User-created list
Names you should never burden your child with
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Babe
Word name or diminutive of Barbara
You can call your baby "babe," but don't name her that.
Shade
English word name
Nice sound, but double meaning -- shady glen or shady character.
Camera
English word name
"an optical instrument used to capture and store images or videos"
The late tennis great Arthur Ashe (whose wife was a photographer) pioneered word names when he used this for his daughter. It would make an interesting first or middle name possibility for parents…
Banana
Word name, English from Spanish and Portuguese
"banana"
Banana is one fruity name we wouldn't recommend. Pick Plum instead. There is a Japanese novelist whose pen name is Banana Yoshimoto--birth name Mahoko.
Secret
English word name
"kept from knowledge or view"
Mysterious. In 2016, 13 baby girls in the United States were given this unusual word name -- at least according to the Social Security Administration. We can't help but suspect that some of those…
Silence
Word name
The Puritans used it as a virtue name -- but today it would just be considered weird: silence is no longer golden.
Tequila
Spanish
"liquor distilled from the agave plant"
Mexican national drink, not to be served as a name to a baby.
Chardonnay
French, a dry white wine
If you're actually considering this as a name for your child, you must have had a glass too many. But it's an awesome name for a white cat .
Fidelity
Word name
Fidelity is an admirable virtue, yes, but as a name it tends to sound like a financial institution. Faith, Honor, or Patience would be easier to live with than Fidelity.
Cougar
Nature name
Several animal names, from Fox to Wolf and even to Tiger, ccan work, but Cougar should stay in its cage. Even John Mellencamp has dropped it.
Friend
Word name
Sociable middle name choice with a Quaker feel.
Glimmer
Word name
Glimmer is shimmery but a little too showy, as is Glitter, a character on a TV sitcom-- while Glimmer appears in The Hunger Games .
Dimple
An adorable nickname for a smiley baby, but not suggested as a legal name.
Remember
Word name
No one will ever forget it. But Remember as a name came over on the Mayflower, so it has deep history as well as modern potential.
Lucifer
Latin
"light-bearer"
Lucifer is the name of the archangel cast into hell and while theologians disagree on whether he and Satan are separate beings, it long been on the list of forbidden names for religious and…
Adolph
German
"noble wolf"
World War II stamped a permanent verboten on Adolph.
Nimrod
Hebrew
"we shall rise up, we shall rebel"
As a Biblical name, Nimrod appears in the Old Testament as a great-grandson of Noah, a founder of Babylon, and a famous hunter. In popular culture, its image was altered after the dopey Looney Tunes…
Lucious
Lucious is a variant of the Latin name Lucius, meaning 'light' or 'illumination.' With roots in ancient Rome, the name carries connotations of brightness and clarity. While less common than similar…
Precious
Latin word name
"of great worth, expensive"
Though many might find it too syrupy, hundreds of parents each year choose this name for their daughters to make them feel special. Precious Ramotswe is the engaging African sleuth in the popular No.…
Princess
Word name
"princess"
Part of the trend for formerly canine royal names; this is one a little girl might love—up till the age of eight.