It’s probably no secret to the three people that read this blog that I’ve been sick since Christmas. I’m about 12 weeks now. I’m still sick, but there are hints that I’m feeling better. The two most noticeable, are the fact that I can walk erect all the time now (instead of hunched over like I’m going to puke at any moment) and I can walk to the kitchen and get food and get back to bed without thinking I need to lay down or I might. just. die. So, while I threw up yesterday (first time in 8 days! Progress!) I still feel constant nausea, every night from around 6 pm-until I can go to sleep.
So let’s talk about something fun and exciting instead.
We need girl names. We have 4 full (first and middle) names for boys. And they are mostly prioritized too.
But girls. We have never agreed on a girl’s name. Nor have we ever needed to. Once, when I was pregnant with S (my second child) we made a deal. I agreed to give Mr. French his first choice for a first name and he gave me my first choice for a middle name (we both agreed that they went together). It would only be binding for that current child and would become null and void after the birth if we had a boy. Which we did.
Now, I don’t really like the first name that we chose back then. Plus, the pressure is on. This could be our last child (I certainly can’t tell the future). It could be our only girl. It could be that we’ll never get to use any more of the boy’s names that we picked. So we have to make sure that we love this name. (I guess we should have thought that way for the others, but we didn’t.)
So here are the guidelines:
1) Anyone can play, as many times as you want, but you can’t suggest your own name. (You can, however leave your name, which still might cause me to think of it as a suggestion 
Aren’t you clever?)
2) We don’t like especially popular names. Being in the top ten or twenty usually makes us leave the name behind, no matter how much we like it.
3) This is probably the only place where our age gap gets us into trouble (lest you think it’s me that’s older, it’s actually Mr. French . Names that I like, b/c they’re unusual and old-fashioned, sound like names of Mr. F’s parent’s generation, so he tends to dislike them. Mr. French doesn’t mind names from his generation, which are names I associate with older people. I’m not explaining this well, but I think people tend to reject the names from their parent’s generation, unless they are naming their children after someone specific. We’re more likely to fall for names in our grandparent’s generation, or something more traditional that is not tied to a certain generation. So that means you have to go back further to find names we like, or go unusual and traditional. Clear as mud? Good. Moving on.
4) The other thing that is hard for us is that Mr. F likes a theme, or a pattern. For instance, if we named all our children with Biblical names (which we didn’t) he would be against changing that for the fourth. I don’t like themes. I try hard to give them all different first letters, different, but well-thought out initials, different number of syllables even. I don’t want any of my kid’s names to rhyme with each others.
5) I don’t like naming a child one name and then immediately start calling them a nickname. That happens a lot with girl’s names, so I think about it.
6) We’re looking for something feminine, pretty, and unusual that doesn’t start with hard C, S, or J.
7) Also, middle names cannot start with a vowel. Our last name starts with a ‘D’ and usually makes a word if the middle initial is a vowel.
If you participate, you can not be offended if we don’t use your name suggestion.
9) You will not know what name we chose until the baby is already named. I’m asking for suggestions, not opinions.
Though, I’ll still comment on names as they come. I think names are fascinating and I enjoy talking about them.
10) Funny is good. I need some distractions.
So, leave a comment. Or I’ll have to start giving myself suggestions.
54 Comments
January 24, 2008 at 6:00 pm
P.S. I like the name Molly, but that’s our dog’s name. Plus, it sounds a lot like ‘mommy’ when a three-year-old says it.
January 24, 2008 at 6:03 pm
My first thought when I realized I was due 8/8/08 was that we should name the baby Octavius.
Octavius Durham D____
It’s a perfect fake name b/c it’s initials spell O.D.D.
Octavia Delightful D____ -
January 24, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Okay, this is a lot of comments from me but, we’re also not opposed to flower names as middle names like Rose or Violet, but think more unusual.
Gardenia
Pansey (but she was my sister’s cat)
Lily-of-the-Valley (actually this was my cat growing up.)
I guess I’m as bad at this as I thought.
