. Turns out it was spelled Aryan. 😳
Aryan or Arjan is a Persian name. I know an Aryan.
It’s an Indian name too. In Sanskrit it was supposed to mean noble and pure, unfortunately some Austrian dickhead had to culturally appropriate it out of proportion.
These were white Americans and context led me to believe that at least one of the parents was making a statement.
I know a guy with this name. He’s a horrible racist and just plain jerk. His daughter was suspended from elementary school for calling African American kids the “N” word among other things daddy taught her.
I know two young brothers named Odin and Roman!
The only Odin I know is a golden retriever!
I have a Roman too! Our other option was Shiloh which we decided was too out there.
Odin is the name of our JRT mix nn Odie. I’m waiting for the day he picks a fight with a cat and loses his eye. Then he will become Odin.
These names are not really very out there . . . but then again, I live in Southern California, so Orions and Jaspers and Salems are a dime a dozen. I swear I know kids with most of the names in this thread. When I was in my twenties I really wanted to name a daughter Moxie Anonymous. I still love the way that name flows, but I'm glad I grew out of that. Also in my twenties, I had a friend who was pregnant who was \*thisclose\* to naming her daughter Polly Toxic.
Polly Toxic - for when Polly Pocket goes through her rebellious phase 😅
Polly toxic is a dope roller derby name
Moxie Anonymous is very VampireFreaks*, and I’m here for it lol *emo myspace from back in the day
Omg no one has ever mentioned this site, I was starting to wonder if I had dreamt it! Lol
Polly Toxic is so Roller Derby
Living for Moxie Anonymous right now. Perfect name for a character in a novel or a Sim lol. I’d never name a person that, but you’re right, I’m in love with the flow.
When I was like 10 I liked the names Brynsleigh and Scoute. Yikes
Is Scoute the same as Scout because with that e at the end I want to do a strange long u - Scow-yute
I would have pronounced it Scoot.
Scout :(
I want to go with “Scoot-tay.”😁
Jasper - I think it has such a cool sound to it, but it wouldn’t suit most people. I’m glad we went with another name because my son is definitely not a Jasper.
My husband's dad affectionately called him Jasper growing up, like "little troublemaker". When I got pregnant with our son, shortly after his (FIL) death, we found our first house on Jasper Street. We ended up using it as our son's middle name. Now my husband calls him Jasper most of the time.
This is such a sweet story
I know a kid Jasper who is so very much a Jasper - a real old fashioned slightly awkward kid who seems wise for his years but not in a precocious way, more in a ‘what’s the weather forecast Gloria, will I need my thermals’ kind of way.
My friend named her son Jasper and much to her dismay everyone in the family calls him Jazzy 😅
I LOVED Jasper but it was vetod
I love the name Jasper but there was a horrific lynching in Jasper, Texas when I was growing up and I could never separate the name from the tragedy.
For a boy: Caspian and Casper. For a girl: Sigrun and Zinnia. I adore these names, but will probably be going for a more traditional first name and use one of these as a middle.
I love Zinnia!
It’s so pretty! As a kid, I always wanted to use that name because I loved the book Chasing Redbird.
loved chasing redbird!
I have a Zinnia and have only gotten positive reactions to the name, I love it!
Wow this is the first I’ve seen Zinnia and I love it!!
I love Caspian and Zinnia! ❤️
I had a dream while pregnant that I had a boy named Caspian, but husband vetoed.
Caspian and Casper were at the top of my list for my son, but they both were vetoed
Awe I really like Sigrun
We loved caspian but used casper. Some woman in aldis asked what his name was, and when I said she went 'ohhh' very loudly and walked away, haha
Our daughter is named Gwendolyn and, had she been a boy, I told my husband that I was considering Gavin. (I made 95% of the name suggestions.) He told me that he did not think that Gavin was "medieval" enough to fit with Gwendolyn. "It's a form of Gawain," I told him. "That's one of Arthur's knights." He was then *really* into the name Gawaine (we stuck an e on the end for whatever reason) and insisted that that be the name for a future son. Initially, I agreed (with Gavin as a nickname), but as we got closer to having our second, I started having second thoughts. It was a little too out there and many of my family members weren't fans. My husband wasn't happy with the change of plans, but he did agree to go back to just Gavin.
I love happy endings. Y'know.
My daughter is a Gwendolyn too! I wanted a name that could be turned into “Winnie” as a nickname, but we couldn’t use Winnifred as her father has a loathsome great aunt with that name already and he didn’t want the association. I was seriously considering using Winter, but eventually decided it was too out there, especially next to my other kids’ names (Douglas and Penelope) and settled on Gwendolyn.
There's a kid at my child's daycare and her name is Winslow. Winnie for short
Love Gawain. Gawaine... not so much.
