Quite possibly one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make. How do you decide on a name that your children will have for the rest of their lives? It’s such a tough one and an incredibly important one at that.
There are endless possibilities and pretty much anything goes nowadays. You can take inspiration from family members, story books, nature or astrology. We’ve put together some inspirational lists for you below and a few of the team are also sharing how they came up with the names of their little ones. And you can find more inspiration in our previous round up of the predictions for the most popular baby names of 2016.
Me {Lottie}
I guess I have a certain preference for more traditional names. A bit ‘granny chic’ if you like. Luckily Edd was on the same page as, believe me, it’s hard enough finding a name you both like.
With Molly that was really the only name we liked. We knew we were having a girl and Molly was just perfect. Milly was a back up but Molly was always the front runner. Her middle name is Rose as that was my grandparents’ surname.
Alice was very different. We didn’t know we were having a girl and had already used up our trump card. We just couldn’t agree and despite having a shortlist for boys and girls none seemed quite right. Even whilst in the throes of labour we were disagreeing on the names. Needless to say the poor child had no name for the first two days of her life. We were finally put on the spot by family and went back to Alice which had been one of our original favourites. I have no idea where her middle name ‘Florence’ came from. It wasn’t even on the list but Edd suggested it and I love it.
Lorna
Apart from the fact that I was completely obsessed with all ‘E’ names. The inspiration for Elliott’s name may have come from the film E.T!
Similarly with Joseph I was obsessed with all names beginning with ‘J’ but when we heard that Rob’s grandad’s first name was Joseph and not Roly like we thought, we just had to incorporate the name back into the family line.
I was ALWAYS convinced I’d have a little girl and call her Eleanor, but Rob thought Elliott and Eleanor were too similar so it was vetoed 🙁 Then Elliott suggested Anabelle after a character he was reading in a book and it stuck.
All the children have middle names after family members too. The boys have my Nans’ and their Grannies’ maiden names which also happen to be my Dad and Rob’s middle names, and Anabelle’s middle name is my other Nan’s forename. It is SO hard naming more than one child, trying to find names that complement the first. One thing that really upsets me is hearing my children’s names abbreviated, but this is a whole other post!
Fern
We only really had a few options for both genders, and so when we had a girl it was either Eva or Elle – I like E names too 😉 I wanted something unusual and there seemed to be lots of little Eva’s around, so we went with Elle. Although as is always the way, there are lots of Elle’s around now too – so I suppose I must have been inspired subconsciously by something…
Baby Name Inspiration
Hope that provides you with a bit of baby name inspiration. How did you decide on your names?
This is so timely as we’re discussing names for our baby girl and finding it so hard!
With our little boy it felt easier! We ended up with three on our short list and my hubby just started calling my bump Freddie and it felt right. We wanted something that reflected our European culture (we’re a mish mash of Swiss/Polish/Italian/German/Austrian) but still a fairly classic name with lots of nickname potential so Frederick it was. Middle name is Nicholas after my father in law, who very sadly passed away while I was pregnant. Our son definitely suits his name – cheeky but charming sums him up!
Back to girls and I thought this would be easier as it feels like there is more choice, but maybe that’s why we’re struggling! Again I love some European feeling names but also I love an old lady name having one myself. I think because the three on our list we both like but don’t love (we vetoed each other’s favourites!) they do feel like somewhat of a compromise. You do have to be careful about how sibling names go together as well, we’ll use Rosalie as a middle name (family link) but could never have Fred and Rose!!
We keep being told we will find a name that stands out to us, but I honestly feel like I’ve seen every girls name in existence!!!!! Wish us luck!
xx
Love how you have managed to incorporate all your different backgrounds in to the name. Old lady names are my favourite. Good luck choosing xxx
Similar to you Agnes we vetoed each other’s favourite for our second girl. Our first girl Flora had been easy to name and we always had a boys name, Stanley. I loved Mable and my husband loved Josselyn our second choice was Eliza which after both not being able to convince the other one- Eliza Bluebell came along. Now we couldn’t imagine anything else so sometimes a compromise choice can feel really right in the end.
Summer or Aster or Luna are my faves from the lists above!
