The MOST frequent question (even more than if I am going to get an epidural) I get about my pregnancy is what I am going to name my baby. I have no clue. I remind people that I still have 15 weeks to think of one:) Maybe I am a little too laid back about things.
My niece has come up with a list of names for us to choose from and as of right now I am leaning towards Heartbreaker;) Bolt and Dash were what Billy wanted to add to the list but other than that the list is composed of some of my niece’s own randomness and all of her best friend’s names.
Not a bad idea to name your daughter ‘Beautiful _______’ that would guarantee a good self-esteem right?!? PS in case you were wondering that is actually my handwriting, my niece just told me what to write down. My sister is convinced that my handwriting hasn’t changed since 3rd grade.
Billy doesn’t really have a strong opinion about the name and I kind of want to pick a bunch of names and wait until I see her to choose what we name her.
What did you do? When did you start thinking about names? Did the other parent have a strong opinion about the name?
Was it easy or hard for you to come up with names?
117 comments
Mark Matthews
We got our first child’s name, Tessa, after hearing it being used from someone else’s dog. (I know! What up with that? We haven’t told her and won’t)
Our second child, Sierra, we got from reading the credits while Tessa was watching Baby Einstein.
I want to have another daughter and name her LYRIC.
tessa
My name is Tessa! I love it by the way, I’m 28 now. Its always been pretty unique and I was the only one in my class. I feel like all the Tessa’s out there are a little club. I love meeting one :) But yes I have meet multiple dogs named Tessa. I dont mind, they are usually sweet dogs ;)
Oh and people call me Theresa sometimes, I kind of hate that name. It usually happens at Dr’s offices or something where they just read it quickly and assume that’s what it is. But overall I love the name, just thought I would share :)
Sierra
I’m Sierra…its gotten so popular in the last 10 years…
Mark Matthews
Yes, but not usually spelled this way. Hi Sierra. her middle name is “jade”
Tess
OH my gosh. My name is Teresa (which I hate) and I’m named after my grandmother Theresa (who hated HER name and made my mom change the spelling at least). Now as an adult I sometimes go by Tess which I LOVE but my mom says, “who is Tess? I don’t know that Person!!” and she is NOT amused.
Tessa
I’m Tessa/Tess! And you’re right, it does feel like a little club. I love it! :)
Mark Matthews
Hi to all the Tessa’s! It is a sweet yet powerful name.
Laura
Oh my gosh this was the worst part of the whole pregnancy for me!!! I don’t know how any babies get named! My husband and I couldn’t agree on a single name. Not one! And we had to come up with 2 names. He likes old fashioned names and not cute old fashioned…ugly old fashioned! And I like good names haha! So our babies didn’t get named until 4 days after they were born.
Ps I’ve been writing an email to you that’s taken me a whole week to do because im so tired. Tonight for sure I’ll send it to you!
Katie @ msfitrunner
With #1 we didn’t have a clue. We also didn’t find out the sex until she was born. We named her literally leaving the hospital because we couldn’t decide and they told us it would be really difficult with the birth certificate if we didn’t name her before we left. #2 and 3 we had picked before we had them. But I still didn’t call them by name until they were here, that felt weird to me. I wanted to make sure they actually looked like the name we gave them. It’s so fun naming the babe!!
Karen
With my first daughter, we came up with her name (Ella Katherine); then my mother-law-in called out of the blue to suggest the exact same name; and then when I mentioned it to my dad, he told me one of his grandmothers was named Ella and the other one was named Katherine, so we knew it was meant to be. With my second daughter (Emilia Genevieve), we had a terrible time agreeing on a name and went to the hospital still not really knowing for sure what we would name her. My husband picked out her name, and I still kind of wish we’d spelled her first name “Amelia.” I get tired of her name being misspelled and mispronounced.
Tess
That is a freaking beautiful name. Both of them are, but I have to say I love Emilia Genevieve.
Heather
We had a bunch of possible names for my second daughter, and thought we had settled on one, but when I saw her, I picked a completely different name – she had a ton of DARK hair, and I thought it looked like a Marissa. Now, her hair is BLONDE. Oh well.
By our third, we were running out of names – my husband has a giant family, and all the names were already taken, I think. We picked a first name, never decided on a middle name, and that was the end. Gabby has no middle name.
Brittany
I like Golden Flower Glass haha I totally would’ve suggested something similar as a kid… I had a million My Little Ponies and named them all after the symbol and colors they had all over them a.k.a. Pink Rainbow Pony and Blueberry Ice Cream Cone… I think it’s good to have a few names in your mind but you never know – when the baby pops out with her own personality it just may come to you!