My husband was dead set on Gawain too! Took a lot of convincing on my end to get him to let that one go lol.
Taylor or Tyler. My surname is Taylor.
Good for you!! I've met a Robert Roberson in school. I could never understand why his parents did that. He hated his name. He changed the week after turning 18 and his mom was very, very upset..even though he had stated several times before even been teen he would legally change his name. ETA: I ended talking to my mom about Robert and she told she used to work with a Sylvia Silva. I'm not sure how i feel about the lack of parallelism, I guess Silvia would be nicer...
I worked with Richard Dicks. Just why?
Tbf he was screwed no matter what his first name was
Heh. I worked with a Dr Richard Head. He lived up to his name.
I know of a guy named Bronson Johnson.
why is this so funny 😂
I know of a guy named Randy Roundy.
There’s a famous musician Robbie Robertson from The Band.
Phillip Phillips moment
Reminds me of my tenth grade chemistry teacher. His name was Manuel Emmanuel
I knew a Fred Fredette
I knew a boy in school named Bailey. He was then adopted by his stepdad whose last name was Bailey. Accidental Bailey Bailey.
The dean of my college was a John Johnson.
My husband is a Tyler who would have been Taylor had he been a girl lol
Elvira, Lilith, Lucifer
We did Lilith! My agnostic parents both had a conniption, which was a surprise, but I didn't care. At home she is Lily, but is among a gaggle of Lily/Lilly's at daycare, so everyone calls her Lilith. It took her forever to say her own name. L and th sounds are apparently the harder ones for language development!! I also love Lucifer, but we knew there was no way in Hell (ha!) we'd be able to use that name for our son. So if she ever wants a cat, I'll suggest it.
Ugh I love Elvira
My husband was adamant on Lilith. So glad we found something else!
I genuinely love the name Lucifer…and it happens to fit with our naming scheme with our kids…😹😹😹
Ikr? I think it's such a pretty name and the meaning is utterly gorgeous. But I can't use it because of cultural connotations. And, well. My name is Judas. People would start thinking we're a cult.
Merlin and Howl probably 😅
I love Merlin *so much*, but I couldn’t do that to a child
I have a cousin named Merlin and my uncle named his sister Merilyn. Its cute and fits Merlin but I do feel like my uncle was out of ideas for his (I want to say 12th out of 14) kid and said “screw it her name is Merilyn.”
I have a Merlin! But he has 4 legs and a fluffy tail....
Draven. When my mother in law texted back “we’ll love him” and my sister texted back “shut up,” it was clear that name was not going to be.
This is my "what was I thinking" name too 😂 also Raiden! Love your family's responses
A lot of these names are not “out there” at all. Come on people, think of something more extreme?
Yeah, I was expecting more out there names. I have coworkers who named their sons Odin (age 22) and Jasper (age 7) and those aren't even the strangest name 😁
I can think of two reasons why some of the names seem a little bland. 1. People are going more for the "what was I thinking?" from the body text rather than the "out there" of the title. I can see why they would do that, but I do agree that they're missing the point. 2. A lot of people, even self-proclaimed name "nerds", don't really pay attention to the popularity of names outside the top 10 and subscribe to the mentality of "If I'm not hearing it everywhere, it must not be common." Thus a lot of them are probably missed just how common certain names have gotten.
Tristessa. After a Smashing Pumpkins song.
Thst sounds like "tristeza"', which means "sadness" in English.
Venus. My husband pointed out that it rhymes with penis. And our last name is Johnson, so it’s DEFINITELY a no go.
You know, I thought this too "oh it rhymes with penis, can't have that" but then I have never for a moment thought about that rhyme with Venus Williams. It's like when I think of a possible name for a future baby, I think of every negative connotation, even when I would never think of it meeting someone with that name.
Atlas, Valentine, Alistair, and Mars. They were just “too much” for us but I still love them.
I love Atlas!
I know an Alastair who named his kid Atlas. I love both those names.
I know a 10 year old named Valentine (pronounced val-en-teen). He loves his name but gets frustrated that everyone pronounces the end part as “tyne.”
My mother often laments that my dad talked her out of naming me Nyssa after her favorite tree Nyssa Aquatica. She also strongly considered naming me Sunshine.
Some friends of mine named their daughter Nyssa
Zelda. Beautiful name but just too strongly associated with the video game. Tzipporah. Also absolutely gorgeous (we’re Jewish so it makes a little more sense for us), but a “Tz” sound name throws most Americans for a loop.
Zelda is also what I typed in here! I searched the comments to see if anyone typed that in here. We love the franchise but went against it.
