My “style”?

I am apparently all over the map, style wise. I really looked at my top lists the other day and was struck by the fact that I seem to have at least 2 separate styles. Weird and funky.  here, I’ve grouped them in similar piles:

Group 1
Maud India Scarlett
Ottilie Alice Ghislaine
Zelda Lucy Violet
Edith Zenobia Violet
Lilias Mehetabel June
Sylvie Mimosa Jane
Xanthe Iris Dorothea
Cleo Portia Rupinder
Cecily Pandora Jane

 

 

Group 2
Clementine India Jane
Jemima Lucy Maud
Lucretia Ruby Iris
Winifred Elinor Plum
Matilda Frances Ruby
Imogen Violet Jane
Beatrix Violet Jane
Euphemia Elinor Glory
Philippa Saskia Violet
Cecilia Violet Petronel

and those are just the girls!  I can do that to the boys too, to a lesser extent. See:

 

Group1
Rufus Wilder John
Remy Edward Xavier
Cosmo Henry George
Bruno Edward Rafael
Barnaby Edward Rex
Ignatius Edward George
Clarence Arthur Finlay
Caspar James Porfirio
Alasdair Barnaby George

 

Group 2
Arthur Henry Llewellyn
Oscar Valentin George
Linus Willem Bleys
Harvey Edward Augustin
Francis Henry Porfirio
Edward Balthazar George
Rafael August Anselm

 

So, do you agree, I’m mildly crazy? or do you see these in different groups?  Which group appeals more to you? Which ones? Anything really jump out at you up there? Let me know! 

 

And, as always, thanks for stopping by!  😀  

Help!

I want to narrow my top 10 to a top 5, at least for now. I’m going to either/or them and pick one? Thanks!

 

Ottilie or Jemima?
Winifred or Clementine?
Maud or Zelda?
Beatrix or Cecily?
Lucretia or Pomeline?

 

Cassius or Clarence?
Remy or Cosmo?
Rufus or Barnaby?
Alasdair or August?
Arthur or Francis?

 

I couldn’t choose if my life depended on it.  One minute it’s one way, the next it’s the other. I love them all and just cannot decide which 5 are best! Can you help? I’d really appreciate it!  

As always, Thanks! 😀

The Merits of My Boys

My boys. I love them dearly. There are days I think I was really meant to be a mother of just boys. I am not a girly girl and I have one. It can be trying at times. 😀

So I’ve really been stewing over boys names, These are the ones that not only have approval, he wants them near the top. But he can’t tell me which one he likes best, so I want some honest opinions on these 5 that are absolutely going to be ordered 1-5.

Barnaby Edward Rex – Barnaby is so happy!  I actually like Barney but my lazy tongue will most likely make him Barns/Barnes more often. There’s also the Bex possibility, should he end up as jazzy as his big brother Simon. I adore Rex but think the world’s not ready for him upfront, so here he resides next to Edward for my Uncle.

Rufus Wilder John – Rufus is just a love of his. He can definitely see himself calling for Rufus, playing with Rufus, tucking Rufus in. Wilder is His Aunt’s surname. His Pop’s sister. It’s the closest we can get to honoring his Pop’s side of the family (His Pop was beyond awful to him and caused a lot of problems that took a long time to work through & past). So Wilder it is. Stan’s sister was Agatha, and I love that enough to put on the girls list, at least as a wildcard, but her surname pleases me on a boy immensely. And John is for Him.

Cosmo Henry Dashiell – Cosmo was my Great Granddad. What a cool guy he was too.  I love Cosmo’s open, airy sound and the way he looks. I do not care if anyone links it to Kramer, the mag, the drink or the word Cosmopolitan, Cosmo is definitely staying.  If I’d thought a bit more when I was pregnant with the boys, one of them would be Cosmo, probably Leo.  I  love Cosmo. Henry was his Grandpop and Dashiell just feels snazzy with them both, doesn’t he? 

