As someone with a slightly unusual (although not unique) name I would say unusual names are fine as long as they are easy to spell (this generally means short). I have never had any problems with my name because it is really really easy to spell so misspellings or "how do you spell that?" conversations don't happen. Names like Mona, Luna, Zoe or Lux probably wouldn't cause problems where names like Tamsyn (tamson, tamsun) and Raeko (rakeo, raiko) leave more room for error (as an example I had to copy and paste those last two from your post whereas I could just type the first list). Also I have read O'lillya several times and am still not confident how to pronounce it so I would avoid that one.
yeah the lawyer/supreme court justice test is kind of hilariously ethnic and gender normative. Also vaguely ageist.
Also a good solution to stuff like that on formal documents is to use the first initial followed by the middle and last name. So Raeko Sylvia Dewalt becomes R. Sylvia Dewalt, esquire (in the case of lawyers.) R. S. Dewalt, M.D., etc.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
it was the smallest on the list but
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
As someone with a slightly unusual (although not unique) name I would say unusual names are fine as long as they are easy to spell (this generally means short). I have never had any problems with my name because it is really really easy to spell so misspellings or "how do you spell that?" conversations don't happen. Names like Mona, Luna, Zoe or Lux probably wouldn't cause problems where names like Tamsyn (tamson, tamsun) and Raeko (rakeo, raiko) leave more room for error (as an example I had to copy and paste those last two from your post whereas I could just type the first list). Also I have read O'lillya several times and am still not confident how to pronounce it so I would avoid that one.
re: length/ease of names, depends so much on the person if it'll irk them or not. I have a somewhat odd spelling of my name (mostly a silent 'gh' tucked in there) and when I found another girl who has the same name spelled the same way, we instantly became friends. Because people with my name and spelling are clearly awesome Half the time I don't care how it gets spelled (i.e. couriers) and the other half I spell it out (and often tuck in a joke about how long my name is, especially since I also have a longer last name unlike "Dewalt")
@ Zurg and Dispatch -- Thanks for being the first to actually indulge me. I love the way Sylvie-Eris rings, it almost sounds like one single long name and I like that (I'm assuming Eris is pronounces "Air-is"...) As for Sylvia Vivian-- I definitely like it okay. Alot of folks seem to be throwing out Vivian/Violet/etc... but I think if we went with a longer name for Vivi it would be Genevieve.
Air-iss (as in bliss), but yeah. Glad you like it. I'm pretty proud of it actually.
Also, my name is Jurg. But I think you just got caught in a "creative spelling" storm. :P
Not sure I can help from your picks though. When I think of what to name a girl I think of family names that are all rather "normal" and conventionally spelled.
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L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
As someone with a rare spelling (even if technically correct in German, which was fun for like 5 seconds in German class) of a common name, please don't do that to your kids.
Every single goddamn person I interact with, their first reaction is "that's different!", to which all I can say is "yeah my parents found it in a book and it's just the German spelling of Aaron". There isn't a story or any real reason for it. The only nice thing is that it pretty much guarantees I can get an email address of just my name.
I have the only type of spelling for my last name I've ever seen (which I share with famous people), and people still screw it up. Never underestimate the ability of people to spell shit wrong.
In general, I think it's awesome that you're definitely open to more than just conventional names. But even though this has been said before, I'll chime in as well: You may like weird, but remember your child might not and they're the one who has to live with it. Nicknames are good.
That being said, my own first name is an accepted variant spelling (and it's the only variant.) I do remember always being disappointed as a kid because I could never get anything personalized because they never, ever had my name. Overall, though, I've liked the small difference and Sylvie strikes me as being similarly set apart. Different, but not outrageously so.
Suggestions (threw in a few Irish ones because I actually happen to be fond of them):
Most of all, congratulations to you and your girlfriend!
"I will participate in the game. It's a wonderful, wonderful opera, except that it hurts." - Joseph Campbell
Steam: delaney_a
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
I'm kind of boring and like boring names. Probably because I have a boring one myself (see to the left), and agree middle names are the place for creativity or family traditions.
Seraphine is a popular girl's name between my wife and I. It can be shortened to either Sara or Phina, and is a fairly old name with French roots that means angel or angelic.
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ShivahnUnaware of her barrel shifter privilegeWestern coastal temptressRegistered User, Moderatormod
edited October 2013
People will 1) spell everything wrong and 2) if a spelling is ever important, they will go through letter by letter to make sure it's correct. Like I guess it was annoying having to always spell my name? But like, take a simple-as-fuck standard white boy name like Brian. You're still gonna have to spell that going to the doctor because if it happens to be spelled as Bryan they're going to have a hell of a time with the insurance.
Though on the other hand I had a rare spelling of a common name and people were always expecting one of the tweaks but not the other, which was kind of annoying. But also I don't think spending an extra three seconds every few weeks spelling the tweaks out was a huge burden. It's kinda overblown.