January 24, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I’ll get to the naming thing later – I can’t think of the perfect name right now, but I’m working on it – but right now I just have to ask, do you really hate calling people, as you state under your Why section? If so, that makes your call to D H in high school all the more impressive!
January 24, 2008 at 7:21 pm
It is absolutely true that I dislike calling people now. And for the last several years. And it’s true that when I was younger I got very nervous answering the phone. But, I think I was probably a bit bolder than I am now. I tend to feel very awkward on the phone unless I know someone very well.
But I also used to enjoy pranks much more than I do now. I mean, I spent my first year of college doing prank after prank. And getting away with it most of the time.
Except for my superior acting skills on that particular prank, which DH said deserved an Oscar, if I remember correctly (what did I say about tooting my own horn?), it was probably unusual for me even then.
What can I say, when I was young… I was stupid.
January 24, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I think it was I who said you deserved the Oscar! That has to be among the best pranks in which I was ever involved . . .
January 24, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Oh, well, thank you.
*blush*
It was an honor just to be suggested.
January 24, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Oh… the names that come to me right off are Bailey, Mia, Callie, Savannah & Jennifer…. I thought you would get a kick out of the first two since we know how much you LOVE popular names… and the last 3 because they start with your favorite letters!! heehee ;O)
January 24, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Bet you didn’t know that I look at your blog from time to time. What a fun idea! I had my students write me essays persuading me to name my child their favorite names…and mostly got pitiful arguments for using their own names. Here are some old names that are all (cough) very serious suggestions. I started channeling F. Scott Fitzgerald right away:
Sylvia (my sister’s name but not at all popular today)
Elsa (my son’s little best friend, but she’s the only Elsa I know)
Emelyn
Zelda
Daisy
Ginevra
Stella
Frieda
Eugenia
Philomena
Wilhelmina
Sidonia
You could try playing around on babynamewizard.com – we loved that site. Happy naming!
January 24, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Jessica: Okay, Don’t get me started on Jennifer! Wasn’t it like number one for 40 years or something? No offense to Jenn, Jennifer and Jenny! I know a few Jennifers who wish they had a different name, though.
Maureen: Several of your suggestions I like, but I know Mr. F wouldn’t. ‘Tis always the problem.
I like Elsa, and Emelyn is perfect for someone who likes the ever-popular Emily/Emma but wants something more unique.
Frieda makes me think of that movie I never saw but involved a woman with a uni-brow.
My father-in-law’s name is Eugene and he’d probably have a fit if we named the baby Eugenia. But you’re so right. It’s not popular at all.
Wilhelmina sounds German. Which doesn’t make it bad. But it sort of sounds like you wanted a boy named Wilhem and then you had a girl instead.
And Sidonia sounds like a country. But place names are becoming popular. Dakota, Paris, Boston, Albertville. Maybe not that last one. Yet.
Okay, I’ll tell you one name I kinda like (but gave up years ago, b/c of massive amounts of teasing from Mr.F).
Tatiana
It’s feminine and unusual.
Just last week he was laughing about it.
And then he said, “I think we should just have another boy. Problem solved.”
January 24, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Hope it is a girl. I like these names.
Aubrey Rose (unusual and feminine)
Janika (our first babysitter, and one of the best, also unusual)
Jeannette
Will give it some more thought. Mr. J and I usually disagreed on names, so I should have a good stash somewhere, that I like. I agree, stay away from Jennifer. Jared would have been named Jennifer, if he would have been a girl (thankfully, we were spared that name!) Also, stay away from Stephanie. We have never been disappointed with unusual names, that also have a good meaning.
All the best to you and Mr. F. Joelle dreamt about your family last night. When are you moving south?
January 24, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I have always liked the name Fiona, if only Shrek did not marry her. Before that, it was a great name!
January 24, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I didn’t even know Fiona was in Shrek. We have friends with a daughter named Fiona. I’ve always liked it. Very Irish sounding.
I like Aubrey Rose. We’ve actually thought of Aubrey before. Just never had to conclude anything about it, obviously.
Jeanette is my Mother-in-law’s name, so probably not.