Cassius Barnaby Rex – Cassius strikes him as a strong and He-man sort of name. Most of the -us names give me that He man feel (Ignatius notwithstanding)  so I concur and let him be. Barnaby’s my fun sounding name. I adore him. If I could make Rufus Barnaby Edward work for him, I’d be happy. Unfortunately he thinks Rufus Barnaby is a bit OTT. I think it is too, but it would be a solution to our minor dilemma here.  I like Cash too, as a nickname, at least once n a while.

Alasdair Barnaby George – Alasdair charms me to my toes. He’s warm, friendly (not as friendly as Barnaby, but that’s why he’s the middle!) and charming. And sounds awesome with the three syllable Mac surname.  Barnaby, well, I think I’ve gone into enough detail about him, I don’t want to bore anyone. 🙂  George is one of my favorite classics, really, I swear. It reminds me of St. George, who sat on my Pop’s dresser for decades and is now on mine. So, George also reminds me of my Pop. Hence his inclusion here. 

 

So now you’ve seen why they’re on my list, what do you think. How should they be numbered? Which would you put in first, and why?   And most importantly, what do you think? Am I completely crazy? 😉

The Battling Girls!

I am going crazy over girls names. With boys, I’m much pickier and it’s easier to figure out what I really like vs. what I simply enjoy. With boys, it’s practically a three way tie between Cosmo, Rufus & Barnaby and that’s about it. Everything else on the list pales by comparison. So it’ll be easy to decide on a boys name if we have one.

 

But a girl? I’m going crazy, literally.

 There’s the “normals”: Cecily, Beatrix & Clementine and the oddballs: Jemima, Zelda & Winifred.  I love all six of them and couldn’t decide which one I’d actually use if you paid me to decide.  I could have sextuplets and happily use them all. Sadly, it’s probably just one and I have to choose.  I love all their combos, really. Clementine’s probably been on the list longest of the normals, She went on the list back in ’95. Zelda’s been on the list of oddballs since ’73, since that’s when I first started keeping lists. She was on the mental list in ’69! I wanted to name my sister Zelda but Mom was having none of it.  Cecily & Winifred are  the newest; Winifred 5 years on, Cecily, two on. Beatrix & Jemima have probably been on the list for about 8 years now.

When I was deciding on Josephine’s name, I brought my notebooks of names in my bag and after she was born, I dug through the lists I had at the time, assembled what appealed in several instances and tried them out on her little self when she was in the room  (I only sent her back to the nursery once, that first night, so I could sleep. Otherwise she was in my room no-stop so I had plenty of time to try them all out.  I finally found something that not only made me sing, but seemed to suit her. I can’t explain how that huge name seemed to suit the little baby she was then, it just did.

 

How did you decide on your children(s) names? What were the deciding factors for you, How did you narrow it down? How do I do so?  Goddess knows, I’d happily name a girl all of these, ridiculous as it sounds but I know I can’t.  So, how do I go about choosing? Any hints? Pointers? Words of advice? Anything?   Help!

 

 Thanks!

Rufus!

Just a quick post to say we’ve finally come to an agreement on Rufus. Well, it’s down to three different choices at the moment.
Rufus Wilder John – His favorite
Rufus Milo August – My favorite
and
Rufus Alastair Grey – in case we’re still fighting over RWJ or RMA late this summer. 😉

Duking it out with the Boys

We’ve been arguing the top 3  boys for what seems like days. I really want Cosmo Valentin George (or maybe Cosmo George Valentin). He’d rather Barnaby Edward Rex, Rufus, where we’re still figuring out middles  or Remus Edward Xavier. 
 Cosmo’s got family significance for me,  as do Valentin & George. Barnaby’s just a love as is Remus. But both middles honor; one straighforward, one in a roundabout manner that would make my Mother proud.  With this last one I’d much rather go the family route that I’ve used before, whereas he’d rather break the mold and just go nuts with this last one. I think it’s as simple as he didn’t really get a whole lot of say with Leo or Simon. he was on the other side of the world when they were born and pretty much all he’d said was Nicolas or James (IIRC, anyway) and neither one have either in their names. Now, he loves their names and doesn’t say anything about being thwarted like that but it may be in the back of his head. 