Meredith
My mom picked my first name (Meredith, obviously) by getting my grandma – who was a elementary school principle at the time – to print a list of students at her school! Meredith was only listed once and they liked that it was unique but not weird. My brother, Hunter, has the same kind of name (in my opinion). My middle name, Elaine, is more traditional because it is the middle name of all the first-born daughters have passed on to their own since my great grandma. In the south where I’m from it is common to take your maiden name as your middle when you get married, and so to preserve the middle name, it is passed to your first daughter. I love the classic sound my name has but I also love how, while classic, it isn’t common. Also my initials spell “MEG” which was a nickname I loved as a kid and still love now! Initials are important!
Sarah
Meredith…initials might be more important than the name! For two months before my son was born he was Alexander Samuel Shadwick. Then we realized what that was…and quickly changed the middle name! Hee hee….I still think it would have been funny.
Jenn
I’m 31 weeks pregnant… also with a girl… and we are waiting until we see her to name her. Of course my husband has red hair, so if baby girl pops out with red hair I think she needs a “special” name… But really we have 4 names we love and we’ll wait to see what fits her.
Stephanie
One of my co-workers had a baby waaaaay before I was ever pregnant and named her McKenna. I knew right then that I would name my first daughter McKenna. Her middle name is Noel which is Leon backwards, that was my grandpa’s name :) I found boy names to be MUCH harder. I borrowed a friends book of 30,000 names and read through every one of them. I came across Coby which is Hebrew for Jacob (husband’s name) so we went with Kobe! I liked that spelling better, no he is not named after Kobe Bryant ;) He was born right around the whole Kobe scandal and EVERYONE asked if he was named after him…um NO!!! Kobe’s middle name is Michael which is my step-dad’s name. If I would have had another girl her name would have been Mercedes Gracie!!
Lori
We came up with a boy name right away. Naturally, we had a girl. We went back and forth for months before we both fell in love with a first name (Jenna). We were still fighting over the middle name while I was in labor. Once my husband saw how high the contraction monitor went up, he finally said, “Name her anything you want.” So, I won the middle name battle (after my mom, Kathryn).
misszippy
I think the name must come from that list! ; ) Good luck with it–it can be easy to drive yourself crazy with the task!
We seemed to both be fairly mellow on the naming. With our second, we narrowed it down to two choices and then let our son make the final decision. It was fun!
Amy B.
We named our first son Garrison. I liked the name Garrett and my hubby liked Anderson—so we combined for Garrison. We let my step-son name my daughter. His name is Bryson so he chose Allyson so they all could end in -son. He didn’t want her to feel left out. We then had one more and couldn’t make him the odd man out…the -son name I like best was Carson so that is what he got….They all have middle names of grand or great-grandparents
Michelle M.
Killian’s name started as a joke… A longggg time ago. His father and I went on a trip to Savannah and drank Killian’s beer, we joked about how if we had a boy (we were very newly married) we should name him Killian. Total joke. Well… fast forward 2 years and I am pregnant with a boy. We went through about 90000 names and none sounded right. We watched “red eye” with Cillian Murphy. I looked up Killian in the baby name book (because his dad insisted it start with a K) And I see “small fierce one”. Killian Hoyt (named after my grandfather) was born 1/6/09 :) He is small, He is definitely fierce and hilarious.
Kaelin
Hahaha!!! I love that list, coming from a child’s eyes her names are so unique and different! I also work at a school, and while I don’t have kids yet and I can say that I am biased towards names that make me think of certain students – good or bad. I am having a harder time coming up with girl names that I like, while I have a whole list of boy names for when the time comes.
My parents aren’t really sure how they picked my name, but they knew they wanted something different but not strange. I love my name now, but it was tough not being another Jennifer, Jessica, or Ashley in school. I always wanted to be “Stacy” when I played make believe with my friends haha!
Amanda
Yep, some of the students I worked with have definitely left an impression and there I some names I can now never use :)
stephanie
i think she solved the problem with Golden Flower Glass; that name is pure gold :)
CJ
I felt strongly about not knowing the sex before the baby was born, and I had lists upon lists of names but had to see the baby to see what fit. My husband researched names for hours/days/weeks and ended up picking most of their names, but I contributed a couple middle names: Riley Bryce (easier to say than Riley Lynne), Kendal Grace (all him–she was Darby Shea to me at first), Grady Weaver Steven (I added the Steven to honor our brothers).