See, case in point. My oldest sister was going to be named Jennifer. And she’s probably 12-13 years older than Jared. And I think it was popular before that too.
Okay, I just looked it up in this book I got from the Library called ‘The Baby Name Wizard’. (my friend Esther’s suggestion).
It says that Jennifer became popular in the 50s and it was number one in the 70s (when I was born) and it’s still popular
to this day amongst Latinas because of Jennifer Lopez. It’s the number one name of expectant mothers today. That’s a long time to be popular!
Well, we are enjoying the snow, but we never did see the Alamo, so we’ll have to go back sometime.
January 24, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Eden, Grace, Zoe, Ella, Paige, Leah off the top of my head. Girls’ names are fun! Congrats!
January 24, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Thanks. Am I the only person (besides Mr. French) who thinks girl’s names are harder than boy’s names?
I like Eden. Definitely a more unusual Biblical name.
My cousins ruined Zoe for me. They named their HUGE St. Bernard, Zoe. Oh, well. Mr. F probably wouldn’t have gone for it.
We both like Grace. It’s been on our list from the beginning, but it’s become sooo popular. Well, with good reason. It’s a pretty name with a great meaning. If we’d had three girls instead of three boys we probably would’ve used it already.
Leah has already been rejected. Mostly because of my name and the meaning. But I named my baby doll Leah Elizabeth (which is my middle name) because I liked it so much. When I was 6.
January 24, 2008 at 9:23 pm
If we had another child, which won’t be happening, it would most likely be yet another girl. We both fell in love with the name Elodie. I’m sure Mr. F would at least consider it as it’s FRENCH. It seems to be one of those timeless names as I heard old women and young girls with it. I can’t, at the moment, think of a good 2nd name to flow with it, but I’m sure one will come. It’s a start anyway. More later.
Oh, I know you’re not into themes, but I just thought of a good French middle name-Azure. It’s definitely unique, would be butchered by Anglophones and is French. I’m not sure yet if our ficticious (is that how it’s spelled?) 4th daughter would have that as her middle name but it’s the best I could do at the present.
January 24, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Just thought of a, perhaps more reasonable, middle name. Grace.
Elodie Grace. However, as one of our daughters has the Swahili name for grace as her middle name, we wouldn’t have used it.
January 24, 2008 at 9:38 pm
So, do you think we’ll have another boy? I wouldn’t mind, but somehow I think it’s more possible after three boys that we would have a girl. Which makes me wonder why you’re convinced you’d have another girl. Not that any of this discussion means anything, since (for me, anyway) it’s already been decided.
Tell me how to pronounce Elodie. Or I’ll ask Mr.F. I must say, this time around, we are much more attracted to French names or the French version of a name than say, before we went to France. I’ll be reading a baby name book and I’ll say, how about____, but the French version is_____ and suddenly it sounds way more interesting.
Azure is also intriguing. I think we’re much more lenient with “thing” names for girls than with boys. Like, we’d name a girl ‘Snow’ before we’d name a boy ‘River’.
Now I’ve said too much.
January 24, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Will get to the name thing, but first did you know Tatiana is the dutch name for aunt!
Just thought you might want to know. 
I have always like:
)
Sara Elizabeth
Kayla Marie
Machaela (this is a very rare name not in the top 1000)
Chloe
Stephanie
(Im not going to tell you my favorite one as we may someday use it
Well I would have to agree with you that girls names are harder to pick. We have always come up with boys names much quicker then girl ones.
Hope your feeling better soon. Did you ever try the meds?
January 24, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Hmm, interesting. Tatiana has also been popular in Russia for hundreds of years.
Do you know any good Dutch names?
I like the name Sarah. It’s also my cousin’s name. We can’t use Elizabeth as a middle name b/c of the vowel. Plus Mr. French has a thing about naming children after yourself. He’s against it.
We almost named Molly (the dog), Chloe. Mr. French was out-voted. He’s still wondering why the person who didn’t even want the dog got to name the dog. I have no idea how that happened.
