golda is the usual birth certificate name. as in golda meir.
goldie is the nickname. as in goldie hawn.
one was a 70 year old prime minister (and grandmother).
one is an ageless comic.
just one example of what a serious name vs nickname will do to you.
[QUOTE=Marley23]
Say what you will about some of the names blinkingblinking has suggested - and I’ve liked some of them, but not everybody has - he’s being very thorough.
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My earlier comment did not come out the way I intended it, and I apologize to whomever was offended. I didn’t know there were other threads.
This might help.
[QUOTE=cher3]
I don’t know if was originally made up, but Janessa, with an “a” is a fairly popular name among Portuguese families here in San Diego.
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It’s a not unheard of name for Portuguese girls in Massachussetts too (there are a lot of Portuguese people in southern MA) and I’m sure they’re happy not to have been named after uncle Manny or uncle Joe 
2 out of 3 kids in my mom’s family were named after my grandfather and great-grandfather Joe: mom’s Joanne, my uncle is Joseph III.
I think it sounds somewhat odd with the son’s name, but Jenessa isn’t bad on its own merits.
Harriet the Spry, what about all the non-redheads named Scarlet and Ruby? They seem to do okay.
Like others have said, “Goldie” sounds like something you name your fish or retriever.
I like Jenessa alright. Not as much as I like Jane, Jenny, or Melissa - but then I’m stodgy and dull like that.
[QUOTE=Orual]
Like others have said, “Goldie” sounds like something you name your fish or retriever.
I like Jenessa alright. Not as much as I like Jane, Jenny, or Melissa - but then I’m stodgy and dull like that.
[/QUOTE]
Melissa would be good. My wife says that she likes the sound of “issa” “essa”.
But I hate the nickname of ‘Mel’.
Maybe it’s different in Australia, but I don’t know any Melissas who are nicknamed Mel. When I was growing up, the standard nickname was Missy (which I don’t really care for, but is better than Mel). All the Melissas I know now go by their whole name.
Jenessa is OK; Goldie, not so much, because of the connotations already mentioned.
I like Melissa.
GT
My IRL name is Nerissa - howzabaout that?
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking]
Melissa would be good. My wife says that she likes the sound of “issa” “essa”.
But I hate the nickname of ‘Mel’.
[/QUOTE]
Clarissa!
There was a writer named Jessamyn…that’s kind of cool.
[QUOTE=gardentraveler]
Maybe it’s different in Australia, but I don’t know any Melissas who are nicknamed Mel. When I was growing up, the standard nickname was Missy (which I don’t really care for, but is better than Mel). All the Melissas I know now go by their whole name.
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This is my experience as well. I have 5 or 6 friends named Melissa, and they all go by “Melissa.” None of them are called “Mel,” and as far as I know, they never have been. (One did go by her middle name for a while in college, but that was her choice, and just a phase.)
Why discount a name you like because of possible nicknames? I have many cousins who go by their full given names of “Michael” or “Gregory” or “Zachary” or “Abbigail” or “Elizabeth” or whatever because that is what their parents call them.
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking]
My baby will be a girl. Or should I say is a girl ? What is the right thing to say?
Just found out at the ultrasound.
My wife wants to name her Jenessa. I want to name her Goldie. My wife rejected all the other name suggestions that I had.
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How did you all arrive at the names? Did you just like the sounds or are the family names?
I’m a fan of family names, myself.
[QUOTE=rockle]
My earlier comment did not come out the way I intended it, and I apologize to whomever was offended. I didn’t know there were other threads.
[/QUOTE]
I don’t think you have anything to apologize for. I sure wasn’t offended.
And it’s from Shakespeare! You can’t go wrong with Shakespeare names. 
This “Goldie” isn’t so sweet.
Jenessa sounds like a porn star.
I resigned myself to the fact that the poor kid’s joing to have a Jerry Springer audience member name about three of these threads ago.
They both sound like stripper names.
[QUOTE=Girl From Mars]
My IRL name is Nerissa - howzabaout that?
[/QUOTE]
Well, isn’t that a reasonably common name on Mars? 
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking]
Melissa would be good. My wife says that she likes the sound of “issa” “essa”.
But I hate the nickname of ‘Mel’.
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There are lots of good “issa” and “essa” names, and aren’t made up. I like the suggestions of Nerissa and Clarissa. Vanessa and Marissa are nice, too.
So is Jenessa in fact made up? Because, without knowing either way, the previously-mentioned “Janessa” actually looks and sounds nicer and less randomly amalgamated to me, that little vowel makes a difference. Wouldn’t be a name I’d choose for myself, but I would suggest considering that instead. Don’t like Goldie at all, JMO of course.
I looked up Jenessa on behindthename.com, which gives origins and meanings of names. It said it’s “a combination of Jen and the popular name suffix ‘essa.’” So, yes, it’s made up.
[QUOTE=elfkin477]
Harriet the Spry, what about all the non-redheads named Scarlet and Ruby? They seem to do okay.
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I don’t think I’ve personally known a Scarlet. And who knows what color Scarlett Johanson’s hair really is? Was Scarlett O’Hara brunette in the book, or just the movie? The character seems to have that redhead=fiesty stereotype going on.
I have a vague sense of perhaps having met an older Ruby from time to time. I could see Ruby coinciding with the birthstone, perhaps. Still, I picture Ruby as someone whose dark hair has red highlights.
I think Goldie is worse than either of those, though, because it sounds so much like a nickname. Why would someone have a nickname that doesn’t describe them? Just … odd.