Names I have an Irrational Dislike of

I think we all have some like this. Names that are perfectly usable but for some reason they turn us off. I have a handful for each sex and thought I’d share them. Then share yours!

 

Hannah – perfectly bland
Abigail – I still think of the “lady’s maid’ assocation.
Jasmine – the flower makes me sneeze and the princess is perfectly blah.
Theresa – Funny, I love Tessa but Theresa just does nothing for me . Absolutely white bread boring.
Karen – Not a pleasant sound for me.
Anna – it’s pretty, yeah but so everywhere. Simple Anne has always been my preferred variant.

Charles – He’s the Theresa of the boys list!
Paul – Nasty assocations aside, it’s a small name with a tight feel. And St. Paul is no friend of mine. Bah, mysoginistic fool.
Noah – Sounds like No with an Itailian accent to me. Old Italian nighbor ruined Noah for me.
Benjamin – Just feels a bit too preppy for my liking. Too fussy and preppy.
Harry – feels sloppy and messy.
Chase – It’s just ridiculous. Put it in the front and whatever you’ve paired it with sounds like a command, use it in the middle and it sounds like a bank. Blah.

 

No offense meant to anyone bearing these names, this is just my list of names I personally dislike and why. Perfectly good names (all but 1, anyway) just yuck to me.

 

What are your perfectly usable dislikes?  I’d love to hear!

Happy Memorial Day to all!

So there. Enjoy your BBQs, picnics or potlucks. I’ve got a BBQ planned for tonight but am kicking back and relaxing. Reminiscing about the Vets in my family, My Uncle Jim, a Vietnam vet, My Pop, an Air Force vet (he was in before Vietnam, was married with a  kid on the way when it started so he got left out, lucky me!). Grandpop was in the Navy for WW2, My Aunt May was a WAVE.  My OH was an Army guy for 10 years but is thankfully home safe and staying home these days.  I hope you & yours are Safe & Happy today.  🙂

 

So I was being weird yesterday  and posted a poll at BtN, Thinking about a few names specifically that I like with Josephine. Here’s what I posted, and the total # of votes each got, following:

Josephine & ? Which would you like to see most?

Josephine & Helen: 8
Josephine & Frances: 13
Josephine & Violet: 22
Josephine & Elinor: 8
Josephine & Cecily: 18
Josephine & Jemima: 11
Josephine & Imogen: 7
Josephine & Winifred: 11
Josephine & Ottilie: 12
Josephine & Edith: 6

 

What do you think of the final outcome? Which would you have voted for (it was a pick all you like poll) and tell me, am I still crazy for loving Ottilie and wanting her in first place?  Talk to me, tell me whatever you think, I’d love to hear! 

Wilhelmina

On top of Raphael, I’ve been thinking about Wilhelmina yet again. I can’t help it! She’s been a love since I was a kid. That cartoon of the little girl walking and saying “Willa-Mina”!

 

Wilhelmina  (I can’t get the actual video to embed, but here’s the link! It’s still so cute!)

Okay, so maybe a bit odd, but I do love the sound of Wilhelmina and am absolutely enthralled by the possibility of a Mina. I’ve gone on about Wilhelmina before;  anyone who’s been here for more than a week should know about my love of Wilhelmina’s sound. I do think her look is a bit heavy, but I have no problem writing it out, and even enjoy it’s swooshes upwards as I write. I also like how stern and almost severe she looks in type. How formidable!  I think a Wilhelmina would be feminine and sweet but no pushover. And even a bit of a broad, if that makes any sense. I rather like that. She’s got a bit of attitude, a bit of oomph and a whole lot of verve & style. She even honors my Pop in a realted sort of way. He was Wayne, loved his W, wished he was William (Which would have gone better with brothers: James, Theodore & Richard). So In an odd sort of way, I think Pop would be very pleased indeed with Wilhelmina.

 

I have a few combos I came up with that make me smile. I’ve tried to balance the length of Wilhelmina with light and airy looking or sounding middles.  Here’s what I came up with, what do you think of these beauties?

 

Wilhelmina Poppy Amabel
Wilhelmina Romilly Violet
Wilhelmina Lucy Adele
Wilhelmina Saskia Jane
Wilhelmina Lily Jane
Wilhelmina Daisy Elinor
Wilhelmina Esme Frances
Wilhelmina Viola Honey

 

(Honey is what the kids call Grandma Pandora: Nana Honey. See how much she hates her name?!)

So, what do you think of Wilhelmina?  And which combo do you like, or do you have something in mind that might be better? Tell me! I’d love to hear what you think of Wilhelmina!