SideNote: (So, I did try the meds. And I noticed a big improvement with the added Vit. b6. And then there were several days which were just bad and I felt like the meds didn’t help at all. So I stopped taking everything. And I felt basically the same, so I would only take it if it was really bad. And then the other day after going 8 days without V-ing, I lost it because the vit b6 got stuck on my tongue, which, of course, started the whole gag reflex thing and it was a lost cause. So, I’m currently afraid to take pills again. I am feeling better though. I still have nausea, but I have a bit more energy. I’m hoping it’s a trend.)
January 24, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Okay Dutch names hmmm……
Danielle
Dayanne
Marieke
Marielle
Wilhelmina (pronouced Vilameena Villy for short)
Lisbeth (pronouced Lizbet)
Anneke
Just to name a few that we know of.
January 24, 2008 at 10:46 pm
ps having the B6 getting stuck on your tongue was one of the reasons I had suggested getting empty capsules to put them into. Easier to swallow!! I know it is horrible when that happens.
January 25, 2008 at 12:00 am
Oh, I completely agree. Girls’ names are so much harder than boys.’ We’ve had about four boys’ names all ready to go lined up for years and have dithered all over the place on the girl names. We used the only girls’ name we both liked. We’ll have a hard time when it’s our turn to think about this.
Have you looked through Shakespeare? I’m partial because of having a Portia, but there are some lovely names in there that are classic but not common. (which is my criteria and sounds like yours too)
Possiblities:
Juliet (French! you could spell it Juliette but I think that looks froofy personally)
Miranda
Nerissa
Beatrice
Mariana
Rosalind
Celia
Viola
There are more…that’s what I could think of now. I think Cassandra’s in there too–if not, it should be. It goes with those names.
D’s all time favorite name is Mariam. But I don’t like it so much. You can have it.
Happy hunting! Glad you like the Baby Name Wizard. The real credit goes to Maureen, who first recommended it to me.
January 25, 2008 at 3:14 am
Just thought of another name. I don’t think I’d use it, way too British for me, but Poppy is relatively popular. Always sounds bright and cheery. And another French one is Oceane, pronounced, of course the French way (“oh say ahn”–or something like that, ask your husband).
Elodie is pronounced like Melody with that great French…whatever it is that makes it sound French. However, you need to somehow pronounce the o. “elodie” not “eledie”. If ya know what I mean.
I’m sure I’d have another girl because that would be my luck. “Come on Schatz, just one more baby, we’ll surely get a boy this time.” I’d go thru all that you are going thru (no thank you) and I’d still have a girl. Besides, I don’t need any more children. I’m happy with my 3 girls with wonderful names.
By the way, I disagree, I think girl names are much easier to come up with than boy names. But then again, we had to have names that sound the same in English as well as German. Boy names, that we agreed on and that met our pronounciation criteria were much harder to come by. Just as well we didn’t have any boys, eh?
January 25, 2008 at 4:44 am
Did you know that the baby born to the Puritans (Pilgrims) on the ship here was named Ocean? I always thought it was strange but with the French twist mentioned above, it might be very elegant. I do not know if the baby was a boy or girl, but you could check history books for that. I cannot recall. Craig has always liked the name “June” which is my aunts name. Regarding Chloe, we named a cat Chloe, and she turned out to be one of the meanest things ever. We have never liked the name since, but Cloe on 24 has brought back some endearment.
January 25, 2008 at 2:01 pm
This is really helpful for us. We were talking about names again last night and there are several I didn’t realize Mr. F liked so well. The problem, I realized, is not that there are no girls names that I like or that he likes, it’s that we don’t like the same names. Or we do, but not as well as the other person does.
Celia is pretty. The pastor in Kokomo has a daughter named Celia.
I just realized where I’d heard Eugenia before. Doesn’t Prince Andrew have a daughter named Eugenia and one named Beatrice? I have to say, I wondered what they were thinking when they named her Eugenia, but now I realize the Queen herself probably named them anyway.
Viola is more unusual, but I think I like Violet better. If we had twins we could have Violet and Azure. Such subtle differences in color.