I’ve been seeing Cosmo pop up in other people’s lists recently, three times in the last two weeks alone.  Right here is the most recent:   Chanel’s List

And it’s not mine, I swear, here:  Mine.  Cosmo’s not even on my list because while he was there, he got nothing but awful comments. I love him and am keeping him on the list no matter what anyone else says. Only he’s got the right to really bump him off the list. Or me. But you folks can at least say which you’d prefer overall, up front, and why or why not. I do try to take into accout popualr opinion even if it doesn’t seem that way. 😀 

 

 Just a quick word about nicknames since I’ve turned into a proliferate nicknamer with Josephine in the house!  Cosmo would probably get Coz about as often as he’d get Cosmo in full. Barnaby would get Barney, Bex or simply B while Remus would most likely be Remy  or Rex, for his initals at least once in awhile! Rufus is the only one on the list at the moment without an obvious nickname. I rather like that, it’s more like Leo & Simon, who have nicknames but none really from their names.

So, what do you think? I’d love to know! 

 

 As always, Thanks for stopping by! 

Barnaby again!

Funny, I’ve been liking Barnaby enough to move him into 2nd. place for about 3 months now and then we finally get Wall-E, where Barnaby’s mentioned within the first 5 minutes of the movie, twice! 

I’ve got a soft spot for Barnaby for a few reasons. It’s my favorite character in my second favorite musical of all time, and it’s one of the characters the other half played when we were in HS. He was quite the HS thespian and ‘Hello Dolly’ was the spring musical his senior year. He was Barnaby. Still think it fits him really well, which is where my head’s going at the moment. If it fit him really well, why wouldn’t it fit one of his kids? 😀
So Barnaby sits at #2. 

Barnaby’s warm, friendly, happy and masculine. He feels strong but not overbearingly so and I like that. His combo came pretty easily too, Barnaby Edward Rex. Which fits the pattern the other kids have, with multiple syllables in front, single syllable at the end.  I really don’t mind Barney and think it’d get shortened even further to Barn/Barnes or even B.  Barney is overwhelmingly Rubble to me, and I always did like him far better than Flintstone as a kid. Even now he’s a favorite character. And character is exactly the world I’ve been looking for!  🙂  Barnaby’s a character. A little quirky, a lot happy and full of character. I thoroughly like him and even he’s rather satisfied with Barnaby. Cosmo was a struggle to get an okay to, Barnaby was pie!

So, I’ve been thinking, at this moment, my top 3 boys looks like this:
Cosmo Henry Dashiell
Barnaby Edward Rex
Rufus George Porfirio

And wondering, should I re-arrange them any? If you could order them1,2,3; which would you put where? Why?  What do you think of my top 3? I’d love to hear it all!

 

 Thanks!

Rufus?

Verity used Rufus as the NotD  today and I admit, he’s charming as heck.  Rufus has been on my lists since at least 1989 and “Bill & Ted” (And launched my career as a Keanu Reeves fan, too).  But that’s another story!

I remember being 22, sitting in the theater thinking :”Rufus George, hmm, not bad”. yes, even a namegeek then. 😀  So when I remembered that, I started thinking. And ended up with Rufus George Porfirio. As anyone who knows me knows, Porfiro is my Zelda for the boys. I’ve loved his sound since I was 2 and if I’d been thinking a little clearer when I had the boys, they’d be Leo Ambrose & Simon Porfirio.  Oh well. I seem to be leaning towards Porfirio as a second middle, where he won’t hurt anyone but I can still enjoy him.   I could also do these:

 

Rufus Edward Porfirio
Rufus James Porfirio
Rufus Martin Porfirio
Rufus Niall Porfirio
Rufus Graham Porfirio
Rufus Edwin Porfirio
Rufus Claude Porfirio
&
Rufus Elliot Porfirio

 

 Any of those stand up better than Rufus George Porfirio?    I think I like the simplicity of George best between Rufus and Porfirio. I could go into why I paired each of these with Rufus ___ Porfirio, but think I’d rather hear what you like of them without the associations. If you want, I’ll post the associations later on tonight.

 

 Thanks a million!

Zelda Redux!

