Have you thought about Lida? (pronounced Lie-da) Even at it’s most popular it still wasn’t all that common. I have a friend by that name and think it’s a great name.
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Samantha - one of my favorite names, but my husband doesn’t want our child’s first and last name starting with the same letter
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That’s funny. Both my sister and myself were given “S” names specifically so it would match our last name. My mom’s initials were the same letter before she was married and she always liked it. Strange how tastes differ…
I always loved the name “Arete,” after the Greek concept of honor and glory, but my husband thinks its crazy. And, as a friend pointed out, she would have to go through her entire life saying, “No, my name is not pronounced A-Reet.”
I also love the name “Amina” after the kick-ass Nigerian queen, but as my husband and I are both from northern Europeon origin (read: whitest people imaginable), it would not seem to fit.
The one name we can agree on, ironically, is “Jane.” 
When my son was born, the Nurse came in to fill out his birth certificate.
“Name?”
“Percival Algernon Cadwallader McGuillicuddy. The 4th.”
“Shut up.”
(nurse turns to wife)
“Name?”
Ha!
My dad was not in town when I was born, long story*, he had to be reached by phone,
Dad: “His name will be Wolfgang.”
My Mom: “Like hell, I don’t want him getting beat up everyday.”
Dad: “Fine, you name him.”
Mom: “OK, um… Brian.”
I got beat up everyday anyway. I showed her. 
*Actually he was fishing at an island out on Lake Erie with my mom’s obstician, so they were both unavailable!
You know, Grace Slick tried a similar joke after she gave birth. The nurse didn’t take it as well, and some people still think she named her daughter “god.”
Pretty much most of my favorite names have been ruled out now that I have an SO with a long and difficult Polish last name. There are about four first names that go well with it and he and his brother have two of them. And the cadence of it is especially troubling–it ends with a “skee” sound, so I can’t use any multisyllabic first name that ends with “ee,” like Emily or Rosemary, lest the kid be doomed to a name that has the same rhythm as “Wile E. Coyote.”
As a kid I wanted a daughter so I could name her Calico. I am very glad I did not get pregnant as a kid.
If they weren’t, they certainly are now!
I’m happily childfree, so there won’t be any kids in my future, so I have to settle for giving fictional characters names I like.
Like The Chao Goes Mu, I love the name “Gabriel” but hate “Gabe,” so I couldn’t name a hypothetical kid that. Plus I’d be afraid he’d get saddled with juvenile “gay” jokes. It’s unfortunate, as it’s a beautiful name. I like a lot of the “-iel” and “-ael” names (like Daniel, Nathaniel, Michael, Raphael, and Azrael–however, I don’t like the “-uel” names like Samuel and Lemuel. Weird, but taste is taste. Might be my synesthesia–the colors of those three letters just don’t work together for me.)
Other names I like a lot but have to be happy that I’m naming fictional people are Alastair, Trevor (I’m still mildly miffed at J. K. Rowling for giving one of my favorite names to a toad), Stefan, and Conrad. For girls, I like Kim (but not Kimberly), Anastasia, Valerie, Verity, and Morgan. I also think “Anathema” is a very pretty gothish name, but no way would I saddle anybody with that one (except one of my WoW characters )
There’s a witch in Good Omens called Anathema Device.
Well, she’s not precisely a witch, but close enough.
I really liked the name Gabriel too, but couldn’t bring myself to give my kiddo an angel name. I wanted to call him Gaby baby 
Mrsin did not approve. We did give him the middle name Jackson, cause ya know, that’s where we made him when we were on a ski vacation. Kind of like naming him Camero when you think about it. Even worse we told him his middle name was Jackson because Michael Jackson was his cousin, hehehehe. He didn’t get the joke and told all his friends; this was during the “Bad” era. Do I have to mention we’re so white bread we almost have pink eyes? Yeah, teasing ensued.
Speaking as the above, it’s not so bad – except your initials are SS, and when you discover the connotation of SS after you’ve been drawing your own S’s in a rather angular, lightning-like fashion because lightning is cool… let’s just say it’s a little embarrassing. :eek: 
I have a lot of male ancestors named Paris. It’s a man’s name. It’s a good man’s name. For obvious reasons, I won’t ever be using it.
I quite like very old fashioned names that I would never saddle a child with. Genevieve. Paris. Ephraim. Mildred.
I’m thinking if I have a girl she might be Sophie. A boy, David. Even if that’s a phenomenally common name; I’ve just known so many remarkably splendid Davids.
For girls I love the name Emily but it’s far too popular and clashes with our last name. I also adore the name Elizabeth but if used with our last name it sounds like a slightly mispelled version of a minor starlet’s name so that’s out.
For boys I like the name Benjamin but my husband has a similarly sounding first name so we nixed it unless I can convince him otherwise if I ever get pregnant again.
Daniel (predates my husband) – because it’s my husband’s Dad’s name, which is cool, but also his asshole brother’s name. Not so cool.
Kayla – far too close to our last name.
I’m not allowed to name any of my future children Wendy, even though I really like it. My mom knew a girl in elementary school named Wendy who happens to have had the same last name as my boyfriend (which would be the last name our kids would have, if we had any). This is no ordinary, “You can’t name her Wendy because I got beat up by a Wendy every day in fourth grade.” This special Wendy smeared poop on the bathroom walls at school. So I guess I sympathize with my mom. I wouldn’t want my granddaughter’s name to conjure up that image.
If my son had been a girl, she would have been named Desireé. Looking back now, it’s probably a good thing she was a he.
The ex and I ALMOST named the daughter Trinian (see St Trinian's School - Wikipedia ), as it was 1) a reference to very bad girls who did fantastic and nobel things (well, usually)… and 2, the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy character (book, not movie) named “Trini”…
At the last moment, though, probably due to medication, “we” (read woman after 14 hrs hard labour) decided on Maggie.
NOT Margaret… Maggie
She turned out OK, despite us…
Regards
FML
I love the name Esmerelda, but it would be a bit much to saddle a kid with. What if she grew up to be a quiet, mousy type instead of a tempestuous beauty?
I love the sound of the word Oubliette, but it would be incredibly cruel to name a child that. Sure is pretty, though.
I’m young and single, so this is purely hypothetical.
I feel destiny wants to pair me up with a Japanese woman, so some of my choices reflect that.
For boys:
Chris. All of my best friends have been Chris, strangely enough.
Raphael. It’s a kick-ass name. Has an archangel and a famous painter associated with it. Oh, and a ninja turtle!
Morbo. Ok, I would never do this, but I think it sounds cool and I love Futurama.
Lupin, after Lupin from the anime “Lupin the 3rd” Pronounced " 'Lou Pahn"
For girls:
Jennifer, a pretty classic and also my first crush.
Emily, also a favorite name and my favorite cousin.
Raven, somebody mentioned it here and it sounds awesome.
Miyuki, after the girl I lost my purity too 
Means “precious beautiful”
This is mine too. Plus, unless I married a guy with a Dutch last name, it wouldn’t sound properly euphonic.