And we can’t have Nerissa b/c that’s Portia’s dolly’s name.
I was going to ask how you got away with naming her dolly for her. When I was her age I named my doll, Nooney. I still have her too.
Mr. F laughed at the Oceane suggestion. Sorry.
I need to ask Mr.F about the pronounciation of Elodie b/c when I say it it doesn’t sound French to me.
Yeah, the two culture thing would make it harder. I remember Trish telling me that they had to consider how their daughter’s names were pronounced in both English accent, American accent and French. We’d never get far if that was our criteria.
The name June makes me think of Junebug. Though that would be a cute name for a girl. “What did you name her?” “Junebug. She just looked like a little junebug.”
This is what happens if you wait until after they’re born to name them!
January 25, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I thought of only 1.
Since the baby is going to be born in August why not call it August! LOL
January 25, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Or Augusta
Or Augustus
But what if we loved it and then the baby comes in July?
January 25, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Hey Mrs. D,
Well I hope it’s going to be a girl!
I have not thought of any girl names yet for you but if I do I will let you know! =) My Birthday is in August as well!
Kathryn~
January 25, 2008 at 9:39 pm
August must be a good month for babies then.
And can you believe that not one person (outside of our immediate family) thinks we need another boy? But then most people hoped J would be a girl and there’s nothing girlie about him. I can honestly say I don’t care either way.
January 25, 2008 at 10:53 pm
okay thought of a few more
Clementine
Anastatia
Helen
Ruth
Jacqueline
hmm to think of names Mr F would like is like trying to think of names my DH would like. Not very easy.
He doesnt like most names I pick. 
January 26, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Congratulations! It’s always so exciting to open your email messages b/c I know I’m going to laugh!
I definitely feel that a girl name is much harder than a boy. I’ve got one that I’ve been harboring since our last one turned out to be a boy (again). Lilly. I think it’s very sweet. But I think I don’t know how to name a girl b/c I’ve never had one and it just seems entirely foriegn to me.
By the way, there’s some sort of weird statistic out there that says after you’ve had 2 boys, you’ve got something like a 70% chance of having a 3rd, not the 50% you would imagine. So it might get even bigger after you have a 3rd boy, but I haven’t read that one
I used to hope that when we have another kid it would be a girl just so I could dress it, etc. I hate the way all children’s clothing stores are 75% girl clothes. But now that my guys are playing together and so crazy funny, I think I’d go for another boy if God let me choose.
January 27, 2008 at 3:20 am
We agree…coming up with a girl name is a lot harder than a boy’s. We always have a couple of boy names on the table, all of which we love, but always have a hard time coming up with a girl name that we like (we’ve given up on names that we love). The names we’ve always loved are too popular right now (Hannah & Grace). There are a few other names I really like but can’t use for various reasons:
Anna
Charis (pronounced with a hard “c”…sorry!
Elise
Or just get really creative…you could make up a name using the letters in your names. Come on, how great of a conversation-starter would that be? “…and this is our daughter, Teika Cherl.”
January 28, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I had another friend suggest Keraya (our names with a ya added for effect).
Can I just say how lovely it is that at least two people in the world are not going to think we’re idiots if we named our daughter Keraya Teika?
I always worry how a name will be perceived by other people (b/c sometimes perception is reality) but NOW I’m thinking anything goes.
Although I really think there should be a ban on the name Jennifer for at least the next 50 years.
It’s actually taken me a while to be able to say I wouldn’t mind having a girl. Everyone with girls thinks they’re wonderful and brilliant but I really love having three boys and I think four would make it super-fantastic. But, I think I’m mature enough now that I might be able to have one.
January 28, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Oh, yeah, about the statistics. I guess my take on it, is that it still doesn’t prove much because I can think of numerous families I know who had as many as 3-5 boys before their first girl. Although interesting. Same with number of girls before the first boy. Although those families usually end up with significantly more girls than boys. I wonder if the statistics are different for families with lots of girls?