Edit: Though I did once end up in the back of a police car while they searched my sister's truck because the officers never bothered to ask how to spell my name so :rotate:
Tamsin is perhaps more common in the Commonwealth, or at least, I've encountered it a fair bit in NZ and less often in the UK. Seems to have been a popular choice in the 1970s-80s.
Usually spelt as above.
Also, as someone with am odd spelling of a normal Anglo name, I can confirm it is a minor inconvenience. People are greatly amused by the idea but luckily it seemed to be a common thing for my friends parents too, choosing a normal name and adding/changing a letter.
Kalkino on
Freedom for the Northern Isles!
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Sir CarcassI have been shown the end of my worldRound Rock, TXRegistered Userregular
My name is Chris but I'll still occasionally get someone that says "How do you spell that?" or "K-h-r-i-s-s?" or something to that effect.
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
I'll throw in one novel but not stupid (in my opinion) option that my friend and her partner did recently.
They took each others mom's names and combined them.
It was like Mary and Isabella or something and came up with Mariella.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
I've always loved names like Ariana. Not sure why.
Chiming in to vote for the "easy-to-spell first name, more interesting middle name" option. That way all the documents they (and, earlier on, you) will have to fill out will go smoothly, but if they want to switch to something more unusual they can still do that.
Seriously though, with the last name Dewalt, how can you not call her some thing like Radial Arm Saw or Heavy Duty Stud Nailer?
"Mrs Heavy Duty Stud Nailer, can you please come to the front of the class?"
That had me laughing quite a bit.
But I will chime in with my opinion as well.. Don't get too creative. I've never met anyone (anecdotal sure) that has had an "odd" name because their parents did it on a whim who has enjoyed it.
They all tend to use their middle name if it's normal, or they randomly pick some normal nickname to use.
Something easy and unique is likely fine. Something just a bit different than standard, but still easy, also fine.
But if you make some overly complicated thing that sounds nothing like any other name... they are probably going to get teased about it a lot and dislike it eventually.
I'd personally encourage you to settle on a short list and not a single name. When our daughter was born, we thought we knew exactly what we wanted to name her until the moment we saw her, and realized it was all wrong. We ended up with a name that was on our short list but we had thought firmly discarded. It just fit.
Meet your little girl first. Something might strike you.
EDIT: And seriously, unique names are not as cool as they sound. Go outside and shout the name Clementine or Lux or O'lillya at the top of your lungs ten times. Seriously, go and do it. Right now, I'll wait.
....
How'd that feel? You're gonna do that a lot, calling for your child.
Cog on
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ceresWhen the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderatormod
That is an excellent point. If you don't feel pretty good about shouting the name you pick at the top of your lungs you should probably reconsider.
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
My wife vetoed my suggestion for our son, Mageneto von CMPunk. So we compromised on Liam, which has turned out to be one of the most common baby names in recent years. That wasn't really our plan.
My wife runs summer and holiday camps at a local youth center, and it's weird how spikes in name popularity narrow down to an individual year basis. Like one year there will be 5 Dylans in a rank and maybe 1 or 2 in the rank ahead or behind and another year there will be 6 Madisons in a rank with similar frequency changes in the rank ahead/behind. And of course there are off spellings like Dillon or Madyson. The weird thing for me is how are all these parents simultaneously influenced to pick a name. Granted it's not a perfect sample st being predominantly white and affluent.
My wife vetoed my suggestion for our son, Mageneto von CMPunk. So we compromised on Liam, which has turned out to be one of the most common baby names in recent years. That wasn't really our plan.
You should have picked something more obscure. Like Raiden.
The name should feel like it fits appropriately in the phrase: "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; (name)".
Tamsyn... Raeko..... no
Oh, you mean like President Barrack Obama?
The name should match the child, heritage, and personal preference of the parents. Nevermind people spelling it, because people are dumbasses. My wife's name is Rita (not an abbreviation) and people spell it wrong.
If you want something unique, load up the list of names from 2012 on the Social Security site and skip the top 50 or so. There's lots there
Also, having your actual name be your name is pretty helpful throughout one's life. In our grandparent's generation, it was common to have one name and then be called something entirely different for no reason, but nowadays we enter our official names into computers and they're used for everything. I had one classmate whose name was Charles but he went by Andy -- not a middle name -- and every class he had to correct the rollcall. Of course, I'm biased -- my name is just my name, and my wife's name is just her name.
JuliusCaptain of Serenityon my shipRegistered Userregular
I get not wanting to name your child Jane or John but there are so many uncommon actual names that making up one seems unnecessary. I very rarely encounter someone with my name even though it's a perfectly normal name and everyone knows how to spell it. (and pronounce it.)
I mean, odds are that your kid isn't going to meet so many people that they'll be mad at their parents for not giving them the most unique name. There is so much history you can tap into for names that seeking outside of that just seems silly to me.
Jim SharkmagicThat's the Sharkmagic magic.England, UKRegistered Userregular
Jim Darkmagic.
No, but really, I'm agreeing with the "let your kid give themselves a nickname" thing. My real name is Cassandra but I always go by Cassie because Cassandra (despite being a common name) is kinda long and people took the piss for years because it was a "posh" name. Save the crazy names for pets and/or characters.
