Chalk up another one, I work with a 30-something Rohan who admits to Tolkein inspired parents.
(I’ve also met a Thorin who said the same thing).
I know a guy in college named Amadeus.
He doesn’t talk to anyone.
Rohan is a perfectably acceptable Indian boy’s name.
I’m Indian-Goan & Maharashtrian- burdened with a name unusual even for my community. Anagha-which is close to impossible for most Americans given the language background needed to produce the “ghk” sound. Given that I’ve never met another Anagha under the age of 50, I’m pretty certain my parents named me the Indian equivalent of “Edith” or Mildred. Usually, I end up skulking around as “Anu,” which is pretty common.
Baker, that’s quite a coincidence. My eight-month old son is named Walter Desmond.
OTOH, always check the Social Security Popular Names list when you have a baby. We took forever to find a name for the now-6-month-old baby. I liked Sarah (esp. my husband’s ancestress Sarah Justice, I thought that would be a great name to have), but we discarded that one because Sarah was so popular and every other kid we knew was a Sarah. Once she was born, she was clearly an Emily, and Emily she therefore is. A week later, we found out that Emily was the single most popular name in the US last year. Sigh. Might as well have named her Jennifer. Oh well, I take comfort in the way she was so obviously Emily.
Even worse, I’ve always loved Jacob for a boy, and it’s #1 too.
We’ve had our MiniDillos’ names picked out for a while. For girls, we like Zoe, Arianna, and Rhiannon. Are these mock-worthy? Tell me now, so I don’t have to pointed and laughed at when I’m vastly pregnant and therefore hormonal and insane. I’m of Mexican and Italian descent, and his family is Czech, so I guess we fall into the category of muttley-Americans who pick Irish/Welsh/Gaelic/Celtic names with no similar ethnic background, with Rhiannon. I am fascinated with fairy tales, myths, legends, and fokelore, and have several volumes of Celtic and Welsh mythology. I don’t claim to be any sort of expert on the subject in any way at all, I just thought Rhiannon was a beautiful name.
I’ve wanted to name my first daughter Zoe since I was a young pup. Checking the Social Security list, I see that it’s steadily climbing in popularity, from #502 in 1990, to #61 in 2002. By the time we get around to having kids, it’ll probably be the new Madison. Sigh.
~mixie
I dig Zoe, but be warned that it is the name of a small, frenetic muppet. That probably accounts for much of its recent popularity. 
Arianna is a lovely name, but be prepared for Rhiannon to be subjected to countless Fleetwood Mac jokes throughout her lifetime.
Leigh, with that precise spelling (albeit among others) is an old English name which has been around for centuries. It means “clearing in the woods” or “meadow”. It’s been used frequently as both a first and a last name, by males and females, since the 1600’s.
Dear Mr and Mr Smith,
Apparently you are not up on current list of what’s hot in baby names.
The names that are to be the new ‘Jennifer’ and ‘Britney’ are old fashioned names:
Sophia
Isabelle
Emily
Olivia
etc
Your pal,
Babs
(who was crushed to find out this out and is due in two months!)
Guin,
I like name Olga, too. It’s a family name. Alas, Mr Baboon has nixed it.
The absolute worst is names that sound okay in one language, but are laughably horrible in another.
Just like the poor Indian fellow who (I kid you not) was named “Ramee Updias”. Say it out loud … 
I had a student whose parents apparently liked French names. They named her son Jauckque.
In college I had a friend with eight long names and they were not even short ones. We called her “Sonny.” That wasn’t one of them.
I am SO OLD that I didn’t know anyone named Debbie until Debbie Reynolds became well known in the mid- 1950’s. Brittany was ONLY a place name. Madison was a city in Wisconsin and an Avenue in NYC until the movie Splash came out. Emily, Isabelle, Amy, Grace, Samantha and Anna were hopelessly dated. (These are favorites of mine now.)
