We’ve got baby number three due to arrive in October. I’ve got an idea for a baby name I think would work for either a boy or a girl. I’ve run it by my wife and gotten positive results, but I would like some objective feedback to make sure we wouldn’t be making a stupid “novelty name” mistake.
Ok, here’s the name:
Sagan.
What do you think?
I like it for a boy, but it doesn’t seem to fit for a girl. It’s different, but not too bizarre and it’s simple to spell.
How would it be pronounced? Like “saggin” as in the porch is saggin’?
well, the demunitive would be “sag” and it rhymes with “satan” and “pagan”
Honest opinion is a nay vote.
Presumably as in Carl Sagan. I think it could work, but it seems a better girl’s name to me.
I like it, but I’m biased - I lurve Carl Sagan.
Atrocious. Sorry, that’s a harsh reaction, but I assume you want complete honestly. It’s a dreadful idea. It has many strikes against it:
For a boy, it’s very, very bad. For a girl it’s unforgivably terrible. I liked Carl Sagan too, but wouldn’t “Carl” be a better choice?
It’s after Carl Sagan, yes. Pronounced the same way.
I appreciate all responses, whether they’re negative or not.
Congratulations.
Carl Sagan is my favorite scientist of all time, so I’m partial to the name. I think I could definitely get used to it for a boy, but I personally would not give it to a girl.
Have you considered it for a middle name? That way, when he is old enough to decide, he can choose to go by it if he likes it, and you won’t have a baby with a celebrity baby name. Best of both worlds.
Don’t really like it. Makes me think the parents are trying too hard to be hip and smart.
Also, it doesn’t seem unisexy enough for a girl.
That’s the same concern I have. I think it’s a social handicap to have a name where the pronunciation is ambiguous. It makes for awkwardness, and trust me, your future kid will get plenty sick of answering questions about how the name is pronounced – “saggin,” “saygun,” or “sa-GAHN” (you know, as in Francoise).
I don’t think it’s that hard to pronounce. Carl Sagan was the first thing I thought of, since that’s the only place I have ever seen that name. Now if he said that it was to be pronounced like “Saigon,” then yes I agree that would be difficult and confusing.
I’ve considered it as a middle name, but I think, for a boy at least, 'm in love with it as a first name.
We do have an alternative first name for a girl – Ripley (after my wife’s favorite movie character).
I like the name but only for a boy. Think of the jokes a girl with the name Sagan will be subjected to when she gets older. ETA: Upon preview, Ripley’s a very nice name for a girl.
How about naming the girlbaby Carla? Carol? Carline?
I like it. I think it’s a GOOD thing when people have unusual names. To hell with anyone who says it’s “too yuppy” or whatever. My first name is one of the top ten boys names for the 1980s. It’s really annoying in the workplace when I hear my coworkers say my name, and they’re referring to the other dude (there are four other "me"s at my workplace!). I’ve seriously considered changing my first name to something rarer, it bothers me that much.
Sagan- just echoing that yeah, makes me think of the scientist on first read (and i see i’m correct in that ), but its def. a boy’s name vs. a Girl. It’d SUCK to be a girl with that name I think… As I can’t help but associate the name with an old white guy scientist (not sexy). Of course that may be your plan all along! But I’m up there with the group saying it’d be a decent middle name, but it’s too last name sounding for a first name.
Ripley on the other hand is just fine for a Girl. She was a badass.
The “last name as a first name” thing is hardly a trend–it’s an old tradition and it’s where we got now-common names like Mallory, Kelly, Shelby, Carter, Burke. . . there are lots of them out there.
Well, now I can think of something worse than Sagan. Way too trendy. And the poor thing will go through life with everyone knowing she was named after a movie character.
Carl. Carol. Carla. Lovely names.
Sagan reminds me of sago. Yuck.
I beg your pardon?
Kidding. Dio, I like it. It’s very you. I think it’s probably better for a girl, but works either way. And congratulations!