# What are you favorite (first) names? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808 "2008-10-07T04:47:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/61 "2008-10-09T04:10:10Z")
I have all of my potential children’s names picked out, although some may have to be altered depending on what my eventual husband’s surname is. Boys: Edward Stone Joffrey Layne Girls: Eleanor Róisín Amerens Ida I have a small problem with Róisín, though, in that when I hear it pronounced it sounds different than what name guides say it should sound like (RO-shin vs ro-SHEEN). I like both and I love the way the name looks, but can someone clarify how it’s actually supposed to be said? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/62 "2008-10-09T04:42:22Z")
**Fuzzybutt, Fluffhead** But if I had a baby instead of Persian kittens: Girl: Larkin or Larken Boy: Conner or Connor And I would name a child after a character in a book. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/63 "2008-10-09T04:46:22Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Either you’re kidding me, or you know me in real life and are messing with my head. There can’t be two of us. I’m not kidding you, and I don’t know you because everyone _I_ know thinks I’m crazy for liking those names. There are some beautiful ancient sculptures of Nemesis and Nike at the Getty Villa in Malibu. ---
**Author:** ![meenie7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@meenie7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meenie7)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/64 "2008-10-09T05:28:23Z")
For my hypothetical daughters: Meredith Bronwyn Mallory Alexis Rosalia Juliet For sons: Julian Timothy Edward Burgess or Edward Stephen If I had been a boy, I would have been named Stephen Burgess, Burgess being a middle name that runs in my family. We have some interesting names that run in my family, actually: Comfort for boys, Cherry for girls, and Winship, Shipman and Burgess as middle names. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/65 "2008-10-09T05:32:12Z")
I have a (male) friend named Woods. That’s my favorite name-of-a-real-person to date and it’s always been on the mental list of possible future baby names. One day it occurred to me that Tiger would be a nice/cool name for a girl. So yeah, if I had two kids I could name them Tiger and… Woods. Damn. Never mind. (I’ve no problem with the man, it’s just that neither I nor the SO are fans of golf or sports in general, and that would give people the wrong impression entirely) ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/66 "2008-10-09T18:24:20Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > My friend Siobhan is Irish of Asian extraction and in England she was always getting called things like “Sy-ob-han”. It’s more common there than it used to be though. I think it’s a loverly name. I’ve actually heard it pronounced shivAWN. Is that unusual? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/67 "2008-10-09T19:46:43Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > …I have always thought the name Roxanne was way cool. Long before The Police popularized it I had a vision of what a Roxanne would look like. Sting wasn’t far off. How about Darryl Hannah in the title role of the 1987 Steve Martin movie of the same name? Seemed to me at the time that she fit it very nicely indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/68 "2008-10-09T20:07:38Z")
Girls: Sarah, Jessica, Katherine, Sophie, Rachel, Teresa, Elizabeth, Zoe, Eve. Boys: David, Michael, Will, Jake, Joshua, Nick, Aaron, Chris, Paul. ---
**Author:** ![Sqwerticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@Sqwerticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sqwerticus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/69 "2008-10-09T22:32:00Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > I’ve actually heard it pronounced shivAWN. Is that unusual? See posts #51 to #57 (‘Sy-ob-han’ or ‘Sigh-oh-ban’ were given as how \*not \*to pronounce it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/70 "2008-10-09T23:01:12Z")
> [@Sqwerticus](#): > > See posts #51 to #57 (‘Sy-ob-han’ or ‘Sigh-oh-ban’ were given as how \*not \*to pronounce it. 🙂 Maybe I’m not making my pronunciation clear. Shove ON, is about the closest I can come. ---
