Your much needed opinion on yet another baby name...sigh

You must be sick to death of these threads I’m sure…but yes, I am wondering what you think of the name:

Arden

For a girl…You see, I saw the name inscribed in an old book that I have. It said, “Arden Post ~ 1892”. I just thought it sounded lovely. My husband liked it as well. We also have a one syllable last name that ends in a consonant, so we thought, “Hmm, sounds good. Different, but not too far out. Not terribly pretentious.” What do y’all think?

Friiends have reacted with,

“Wow! That’s the coolest name ever!”

“Ewww!”

“No, no, NO it sounds like ardent. And no one wants someone who is too ardent working for them. Bad idea!”

I know I can count on the SDMB for their honest opionions and stellar insight:)

Thanks in advance!
Shana

Can’t seem to spell today…That would of course be “Friends”. Bah!

I think it’s a nice name. My only issue with it is that it seems like the type of name that your daughter will constantly be clarifying, which gets to be a pain after the 50 millionth time.

I like it. It sounds flowy and romantic.

Agree she’ll always be spelling it, but that’s the price of a unique name.

I think that it’s a lovely name… Easy to spell and pronounce. Would go with a wide span of last names, long and short. Old fashioned, and therefore not common (she won’t have three other Ardens in her preschool class) but not pretentious. And I would say that it doesn’t sound particularly odd to modern ears, in the way something like “Minnihaha” would.

As long as someone doesn’t think that she’s named after Elizabeth Arden cosmetics, you’re set. :slight_smile:

Though it reminds me slightly of Elizabeth Arden perfume, it doesn’t exactly bring up any negative connotations. I think it’s unique without being too weird. As for it sounding like “ardent,” it should be okay unless your last name starts with a “T.”
You wanna hear weird? I was looking for a birth announcement for some friends of mine today and came across a baby girl whose parents named her “Dasani Evian.” Yes, they named their daughter after two kinds of bottled water. What has the world come to?

I love it. It is unusual, yet easy to spell, and is a name that is vaguely familiar but not overused. It has a wonderful old-fashioned flair. Some might accuse you of using a made-up name, and you can explain how you found it. or lie and say it was an ancestor’s last name. :smiley:

Twiddle

Arden Wood is a beautiful place. May your daughter be just as beautiful.

Lovely name. Very romantic and feminine without being too gushy.

I like it. But, if you don’t mind an unsolicited suggestion, you might want to spell it “Ardyn”, so as to be more easily identifiable as feminine.

I like it, too. Reminds me of the Forest of Arden.

I disagree with Kalhoun. I think Arden is very feminine. I dislike the ‘yn’ spelling you see so often these days. Katelyn, Madisyn, even Dilyn!

I think Arden is fine spelled just that way.

It doesn’t really do a whole lot for me, and I know several people who have it picked out for their future (mostly as-yet unconceived) children, so she just might have three other Arden’s in her preschool class.

Personally, I’ve always been fond of Catrina. Feminine, a little old-fashioned but not so much as to make you think “little blue-haired lady”, easy to spell and pronounce, and open to nicknames without saddling a kid with cutesiness the rest of her life. Besides, you could call her Cat. :smiley:

The only reason I say it is because I have a very different name, and it ends in “en” and I am mistaken for a Mr. all the time. I wouldn’t change the spelling of mine, but that’s cuz I’ve had it for 47 years.

I like it. Back in the 70s, I knew a girl named Ardeth. Everyone called her Ardie.

Not that it matters, but somewhere in my distant past I seem to remember a dairy company named Arden.

I think it is a lovely name. It reminds me of Medieval times, or something mythical. The naysayers are just jealous that they didn’t think of it first. :wink:

I’m another “yes” vote. Very nice.

Yay! Thank you all SO very much. You have no idea how much you’ve helped me:) !

I did think of the Elizabeth Arden connection, but it would seem that many of you are not too concerned with that.

Whew! I have a name…Now I just need the baby!:smiley:

I like Arden as well; it’s the name of a female character in stories I write :smiley: I like using off-beat names, though, and Arden appeals to me for that reason; there are so few Ardens. Others? Jacey and Quinn for girls, Landon and Price for boys…

That’s not so uncommon now… from a newspaper article on Jan 2, 2004 *

Boys names: 55 Chevys, 12 Camrys, 7 Courvoisiers, 17 Dodges, 5 Darvons, 6 Ronricos, 10 Evians, 14 Rugers**

Girls names: 298 Armanis, 164 Nauticas, 36 Cateras, 6 Cartiers, 442 Essences, 15 Celicas, 15 Evians** DeLorean, Chanel, Tiffany, Disney, Lexus, Chevelle

Infiniti, Guinness, Rayon, Skyy (vodka)***

So yeah lots of people are doing stuff like that.

Oh and I love the name Arden. It’s very nice :slight_smile:

[sub]*I can’t find it online, I have it sitting in front of me.
**Numbers are amount named that in America in 2000
***Gender not specified[/sub]