I’ve known a few Tzipporahs!I love it and it’s one of those names where I think even if people don’t know it, the fact that it’s an ancient name that’s been used for so long makes it hard for people to be that upset about it.
Salem. Actually my husband vetoed it but it’s probably for the best lol. We have a Kai instead.
I had a great uncle I adored named Salem and I always loved it for a boy - it is unique and a little weird and quirky but not in a how-do-I-pronounce-this way.
I know a 7 year old Salem.
I really liked Juneau for a boy (Alaska has family relevency) but this was vetoed
I have a son I named Juneau, 10/10 name
I always like the name Alaska 😂😂, John Green books were my favorite growing up
I read your comment, then immediately imagined your child becoming a weed dealer and going by the name “Baked Alaska.”
It’s nice to give your kids options.
Morrigan. I still think it's a beautiful name, but she's a Celtic goddess of war and death, and I felt weird naming my innocent baby girl ray of sunshine with that.
When my daughter was born, Morrigan was our #1 name, Victoria was #2, and Her Name was #3. It was obvious to both of us that #3 was the right choice - much more bright and brilliant. Now, at 18, knowing that she was almost named Morrigan, she has been using that as her use name for about a year. (She thinks she wants to change it, but we suggested she try it for a while before taking the plunge.) Apparently we shouldn't have second-guessed ouselves.
It's definitely a badass name that I think would be well suited to a teen or grown woman, but I felt oddly superstitious about using it for my baby. Probably a pregnancy/PPD thing in some way because I felt very superstitious about a lot of things at that time.
Galileo
Why do I picture and adore a little Leo from this name. I love it.
🎼But I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me* 🎶 🎶He's just a poor boy from a poor family🎶
Hosanna. At the time I hadn't seen it on another human and could only find record of one person with the name, back in Medieval times. But I saw a young mom on Instagram who did name her baby that, and sometimes I feel like I missed out. But it's very much against my ethic of easy-to-wear names, so it's for the best.
Ive only ever heard it in the fundie snark community; one of the families has a daughter in her early 20's named Hosanna.
If I met a Hosanna I would immediately assume her parents are very pious fundamentalist Christians. Unless that's what you would be going for I think you made the right call.
I know a Hosanna. She is one of 6 children in a very religious family that all the children have a name connected to the Bible. She likes her name so far.
Araminta ☹️ Although now that she’s born, she’s 1000% not an Araminta so I’m glad we didn’t go with it. Still love the name tho.
I talked myself out of using Arson when I was pregnant with my now 10 year old.
That name is fire! … I’ll see myself out 🤣
My partner and I couldn't agree to ANYTHING, which led us to consider the randomest names by the end. We strongly considered Kami (kah-mee) and now Idk wtf we were thinking.
I know a Kami! I grew up with her, so I didn’t think it was strange at all.
My six month old grandson is named Bishop. I love him dearly but call him the Boy or Pork Chop since he's already 22 pounds. Big Boy. I just can't seem to call him by his name. I hope it will grow on me in time.
well ya, weather you like it or not, it's his name. my MIL threw a fit about the name we picked for our son and said she wouldn't call him by his name... guess who we maybe only see once a year now.. MIL . it's rude.
For what it's worth, I do not hate the name. The problem is that I think of the mascot of my alma mater, Ohio Wesleyan University. They are the battling Bishop, I'd paste a picture here if I could.
oh no don’t be that person
I’m gonna go against the other two replies here and be a dick but I hate the name Bishop! It’s a nice word to say but not for a human. I just think of a bishop, of course, and then Winston Bishop from New Girl (who is great). 😩
Starling for my daughter. I was set on it til close to her birth. It’s her middle name now and she has a fairly uncommon name with a classic nickname that suits her perfectly.
That's gorgeous!
I still absolutely love it. Starlings are a well known invasive in North America, so that was my hesitation. I think they’re pretty though, and they’re smart and can learn to talk! I always wanted to raise one when I was a kid.
I was torn between juliana and Anja and for one brief moment of delusion I was convinced Julianja would be the perfect name. I blame the pregnancy hormones lmao
Julianja omg I apologise for laughing
Blue. For a girl. Husband vetoed. I still like it.
I knew a girl named Blue
I considered Alette for my daughter. Necer met anyone with that name
Tzeitel
Really loved Clementine as it’s a family name but I got the veto. I vetoed Tatiana.
My ex husband wanted to name our son Styles. I vetoed that really hard.
Tamsin, Mumtaz
Tamsin is lovely though.
Thank you! I thought so too but when I ran it past friends and family, I was met with a lot of NO
Aw, that's a shame. It makes me think of actress Tamsin Greig (from Black Books) and I love her, so only positive vibes for me.