The only one that was hard to pick was Kendal Grace. Kendal, Darby, Shea, and Paige were all on our short list of girl names. I was thinking how nice Darby Shea sounded, and after a high anxiety pregnancy and very emotional c-section, hubs said “Kendal Grace,” and I was thrown off balance by him picking Grace for my grandmother. It took me a few hours to agree :)
Bobbie
Both of my babies were premature, the first one had no planning in the name came up with it in the hospital, the second was named from the OK bombing picture of the firefighter carrying a little girl (sad I know). I said “if” we have another girl her name will be Baylee!
I agree it some part of the name should come from that list!
Good Luck:)
Tess
Is there anyone that photo didn’t affect? Nice.
Mara BHF
We were picking names on the way to the hospital ….
Tiff
I have no children to speak of, although the boyfriend and I already have our girl name picked out. Thanks to a shirt his brother bought him in Vegas 3 years ago HA!
My parent’s did what you are thinking of doing. I started out as an Allison or a Misty. When I was born, they said I was most definitely a Tiffani with an “I” at the end.
Oh heck, go with “AMERICA!!!”(<—"Other Guys" reference there!)
tiffani
When I was born I was Tanya. But then my grandma came to visit in the hospital took one look at me and said I needed a more “delicate” name and suggested tiffani… with an I also! That stuck and I am Tiffani. Too bad I cant get anything personalized!
Laurin
We had a name with our first (a girl) within a few weeks of knowing the gender. This time? It was like a war trying to decide on another girl name! I felt pressure to do so only because our first born insisted that we name the baby Ella, which my husband hated. Both times we each made a list of names and after a week or two, put our lists together to see if we had any of the same names and worked from the combined list. Good luck!
Jake
haha I like “Beautiful” and “America”
When we eventually get a DOG, we want to name it “Tempo”. But that probably won’t happen for a while so feel free to use it if you want :-)
Tess
haha. nice. Favorite so far. Tempo.
Tiana
Definately better than, Fartlek. ;) lol
Naomi M
My name means beautiful in Japanese :)
Katie @ Peace Love & Oats
My first name, Kathryn, is just a random name my parents liked. But I LOVE my middle name, Adele, which is my grandmother’s name, who passed away when my dad was about 20
Melissa
There was a character in a book I was reading right before I got pregnant named Finn. And she was a really cool character. So I knew that’s the name I wanted for my daughter. But I thought her first name should be longer, so I made it Finley. I seriously never thought I would call her Finley, only Finn. Its pretty equal between Finn and Finley though. Her middle name is Delilah after my paternal grandmother’s name.
My mom HATED the name Finley Delilah. She sent me name after name after name so I would change it. If I ever had another kid, I would never tell anyone the name until after the baby was born because people can be mean about your names.
Chelsea@RunningISMyDiet
I love Finley!!! How cute! :)
Katey
We were open to suggestions from other people. After all, we had never named a baby before! However, we spent the first few hours in the hospital with our noses in Name Books. We did manage to narrow it down to two different choices before she was born.
If we had chosen the name before, I still would have wanted to keep it to myself. People tend to offer their (unwanted) critique of chosen baby names unless there’s a cute little baby staring at them!
Lauren
I’ve had my girl name set for years. But a boy name was much more difficult. We chose Hunter because my husband’s middle name is Hunt and it’s a family name. He was born on Star Wars day (May the 4th be with you) so he was super close to being named Jedi ;)
Kari @ Running Ricig
My mom once told me that I write like a kindergartener, so don’t worry about your handwriting.
I’ve only ever named my dog, but Mike and I did it by free associating words that could work as names. Bungee happened to fit really well even though we named her before we got her.
I think for kids, though, I’d go with family names. That way if people are like “oh i hate that name.” I can say, “well it was my great great great second cousin’s uncle’s name!”
Liz @ Tip Top Shape
You should 100% name your child Bolt. lol I have it planned that my first girl will be named Vivien. However, I have a feeling my (future) husband might want a say in what we name our kid, too.
Jackie
For my first daughter, I wanted a strong name. I remembered a CSI-type show when I was in high school that had a main character named Mason. I thought that was so cool. I bounced it of my husband and he LOVED it so Mason Grace XiaoYu it is. For our 2nd daughter, I wasn’t so hung up on the “strong” part but wanted something different. Iris YongQi is definitely different, in her name and everything else about her.
Both kids seem OK with their names. Mason is 10 and realizes that “Mason” is traditionally a boy’s name. I just tell her, “Girls with boys’ names rock, boys with girls’ names don’t.”
Adrienne
My first daughter, MADELINE, was easy. We both agreed if it was a girl that was her name.
My second was going to be LAUREN if it was a girl, but when she came out I knew she didnt look anything like a LAUREN. Needless to say she was nameless for three days until my mom told me I could not bring her home unless she had a name. She is now a GABRIELLE.
