Favorite "non-Nameberry" names?

[linda]

Bettyblowtorch: I for one love some of those names! Ivo is a personal fave.

[ashthedreamer]

Erm, I'm not sure, actually. I like fairly popular names, so I am always pretty sure I'll hear "ugh [insert popular name here] is way too overdone!" It may be, but it's not terribly overdone in my area, and popularity doesn't bother me like most Berries. I really anticipated Brody and Spencer getting trashed; it wasn't as bad as I thought, haha, but they're not loved by everyone for sure.

Bailey never gets the best love on here, either. There are a few that like it, but in general, most people aren't fans of Bailey on boys, urgh.

It's mostly just popular names, though. I could talk all day about Isabelle, Olivia, Lily, Hannah, Caleb, Jack, etc., but most of them, especially the girls' names, get not really trashed, but they're not loved, on here, anyway.

[kassieb11]

Boy
Foxley
Linkin
Ender
Huxley
Korben
Knight
Radley
Krispin
Kaiden
Foxten
Zelden
Sublime
Keifer
Zen
Phoenix
Zarek

Girls
Galaxy
Nova
Mellony
Sonnet
Alaska
Halsey
Emmalina
Lyric
Jezabelle
Zelda

[stripedsocks]

I have several categories of bad:

"Boring" Bad Favourites: Aidan, Jonathan, Emily, Caitlin, Hannah. I don't like any alternate spellings of these except perhaps Jonathon. If Hannah was Annika and Emily were Emmeline I could probably slide back into Nameberry good graces but oh well.

"Too foreign" bad favourites: Apparently right after I get over being boring I'm immediately told no one will ever be able to spell/pronounce the kid's name and it will be completely horrible and don't I know the kid just wants a normal name?! Girls names like this: Niamh, Keziah, Siofra, Katia. Soooo many boys names qualify, as only a few boys names are "normal enough" compared to girls, some of my too-foreign faves are: Dmitri, Ilya, Eoin/Eoghan, Tadgh, Zev, Tzvi, Hadriel, Nehemya.

"Despite being historically male, I think they sound like girls names, therefore don't use them for boys" - This one I've heard for Ezra, Hanan, Linden, Asher, Eli, Ariel, Gabriel. I wouldn't mind if they just said they know a girl by that name or whatever but the whole oh no now they're tainted is weird to me.

So yeah I don't find the middle ground that much - I either get too weird/ethnic or I buckle down and think of normal and like some very innocuous to "received as dull" names.

[augusta_lee]

I love this thread. Nameberry definitely has a certain aesthetic when it comes to names. I think it's the aural equivalent of Anthropologie -- luxe without being preppy, quirky without being weird, and vintage without being fusty. Generally my tastes match up, but definitely not always.

Three of my favorites that are decidedly out of step with Nameberry tastes: Rhiannon, Sasha, and Waldo. Yes, Waldo. I absolutely adore Waldo. But my number one Nameberry no-no name has to be Susan. Not Nameberry-approved Susannah or Shoshannah: just plain, sweet, old-fashioned Susan. How cute would Suzie be on a little girl?

[stripedsocks]

I think it's the aural equivalent of Anthropologie -- luxe without being preppy, quirky without being weird, and vintage without being fusty. Generally my tastes match up, but definitely not always.

This made me laugh, for real. It's very true.

[jeska]

I love this thread. Nameberry definitely has a certain aesthetic when it comes to names. I think it's the aural equivalent of Anthropologie -- luxe without being preppy, quirky without being weird, and vintage without being fusty. Generally my tastes match up, but definitely not always.

Three of my favorites that are decidedly out of step with Nameberry tastes: Rhiannon, Sasha, and Waldo. Yes, Waldo. I absolutely adore Waldo. But my number one Nameberry no-no name has to be Susan. Not Nameberry-approved Susannah or Shoshannah: just plain, sweet, old-fashioned Susan. How cute would Suzie be on a little girl?

Oh, augusta_lee - a big one of mine is Sasha, too! I've always had a huge crush on that name.

Just once, I want someone else to *not* love: Beatrix/Beatrice, Genevieve, Vivienne, Gwendolyn/-len, Wren, Penelope, Hazel. I don't like any of them, and am kind of tired of seeing them (there, I said it).

[jennipea382]

Oh, augusta_lee - a big one of mine is Sasha, too! I've always had a huge crush on that name.

Just once, I want someone else to *not* love: Beatrix/Beatrice, Genevieve, Vivienne, Gwendolyn/-len, Wren, Penelope, Hazel. I don't like any of them, and am kind of tired of seeing them (there, I said it).

If it helps, I don't like Beatrix/Beatrice or Wren at ALL. I do like Vivienne, Penelope and Hazel though :-)

[leonielee]

@augusta_lee- I completely agree, nameberry is a bit like the Anthropologie of baby naming sites.

My "non-Nameberry" names would probably be Greyson, Gavin, Grady, and Finn for boys, Jessica, Irene, Sheila (my mother's name), and Jolee for girls.

[augusta_lee]

OH, and I just thought of another Nameberry cardinal sin -- if I was to use the name Esme, I'd spell it Esmay. Phonetic spelling PLUS an added y. Aren't I awful? I have a frequently mispronounced name myself, and ez-MEE makes me wince. So Esmay it would be. Judge away! :P