Some of the boys nature names sound like the Gladiators! Atlas, Hunter etc. Awesome! Xx
Eliza is such a cute name (and I love Stanley!). Loving hearing everyones name choices xxx
Thanks for the reassurance Sophie! Good to know a compromise can be right.xx
So timely for us too. Alexandra came out of left field as it wasn’t even on the short list. We quickly realised that she wasn’t going to be with us for long so she got a brand new name – the short list was very family orientated. I’ve got lots of ideas but andrew vetoes everything as he’s very picky. I like the idea of another A name. Hopefully when we see baby we’ll know what their name is. Knowing the gender hasn’t made it any easier at all!
Edd was definitely more picky than me. Men! Good luck choosing xx
Being 35 weeks pregnant with my second boy, this is aptly timed!
Rex, my oldest little one, was easy to name. His great grandad is Rex, so there’s a family link, but we both just happened to love it, it’s not common, strong, means King in latin (I like classic names with good meanings), couldn’t be shortened for a nickname and can’t really be considered weird. And it can’t be mis-pronounced or said in a not nice way, we live in Leicester where people like to not say the ends of words so names like Billy become Bill – eh here, this ruled out a lot of names for us! We had a few, “Rex is a dogs name” comments ?, but my response to that is my cat is Hugo, my sisters dogs are Bella & Luna, that ship where names are for animals has sailed… Most people tend to then agree.
Alexander was picked as a middle name as it’s also my husbands middle name and it worked nicely with our surname.
There wasn’t any stress, disagreeing – nothing! It was easy as pie!
This time not so easy. I think it’s hard to not over think your second child’s names, especially when they are the same gender. Do the names go together, does there need to be similarities/themes with the names, how does it sound when you say all the names within the family together?! Crazy! There’s also added pressure from having attended playgroups, nursery etc, where names I thought were uncommon suddenly aren’t. Or of course, friends having had kids and using names you’d perhaps saved for future kids.
I always said if I had another boy he’d be Felix. Then some friends of ours had a Phoenix so I thought I’d have to veto. But after trawling through thousands of names, trying out names we liked but didn’t love, I don’t think I can bare to pick anything but Felix. When you love a name it’s hard to shake it. There’s the X theme, the fact it’s another Latin name, classic & strong. And ultimately, he just feels like a Felix already. I just hope our choice doesn’t upset anyone, it’s most certainly prompted a lot of stressy episodes from me and discussions with the husband (he loves it and can’t see that the names are alike so is wondering what I’m stressing over!)…
If we had of been expecting a girl on either occasion, we loved Olive Winter. I get all funny when I see babies named Olive now as it’s unlikely we’ll have a third and if we do I’d put money on it being another boy! Perhaps I’ll have to buy me a little girl puppy and name her Olive instead, save me being outnumbered by boys!
I love the name Olive Winter. Our basset hound is called Olive after Drew Barrymore’s character in Olive the Other reindeer! ?
I say go with your favourite. It isn’t the same name and you need one that you love. I really struggled with a second name, especially another little girl. It was tough. Also, Olive. So cute xxx
We have a Penelope Olive- she was so nearly an Olive though after we’d called her that throughout the whole pregnancy – thanks to those apps which tell you what size fruit or veg your baby currently is!
We have a Felix who is four and baby Hector arrived last year. I could never choose a girls name but had one boys name both times round so I was obviously destined to be the only girl as Felix often points out!
I completely understand how hard it is to pick a baby name. After all you’ll be saying it for the rest of your life. However, I think that people can get overly hung up on feeling that the name they choose is going to dramatically shape their child’s future. I know of too many people who’ve had serious arguments about baby names or who’ve spent the previous first weeks of their baby’s life stressing about a name. In my mind there are only really three key decisions you have to make. Are you going to have a traditional / popular / common name (I.e a name in the current top 200 names)? Are you going to have an unusual / obscure name (Apple, Phoenix etc). Are you going to use alliteration (Charlie Charlesworth)? Once you’ve made that decision I don’t think that whether your child is called George, Oliver, Freddie really makes any difference. Don’t let it become a source of stress or conflict. If you and your partner don’t love the same name just settle of something you don’t hate. Even write a list of okay names and pick one out of a hat. Once your baby arrives you’ll grow to love the name because it’s the name of your child. Happy choosing.
I agree you can overthink things. After a while it just becomes them and you can’t imagine anything else. xx
My little girl is called Willow. No idea where we got the name from but we both loved it. We were actually convinced we were having a boy and could not decide on a boys name, then to our suprise out popped a girl. We looked at each other and said “Willow it is then”. Funny how one name just catches you. I think that’s why we couldn’t decide on a boys name because we didn’t love any like we did that name.