And our third child was a boy and we just used the same boys name we had agreed on when we were pregnant with our first. ALEXANDER
I never found out what any of my kids were before they were born.
Very hard to come up with names. That is the childs whole life. What sounds cute as a baby might not sound so cute as a 30yr old professional!
Sarah
I don’t even get married until next month, but my fiance and I already have baby names figured out. The main reason for this is my fiance is a Jr. so he insists our first sone be named after him. So, I have insisted our first dughter be named after me (using my middle name that I will drop when I change my name).
mary @ minutespermile
I don’t have a baby. BUT my sister does, and her and her husband went old school and bought a baby names book. Done and done.
amanda@justagirl
You have plenty of time. We didn’t name our daughter (Marissa) until she was two days old. We picked it shortly before leaving the hospital.
Dina
We could not think of any girl names we liked when I was pregnant. So at my baby shower one of the “games” was name our baby! We gave out cards with fill in the blank first and middle names and had guests give us suggestions. In the end I let my little sister name her and gave her my older sister’s name as her middle name. Her name is Faith Eliza, and it fits her perfectly.
Sabrina
You have lots of time!
My best friend had a baby recently and she was real laid back about it too. After finding out the sex she narrowed down a few of her top names and when he was born she named him. Name at first sight. :) Good luck!
Sarah
I started thinking about names after about 12 weeks. I went through some name books and made a list of ones I liked. Richie then crossed off the ones he didn’t like which was most of them..
SO after we found out it was a girl, we had a list of about 5 names. I brought it to the hospital. When I got back to the room from my c-section, my mom and R both said she looked like a Scarlett which was top of our list. So I said, ok ( i was kinda drugged up) The next day we realized we had to pick a middle name, so I just said Jane because that is my middle name.
Monica
With my first daughter my husband and I agreed on a name (Elliett Elizabeth) way before I had her. For our second daughter we just couldn’t decide so we went to the hospital with a list of about 10 names. When we met her, we just knew she would be a Piper Kate! Oh and they both have super awesome red hair :)
Cinnamon @eatpraytri
Well obviously I have your problem solved for you! CINNAMON is the most perfect name ever. Sweet and unusual and a great conversation starter. And no one will EVER ask if its your daughters “stripper” name or if you guys are hippies. Guaranteed. ;-)
Sarah
Ha…you should tell people that your stripper name is Helga!
Leyna
Our son’s name took forever (I was 7 months pregnant). My husband wanted to name him Colin and I wanted Max. After much debate, he became Daniel Colin and has the same initials as my husband. My daughter’s name took about a week (I was 22 weeks pregnant). We were flipping through a book and my husband suggested Piper, and we just ran with it. I can’t imagine either one being named something different.
Michelle @ runsanity
My husband and I decided on a boy name and girl name before I even got pregnant. We dated for a long time before getting married so after we knew everything about each other we started we started naming our future children :)
Christine
I don’t have any kids (hello 22!) but I already have my names picked out! Avery for a girl and Mark for a boy. Do you have any family names? My middle name is passed down through the women in my moms side of the family so I have to have a girl!
Kimberly
For some reason, it was SO easy to name our daughter. Willow Kate. Our son was a bit trickier and we chose William “Levee”….he’s in heaven now though waiting on us :) I love the idea of waiting til you see her to chose a final name!!
Meagan @ Managing Meagan
Awwwww!!! So fun!!!! I totally think I’ll wait to “meet” my baby (whenever I had one– which is NOT now!!) before “officially” picking the name, but I think I’d have a couple in mind. SO exciting!! Can’t wait to hear what you choose!!
tessa
We are having a baby this fall. People always ask. I think its just something they can say. Because they want to say something once they know you are pregnant. If its a boy we have already shared the name because its a family name, Wesley. But if its a girl I am going to keep it a secret until after she is born. I think it will bug people but then I won’t get their opinions. Plus I want there to be some surprise!!
Jessica
Picking out names is so much fun :) Especially for a little girl! I started thinking of names right away.. With all my girls I had the same system- look through every single name in a baby name book and write down every single name that I liked even if it was just a little bit… this would usually end in a list of 50+ names and then I would do the same for middle names. Through my whole pregnancy I would mix and match first and middle names until I found 3 names I absolutely loved and then when they were born I wouldn’t name them until I saw them and spent a day with them.. which causes A LOT of pressure about why on earth I hadn’t named them the second they were born. I feel like this way I knew them a little bit before naming them :) with my last I was set on the first name on the list and then they handed her to me and instantly I knew that name didn’t fit her!- Good luck and I can’t wait to see what you decide!!!