January 28, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I’m not going to suggest any good names, because if I thought of a good name I would keep it for myself (sorry). We have, however, had a much easier time with girls’ names than boys’, so if you have any rejected boys names to pass along…
I’m not going to say anything about the merits of boys vs. girls or girls vs. boys, they are both fun in different ways. But just think about how cool your daughter would be with three older brothers to train her! Why does everyone have such a phobia against girls? I understand to a certain point, I mean, I really didn’t want to have an OLDEST girl (for obvious reasons, older sisters are such a pain 
, but girls aren’t all bad. They have a couple of good qualities…I’ll get back to you on what they might be. 
January 28, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Actually C says he wants to have a girl. And J agreed with him (because that’s what you do when you’re three. You either agree or disagree.) But S is still holding out for another boy. S would be very sweet with his sister though. And I’m sure they’d all be very protective. I just wonder how much screaming we’d have to listen to with three older brothers. But it is kind of hypocritical of me not to want a girl, since, I’m like, a girl.
Boy’s names we like but have rejected (for various reasons): Caleb, Colin, Noah (although Mr. F still thinks it’s on the list), Simon, Enoch, Herman, Jacob (S came very close to being Jacob-right up until an hour or so after he was born), Timothy, Cotton, Cameron, Oliver (although Mr. F said that if we had ten boys he’d consider it-that shut me up), Bradford (after William Bradford), Jude. I’ll let you guess which one wasn’t really ever in consideration.
January 29, 2008 at 1:56 am
I don’t know if you remember me or not. I knew you years ago when C was a baby at the Westminister Church in Chicago.
Anyways, I couldn’t help but comment here as baby names are a big deal for me right now too. I will admit that I’m hoping we have a boy, and I agree that girls names are really hard to agree on. But here are some suggestions anyways…
Madelyn Ranee
Olivia Kristine
Gwendolyn Ruth
Charlotte Manette (French pronunciation of course)
Ellen Felicity
and I have to recommend Grace because it is such a beautiful name.
January 29, 2008 at 4:20 am
I like a lot of those boys names on your reject list, but it’s true that many of them start with C,S,J, which are obvious no-nos.
I’m with Abigail, I’m not sure I’d want to tell you my favorite girl names in case we ever have an opportunity to use them in the future, not that it would be horrible if our children ended up with the same name.
I agree that girl names are harder for us than boy names. I really like the name Renée, but we’ve never been able to come up with a middle name that sounds good with it. If we ever use it, it would be a middle name since it seems to go with every first name we can think of.
Yes, definitely ban the name Jennifer and Jessica too while we’re at it. I think every other girl born in the 70s had these names, and I answer to both since people can’t seem to tell them apart.
January 29, 2008 at 4:51 am
I was thinking of this name thing. I remember my grandmother’s advice on the subject. She said you shouldn’t give your kids names you wouldn’t want to yell out the back door.
Please tell Mr. F I’m affronted that he laughed at the Oceane name! I’m sure I’ll take it personally. =)
You could do what some Africans do and name your child after an event or even some special thing in your life around the time of the birth. I knew a lady who was walking to the hospital to give birth but didn’t make it. She ended up giving birth on the front lawn of one of the missionaries I worked with. The boy was called Jonathan after the man on whose lawn he was born. Or my beloved knew a man named Paracetemol because the father had malaria at the time of the birth and Paracetemol had given him great relief from pain. My parents knew a family in Saudi Arabia–an American family–whose child, born during the first Gulf War, had Scud (after the scud missle) as a second name.
I suggest you wait until just before the birth and see what events happen or how you feel at the time. Perhaps you will want to name him/her something like “Why Didn’t You Come On Time” or “Epidural”, you know, a sort of souvenir of the birth.
January 29, 2008 at 5:22 am
here’s a go, dearest cousin, I tried to think of 3 sylable names for you:
Cassandra
Tabitha
Penelope
Joshephine
Ophelia
Sophia
Elena
Cressida
Katharina
Emilie
Natalie
Isabella
Rosalie
Gwenivere
Gwendolyn
Linnea
Susannah
Juliana
Johanna
OR, if you want flower names,
there’s the 4 sisters from that British sitcom, Keeping Up Appearances:
Hyacinth
Rose
Violet
Daisy
Creative flower names?(I can do this because I’m a florist!)