 

Raphael

I’ve been spending a fair bit of time with Raphael as a first name. I’ve got Rafael in the middle in several combos because that’s how the G. Uncle spelled his name. But Raphael is more standard a spelling, I see several Raphaels on pictures hanging on the walls of the school Josephine will be attending this fall, so yeah.  I think Raphael is handsome, suave, charming and more than a bit jazzy.  He’s an archangel , so soothes the Catholic family and has jaunty Rafe as a possible nickname. So what’s not to love? 🙂

I came up with a dozen or so combos that please me in various ways but over the last day or so, we’ve whittled them down to 6. Here, for your perusal is Raphael:

Raphael Edward Wilder
Raphael Oliver Bede
Raphael John Porfirio
Raphael Arthur Willem
Raphael Arthur Peregrin
Raphael Inigo Francis

I have my favorite in there and He’s got his, can you tell which is whose? 😀  It’s funny how we go back & forth so much easier with the boys. Neither of us can narrow our girls list!  

Anything up there jump out at you as pretty good? I’d love to know!  Please, do tell! 

 

and as always, thanks a million for stopping by!

Dorothea

Thinking about my Uncle Ted lately. I miss him (he used to live much closer) and while I completely love the name Theodore, I can’t use it. Leo, Simon, Josephine & Theodore? Nope, having a Simon killed Theodore for me. So I started thinking about the girly versions: Theodora & Theodosia and realised I really don’t like either of them. And then I remembered Dorothea & Dorothy. Dorota is the Polish form of Dorothy and was my Babci’s second middle (Cecylia Anna Dorota). Dorothy ends with the same sound as my surname and Dorota sounds completely awful with my surname but Dorothea sounds pretty fabulous. So I talked to Him about Dorothea and he couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Did comment that I seem to be preoccupied with Dots lately (meaning polka dots on fabrics, I’ve been making polka dot ruffles for Josie’s shirts, pants & skirts like mad the last few weeks). But yeah, a Dorothea of mine would likely be Dot at least while she little. I can see Thea as a nickname when she’s a bit older. Easily. 🙂

So I went digging for combos and came up with a good dozen that charm me in one manner or another. I don’t have an favorite one so I thought I’d toss them out to see what you all thought of them. Without further ado: Dorothea!

Dorothea Xanthe Iris (if anyone recalls, I had Xanthe Iris Dorothea at one point)
Dorothea Xanthe Adele
Dorothea Lily Jane
Dorothea Cleo Jane
Dorothea Romilly Violet
Dorothea Lucy Violet
Dorothea Poppy Elanor
Dorothea Esme Cecile
Dorothea Clio Isobel
Dorothea Saffron Adele

So, what do you think? Josephine, Josie & Dorothea, Dot/Thea?  Or am I completely off base?

Some Surprising Finds in the MA Top 100!

As you all know, I live in MA. I hear all sorts of odd things when I go out & about, mainly Spanish things, but a smattering of good old standards too. And my particular neighborhood is a veritable treasure chest of unusual choices, for the most part.

So when they released the individual state lists, I went looking at my old state (NJ), which still saddens me to no end, and my new state (MA). I found a few things that made my eyebrows go up a notch and here they are:

(state rank) [national rank]
Tessa (98) [202]
Margaret (85) [180] (Lovely!)
Maeve (75) [638] (told you this was the Land of the Irish! )
Lucy (62) [112]
Charlotte (22) [87] (I knew I was hearing this more than most!)
Sophie (33) [74]
Lila (57) [189]

Jacoby (99) [423]
Maxwell (64) [134]
Hunter (76) [54] (I gave the folks here a bit more credit for good taste than I should have, I suppose. Funnily enough, this is one I never, ever hear!)
Oliver (72) [118] (My brother would laugh!)
Charles (45) [63] (I thought he was a bit lower)
Ryan (1) [18]

Based on how often I hear Michael on little ones around here, I wrongfully assumed it would be #1 here, It’s #2 instead. I do hear Ryan a fair bit but not nearly as often as I hear Michael!

And just for comparisons sake, here’s the top 10 for 2008 for the State of Massachusetts:
1.Ryan /  Ava
2 Michael /  Isabella
3 Jacob / Olivia
4 Matthew /  Emma
5 William /  Sophia
6 John / Abigail
7 Jack / Emily
8 Nicholas / Madison
9 Joseph / Grace
10 Alexander /  Ella

Look at all those vowel starters on the girls! My Josephine is really going to stand out at school! 😀 I’m also pleased to announce that of my top 10, Edith is the only  girl charter this year, at 806and of the boys, Bruno (801), Clarence (938) Arthur (363) and Francis (656) are the only ones charting. And of the top 10, Lilias, Remy, Barnaby & Alasdair have never charted!  WooHoo!