Lisa@thedailyrundown
I picked names beforehand and I actually kinda regret it. I think picking a few and than seeing which fit her is the best idea
RainStorm
I haven’t any babies (or dogs, yet) but have already named my first five dogs! (And no, I’m really not kidding! There’s going to be a Dalmatian called Buzz, a Rodesian Ridgeback called Roary, …)
I have some girls names in my head, but boys names are trickier! And I didn’t realise that the “pass on the middle name through the daughter” tradition was done by anyone except my family! My middle name is Ferrier (passed down through at least 3 generations).
Suzana
My parents had a bet – my dad thought I’d be a girl and my mum thought I’d be a boy. So whoever won got to name me and the other parent got to name the 2nd kid, my sister. I was named after my parent’s favourite song at the time (not the American one, the Dutch one!) when they used to sit around with their friends, play cards, and this song would always come on the radio, haha.
Susan
My SIL just had she and my brother’s second girl on Friday. The new baby’s name is Violet; their first is Hazel. They are going with a color/flower theme. =)
My dad had wanted to name us girls (not both of course) Nancy. My mom was vehemently opposed, and won out. I’m happy about that.
XLMIC
My husband kept calling my older daughter ‘Baby X’ while she was in utero so I decided she needed an “X” name. Her name means golden and is a lovely name, very fitting for such a lovely girl :) My oldest boy is named for my dad who was the coolest, nicest person to me on the face of the planet…he passed away in 1993. My younger son…we didn’t have any clue about a name until about 2 wks before his due date…but we agreed immediately once I found it. My ‘baby’ was named by her siblings…in a way. They all said what they wanted to name her and I found names with similar meanings that I liked. Her first name means “love”, her first middle name means “golden”, her second middle name means “snowdrop” (a flower that blooms in the snow…her brother wanted to name her Flower-snow because ‘flowers smell good and snow is beautiful’). So she has three names. How could I have left one sibling’s idea out?
I pretty much got to name them all :P I kept reminding my husband that he already had 6 kids that he had a hand in naming!
Jana
We started talking about names right after I found out I was pregnant (both times). We struggled with it. My DH is a teacher and most names reminded him of some student that he didn’t like all that much. We came to an agreement before they were born though. We have 2 girls and they are Brooklyn and Reese – we like non-traditional/unisex names.
Kirsten
A woman I know was named Lady so that men would treat her as such. I thought that was kind of cute (though also awkward because yelling her name across a room does not seem right).
JJ
We had decided to find out the gender of the baby and if it was a boy, I’d pick the name, and if it was a girl, my husband would pick. Once we found out it was a girl, my husband settled on Caroline with only a couple weeks to go before the due date. When she was born, he decided she didn’t look like a Caroline, so she was baby X until we were literally walking out of the hospital and he had to fill out the birth certificate. Next thing I know, he grabbed a pen and out of the blue wrote in Nicole. Surprise for everybody, me included!
summer T
I also write like a third grader, so glad Im not alone!!! I will tell you my handwriting completely changed after I had my son, now it looks completely different, like a completely different third grader ha!!! Something about the tendons streching throughout your body, it has never been the same, weird huh?
Jana (Running Vegetarian)
We didn’t know what we were having so we had to come up with two names. We had our girl one right away. Then at the last second we changed it because we thought the name we had was to common. In the end it didn’t matter because we had a boy. That one took forever for us to pick. But finally we saw a name and we both loved it. My son’s name is Isaac.
Britt
Hi Janae! I have been reading your blog for a while….can’t remember exactly how I came across it, but I really enjoy reading it! You are funny and I also love running and food. We run so we can eat right? :) I am pregnant with baby #2! We are having a boy this round. I think boy names are so much harder. I will throw my girl names out to you since I cant use them now…Hazel, Juliet, Amelia, and Abigail. :) now if only I could think of a boy name for my little one.
Ali @SeeAliEatSeeAliRun
My parents named all of us kids after “celebrities”. We have Jackson (Brown), Audrey (Hepburn), Ali (McGraw), Natalie (Wood)
Allie
My parents also got my name from Ali McGraw! I spell it Allie.
Good luck on naming the baby! I think names are so much fun. I was pretty into finding the perfect name for my dog. After lots of discussion we named him Hadley. Apparently that is becoming a popular girls name now!
Abby @ Change of Pace
Some names on that list are hilarious! You should definitely save that for when your niece is having her own kids!
Although we don’t have kids and aren’t planning to for a while, I always have three or four names that I really want to name our future child. Most of them are constantly changing, but a few have been around for a long time. I’m thinking they might be the winners when the time comes!
