Most of the names you suggest are neither unusual nor uncommon.
Autumn is going to end up being Autumn K., to differentiate her from Autumn G. and Autumn W. I kinda like the name, but it is wayyyy to trendy.
Piper, Sterling, and Keaton just reek of late 1990’s trendiness–2 syllable surname, hard consonants.
Indigo sounds female to me, too. I have only heard of the name Indigo in the Ntozake Shange book Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo. Indigo was a female. I like it as a name (and as a color!) but it has that oh-so-hip, self-consciously non-conformist sound to it.
Matisse–nice thought, but why give a kid a name that instantly will make everyone she meets think of somebody else? Matisse is Matisse. Your kid isn’t.
As to what you should name them?
I’m fully in favor of Tommy’s suggestion that you name them William and Elizabeth. After all that’s my name and my brother’s.
I had a lot of fun at this site: http://haggisbutt.tripod.com/ (This is the site that hosts the Name-O-Tron.) I took the “What Kinds of Names do you Like” quiz, and it pointed me to several lists with some great possibilites.
I think the most important thing, though, is to avoid giving your kids names that they will have to spend the rest of their lives “explaining.” The ones you are looking at are pretty good in that respect (except for Matisse). Sure, everyone has to explain their name sometimes, and everyone has to spell it out all the time (you’d be surprised at how many people don’t know how to spell Elizabeth. “E-l-z-i-b-i-t-h?” “No. :rolleyes:”) But you really don’t want to sentence a kid to a life where they have to tell the story of how they got named Greatgooglymoogly to every passing stranger.
I can’t really say I’m a fan of your choices, but then I’m a boarderline traditionalist, they just don’t have that euphonious flow with Morgan/Morgana to me. I have to say don’t really care for the trend of using traditional boys names for girls either, but that’s me, and they are your kids. My own son is Cooper Aubrey so I think I have some glass walls in my house.
If, however you drop the ‘d’ it becomes Inigo who was a famous architect - Inigo Jones. He did beatiful work. Plus Inigo Morgan flows.
Or perhaps historcally popular virtue names like Verity (girl)or Resolve (boy),
or perhaps Kamaria (Swahili I think)or Tobar (Romany)
or maybe Daria (Persian) and Sawyer.
I always look into origins and meanings of names too, it took us seven months to even come up with a list of contenders and we still hadn’t decided when the little fella had actually put in an appearence. We wound up deciding he just looked more like a Cooper.
Shakespearean Names: There are two little girls down the block from me in Brooklyn named Cordelia and Miranda. I can’t hear their names being called without thinking “What a pair of pretentious dipshits their mom and dad must be!”
Autumn could be a little rough as the years go by. “We need to find a Fall guy!” “Remember, dear, Pride goeth before a Fall!” “The bigger they are, the harder they Fall!” “Spring ahead, Fall back!”
Hmmm, I have a friend who named her twins Stone and Carrina. (To me Stone sounds as though he’s either going to be a rock star or a news anchorman, but he’s their son)
I think if the choice were mine I’d probably name them Tomas and Sabina…Czech versions of Thomas and Sabrina but have a nice ring together I think.
As far as Inigo…“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya…You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
I still kinda like it, just pray none of the other kids ever sees The Princess Bride.
FTR I like Matisse, but it’ll probably be mispronounced her whole life by people who think Michelle can be spelled “Meechayle”.
Weren’t William and Elizabeth the dogs on “Bob and Margaret”?
The sarcastic answer would be Orangejello and Lemonjello. However, I’m not being serious, so please put those rotten vegetables away. Thank you.
I am a traditionalist when it comes to names. I’d rather think what’s good for the long-term (i.e. college, grad school and job) than what’s cute and trendy now.
A good place to start is your family tree. Also, go to the library and read some good baby-name books. They usually have good advice.
Actually, Ariel was a male in The Tempest, although I have yet to see a production where he’s played by a male actor.
I’m inclined to agree that all your choices, except “Matisse” and “Indigo,” are a shade too trendy-sounding to seem unique. Given your selection of middle name, I’m tempted to suggest that you go with an Arthurian theme:
My husband and I plan to name out first boy and girl, William (after his father) and Edotia (after my great aunt.) We will call them Will and Doshi for short. I absolutly love the name Edotia , and using the nickname Doshi for short makes it sound very international.
I also like Devin, Drew, Luke, Christian, Thomas, and Zach
Matthew and Madeline – Matt and Maddie? They each get an individual name, but when you want to talk about them as a pair, it’s quick and easy.
Dr. Paprika - you’re serious?
I like tubagirl’s choices.
Trendy/unusual names reflect more on the parents than on the poor kids who are afflicted with them.
I did okay with my three boys, I think – Michael, Barry and Christopher – but poor Tracy has been Spacey Tracy for years. I don’t know what I was thinking. She is spacey sometimes, but I’ll never know for sure if she would have been that way without the name.
Oh my God, the Name-O-Tron is so funny! It actually came up with “Moronshawn”!!
FTR I really like the name Indigo (perhaps because it’s a favourite colour of mine), although I too believe it should be a girl’s name. But I think if you’re going to pick something a bit unusual, you should keep in mind how it will sound with your last name. No matter how much I like the name Indigo, for example, I could not picture calling my child “Indigo MacRae”. So that would be out the window for me then. (Except possibly as a middle name…)
Just out of curiosity, why did you choose the spelling Stirling instead of Sterling? The guy’s going to be correcting people on that his whole life. Is it a family name, or is it after the place in Scotland?
I vote with the rest of the board against Matisse–it’s like naming your kid Elvis, it’s too associated with one person. I kinda like Keaton, though. Call him Key for short?
Madison & Michael, Isadore & Isadora, Jenny & Joe are all fine names, although I wouldn’t suggest saddling twins with them. The should be as far apart as possible, like Daisy and Aryana.
I suppose “Topova” Morgan is strictly out of the question.
My IRL name sucks; occasionally people transcend their nomenclature.
My 3-year-old son Izzy has already picked up the nickname “Easy,” due to his fairly complacent nature.
If the name don’t fit, their friends will change it.