Any surprising finds in your own state that you’re willing to share? 😀

Linus

Yeah, he’s back. It’s actually quite a likeable name. And reminds me of Mom; she called my brother & I,  Lucy & Linus for 18 years  (so why she named us Laura & Steven, I’ll never know, exactly). But he works in another, more subtle way for me. See if you can find the link between the boys: Leo, Simon & Linus. The best list I can find, suprisingly, is a Yahoo! Answers: “How many Popes Have there been since Simon Peter”

 

So it works for me on several levels. I love that he’s an -us ender. I think anyone who’s stopped in here more than once can attest to my love of -us enders. I love that he’s also a Pope name (I did the boys inadvertently, I wasn’t thinking “Pope Names” with them, I was thinking “Family names” and had never linked Leo to Popes in my head, ever. Simon Peter was a giveaway for this Catholic school girl, but Simon was still a family name first & foremost.  Now Linus isn’t a Family name, exactly but because Mom called Steve:  Linus for as long as she was alive, yeah, it feels like Family. And I adore that he doesn’t nickname easily, like Leo. I know he’s an L too, like me (and Leo) but I think I can figure out which is which these days. Maybe because I had practice separating Leo & I on the calendar already, Linus doesn’t feel like a huge hassle. 

 

I spent most of yesterday out in the garden, thinking about Linus. Came in and started digging for combos. Came up with a few that absolutely blow me away:

Linus Raphael John
Linus Henry Gavriil
Linus Willem Aurelian (Willem is His Mom’s Father)
Linus Arthur Taliesin
Linus Maximilian James
Linus Xavier John
Linus Arthur Porfirio (Pope, King & playboy.. how awesome!)
Linus Morgan Valentin
Linus Casimir John
Linus Henry Algernon

 

I like a good handful of those, which do you like and, if you don’t mind, why? I’m just about sold on Linus (even though my brother is groaning right now!).  😀  I’d love to hear your thoughts on him and the combos!

Revisiting Araminta

I’m still quite stuck on Araminta. Every time I think I’m over her, I turn around and find something else I love about her.

This little Araminta doesn’t hurt the name any, either. 🙂 Isn’t she just precious?  

 

So with that said, I’ve had Araminta floating around on my list for what, a year or more now? And while I’ve had combos that reigned for a short time each, there’s never been one that lasted for more than a few months. Araminta Alice Green hung around the longest and is still the one that’s hanging around the edges. Araminta’s the loveliest silvery shade and goes very well with the forest green surname, I think.  Here’s what I’ve come up with most recently:

Araminta Iris Llanfaire
Araminta Helen Ophelia
Araminta Tilley Violet
Araminta Portia Ruby
Araminta Lucy Violet
Araminta Clara Anouk
Araminta Lavender Blythe
Araminta Coraline Violet
and like I said, Araminta Alice Green is still hanging on by a thread.  Anything up there better than AAG?  I’m rather liking the italicized ones a bit better than the others,  especially Araminta Portia Ruby. But then, I’ve been rather stuck on Portia lately, she’s been showing up everywhere these days!

 

So, anything there jump out at you? Should I try yet again? Give up entirely? What? Talk to me, tell me what you think, I’d love to know!

Sibyl Godeleve

It’s a gorgeous pairing. Sibyl Godeleve.  Mia asked if she could see it with something else up front, if I didn’t like it with Harriet (which I just can’t get behind a thousand percent). I went digging (and asked for His help too). I only came up with a few where Sibyl is the first name:

Sibyl Esmée Godeleve
Sibyl Louisa Godeleve
Sibyl Flora Godeleve 
Sibyl Ivy Godeleve (not sure about sibyL Ivy but I rather like saying it aloud)

 

He came up with a little over a dozen with Sibyl Godeleve in the middle. I’m not fond of them, but see if there are any you like, that I may be passing over:
Dorothea Sibyl Godeleve
Louisa Sibyl Godeleve
Mathilda Sibyl Godeleve
Romilly Sibyl Godeleve
Agatha Sibyl Godeleve
Laetitia Sibyl Godeleve
Coraline Sibyl Godeleve
Araminta Sibyl Godeleve
Gloriana Sibyl Godeleve
Beatrix Sibyl Godeleve
Flora Sibyl Godeleve
Penelope Sibyl Godeleve
Winifred Sibyl Godeleve
He also had Lucy Sibyl Godeleve, but Lucy Sibyl is far too hissy for my comfort.

 

Sibyl is harder to pair than I thought she’d be, but there’s a fair try. Which do You prefer? Sibyl up front or Sibyl Godeleve in the middle? Anything at all jump out at you?  I’d appreciate the input! And, as always, Thanks a million for stopping by!  😀

and now for Henrietta!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms & Mom to bes that I know and love! 