Sarah
I don’t have any kids but my brother would always joke about naming his kid Doctor. That way his whole life people would always call him Doctor! hahaha
Hayley @ Running Down the Runway
I see Hailey on there… I spell mine Hayley and love it! Its not a common name at all, and so pretty!
Tess
I love names. They are so interesting and beautiful! Okay, Apple is questionable.
My daughter is named after a street in San Francisco. Long and winding, truly beautiful. Shaughnessy. Also, very Irish like her dad. My oldest son is Alexander after his grandfather and his father before him and so on. And my youngest son is named Montana after the state we are from, the state his grandparents are from and the place his great grandparents homesteaded so he never forgets where he came from.
Katheryn
I think it’s super tough choosing what to name a child. With our first two we had it narrowed down to a few names and then waited to see what he and she looked like and if we had a feeling. #3 is now overdue. I was due 4 days ago, and we again we have it narrowed down to three names. We’ll see what he looks like and then decide.
wymberley
Girl, GET the epidural. They turn it off when you push anyway. If you really want to “experience” birth, don’t worry…its gonna happen. And my kids never had any type of symptoms from it.
Verlin
I have some suggestions – don’t spell a common name in a weird way, or the poor kid will spend her whole life spelling it. Also, try to go unique, but not TOO unique. I spend a lot of my time trying to get people to understand my name. AND (wow, I’m on a bossy roll) check out the intials to make sure they don’t spell something weird. If you have an immature male in your crowd (and really, who doesn’t) tell him the name in advance so he can try to find ways to “pick on” her the way her future grade 4 classmates will. Sorry, I just re-read that, and it sounded scary, but you can’t be too careful with a name!
Lindsay @ Lindsay's List
Henry is a family name…and Clara was just so pretty that I had to use it. Both are older names. Love them!
Rene
My daughter is almost 17 so I started thinking of names 19 years ago. It wasn’t easy for us to have kids so I never did get through my list of names. I’ve have passed them along to my kids in hopes they will get used.
For your baby, I’m leaning towards America. When she wins the gold medal for marathon in the 2044 Olympics it will make me extra cry.
Loira
Ooh, naming babies is so exciting!! Although I find that I like a lot more girl names than I do boys. Heartbreak is a winner!!
My name is Loira and I absolutely love it! My mom named me after the French river Loire (Loira is the Spanish version… since I’m Spanish), and I’ve never met anyone with that name. My sister’s name is Annabel and I think that is really pretty too. The spelling can always be changed — Annabelle. And then my brother’s name is Eloy which is very fitting. They’re all pretty unique names. Oh, and my mom’s middle name is Lidia (spelling could be Lydia). Pretty! With my sister though, my parents ended up naming her when they saw her (she would have been named David had she been a boy like it was thought). I think that’s the best way to go! Have a list that you like, especially with meaning behind them, and then wait to see the baby.
Good luck!!! :)
Cindi B
Well, I’m partial to Hannah on that list–it’s my daughter’s name! With her, we sort of knew right away that that was the name we wanted. With our twins, we chose to not find out if we were having boys or girls (though we knew that they were very likely identical–so, whatever we were having, we were having two of). So, we had a pretty wide variety of names to choose from, then decided which ones were fitting they day they were born. My husband actually decided which one would get which name and they certainly seem fitting!
Holly
May I make a request for a nursery post soon? I really really want to know your theme/ colors :) :)
Shay @ Whine Less, Breathe More
I think having a list of names and then waiting to see what fits her is a wonderful idea! I would avoid telling people the name you pick out because everyone is going to have an opinion and you might not want to hear it while your pg, hormonal and have your heart set on it.
With my older daughter I went through a baby name book and made a list of my favorites for her first name. Then my ex-husband eliminated some. Slowly we eliminated more over the weeks until were we just down to a few. Then we were able to pick just one. Her middle name was easy. She has the same middle name as my mom and my ex’s grandma who raised him.
Younger daughter was harder. I had my heart set on a name. Ex-husband did not care for it at all. I wouldn’t budge. We didn’t argue, but I certainly didn’t cave. Finally he gave in on letting me pick the first name and he got to choose the middle name. But he couldn’t decide. So we had friends over and had them all suggest middle names to go with the final first name. Ex ended up picking a middle name that was very similar to my mom’s first name. It was a good choice!
Emily @ Perfection Isn't Happy
I once observed in classroom where a girl was named “Precious.” At first, I thought the teacher had cute nicknames for all of her students, and then I realized that was actually the girl’s name. It confused me.