Ginestra
Agapanthus
Blueplurum
Scabiosa
Salidego
Ranunculus
Or, there’s:
Iris
Dahlia
Poppy
Hydrangea
Anyway, Nate suggests “Beulah” and I, laughingly, thought of dinosaur names, but maybe not!
Hope all goes well!
Sarah
January 29, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Actually, several of those names are somewhere on our list, I even suggested Cotton the other day. Dan likes the idea of naming boys after historical figures (not unlike yourself), but he kept suggesting names of people that I wasn’t sure we should name a child after, so I suggested maybe a Puritan or something…. “How about Cotton.” Then he started coming up with good names to go with it, so I dropped it. It’s going to be a long 6 months.
I did think of a couple of girls names for you, though. Here are a couple of great Minnesota (and therefore probably either Swedish or Norwegian) names: Ole, Lena, Aine, Laila, or Inge.
January 29, 2008 at 4:53 pm
So many people to respond to!
First, Mr. F would be oh so utterly happy if you named the baby Cotton, Abigail. I could see using it as a middle name. And I thought long and hard about it as a first name but in the end all I thought about was Grandma’s Siamese cat and just couldn’t do it.
Sarah: The problem for me with Penelope is that when I see it on paper I first see it as “Penny-lope” instead of “Pen-nel-lo-pe”. Like when Abigail was little and she read a sign for Chicago and she just couldn’t think of it any other way but as “Chick-a-go”.
And you first on the “creative flower names”. “Where are Scabiosa and Ranunculus! I told them to set the table!”
You think if I start practicing now, I’d be able to pronounce them by August?
The idea of naming your child after an event reminds me of a story a nurse told me of a woman who wanted to name her child, Meconium. She’d heard the Dr. mention it in the delivery room. Then there’s always Braxton-Hicks, and Why did you wake me at 3 a.m.?, back labor, and Wow, that hurt.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Abcde. Pronounced Ab-ci-dee. Sort of sounds like absess. I actually saw a birth certificate with the name on it, when I was working as a nurse. I also accidentally offended a young mother when she asked me about the spelling of her daughter’s name and I told her that what she just wrote, did not spell her daughter’s name. I forget what it was. She didn’t want to get any more advice from me after that.
And of course, I remember you Allyssa! How are you? (you can e-mail me if you like) I don’t forget people who babysat my kids!
Incidentally, before I was pregnant, we got a babysitter to go out one night and I told the boys that a babysitter was coming over and C asked, “Are we getting a baby? Why are we having a babysitter?” I said it was just a phrase we use. They call all their babysitters, “Friend”. Like, when is ‘the friend’ coming over to stay with us?
February 4, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Hey. How fun to think of girls names. I haven’t done that in 8 years or so! Maybe again someday.
Here are a few I’ve though of that I don’t know if they’ve been mentioned
Abigail (or Abi/Abbe/Abby for short) means “Source of my Father’s Delight” or “Source of JOY” depending on what book you look at.
I wasn’t named Abigail, “just Abby” but I’ve always liked that name and it’s meaning.
Vivianna
Lilianna (or Lili/Lily for short)
Kaitlyn
Ashlyn
Aubrie
Juliette
(I actually know an Aubrie Juliette and think that’s pretty)
I also like Chloi/Chloe
Delaney
Those are just a few that come to mind.
You narrowing it down any with all these suggestions?
Have fun!
February 4, 2008 at 4:49 pm
My sister’s name is Abigail. I was almost 5 when she was born and I thought it was a weird name when I first heard. I’ve since come to like it. It wasn’t popular back then, but it’s moved up the charts quite a bit since.
We have sort of come down to about 4 or 5 names. We’ve had some favorite middle names that we keep trying out with different first names. I don’t expect to decide anything for many more months though. I don’t even feel like I have to have it completely decided by the time the baby is born. Sometimes it’s nice to see the baby and then decide which name suits them better.