Yes, Henrietta. I’ve loved Henrietta since I was at least 4 (anyone know when “New Zoo Revue” aired? I’m too lazy to look it up).  It neatly honors both Henry & Harriet without much fuss and lends itself  to a handful of lovely nicknames: Hattie, Hettie, Etta, Ettie, Harriet!, even Heiko, should I be in the mood for it. It even meshes nicely with Josephine, they’re the same style of name and feel frilly without being fluffy. Definitely works for me.  I’ve had a handful of combos over the past 8 months to year:
Henrietta Ruby Lilias
Henrietta Xanthe Violet
Henrietta Beatrix Lily (but I like Beatrix too much to relegate her to the middle)
Henrietta Lily Violet
Henrietta Poppy Amabel

Are what I’ve had in the past. After digging around a bit, I came up with these few more:

Henrietta Mina Elinor
Henrietta Iris Mary
Henrietta Luna Faye(Faye was a childhood friend, she lived two doors down to my left. She died of breast cancer about 7 years ago.)
Henrietta Saskia June (just trying to fit the MIL in somewhere)
Henrietta Cleo Marigold (a bit of whimsy, not sure how sold this is. And I’ve got Cleo up front: Cleo Portia Rupinder! so… Maybe not this one)
Henrietta Sylvie Violet
Henrietta Ottilie Violet
Henrietta Daisy Amabel
Henrieta Lucy Pearl 

 

If it were up to just me, I’d go with Henrietta Xanthe Violet and leave well enough alone, but I also like the other italicised ones. He has no preference and is just tickled that I’m even considering Henrietta. He knows how much I dislike Harry which is why Henry ends up in the middle. He says Harriet is lovely but Henrietta’s gorgeous, so I definitely think I’m on the right track here! 

What do you think? Anything up there jump out at you? Or should I go back to the drawing board?  Any think at all is more than welcome!  😀

Revisiting Harriet

I’m still working on Harriet, I should really like her, she’s got all the traits I generally like in a name but I don’t. Maybe because she reminds me far too much of Harry and I loathe Harry. So I’m thinking maybe if I work on combos, I might warm up to Harriet a bit more.  I tried some yesterday. and Harriet Lucy Angelina was the clear winner overall, between here and there but Angelina is something I can’t warm up to either. Too Jolie, too sweet, too fluffy. Too, too, too. So Harriet Portia Adele was my backup.  But I digress. Trying Harriet on again, to please Him.

Some more combos:
Harriet Lucy Imogen
Harriet Rowena Elinor
Harriet Sibyl Godeleve (go-deh-leave)
Harriet Lily Apolline (I like Apolline far more than Angelina!)
Harriet Daisy Pascale
Harriet Xanthe Pearl (too color-y?)
Harriet Saffron Amabel (I’m really digging Saffron Amabel!)
Harriet Elinor Mehetabel
Harriet Jane Rupinder (still stuck on Rupinder even though she’s already in a combo that’s a keeper)
Harriet Ottilie Pearl

Anyone think I’m on the right track?  Anything there feel better than Harriet Lucy Angelina/Harriet Portia Adele? Or just strike you as better, overall?  I’m having fits over Harriet. I still prefer Henrietta (and have since watching “New Zoo Revue” as a kid). Bah! 

Harriet & Henrietta

Yep. Speaking of “Mouthful” names at Nameberry today, Harriet & Henrietta have been on my mind again recently. Harriet was one of his Great Aunts, lived with them while he was growing up, one of the solid grown ups in his life as a kid. I want to like Harriet, really. Josie watched Franklin and his little sister is Harriet. I’m charmed when I hear it. But I don’t like it when I say it. Now Henrietta I do like saying. And in a backwards way, honors both his Grandpop Henry and his Grand Aunt, Harriet, so for me, definitely a winner. But I wonder: Josephine & Henrietta? Or should I go simpler: Josephine & Harriet? I went digging through the lists for combos and am polling two dozen but of those I really like these few, mixed:

Harriet Lily Elinor
Harriet Ivy Valentine
Harriet Lily Jane
Harriet Rowena June
Harriet Matilda Isobel
Harriet Portia Adele
Harriet Ottoline June
Harriet Lucy Angelina

 

Henrietta Frances Elinor
Henrietta Clio Elinor
Henrietta Iris Valentine
Henrietta Viola Petronel
Henrietta Poppy Amabel
Henrietta Lucy Fleur
Henrietta Ottilie Violet
Henrietta Sylvie Violet
Henrietta Lily Violet

 

So, what do you think, am I crazy? or is there something up there that jumps out at you? Or should I go back to the drawing board or just scrap Harriet & Henrietta altogether?