**Author:** ![Sami41](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c57346/32.png) [@Sami41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sami41)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/71 "2008-10-10T11:19:25Z")
Jason is my all time favorite boys’ name. I also like Vincent, Sean, Jeremy and Alexander. For girls I love Sara and Ashley, but I’ll probably never use them as my only niece’s name is Sara Ashley. I’d give my sister a hard time about that except that she didn’t name her 2nd son Jason, even though she wanted to, because Jason is my favorite name. ---
**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:** [October 10, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/72 "2008-10-10T12:30:13Z")
I never wanted to have children, but my daughter’s name would have been Morgan LaFey, and my son’s name would have been Morgan Lafayette. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/73 "2008-10-10T22:46:19Z")
Names I like but would not name my kids, mostly for spelling reasons, are: Siobhan, Sinead, Bronwen, and Genevieve for girls and Ptolemy for boys. Names I like and would name my kids are Xaviera, Beatrix, Gertrude, Dolores, Winifred, and Eugenia for girls and Vladimir, Magnus, Wolfgang for boys. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/74 "2008-10-11T01:44:20Z")
Deirdre, the loveliest and unhappiest woman in all of Ireland. Niamh. Just because I loved the Yeats poem. Angharad, although I’m not sure if that name could really meet the “can you yell that name and be heard?” test, there’s no real consonants in it to put the fear of god into the kid. 😃 Spencer. Ellis. Ethan. Bishr, for a boy. Means ‘joy’ ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/75 "2008-10-11T02:38:52Z")
If I ever have kids, I’ll probably use family names: Faye, Nora, William, Michael. My great-great aunt was named Eula, which is actually a pretty name if you can get away from the old-lady connotations. Still wouldn’t be more than a middle name, though. I also like the name Jonathan but I have a cousin by that name, so it would be a little weird. Other names I like: Girls - Isobel, Therese, Edith (Edie), Sophie, Ailidh (obligatory Celtic name - at best a middle name because I wouldn’t want to burden my kid with a name unspellable and unpronounceable) Boys - Stephen (my favorite), Alan, David, Daniel, Dylan, Geoffrey (I prefer Chaucer’s spelling) ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/76 "2008-10-11T02:45:40Z")
My edit window has run out, but I’d also like to add László and Linus. I’d never name a kid one of those names, though - I’m the wrong ethnicity. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/77 "2008-10-11T03:01:39Z")
Crystal. Not inspired by Crystal Gayle, but by a character in the cartoon _“Space Angel”_. For some reason the name captivated my 8 year old imagination. I wanted to grow up and marry an astronaut named Crystal…that was my plan for the future, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/78 "2008-10-11T05:39:12Z")
> [@Lisa-go-Blind](#): > > My edit window has run out, but I’d also like to add László and Linus. I’d never name a kid one of those names, though - I’m the wrong ethnicity. Who cares about your ethnicity? In a world of Soledad O’Briens, anything goes. ---
**Author:** ![Galwegian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galwegian/32/3426_2.png) [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/79 "2008-10-11T10:12:19Z")
> [@Queen of Town](#): > > I have a small problem with Róisín, though, in that when I hear it pronounced it sounds different than what name guides say it should sound like (RO-shin vs ro-SHEEN). I like both and I love the way the name looks, but can someone clarify how it’s actually supposed to be said? It’s a common name around here. It’s pronounced “Roh-Sheen”. The fada over the “o” makes it an “oh” sound, and the fada over the “i” makes it an “ee” sound. Sometimes the fadas are left out, in which case it _should_ be pronounced “Rosh-in”, but it’s _never_ pronounced that way! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808/80 "2008-10-11T15:31:04Z")
> [@Galwegian](#): > > It’s a common name around here. It’s pronounced “Roh-Sheen”. The fada over the “o” makes it an “oh” sound, and the fada over the “i” makes it an “ee” sound. > > Sometimes the fadas are left out, in which case it _should_ be pronounced “Rosh-in”, but it’s _never_ pronounced that way! As far as I can see in the north it’s pronounced Rosheen and in the south it’s more likely to be pronounced with the fada over the o Roe-sheen. Some people deliberately leave out the first fada only in which case they presumably want to be called Rosheen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-favorite-first-names/466808.md?page=5)