Kayla @ kp LOVING it
One of the girls I work with named her son Dash. First time I’d ever heard it actually used as a baby name….and I see A LOT of baby names come through the NICU.
Brooke
I am expecting a baby too. And I am having a hard time coming up with a name. I told my husband that is kind of funny the whole name picking business while pregnant. Picking a name is a big deal and you are expected to do it while your hormones are crazy. It really doesn’t make much sense, right?!?! :)
Teresa
Well, I was CERTAIN baby#1 was a boy…we had the name set in stone and to our surprise it was a girl. All of the sudden, I didn’t want the name I had picked out months earlier “in case” it was a girl. Teen Mom ruined that name for me:) I won’t mention which one it was! We chose Ainslee Kate, which 1 year later, I still think is the prettiest name.
Baby#2 is due in September and I just KNEW it was a boy and guess what? Another girl! I don’t have a name picked out for my little angel yet either but people ask all the time.
Shelly
Haha you should name her the 2nd to last name on that list :)
Tori
I love love love my name. There was only one other girl with the name Tori in school and it was spelled differently, and I preferred the spelling of mine anyway. I like that it’s not too girly because I was always a tomboy, I guess growing up with two brothers will do that to ya!
I have a twin brother and his name is Taylor, I have always loved our names:)
My parents said that if we had been girl twins it would have been Tori and Taryn. Another name I like :)
Alyssa
I think the name Kierra is a pretty name my sister has that name its very unique its like sierra with a k My other sisters name is Kyrsten which is also pretty unique I do not have a unique name sadly=)
Alyssa
If I have a daughter I have always like the name rain lol or summer
Sarah F.
I think I have 5 lists around my house somewhere of baby names that my husband and I come up with when we are sitting next to each other at different events or at church. It’s fun to think of names for our future baby/babies even though we probably still have a while. And sometimes we just come up with ridiculous names to get a good little laugh.
Losing Lindy
I haven’t read all of your comments, but you need to be sure the names you choose will not be made fun of by the evil kids. Not easy. I like strong traditional names. I don’t think a child named “Apple” will have an easy life..too many bad things can be referred to in high school (being eaten..with peanut butter..making her spread…) sorry..but you need to think of the horrible, awful things kids will say. I narrowed it down to 5 names. The middle name was already picked. A family name the same gender as the rent. My middle name goes to my great great Grandma, born on the same day as me. My great grandma, grandma, mom, all the same middle name. V has the same middle name as his Grandpa and his Dad. V’s first name is my Grandpa’s middle name. They were born on the same day. My grandpa’s first name is Ole. (O LEE) not the spanish version. But had I name him something like Ole, he would be made so much fun of.
Jaeme + Randy
That is totally the hardest part for us. Well, mostly me. My husband just wants to like the name but I feel like it has to be perfect haha. We have a list of 4 names we both like and we go back and forth between them. I don’t think any name will be set in stone until she is born though!
Jaeme + Randy
Oh and BTW, that is definitely the most frequently asked question I get next to how far along I am!
Heidi Nicole
If we ever get around to naming a baby I’d really like to spend some time with them before naming – sometimes people just look like a [name]!
Jennifer Blake
My daughter didn’t have a name until a few hours after she was born. I had to see her before she had a name. My husband was so picky about a name and he never had any suggestions, but I guess he didn’t usually like my options. Well, after the labor and delivery he told me I could pick any name I wanted! :) he and I both loved the name we chose, Savannah Monroe. Good luck finding the perfect name for your “heartbreaker” baby girl!
Laura Duquette
My nieces name is Mariah (I love it & you don’t hear it very often). A friend just named her daughter Eisley (pronounced eyes-lee). Personally I love the names Genevieve, Evelyn & Scarlett. Hope I helped you a little :)
Lauren Q
I love names that you can pull nicknames from… that way they have options as far as what they want to be called and all that.
Anna
We picked my son’s name from the name of a scenic walk we took in Ireland and his middle name came from a mountain climb we made there. The walk up the mountain was quite a challenge but when we got to the top, it was one of the greatest views we’d shared….I thought it was sort of symbolic to raising a child.
I like the idea of having names in mind but not choosing until you see her.
Kattrina
I get that question ALL the time! It’s like people are reading a script. The first question I kept getting was if we were going to find out the sex. Then people would ask what the sex was and now that we know it’s a boy people incessantly ask about names. My hubs and I have a name picked out but I don’t want to tell people because I feel like it’s the only “surprise” left (minus what the baby looks like of course). My husband is Honduran and so people are constantly asking if we are going to name the baby a Spanish/Latino/Honduran name. I also get asked if I’m going to breast-feed (while people are staring at my extra large boobs). Something about pregnancy must make people think they can ask you about anything and everything. I am waiting for someone to ask how long my husband and I are going to wait to have sex after the baby comes. :-)
mary
I was forever asked if I was going to breast feed. Strangers telling me that it would be best for me and my baby.