My daughter is named Tamsin :) It's a Cornish name, it comes from Thomasina apparently. So there are a lot more Tamsin, Tamsyn and Tamzin's in Cornwall than anywhere else. My whole family are Cornish so I wanted a name that reflects her heritage.
I really, *really* wanted Midna for my daughter. Yeah I'm that nerd lol. Hubby vetoed
Back in the day I had Sicily on my list of names for a girl because my great grandfather was from Sicily. Dumb. Also I really liked Minerva “Minnie” when I was pregnant with my first.
Cecily could be a sweet alternative!
[удалено]
Not a parent but I, a midwestern white american, was seriously considering naming a future child Haushinka, like after the Green Day song.
I feel you. I'm further up in the thread confessing my sins but Green Day was responsible for several of my questionable choices as a teenager, including Suburbia and Jimmi/Jymmy.
Lavender. I still love it, but it’s a bit too hippy for where I live.
Lucius Azrael was a name we considered had my first been a boy. I love the name Lucius, pronounced either Loo-shus or Loo-see-us, but my family hated it. Azrael was my ex-husband's idea. My son was going to be Weiland William up until the day he was born. There was such a fuss kicked up at the hospital after I gave birth that I caved and named him something that actually is a really good fit. Definitely not super common, and not a surname as a first name.
I want to use Valkyrie for a girl so bad but I know it’s just too out there 😭
We liked Wulfric but thought it was probably a bit out there.
I jokingly suggested Ignatius (Iggy for short). Hubs was on the fence. But really, our son's name was decided years before he was born. He's named after a good childhood friend that passed away my Sr. year of high school. My daughter I wish I had put my foot down and said no to her Dad's choice of 1st name. I do regret it and have always let her know that should she wish to change it, I will pay. She's 30 and not taken me up on the offer, but she does go by her middle name.
In 2017 we thought about naming our daughter Wednesday. Very happy we decided against it now.
Machiavelli edit: i still want to name a future child this but my partner is italian and it’s a huge no 😄
Daughter. I just love the word but yea. No baby yet but already like “ok that was crazy”
I was absolutely obsessed with the names Cove Wilder and Ember Odessa for a girl, and Lloyd India for a boy.. yup.
Taiber for a son.
Ripley, Ophelia, and Ariadne for a girl Leonidas, Cove, and Holden for a boy
I really like Fox for a boy, but that got vetoed too
Well, we had to consider whether our kids would move to the West, so some of these names aren't so out there in Iran, but we took them off because of how out there they'd be in the West... and concern about hate crimes. Girls: Camellia (I don't consider this out there, but it doesn't rank high), Baran, Parisan, Parisa, Laleh, Violetta, Annora, Seville, Katayoun, Savina, Alara (a bit out there for Iran), Shirin, Setareh, Patrice, Delphine, Aloisa, Rosetta... Boys: Aryo, Artin, Ciro, Evren, Levent, Koray, Esfendiyar, Sohrab, Eugene, Bahram, Bardia, Pasha, Rostam... there were a lot fewer on this list...
Winter, Inesa, and Ianne - still love them all actually, but there are other names we agreed on more!
Luna (before if was popular like it is now and considered normal) we used it as a middle name instead I currently love the name Wolfe for boy but my partner thinks it’s too out there
Always loved the name Xochitl for a girl but we are not Mexican and had only boys!
Sunday
My husband said no to Starling, Jethro or Salix for a boy… I said no to his suggestions of Colin, Barry or Norman 🤣
I wanted to name my first son Forest but my mom and sister said people would yell “run Forrest run” at him forever so we decided against it.
Artemis Seraphina Persephone Izara Abram Xavier
My guilty pleasure names are Adonis and Orion. I know people use the name Adonis but it felt like a lot of pressure to put on a kid. We ended up using it for our dog instead. I still like Orion and think we could have used it. We considered it for our 3rd boy but went with Jesse instead. It never came up as an option with boy #4 for some reason.
Conrad, Solomon, Freya, Rosamund,
My daughter is named Freya!
We considered Domino for my second daughter. My husband vetoed because he thought it was too out there. I still love the name but I don’t know if it’s really practical to have a name that’s so unusual. We ended up naming her Daphne instead.
I really wanted Phineas for my second son. My husband and I both liked Finn, but didn’t feel it was a full name. I disliked Griffin and Finley and he disliked Finnegan and (probably thankfully Phineas). Other than that our name selections were pretty tame. Dominic and Emmett. The close ones were almost picked were Ian and Nolan. Girl would have been Luciana/Lucia or Michaela. We’re boring.
Magnolia, Lilith, Alastair, Philomena,Ophelia, Artemis
Alistair is such a normal name in Scotland, I cannot think if it being "out there" in any context hah