New baby, need fresh names!

[abelle2]

Hello! You all were so helpful in helping us name our first child a couple years ago that this is the first place I thought for baby number two! I need some new ideas for our second child. We dont know the gender yet, so I'm looking for suggestions for boys and girls. Our daughter's name is Gwyneth Susannah. I tend to like nature inspired names with a British flair. My husband is very conservative, and if he hasn't heard the name before, he usually doesn't like it. Here are names that we considered for our first child. None of them seem fresh to me, but maybe they'll help you determine our style. We've got a long way to go before the baby comes, so thanks for all your help in advance!

Girls:
Elizabeth - DH's fav
Violet - too popular now
Penelope - still like it
Vivian - a friend used this, so it's out

Boys:
Barrett
Emmett
Bennett - I apparently like the "etts"
Leo
Harrison

Names I love, but DH hasn't gone for:
Felicity
Daphne
Clover
Marigold
Abram
Truman
Linden


Thanks again!

[mandarene]

Elizabeth -- a bit too popular. Have you considered Elise? One of my favorites.
Violet -- Sienna, another color name. Sort of.
Penelope -- another p name I like is Phoebe!
Vivian -- ooh how about Valeria?

Boys -- Elliot has a nice ring to it. Or Elliott, with two ts of course!

[livcathryn]

So if you want fresh names, you could reinvent them:
Elizabeth: Elizabetta, Elizabelle
Violet: If you like color names, you could use Scarlett or even Indigo!
Penelope: Paisley, Piper, Polina, Poppy--I actually like all of these!
Vivian: Venezia (my best friend came across this name and I love it!)

If you go for the -etts or the other boys names and they're uncommon, you could always put a common name like Ryan with it to balance it out. You could even do a "Pax Harrison" which is totally uncommon, but I think it sounds cool!!!!

I also love nature inspired names! Here are some uncommon names that could work:
Juniper- this is actually a unisex name!
Nova- it's not nature necessarily, but my all time favorite name!!!!
Nastassia- not nature either but I found this name this other day and I just loved it! (pronounced nas-tash-ah not Natasha!!)

I love Clover and maybe you could go for Clove instead!!!

I hope I helped you and good luck!!!

[stripedsocks]

Elizabeth - It's nice but not exciting. Elspeth, Eliza, Lilibeth, Lilibet, & Isabel are my favourite variations.

Violet - I love it, but it is very popular. Viola is related yet completely unloved, popularity-wise, compared to Violet. Less common botanicals could be Verbena or Veronica. Or, going for a different connection: Lilac or Indigo?

Penelope - I love Penelope.

Vivian - I do love Vivian/Vivien/Vivienne. It's a shame its been grabbed. At the moment, I love V names, so I could go on about Viveca, Verity, Vesper, or Valeria... or similar sound, I also like Imogen... or the meaning "life" - which Viveca and Vita share but so do Zoe, Aisha, Enid, and Eve. (Of Eve vs. Eva/Ava, I'm Eve all the way)

Boys:
Emmett - My favourite of your boy names by far.


Names I love, but DH hasn't gone for:
Felicity - Worth trying Felicia. Felicity and similar virtue names Verity and Amity all appeal.
Daphne - Delphine and Dinah are probably my favourite D names for girls.
Clover - Clover is so perky and cute. There's so few good -er ending names for girls, my faves are probably Vesper, Esther, and Winter. Hesper isn't on the site but is a mythology name relating to the evening star.
Marigold - lovely.
Abram - Bram, Avram? I think Bram is my favourite of the directly Abraham-related. Or other A names, like Amos, August.
Linden - I love this one, it has a nice nature quality. I am not fond of many of the -den names, the only similar ending ones I like are Rowan (another nature name incidentally), Ronan, Aidan, Samson, and Owen.

[abelle2]

Thanks, everyone. You have touched on the exact problem I have with Elizabeth. It is too popular, and it is boring. However, it is my hubby's favorite. He's only suggested two names in 3 years - Elizabeth and Isabelle. Isabelle got a swift veto because of its current uber-popularity. I kept Elizabeth on the list because it has fantastic nn possibilities. Elsa or Elsie is my favorite. I've suggested other variations of Elizabeth to DH, but I get a disgusted look everytime. I do have a slight problem with giving one child a name that's been on the top 20 for a loooong time, and the other child a name that's barely broken the top 1000. Sigh. My boy list does need some work. I don't love boys' names that way I love girls' names. I have a much harder time coming up with boy names. They have to be slightly macho, or the hubby won't like them (nothing like Steele or Ryder, but still a little macho). Surnames always sound a little macho to me, so I think that's why so many have ended up on my list. I'm not particularly attached to the surname concept though. I appreciate all your suggestions. Some that I'm going to add to my list for discussion are:

Juniper
Vesper
Vita - I love the "life" meaning. Meaning is important to me.
Lilac - I know it will be a "no go" with the hubs, but I still am putting it on the list!
Samson
Bram - I don't know if it's enough of a name for me though. Plus, I tend to stay away from one syllable names because our last name is one syllable.
Avram - I've never come across this one. I'll have to do some research, but I'm liking it.

[crunchymama]

Of your "tt" boy names, I love Barrett best with Gwyneth.

For an Elizabeth option, how about Eliza or Elspeth? or just Elsa?

Other girls names you might like:
Estelle / Estella
Victoria
Virginia
Fiona
Mirabelle
Miranda
Isobel
Emmeline
Annabel / Annabelle
Cicely
Cecilia /Celia
Lucille

[emiliaj]

I know your DH loves it, but one thought on Elizabeth, to me it sounds a bit too similar to Gwyneth with the two "th" sounds. If day to day she was known as Eliza it would be less of an issue.

As for boys: Gwyneth and Leo (i am in love with the name Leo!)

Vivian is taken, how about a name I think of as a "sister" name... Genevieve (lots of nn options)
Gwyneth and Genevieve
Since DH rejected your flower names, how about some other flower inspired name?
Gwyneth and Rosalie (Rose/ Rosa) (Really like this combo!)
Gwyneth and Lillian (nn Lily)
Gwyneth and Magnolia (nn Maggie)

[boyandgirl]

Daphne would be perfect!! I have a Bennett so that would be my boy pick.

[niteowl13]

My first thought for a girl was Felicity. I was looking at other names with the same meaning as Gwyneth. Others are: Beatrice and Ilaria (Hillary), and Felix for a boy.
I adore Linden for a girl! I really like the nn Lindy. I love Marigold! Abram (Bram) is one of my faves too!
Here are my suggestions to go with Gwyneth (which is super cute, by the way, I don't know why it isn't more popular):
Girls:
Bethany
Elspeth
Lila/Lyla
Lilac
Valentina
Vera
Freya
Isla
Dahlia
Tamsin
Nicolette
Colette
Juliet

Boys:
Garrett
Beckett
Jensen
Dawson
Lev
Theon
Tyrion
Sorry, I don't have many suggestions for boys. Your list is already great! I like Gwyneth and Harrison together...maybe since they are both actor's names. Leo would work too. LOL
I also love Y's in names, and since Gwyneth has one, I suggested a few other names with Y's in them.
Happy naming!

[abelle2]

Thanks! I forgot about Bethany, Colette, and Fiona. If I lived in a perfect world, baby #2 would be a girl named Felicity. Alas, DH strongly (and I mean strongly) dislikes the name. Le sigh.