And then when I did I got comments all about it too– And some were really nasty!
I lied to strangers. Sometimes I said we didn’t know what we were having. Once, in response to a breast feeding and cloth diapering rant I told a woman I was carrying the baby for my sister.
mary
Our daughter is Jacqueline Michalina. It was the only only name my husband and I could agree on. We were lucky she was a girl. Jacqueline because we liked the name and Michalina is my middle name after my grandmother.
We are running into real problems this time…..
My niece, Eleanor Winifred, was almost two days old before they named her.
(feel free to steal the names if you like them)
StacyHilton
My husband and I love the Old West, so our childrens’ names were inspired by the Earp brothers: Wyatt and Morgan. Our son is Wyatt and our daughter is Morgan (although she almost was Audrey). Everyone jokes about our third child (if we decide to have one) might be named Virgil. Oh dear…..
Heather S
I was obsessed with the idea of a double first name if we had a little girl and knew I wanted to name her Avery Grace as soon as we found out she was indeed a girl! I also had a boy name picked out that we are still holding onto Ryder Owen. My husband only had strong opinions when he hated a name, as he did for Hadley, but other than that he let me have my fun :)
Liz @ runbakerace
The husband and I had our son’s name chosen before he was born but we didn’t tell anyone! :) It was easy for us too, we both said our top 3 boys names and our top choice was the same. The other day we were discussing boys names again (if we have another) and immediately agreed upon another name. It was super easy! Hope you and Billy have an easy & fun time picking out your little girl’s name.
Amanda
If you name your child America Jacobs, I might have to stop reading this blog or I might become a sponsor. Its 50/50
Tameika
Golden Flower Glass. Done and done!
I like the idea of waiting until you see her to give her a name. Best to you!
leah
here is a good tip – if you’re going to name her after a living relative, make sure that relative actually likes their name! My middle name, June, was my grandmother’s middle name. When my parents called from the hospital to say, “we had a girl and named her for you” my very polite and soft spoken mid-western grandmother’s response was “I’ve always hated that name.” Oops! Ever since my family nick-name has been Leah July since I was born in July. Thankfully I love my name and think its a funny story.
jenny
wow, there are tons of name comments…i hope you are able to read mine. lol. just kidding. i tend to go towards the male/female names ( interchangeable). i named my daughter Allyn because my grandfather’s name was Allan. they are both pronounced the same exact way.
Lena @ Fit on the Rocks
My parents definitely did naming in the hospital…on the back of my footprint paper. No joke. I’m pretty sure I was supposed to be named Sophia because they had it written out a million times and circled. Lena (lee-nuh) was only written once, but it’s what they ended up picking lol. It’ll come to you eventually! I’ve only had to work with naming my dog, and that was hard enough, so good luck!
Angeline
For the runners and cyclers in you both… how about Cadence for a name??
Dawn C
For my first child I did not find out what I was having so we wrote lists separately for both boy and girl names and gave them to each other…spent a few days crossing off the ones we didn’t like and then traded back and forth until we could decide….this took several months but when we decided WE fell in love with the names we choose…Avalon for a girl and Matteus for a boy. We had a girl. It has taken 17 years but she is finally starting to love her name. My second child I wanted to name Samuel…I don’t know why but it just had to be Samuel. Our third was a girl and Avalon suggested the name Shae…which we all loved and went with! Other names I’ve loved are Cheyenne and Caleb.
Dawn
Deirdre @ Oh Well Whatever
It was actually really easy for us, right when we decided to start trying we came up with the names. My husband was set on if it’s a boy it needs to have the initials RDE, same as himself, brother and father so that is the boy tradition in their family – girl didn’t have to stick to those initials. We decided we didn’t want to know the gender of the baby until delivery. The only boy name I came up with that I really liked (R’s are hard..) was Riley, then I decided I really liked it either way and this worked out perfectly cause I could know the name of the baby even before we knew if it was a boy or a girl.
Turned out it took us 5 years to get pregnant and it was really nice having that name to hold onto all those years and focus on. Boy was going to be Riley Dale Edwards and she turned out to be Ryleigh Marie Edwards. Marie was my Mom’s middle name. Had to switch up the spelling to make it look a little more feminine for her.
Have fun choosing names, I really enjoyed the process. Such an amazing thing, you are creating a name from scratch!