X
I adore the name Willow. Randomly it was the name my mum told us was our secret password so if anyone other than her ever came to pick us up from school we had to ask for the secret word. We’d even ask my nan!! xxx
Huh sniff flounce you’ve missed my little one’s name off your Shakespeare list ??? It’s even in Shakespeare in Love as her audition speech ?
Silvia is Silvia as I loved Siena and Eva but knew so so many and it has the same sounds, has an Italian feel (my research is in Italy) and I just love it! Her middle name is Marianne, as both grandparents have Anne in their names and my nan was Mary- plus she’s my favourite Austen character.
Stuck for number two. Know a girl will have middle name Hazel after his grandma, and leaning towards Julia. I desperately wanted Demelza as my husband is Cornish but he is dead against as he knows someone called that who he doesn’t see eye to eye with.
We are also at loggerheads over boys names- I’ve really gone off what we agreed on last time around. I like Patrick (Paddy) after my grandfather, and I love Lars as a name- short and crisp and has links to pre-Roman Italy though it sounds all Scandi cool.
12 week scan today- might revive the argument while we wait ??
Oh no Lucy, sorry we missed it off. Such a pretty name though and I love how you have linked it back to things that mean a lot to you. Number two is sooooo hard. I really struggled with it. Personally I really like Demelza. Perhaps you can tell your husband that RMF says you myst have it! Good luck with the scan, exciting news xxx
Hi Lucy, if you are after some Cornish inspiration my friends little girl is called Lowena it’s Cornish for joy and I think it’s so pretty. Her second girl is called Nessa, Cornish for second! Cornish boys names I liked were Jago and Jowan. It’s a good county for name inspiration! Although we went down the Latin route with Marcus and Olivia. Silvia is a beautiful name ? x
Rare to see Fern on a list! It was always a front runner for me while pregnant, I’d always been drawn to nature/botanical names and Fern also reflects the forest setting where we live. It’s also the name of the character in my favourite children’s book, Charlotte’s Web.
I really wanted a name that was uncommon, but not weird. I’ve yet to encounter another her age. 20 months on and I still love it and am so glad we chose it over the other front runner which is being held in reserve in case it is needed at a later date!
Her middle name is Margarethe after my Austrian Nanny. We’d always planned to have some variant of this as a middle name but it turned out Fern was born on her Great-Nanny’s birthday so it had to be exactly that.
Boys names are definitely much harder as I think that holy grail of uncommon-but-not-weird is much more difficult to achieve. I have ONE name that fits this criteria and every time a friend or relative has a baby boy I hold my breath to see if it gets used!! It’s definitely harder as you get older and have so many nieces/nephews and friends kids taking ownership of names!
Further inspiration for readers, at Fern’s forest school nursery there are some lovely names:
Autumn
River
Piper
Daisy
Magnus
Scarlett
Also- did you see/hear about the survey saying that 1 in 5 parents regretted their choice of name???!!
I love baby name chat! Our boys are Teddy and Jude – both were inspired by books and music. Whilst pregnant with Teddy I read Kate Atkinson’s Life after Life in which Teddy is character, plus we love the Arctic Monkeys and their song Teddy Picker. Not long after finding out I was pregnant again I read A Little Life (amazing book!) which focuses on a Jude, plus the Courteener’s album St Jude is one of our favourites. My mum is also called Judith so it seemed fitting! We didn’t know the gender either time but found boys names much easier to agree on, maybe its a subconscious thing! We did both like the name Vada (I loved the film My Girl growing up) but figured there would be lots of “as in Darth??” so doubt we would have been brave enough!!
Just in case it helps anyone you can actually download an excel spreadsheet with all the baby names recorded in England and Wales here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/babynamesenglandandwalesbabynamesstatisticsgirls
We found this so helpful as we didn’t want anything in the top 50, but pretty much every name is on here so you’ll find something you like. We independently went through this and listed the names we liked then compared lists to see if any matched. We’re big geeks though! We chose Lyra, which is not even top 200, because of His Dark Materials. We’re hoping for a strong, independent daughter when she’s older…
Here’s the link for boys names: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/babynamesenglandandwalesbabynamesstatisticsboys
I’m obsessed with the excel lists! The 2015 one came out this week!!
