# Help Name my Baby **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 4, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702 "2011-05-04T15:13:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/1 "2011-05-04T15:13:51Z")
We are expecting kid #2 in August and husband and I are looking for name ideas. We don’t know the gender yet, so fire away. The rules: My husband does not want a super common name. So stay out of the top 50. For girls names preferably not in the top 100. Nothing that starts with L or ends in “la”. Preferably more than one syllable. Short names can sound funny with the last name. I think that’s it. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Cryptic\_C62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cryptic\_C62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cryptic_C62)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/2 "2011-05-04T15:23:28Z")
I have always wanted there to be a human named “Zaff”. It’s unique, it’s gender-neutral, and it’s close enough to “Zach” that it doesn’t sound completely bizarre. If the human grows to be very tall, it may be referred to as “Zaff the Giraffe”, though I don’t know if I would consider this to be a problem or the most awesome thing that has ever happened. I suppose it depends on how self-conscious the human turns out to be. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/3 "2011-05-04T15:28:38Z")
My unused boy’s name was Duncan James. Have at it–I’m not having another child. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/4 "2011-05-04T15:32:43Z")
Murgatroyd Crunk Fangle Snargboinger Thudmuffin Eeker I’ll try and come up with some boys’ names too. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/5 "2011-05-04T15:54:36Z")
The problem with avoiding common names is that often everyone jumps for the same uncommon names at the same time. If I were going to uncommon, I’d make sure it was still a traditional name. You can use the [NameVoyager graphical name wizard](http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#)to look by decades back to 1890. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/6 "2011-05-04T16:00:25Z")
Omegatron. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/7 "2011-05-04T16:06:38Z")
Oh, and top 50 names like Elizabeth and K©atharine can be shortened in a lot of ways. That allows a bit more wiggle room if you end up with, say, multiple Elizabeths around. Also, consider taking a stroll down your family tree. You may find an ancestral name that you like. Back a few centuries, our family hit a pocket of unrelated women named Jerusha. That name never made it into the top 1,000. Janet hasn’t been in the top 500 for awhile. Unless it made a comeback after 2009. NameVoyager only tracks to 2009. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/8 "2011-05-04T16:29:52Z")
All once common, now less so: **Judith** **Marjorie** **Margaret** **Joyce** **Dale** **Selma** **Agnes** **Joan** **Beatrice** **Blanche** **Adelaide** - making a minor resurgence, maybe the next “in” name. **Eleanor** - ditto the above. **Constance** **Josephine** **Francis** **Richard** **Alfred** **Harold** **Donald** All of the above are out of the top 100 for either sex. **Louis** and **Louise** start with an L, but are also out of the top 100. **Charles** , surprising to me, is out of the top 50. I only like a few of the above names myself, but all are “traditional” in the U.S. and all appear underused in this generation. ETA: I also have/had relatives named **Melva** and **Myrtle** , once semi-common names long vanished. By contrast I thought one of my grandmother’s name, _Amelia_, was incredibly old-fashioned, but now it has made a major comeback. Go figure. ---
**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 4, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/9 "2011-05-04T16:54:46Z")
Throckmorton Agamemnon Clytemnestra Balthazar Eurydice Mordechai Thelonius Hieronymus ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/10 "2011-05-04T16:56:48Z")
My wife and I will never have kids, but have our names picked out anyway. For a girl, **Clementine** For a boy, **Albert** Joe ---
**Author:** ![classyladyhp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5ac83/32.png) [@classyladyhp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/classyladyhp)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/11 "2011-05-04T17:29:47Z")
Congrats! How about Kylie for a girl? David for a boy. I know it’s common but I love it. ---
**Author:** ![classyladyhp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5ac83/32.png) [@classyladyhp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/classyladyhp)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/12 "2011-05-04T17:30:48Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > My wife and I will never have kids, but have our names picked out anyway. > > For a girl, **Clementine** > > For a boy, **Albert** > > Joe Clementine? Like the fruit? ---
**Author:** ![classyladyhp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5ac83/32.png) [@classyladyhp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/classyladyhp)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/13 "2011-05-04T17:31:50Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Throckmorton > Agamemnon > Clytemnestra > Balthazar > Eurydice > Mordechai > Thelonius > Hieronymus Seriously? Throckmorton??? 😕☹ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/14 "2011-05-04T17:48:37Z")
If I had ever had one, my child would have been named Morgan LaFay. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/15 "2011-05-04T17:51:00Z")
Well, you’ve eliminated my favourite girl’s names (Lauren or Laurel); how about Marianne? And Walter for a boy - I like that name. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/16 "2011-05-04T17:52:52Z")
For girls: **Elise Jovia Tamara Corrie** The state names - **Virginia, Carolina, Georgia, Jersey** (Dakota and Montana already being very popular) Seconding \*\*Clementine \*\*(used by Ethan Hawke and his kid’s nanny for their girl.) Boys: **Jon-Adam** (We were going to use it, then SIL & BIL had Ayden-James and we’re loathe to look like we’re copying them.) **Woodson Victor Wyatt Hadrian** ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/17 "2011-05-04T17:56:12Z")
Ralph and Bonita. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/18 "2011-05-04T18:03:27Z")
I’ve always thought **Ethan** to be a fine, strong name for a boy. Perhaps **Naomi** for a girl. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/19 "2011-05-04T18:05:12Z")
I’m gonna keep pimping **Darth Volvo** as a name until somebody uses it, goddammit. ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702/20 "2011-05-04T18:25:57Z")
I’d never thought of it before, but ever since the Royal Wedding I’ve been dying to have another little girl so I can name her Pippa. (Short for Philippa.) So cute! Of course, I already have a Kate and a Will so if I had a Pippa I’d have to have a Harry, too, for the complete set. Not going to happen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-name-my-baby/580702.md?page=2)