I LOVE my name choice for 2nd girl, baby #3 & very few other people do.

[mrstrivette]

I am 28wks preggo tomorrow & ever since I was about 3m preggo, the ONLY name that keeps coming back to me is: ARROW. We are having a girl. I see Arrow as a pretty name & I think it sounds pretty too. I know that Arrow is typically thought of as masculine, but unless it's spelt Aero, I don't see it as a masculine name. I have gotten so much bashing for "you're going to name your girl THAT?" from people on babycenter, that I'm hoping I get a little more support here. Now I can say with 100% honesty that there is a GIRL with the first name Arrow in Kansas. I know this because she is the cousin of my neice's friend. So my girl would not be the first named Arrow. And the reason this name came to me is because I had heard/seen it before as a girl's name somewhere,but I have no clue where. My husband didn't let on to me 'til last night that he also likes Arrow for our girl's first name. So unless something else comes to us that we like better as a first name, Arrow it is. Now, our first girl is Zoe Grace. My hubby come up with Zoe after watching Rolie Polie Olie & thought that the Zowie on there was so cute. It took awhile for me to like Zoe for the name. She is our first. Our boy's name is Hunter William. William is a family name on my husband's side & is his middle name so it HAD to be used. It took us 3yrs to conceive our boy. My husband said during year one, that if we have a boy his name will be Hunter. I thought he was joking. Well when we found out that we were having a boy, by then the name Hunter had grown on me & it was the only name on my list that my husband liked. I knew right away that some people would say, "So I guess you expect him to hunt?". My husband's response to that was "No more than we HOPE that our daughter will hunt". My mother was the only person that had something negative to say about our name choice. And to that I said, "Look who's talking. My name, after 28yrs, STILL cannot be found on a baby naming list!" What's my name? Gwenelle. Yes, there is Gwen, Gwyneth, Gwendollyn. But not a single other Gwenelle that I've come across. So I guess it's my name that makes me lean towards unusual names. And I did think Zoe was an unusual name 'cause I had only ever heard it on Sesame Street. But since 2006, it has climbed the charts. So when these very crass folks on babycenter read that we hunt, have a son named Hunter, & are planning to name our girl Arrow, they say "Are you crazy? Why would you do that?" My husband though I think is a budding comedian & an obsessed hunter/shooter so he loves names like these. His middle name choice for Arrow is Sierra. Sierra is the name of a company that manufactures bullets. LOL I'm not on board with Sierra for the middle name though. At least not yet, maybe it will grow on me. IDK. BUT, here is why I am so defensive on my name choice of Arrow...for a girl. This pregnancy was a complete surprise to me and yet it is working out great with the timing & with having another girl. I was on the fence as far as having a 3rd baby but wasn't going to say no or say yes. Just leave it up to God & let's see what happens. As far as I knew, we weren't trying to conceive. Guess my husband knows something I didn't! LOL So I see this as God saying "Yes, you are ready." There's been so many comments like this, "Why would you name your kid after a weapon?" I don't see it like that. Arrows give direction also. My oldest sister asked me, "How would you define Arrow?" Like this: "God's guiding direction." Or something similar. There's been comments, "That's a thing. Not a name. You can't name your kid a thing." Oh really, I can't? Says who? Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter Apple. River Phoenix..not only a thing but also a town. Ivy..a weed. Faith...a thing. I have neice named Faith, a nephew named Chase & a nephew named Mason. Then there's Star.. I don't even know her last name..does anyone? There are kid's named Skye...look up, there's the sky. Girls that are named after dead presidents...Reagan, Kennedy, Madison. There's no laws on what a person's name can or can't be! My husband read an article on yahoo that this person legally made the spelling of Andy as &ndy. And other one that was spelled "Abcde"...Absidy? So who gets to say what is or isn't a name? Parents do!!! Beyonce & Jay-Z I just read last night are wanting to trademark their daughter's name of "Blue Ivy". There you have a color & a weed for a name. Willow..it's a tree..and a girl's name. Yesterday I seen someone on babycenter asking "Alex or Allea" for a girl's name. Um, what? I though Alex was a boy's name, not a unisex name. Tracy..boy or girl? Some people have said "Think about how it's going to look on a job application with the name Arrow." The person looking at my daughter's job application might have the name Bow! And what about this "Nevaeh"? Heaven spelled backwards; who came up with that? Took a good look at your kid's unique name before you bash mine!