Very handy for checking how popular a name is ?
We were originally going to call our little monster Sebastian, but then I knew someone who was due a month before me had picked it and it lost its appeal a bit. It wasn’t until we were talking to my sister in law who was convinced we were calling him Alexander. Apparently her sister had told her that’s what we said, but it stuck in our minds and that’s what we went with. We then chose Hugo as one of his middle names just because I liked and then we popped in my wife’s maiden name as a middle name too. Aaaand just to really top it off we added in my Grandads name, Godfrey too. Yup, my 7 week old baby has 4 names plus a surname… What was I thinking?!
I was convinced we were having a boy but hubby and I couldn’t agree on a name – I wanted Ruben and hubby wanted Forbes. We had decided to just wait to see what he would look like before deciding… but then when he was born, he very much looked like a she! We were genuinely surprised at having a girl (don’t know why… it’s a 50/50 chance!!) so had not shortlisted names and had about 10 to choose from. We “tried” Beth, Freya, Penelope and then Olivia, all before deciding on Harriet about an hour after she was born. Now she is almost two and gets called Hattie more than Harriet, which we said we wouldn’t do, but it completely suits her personality and we love it. I have no idea where it came from though (we still bicker over whose idea it was!) , it just appeared on our list!
We have no name for our incoming second. Last time we were dead set on Catherine but I was induced and there was an incredibly chic French lady in the bed next to me whose name was the same as the fire fighting snake charmer when my husband worked in Guinea. Who wouldn’t want a chic French fire fighter snake charmer name? So we went with that. As you do.
The problem now is whether we stick with something French sounding but also quite acceptably English or whether we go for something totally different. Girls are easier than boys I think. Plenty of names are French sounding but also acceptably English e.g. Clara or Camille. I’m struggling to find a French sounding boys name that isn’t John-Luc.
Also I’m not against alliteration but I think one syllable one syllable names e.g James Jones or Sam Smith doesn’t work….it has to be a two or three syllable first name if you have a second name with the same letter. So Sebastian Smith. Thoughts? Actually, please thoughts, because we’ve been having this argument pretty much daily for the last two weeks and we are RUNNING OUT OF TIME
How about Marc? Olivier? Roman? Julien? Laurent?
Vive la France! And bonne chance xx
Silvan? One of my favourites!
We are due our second in a number of weeks and I’ve found choosing names really tough this time. I was practically hitting my head off a brick wall because nothing was quite right.
We have now settled on a name for either a boy or a girl and I’m feeling quite relieved. Funnily enough, we struggled more with the girls name (again). And in actual fact, the one we’ve decided on, was one I vetoed early on. Until one day I went on a show round of a hotel and the girl showing us round was so lovely, friendly, smiley and beautiful and this was her name. It made me do a complete 360 then I began to realise how perfect and beautiful the name was. Funnily enough, it’s also my Nana’s name and my middle name so the sentiment is there too.
With boys, it was easy. If I have a boy he’ll have a very similar name to that of my lovely dad who I lost last year.
Sorted!
Good luck to those choosing…it’s a HUGE decision.
When I was first pregnant 6 years ago I came across a girl’s name, Elsa ( as in Elsa Schiaperelli) that I suggested to my husband and he instantly loved it. I thought maybe we should keep looking just in case but he said no that’s it. Two boys later we hadn’t used it but still loved it. Then when expecting in 2015/2016 we realised that the name had been used in Frozen which was apparently huge!! Having had two boys we missed this ? My sister convinced me that we couldn’t use it. We still loved it and honestly thought Frozen might be forgotten in 2016! Glad we reluctantly changed our minds in the end as a Disney princess name would not have suited our family. We now have Tessa. Took a week or so to decide after she arrived but I loved it when I saw her and convinced husband!
My friend has a son called Xavier. French sounding and unusual but not way out there. Names are so hard! Especially for boys!
We were all set on Alice then just before I went into labour I had some sort of hormonal abberation & was desperate to go with Cressida (Cressie for short). My husband told me I’d taken leave of my senses & that, in any case, we weren’t quite posh enough to have a child named Cressida (“Hi, I’m Nikki & this is Cressida.”). In hindsight, he may have had a point. But I still love it. Another one for the Shakespearian list too!