# Baby names - Time for another thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 29, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392 "2008-04-29T20:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/61 "2008-05-01T06:17:20Z")
Here’s a few: **Izentefsi** **Yehtgeisht** **Boewobtawnt** **Scranarexin** ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/62 "2008-05-01T12:03:32Z")
Oddly enough, I kinda like Diomedes. Dio for short (long i). ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/63 "2008-05-01T12:59:15Z")
[QUOTE=MGibson] Paris [/QUOTE] I know a guy names Paris. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/64 "2008-05-01T13:12:13Z")
\*\*Scranarexin \*\* sounds like a prescription medication. _Ask your doctor if Scranarexin is right for you._ ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/65 "2008-05-01T14:06:36Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] I also love the name Ulysses - although I named my cat that, so it’s kind of out for any human children I may have ☹ [/QUOTE] My wife has told me that there is no way in hell that we are naming our kid Ulysses so its out as well. ☹ My dad had a Brazilian friend whose first name was Pericles. Everyone always called him by his last name or Perry. We later met his sisters Andromache, and Iphigenia. He also had a brother named Hasdrubal. ---
**Author:** ![Viridiana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Viridiana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viridiana)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/66 "2008-05-01T17:08:35Z")
I hate my first name. It’s not that unusual, but I think it sounds ugly (and it’s French and I’m not, but that’s less of a problem). I still kind of resent my parents for assuming I’d have the same taste as them and going for something that didn’t sound all that nice to the ear. Maybe other people are fine with it, but it affects my self esteem. Luckily I had my middle name to fall on - I do like that name, and decided to use it as standard - unfortunately, I didn’t realize I really could until I was about 20, so it’s been very difficult, even now, years later. I was already kind of concerned in your last thread when you were already thinking to dictate what your child’s nicknames would and would not be. Please try to leave your child a viable alternative (for example if the Cambodian lastname sounds really weird/hard to deal with/not like a real name, I might consider something else), if his happiness is important to you. It may not be an issue - he may turn out to love the name you chose (I don’t like any of the suggestions, by the way, for reasons explained by other posters and because I don’t like how they sound, but of course that’s just me and ultimately it doesn’t matter) - but he may not. And don’t assume he’ll tell you if he doesn’t - I never told my parents. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/67 "2008-05-01T19:02:50Z")
I’m not a fan of last-names-as-first-names in whatever form they take. Naturally, that means that my brother named 3 of his 4 kids with last names for first names (Beck, Jackson, and Bailey, if you were wondering). If you must have a medieval profession as a first name, may I suggest: Miller Cooper Weaver Carpenter Thatcher Mason Baker Butcher (they can call him “Butch”!) Bookbinder Fishmonger Swineherd Anyway, to echo what’s been said, the trend toward excessive Ks and Ys has gone too far. Do us all a favor and name your child “Kynnydy” (pronounced “Kennedy”), and take two trends to their logical conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/68 "2008-05-01T19:15:05Z")
I still like Frank. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/69 "2008-05-01T20:04:13Z")
I have a 32 year old “Justin.” Just after we named him, it swept across the US like wildfire. These days, I lean toward the older names: John or Jon or Jonathan Sally Of your current choices, I’m not nuts about any of them. Too many Carters. The Conde thing doesn’t work at all, and if you are stuck on Kayden, I’d spell it Caiden for a boy — the K feminizes it in my brain. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/70 "2008-05-01T20:24:31Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] I still like Frank. [/QUOTE] Bob is nice, too. Seriously, **blinkingblinking** , please do not name the child Condé. Please. My sister-in-law has a name with an accent aigu, and no one ever ever types it. With her name, it doesn’t matter, because it’s a name that everyone knows, so they know how to pronounce it. With Condé, there is no real precedent among English speakers for how it is pronounced, and so the accent is really important for knowing how to pronounce it correctly. If I saw it with the accent, I would pronounce it properly, with the long A sound at the end. If I saw it without, I would pronounce it “Cond.” No one will ever type the accent, so noone will get the pronounciation right. With the ubiquitiousness of e-mail, I predict this may be a hugely annoying problem some day. Also, I think Kayden should be avoided, for the point made early on in the thread about the endless variations of -aden rhyming names out there right now. I’m frankly a little confused about what you are looking for, because you said this in one of your posts: [QUOTE=blinkingblinking] I do not care about if the name is trendy or classic. Just that it is a good name. I want a name that is unusual in that it is not very popular. [/QUOTE] Trendy & popular are kind of the same thing, and I don’t think that classic is the opposite of trendy. You may think that “Kayden” is an “unusual” because it’s not classic, but it’s getting very, very popular right now, which is what you say you don’t want. My son’s first name is biblical, so it’s very classic, but it’s also extremely popular right now (it’s on your list of most popular names in Victoria), which in my book makes it classic AND trendy (unfortunately). Likewise, a name can be classic and _not_ trendy, which is what people have been trying to suggest to you…such as the names on **eleanorigby’s** list. Carter is not bad…I kind of agree with those who say that last-names-as-first-names work better if they are family names (did this myself, with my son’s middle name). ---