Okay, soapbox done. But do, with respect, tell me now if you like Arrow for a girl's name & what middle name would be good with it. Thanks.

[indianruby]

Ok, so it's not so much that I'm hating Arrow, but it does seem to be a bit much with Hunter. I wouldn't do it as it seems a bit harsh and obsessive. How about Sparrow? It's a tad softer because of the bird association.

[newfootprints]

Hi hun!
I also use babycentre, so I know that sometimes people can be quite negative about things you feel strongly about.

It's an unusual name for sure, but it's one I think could work, once people know your daughter and accept the name I think it will just be her name. It is considered more of a male name but because it's unusual and not commonly used I think you could get away with using it for a girl too. Unlike things that are known, eg Mark might be harder to mould into a girls name. Whereas nobody will know an "Arrow" so won't have a pre set idea.

I personally like your idea, but can see why people might react negatively, I think you have to be ready to take on plenty of criticism and disbelief, especially in the early days and be ready to accept that this may never go away for you and people who meet your child at any age will at first find the name "different". Saying that, there are plenty more unusual names out there these days, so people are more used to handling this and it is something you have to love, no point calling your child Emma for example if you just don't love the name but it will keep everyone happy.
As I say, I like it, and I think a very obvious girl name as a middle name will help balance it slightly too. x

[cmarie3687]

I think Arrow is actually a pretty cool name I'm not so good at suggesting middle names though... I also love the suggestion of Sparrow!

[k8d]

I'm sorry, but I don't like it for a girl. I've only known one Arrow, and he was a guy, so I think of it as a masculine name. Arrow and Hunter sound like they're along the same line to me, so if I heard those names I would assume they were brothers.

Personally, Zoe Grace is such a feminine name that I would want to give my next daughter something along the same lines. Since you like Arrow because of the meaning and symbolism, how about a name like Eliana that means "the Lord has responded"?

[mrstrivette]

Thank you newfootprints & cmarie3687!

indianruby - I could never take Sparrow seriously. That made me laugh! My husband shoots birds...with his bow. LOL

My middle name ideas so far are: Claire, May, Belle, Tabitha, Lynn, Dear. My older daughter likes Belle because it means beautiful & she said her baby sister has to have a beautiful name. Awe! :-) My husband doesn't care for Belle for the middle name. MAYBE a 2nd middle name. I'm willing to go with 2 middle names if hubby & I can't agree on just one. Tabitha & Claire would be to honor great grandmothers. Lynn has been used a couple times in the family so I'm a little leary on that one. Arrow Dear made my husband laugh. That was worth it just to see him chuckle. :-) I know finding a middle name that we both like that flows well with Arrow is gonna be HARD. Glad I have a couple months to figure this one out! LOL

[mrstrivette]

I have a friend with a girl named Ellyanna which is the same sounding, so definitely not.

I have this VERY Strong feeling in my gut that God is telling me Arrow is the perfect name for our new girl. Whether people like it or not.

[peakaboo]

I think Arrow Tabitha Belle kind of works, with a name like Belle as a second middle name I think you need a longer first middle name and Tabitha is the longest and it flows nicely, depends on your last name though.

I'm not a huge fan of Arrow though, it's not my style for a little girl and I can only see a boy, however if you really love it that much who cares what others think, go for it!!
And as others have said Arrow and Hunter might be a little much....

But it's your child and she will be with you forever so in the end you should know best
GOOD LUCK!
Gracen x

[agirlinred]

You seem very determined to name your daughter Arrow regardless of what anyone else says. I don't understand why you posted this other than to find a middle name.

[nat108]

Arrow just doesn't sound like a name to me, it maybe passable as a MN. Changing the spelling would make it look like a name: Aero, Ero, Eero, Ereau, Aaro, Air

Hunter & Arrow? Sounds like Ted Nugent's kids.

Then you have Zoe Grace? Don't you think little Arrow is going to wonder why sis gets a beautiful feminine name and not her? And Zoe and Hunter are "normal" names. So Arrow's going to wonder why she got stuck with a weird name.