I think I’ve decided to add a name to my original given name. My maiden name was Welsh and I think that I will add Bronwyn to it. It makes me feel like a small brown bird and seems appropriate for “the autumn of my years.”
Are you calling me a sock puppet, dearie?
Well I’m farquhed, I had no idea. Thanks hibernicus, who might sound Roman in origin but isn’t.
Wouldn’t it be weird to have a common first and last name – like Jack Jones – then put in a really bizarre middle name: Rings-Around-the-Moon-Two-Cheeseburgers-Annna-Pepsi-Holloway?
Really? Are you serious? It’s gaining in popularity?
You’re not going to believe this, but I’ve always wanted to name my daughter Mixie Aemadillo.
“I have an Indian girlfriend. Her name is Urvashi, and really nobody in my family can say her name yet. I think I heard my brother call her Earth Shoe, and I know last Thanksgiving my dad called her Herbalife.” - Kate Clinton
The thing that drives me nuts is the way people misspell my first name with one T (Mathew). Matthew is the most common damn spelling of the name! Are you Christian? It’s spelled the Exact Same Way as the first book in the New Testament!!
(Of course, the new misspelling I’ve been encountering is Matthiew, which is kind of understandable considering it’s mostly French-speakers who make it - the equivalent name in French is Mathieu.)
Last week, I met a cute six year old girl. Her name was BABY. I’m sure she won’t get teased in High School :rolleyes:
My great-grandmother was a Cornelia and went by Nell. I think it’s a lovely name, although probably that’s mostly because I hold high admiration for my great-grandmother, long feared as the terror of the neighborhood children (“Don’t you step on those flowers!”).
As for the -leigh names-- I’ve run across one that will haunt my nightmares forever. It was a child named after the motorcycle.
H-A-R-L-E-I-G-H.
And no one’s suggested the Welsh version, Badh Leigh, yet?
It is weird, but I like it. Of course, MY middle name isn’t nearly as hyphenated as yours. I like the three N’s in Annna, though. May I subject our firstborn to that?
(A.) Corrvin (Smith), one of two Corrvins that I know
Heh. <Patrick Swayze> NOBODY puts Baby in a corner </Patrick Swayze>
Is that how you spell Swayze?
I knew a girl named Christal Chlear. I swear.
Brittney makes me think of dogs. Brittney Terriers?
My sister-in-law’s sisters are Hannah, Ruth and Chelsea. She’s an Amy. She hates it. Her brother is Sam. Her stepbrother is Logan.
A friend I had in High School was named Tanyale (Tan YELL) Her seven brothers and sisters were all T names. Turquoise was the most memorable.
I don’t plan on procreating, but names for animals are always being bandied around here.
Our newest (kitten) is Jacob Murphy Chambers. (think the Dark Tower Series, the Murphy is because of the sounds he makes when he meows).
Other names:
Duncan
Connor (great names, and Highlander references)
Chester
Tucker
Samantha/Samuel (Sam)
Paul
Logan (Logan’s Run)
Isaac (Asimov)
Arthur (C. Clarke)
etc.
I’m a Nicole. I hate it. It’s great for others, but it just doesn’t fit me. I’m a Niki. ONE K! ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE! Not two, no C, or H or Q or anything. Grrr.
My SO is Cameron. I ADORE that name. Always have. However, every eight year old boy seems to be named Cameron.
As for twins, I have twin friends who grew up with the names Rebecca and Elizabeth. As little kids, they were Becky and Betsy. But at school, they didn’t have to have cutesy matching names. Very smart.
I also know a family who’s parents gave them all names that were appropriate if they were to be president one day. Samuel Ford Johnson. But, to his friends, he’s Sammy. Nice.
Isn’t Jake actually short for John, in the books?
There was a human interest story in the New York Daily News about twins. I do not remember what the story was actually about but there was a shot with a young mother and her two twins. Beautiful babies. Their names?
Alize and Hennessy.
I guess that’s what she and her boyfriend were drinking that night in the back seat of their car.