**Author:** ![Carnacki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carnacki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnacki)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/71 "2008-05-01T22:30:21Z")
[QUOTE=MGibson] Yeah, classical names are great and they should be in circulation. Here are a few suggestions for boys names. [ul] [li]Alcibiades[/li][li]Orestes[/li][li]Telemachus[/li][li]Herodotus[/li][li]Themistocles[/li][li]Lysander[/li][li]Solon[/li][li]Diomedes[/li][li]Cimon[/li][li]Theseus[/li][li]Xerxes[/li][li]Nicias[/li][li]Diogenes [/li][li]Menelaus[/li][li]Paris[/li][li]Agamemnon[/li][/ul] These are male names that have been out of style for quite a long time. They should be brought back! [/QUOTE] My dad recommended Agamemnon for my son’s name, and I tried to like it, but it just seemed a bit too unusual… (He ended up Tobias). ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/72 "2008-05-01T23:31:41Z")
[QUOTE=Max Torque] Anyway, to echo what’s been said, the trend toward excessive Ks and Ys has gone too far. Do us all a favor and name your child “Kynnydy” (pronounced “Kennedy”), and take two trends to their logical conclusion. [/QUOTE] Middle name: Skynyrd. Carter is the most normal name that you’ve ever put forth **Blinking** , and while I know you don’t care it makes me think of [Carter USM](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter_USM) which could end up working either way for your boy. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/73 "2008-05-02T17:58:47Z")
In addition to the other name sites you’ve been sent, I recommend [www.nymbler.com](http://www.nymbler.com) (a new tool from the Baby Name Wizard). It lets you type in names that you like and gives you names with similar sounds and/or popularity profiles - sort of an interactive version of the sibling names in the book. It had never heard of Conde, but I gave it Carter, Jack, Kayden, and Darcy and asked for boy names, and it turned up: Dexter, Jackson, Lincoln, Clinton, Clayton, Jefferson, Hayden, Byron, Brady, Keaton, Carson, Reid, Brennan, Nelson, Nolan Do any of those work? Personally, I think Brady and Reid are cute, but I don’t think we particularly share a taste in names (my daughter is Dorothy and my son will be either Russell or Howard, unless we change our minds again). Nymbler will also give you popularity data (US) on the names. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/74 "2008-05-02T20:38:15Z")
Wow, harsh responses here. Maybe it’s because I didn’t participate in any previous threads. (Or possibly I just don’t remember. :D) As someone with an unusual but not trendy name, I can verify that there’s every possibility that your child will actually like having one. I like my name, my brother used his first name for a few years in high school but switched back to his middle name, and my step-sisters like theirs’. Other than some people who thought that my name was “Lisa” (more due to my childhood lisp than any issue on their part), I never experienced any problems or trauma due to it. With that said, I will say that I’m not a huge fan of Carter, perhaps because I associate it with teen pop idols. I don’t know if either of them have made it across to NZ, though. I like Conde a lot, though it _is_ slightly feminine to my ears. It’s a beautiful name nonetheless. Kayden… hm. Another name I like a lot, but I will concede that it’s pretty trendy right now. I wouldn’t listen to the people who are lobbying for names like “Michael” and “Luke”. Current baby name popularity lists or not, they are dizzyingly common. There’s a lot of middle ground out there. Your child will not be traumatized if they’re named “Dorian” or “Malik”. ---
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/75 "2008-05-03T12:38:22Z")
I feel I really must support the name Diomedes. I had a mouse named Diomedes of the Loud Battle Cry and he was a great pal. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/76 "2008-05-03T15:06:43Z")
Unfortunately, he is now known as Catfood. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/77 "2008-05-03T15:17:44Z")
That’s two votes for **Diomedes**. The choice is clear. You know it, I know it, and the good people of the SDMB know it. **Diomedes** is the next big naming trend. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/78 "2008-05-03T15:22:58Z")
Well now, of course, we must suffer through all the snarky second-guessing about pronunciation and teasing. I shall cast the first stone. Do you really want a kid whose nickname is synonymous with the really silly era of Black Sabbath’s career that fostered the advent of really, really silly heavy metal? Is that not an unfair burden for a child to carry? Dio? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/79 "2008-05-04T03:10:31Z")
[QUOTE=Kuboydal] Do you really want a kid whose nickname is synonymous with the really silly era of Black Sabbath’s career that fostered the advent of really, really silly heavy metal? Is that not an unfair burden for a child to carry? Dio? [/QUOTE] Never heard of 'em. How many kids have heard of Dio? Maybe you want to throw in a Captain and Tennille references while we’re at it! 😛 Marc ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392/80 "2008-05-04T21:07:30Z")
[QUOTE=Kuboydal] I feel I really must support the name Diomedes. I had a mouse named Diomedes of the Loud Battle Cry and he was a great pal. [/QUOTE] I know a kid named Demosthenes. Love it. Carter and Kayden both sound a little _declasse_ to my American ears, and Conde is just odd. **blinkingblinking** , it seems as though you like names that begin with the K sound. What about Karl, Calvin, Conrad, Kurt or Craig? All nice names with a more classic sound than Conde, Carter, or Kayden. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-time-for-another-thread/447392.md?page=5)