Thursday, January 10, 2008

Baby Names

Don't you just love baby names! ok-maybe you don't, but I sure do. There's possibly nothing on this planet that I enjoy discussing more than baby names (except for maybe weddings-that's a close second). No, this is not a pregnancy announcement if any of ya'll are getting any ideas. I just have loads of pregnant friends right now so it's been on my mind. While I'm definitely not an expert, I seem to usually have my finger on names just 'cause I like them so much. Here are some of the recent names I've discussed and my honest opinions on them:

Sophia-gorgeous, just gorgeous, but again much, much too common (#1 out of 100 on the last list I've seen)
Alice-this name is growing on me (must be those darn Twilight books:P). It's different without being unrecognizable. It might be a little Brady Bunch for some people, but I think it'll be making a come-back.
Emmett-One of my all-time-favorite boy names. I'd use it in a heartbeat, but Spencer says it reminds him of the football player. Very classic without being common...sigh.
Emily-very classic and pretty, but too common (#8)
Xavier-despite what one might think, this name is not as unusual as it used to be. It's presently #67 on the list. I still think that in everyday use, however, your child probably wouldn't have another one in his class and it would still be considered "unique".
Arthur-kids get teased easily enough without having a name that tapes "kick me" on their back. Even the cartoon aardvark is nerdy.
Samuel-definitely stands the test of time, but a bit common. It's definitely being used less these days (only #54 on the list). I'm a fan, although I don't think I'd ever use it.
Owen-incidentally, this is actually Spencer's middle name and his grandfather's name, so we might just end up using it somewhere sometime. It's definitely rising in the ranks (#40), but is still not "common" yet.
Lucy-this is easily one of my very favorite girls names. If I can get over my alliteration aversion, I'll probably use it. It's #85 on the list, but one doesn't actually seem to hear it that often yet. Some people might think it's a little too "old lady"-but that hasn't stopped me yet!

Thanks for listening to me rant on my favorite topic. Feel free to give any of your opinions in the comments. Hopefully I haven't offended anyone...if I have, I'm sorry. Have a fabulous day!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

You forgot Thorthworth, a classic name that developes character, physical strength, and/or swift speed in an individual. I hear that the less common female version, thorthjella (pronounced thorthw-ella), is also climbing in the ranks.

For individuals who love these names, but find them too common, I suggest prefixing a random, silent letter. "P" is a common suggestion such as in the word "pterodactylus"; however, ANY constanant will work because it will invariable be swallowed up in the "th" sound. This gives you 21 spellings of a classic name without modifying its sound.

Although I personally would NEVER do it, additional variety could be developed by inserting silent letters before any of the "th's" in the name. ie: Qthorxthworpth

Alabama Apples said...

Whit-I love your rant. There are 2 boys in my ward named Owen (one 9 mo. and the other shortly to be born). Not so sure about Alice, Lucy kind-of cute. What about Jackman? I don't know, kind-of sounds trendy and I don't really like trendy names (please strike from the record my son is named Gavin).

Spence- I love your idea!! Any name can become uncommon! Gavin can become Wgavin and there would never be one in his class! I'll have to let Kit know...Fjack, Tmason, Ywilbur...the list goes on and on!!!

whitney said...

I had suspected that owen was getting more and more popular. It's a good thing we were only planning on using it as a middle name (if that even). As for Jackman...I don't know. I don't really love it, but that might just be me. It could be shortened to Jack, which is cute (although a bit to popular/trendy).

Erica said...

You are so funny! I loved talking about babies and names and pregnancy and all of that stuff but now that we're out of Utah not too many people are pregnant so I feel like it doesn't come up too often. So I love hearing you blog about it! What do you think about Isaac? At the moment if we were to get pregnant again and have a boy that is the name I currently like :)

Megan said...

Oh, I love bay names too! I loved it even before I had a baby. I would make lists and lists. Then When I got preggers Matt wouldn't really talk about it until right before the baby came. I love the old fashioned girls names like lucy, Molly, Ruby, etc. Our favorite boys name right now is Gabriel (and call him Gabe for short).

Anonymous said...

oh oh oh,,, can I play? I love the name Sophia,,, it is just so beautiful, but I have to agree it is over used, same with Emily. such a bummer. I also love the names: Allison, Spencer, Matthew, Lana, Emma,,, oh I could just go on and on. my issue is names that are too common, but obviously I broke down and broke my rule because my youngest little one is named Brooklyne, sigh.

Mark Nott said...

we like lucy - and arthur is cool because it's cousin Jake's middle name, and The Tick's Sidekick

whitney said...

Megan-I love older names too-those are easily my favorite kind (hence Ezra and Georgia:).

Mark-you got me there. I should've never messed w/the tick. Note however, that the name isn't so cool that Jake gave up his first to go by his middle...

Anonymous said...

Okay, I am going to have to leave two comments. One for Spence, and one for you, Whit.

Spencer, your comment made me literally laugh-out-loud. You are too funny. I don't think that I have seen a "mimic" of Whit that funny in a real long time. But hey, maybe you were just giving your honest, unbiased opinion on Thorthworth...right?

Anonymous said...

Yay, yay!! This is absolutely one of my very favorite topic...ever! You pretty much already know my opinion on those names, too as we love to talk about it. :) My favorite in your list is probably Lucy...much to Mom's dismay. :) Hey, Lucy Humphrey...mmmmm, nope. You're right on with Aurthur...too PBS for me. Let's see, what other names did you write on...Sophia, beautiful...too common, but still useable, I think. You know my adversion to common...yikes, Ella is too common, but the boys' hardwriring would've blown a fuse if I had changed it. :) Oh well. Yep, Alice is way too Brady Bunch for my taste. Maybe if I thought about it for awhile I could get over that. Hmmm. Post other names if you can think of them. You know I love to give my opinion on them. ;)

Zachary said...

Obviously the greatest name ever is Zachary. But for the more common folk...there are many choices.

Seriously though, I kind of like the idea of transgendering some names. For example, on the television show "Scrubs" one of the female doctors is name Elliot. I think that would be a cool girl's name.

But my vote is for Thorthworth. You would be surprised how many Russian missionaries had that name.

whitney said...

That's crazy zach!! Georgia came ___ this close to being named Elliot and I totally got the idea from Scrubs! I just loved it for a girls name. We ended up not using it this time (and probably won't ever b/c Georgia is such a girly-girl name), but I still adore the idea of it.

Annie said...

Alex threatened Jared's name to be Archibald (Archie for short). He also likes Tallis. We like Savannah and Sage for a girl. You could have a Savannah and a Georgia!