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
Posts
Leonora
Elenore
Cecilia
Cecilie
Marianne
Mariana
Catherine (alt spelling Katrin)
Catherina (alt spelling Katerina or Katrina)
Meg
Also a good solution to stuff like that on formal documents is to use the first initial followed by the middle and last name. So Raeko Sylvia Dewalt becomes R. Sylvia Dewalt, esquire (in the case of lawyers.) R. S. Dewalt, M.D., etc.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
re: length/ease of names, depends so much on the person if it'll irk them or not. I have a somewhat odd spelling of my name (mostly a silent 'gh' tucked in there) and when I found another girl who has the same name spelled the same way, we instantly became friends. Because people with my name and spelling are clearly awesome
Air-iss (as in bliss), but yeah. Glad you like it. I'm pretty proud of it actually.
Also, my name is Jurg. But I think you just got caught in a "creative spelling" storm. :P
Obligatory XKCD.
Not sure I can help from your picks though. When I think of what to name a girl I think of family names that are all rather "normal" and conventionally spelled.
I have the only type of spelling for my last name I've ever seen (which I share with famous people), and people still screw it up. Never underestimate the ability of people to spell shit wrong.
That being said, my own first name is an accepted variant spelling (and it's the only variant.) I do remember always being disappointed as a kid because I could never get anything personalized because they never, ever had my name. Overall, though, I've liked the small difference and Sylvie strikes me as being similarly set apart. Different, but not outrageously so.
Suggestions (threw in a few Irish ones because I actually happen to be fond of them):
Zoe Alannah
Rowan Genevieve
Sylvie Elaine
Selene Lux
Most of all, congratulations to you and your girlfriend!
I do like Delaney's above though.
Though on the other hand I had a rare spelling of a common name and people were always expecting one of the tweaks but not the other, which was kind of annoying. But also I don't think spending an extra three seconds every few weeks spelling the tweaks out was a huge burden. It's kinda overblown.
Edit: Though I did once end up in the back of a police car while they searched my sister's truck because the officers never bothered to ask how to spell my name so :rotate:
Usually spelt as above.
Also, as someone with am odd spelling of a normal Anglo name, I can confirm it is a minor inconvenience. People are greatly amused by the idea but luckily it seemed to be a common thing for my friends parents too, choosing a normal name and adding/changing a letter.
Correctly.
She was one of my favorite characters in Hitchhiker's Guide
They took each others mom's names and combined them.
It was like Mary and Isabella or something and came up with Mariella.
Well, naming your daughter Stud Nailer is likely to carry some consequences. Just saying.
That had me laughing quite a bit.
But I will chime in with my opinion as well.. Don't get too creative. I've never met anyone (anecdotal sure) that has had an "odd" name because their parents did it on a whim who has enjoyed it.
They all tend to use their middle name if it's normal, or they randomly pick some normal nickname to use.
Something easy and unique is likely fine. Something just a bit different than standard, but still easy, also fine.
But if you make some overly complicated thing that sounds nothing like any other name... they are probably going to get teased about it a lot and dislike it eventually.
I am going to echo most of the sensible advice re: spellyng.
Steam Me
http://theweek.com/article/index/251655/the-least-popular-american-baby-names-from-1880-to-1932
Meet your little girl first. Something might strike you.
EDIT: And seriously, unique names are not as cool as they sound. Go outside and shout the name Clementine or Lux or O'lillya at the top of your lungs ten times. Seriously, go and do it. Right now, I'll wait.
....
How'd that feel? You're gonna do that a lot, calling for your child.
Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
Maybe make it a middle name though.
IOS Game Center ID: Isotope-X
SYL-VEE LUX! Just sounds annoyed.
SYL-VEE-A LUX! Sounds more intimidating.
So that's my pick: Sylvia Lux, Sylvie for short.
Oh, you mean like President Barrack Obama?
The name should match the child, heritage, and personal preference of the parents. Nevermind people spelling it, because people are dumbasses. My wife's name is Rita (not an abbreviation) and people spell it wrong.
If you want something unique, load up the list of names from 2012 on the Social Security site and skip the top 50 or so. There's lots there
Also, having your actual name be your name is pretty helpful throughout one's life. In our grandparent's generation, it was common to have one name and then be called something entirely different for no reason, but nowadays we enter our official names into computers and they're used for everything. I had one classmate whose name was Charles but he went by Andy -- not a middle name -- and every class he had to correct the rollcall. Of course, I'm biased -- my name is just my name, and my wife's name is just her name.
I mean, odds are that your kid isn't going to meet so many people that they'll be mad at their parents for not giving them the most unique name. There is so much history you can tap into for names that seeking outside of that just seems silly to me.
Also
No, but really, I'm agreeing with the "let your kid give themselves a nickname" thing. My real name is Cassandra but I always go by Cassie because Cassandra (despite being a common name) is kinda long and people took the piss for years because it was a "posh" name. Save the crazy names for pets and/or characters.
What do you have against Jane? It could be a boy's name as you know.