February 25, 2008 at 3:12 pm
[...] a compatible name, using popular or celebrity names, nicknames, and unique names. Baby names now Flower Baby Names Names that I like, b/c they’re unusual and old-fashioned, sound like names of Mr. F’s [...]
April 6, 2008 at 11:37 pm
I know I’m probably WAY past this voting thing, but seeing how I just “became” friends with you…I have to put in my two cents worth (which is all it will probably end up being!!!) And I’m obviously giving you names that I know M has already vetoed (numerous times, on some…I always try to slide some in the choices, but it always comes back to “No” on the one I was hoping he wouldn’t notice.
) And yes, I agree with you, choosing a girl’s name that we BOTH like is much more difficult than choosing a boy. Especially if you’re trying to incorporate family names as middle names, which we are. 
Have fun!!!!
Lydia
Shiloh
Elaina
Erin
Allie
Felicite (with the accents over both “e” s…forgive me, it’s been a LONG time since I took French – even though I took 4 years of it in high school…shh, don’t tell your hubby!)
Lauryn
Liana (my cousin has this name and I love it the spelling, but M isn’t so wild about naming kids after someone we know (unless it’s a middle name))
Lucy
Noelle
Skylar
April 8, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Shiloh reminds me of Pitt-Jolie baby. Also, wasn’t there a reference to a Shiloh in the book Christy by Catherine Marshall. I did like that book. But Shiloh reminds me of that setting, if ya know what I mean.
I love the name Lucy, but Mr. F would never go for it.
Wouldn’t do Erin b/c with three brothers it would be hard to determine which is the girl, IMHO. (by the sound of the name-not the spelling, obviously.)
I’ve never seen Felicite spelled that way. Is it pronounced the same way Felicity is? Now I’m curious about it.
Okay, so I looked it up, and it says that Felicite is the French form of Felicity, which also means ‘bliss’ in French. It means ‘happiness’ in English. And it looks like it is pronounced a little differently.
I was just thinking about your son’s name and how, if you had a daughter named Skylar, they would match! (Maybe why M rejected it?)
Thanks for the suggestions.
I’m going to do an update post soon.
April 9, 2008 at 10:30 pm
[...] got nothin’. (Baby names update) Jump to Comments Someone recently commented on my Baby Names post and I thought maybe I should give you an [...]
June 15, 2008 at 10:42 pm
I don’t know…
I love the name Isabelle. I also think Elle, Anne, Victoria, Lily and Melanie are pretty names (first.) Middle names should be traditional or meaningful, so you could put in someone’s maiden name or something like Elisabeth, Katherine, Marie, Stephanie, or something in there.
June 20, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I’m not sure what can of name you are looking for..but kind of picky I’m thinking. These are all the names that I like. But if you don’t like them it’s okay.
Hazel
Davianna
Adaya
Aireanna
Amara
Zahra
Adeline
Tatianna
Paisley
Taylyn
Skyla
Masline
Amelia
Alora
Maleah
Talia
Emi
Alexa
Ellieanna
Ella
Aleah
Teah
Krya
Isbella
Layla
Raine
Alana
Addisen or Addison
Tayah
Lana
Ayanna
I hope I helped
July 26, 2008 at 10:57 pm
i’ve just arrived and am enjoying you so much that i am now reading all your entries!
as you haven’t had the baby yet, here are my girl nominations (i have a boy myself, so never got to use these, although you won’t like my #1 choice: Charlotte Jacqueline)
Madeleine
Marcella
Eleanor
and i also think Grace is a lovely middle name
glad to see you are at 37 weeks at last post, cause now the suspense is going to kill me!
September 21, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I assume you have already chosen some names, but I bumped into this page on Google and thought I might give this little game a try:
Alexandria
Darnell
Cynthia
June 1, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Here are som of my suggestions
Girls
Emme
Willow
Kyan
Phoebe
Lali
Parisa
Ava
Rain
Boys
Alijah
kade
Landon
Kane
Jayden
Noah
Pacey
Fynn
thanks good luck