I’ve been playing around with Zelda again. I wasn’t quite happy with Zelda Rosalie Violet, there’s something a bit too relentlessly cheerful about her for me.  So I went digging  again and came up with these:

 

Zelda Violet Elinor
Zelda Violet Esmée
Zelda Violet Pearl
Zelda Lucy Violet
Zelda Violet Imogen
Zelda Cerys Violet
Zelda Esme Frances

So far, Zelda Violet Esmée, Zelda Lucy Violet & Zelda Esme Frances are all tied in the poll I’ve got going and honestly I couldn’t decide which one right now if I had to! 

So I need to ask again, which would you pick, if you had to use one of these?

I’ll be running off for the wildcard spot too, since I have 5 girls:

Henrietta Ruby Lilias
Florence Lila Ghislaine
Romilly Alice Kathleen
Imogen Violet Jane (although he keeps shooting her down, I keep trying!)|
Eulalie Frances Madelief

 

and 5 boys:

Harvey Edward Augustin
Roland Edward Grey
Felix Edward Alasdair
Rufus John Porfirio
Francis Henry Porfirio

That I can’t decide between. I have room for 1 of each from each list on the big list. Wanna help me decide there too?  😀

 Thanks!

Rufus & Linus revisited

I know I talked about these guys the other day but since today was “get the tree & start decorating” day, I had time to really stew on them. I’ve decided I do like them both enough to at least attempt to pair them. Sorry it took me nearly all day to get this out.

 I’ve got polls going: Linus 1, Linus 2 & Rufus 1 & Rufus 2  If you’re inclined to go vote in them. But here are my favorites & his, of both:

 

Rufus John Porfirio 
Rufus Taliesin John 
Rufus Barnaby Edward 
Rufus Willem Wilder 
Rufus Edgar Maxfield
Rufus Milo Gavriil 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Linus Alasdair John
Linus Arthur Wilder
Linus Finlay Oliver 
Linus Willem Bleys 
Linus Milo Valentin 
Linus Barnaby Willem
Linus Alasdair Henry
Linus Edward Anselm
Linus Edward Apollo

 

Yes, we’re arguing a bit more over Linus, which he thinks is a bit soft, despite his minor adulation of Linus Torvalds.  He says he prefers Rufus, which feels strong and rather worldly to him. of course, I prefer Linus, of the two because it reminds me of both Mom & my brother.

 Which would you rather run across, Linus or Rufus?  And of the bunch, which combo do you like? I’m not saying who likes which or why until later. 😉  

The -us boys

I’ve mentioned before my love of -us ending boys:  Julius would be tops for my beloved Marxman but for Josephine. They’re too similar for my liking. So there’s Cassius, Remus, Rufus, Linus, Lucius, Angus, Cyrus, Fergus, simple Gus (for August), Klaus,  Marius, Magnus, Lazarus, Ignatius &  Seamus who’ve been on my lists at various points. Only Cassius, Remus, Rufus, Linus, August & Lucius are still on.

 

 Cassius is not one that appeals to many to begin with and when they find out his meaning, it turns still more off. “Empty, vain” is not something that truly appeals. I figure, if people can use Kennedy, ‘misshapen head’, Calvin ‘bald’, or Cecilia, ‘blind’, why not Cassius?  He’s got at least as much style as Cecilia!

Remus appeals for his legend and the fact that I could potentially nickname him Remy, which sounds so completely awesome with the surname.  HP tried to take a bite out of him (pardon the pun) but I think he’s got a fair bit of style and strength still.

Rufus – feels a bit homey to me, a touch country-fied. He’s still stylish but less slick. I’m not thinking nickname potential because I don’t think he’s got one.  Which is why he’s on the back burner. I’m trying to decide, merciless nicknamer I am, if he’s worth breaking my own nature for.

Linus – has a soft spot in my heart forevermore thanks to Peanuts. Yeah, he’s my favorite of the Peanuts guys (Frieda’s my favorite of the girls with her “naturally curly hair”) but Linus is also what my mom used to call my blanket toting little brother (who just turned 40 this past Saturday… if you stumble across this, Steve, Happy Birthday!). Lucy & Linus we two were and because of that, they both hold special memories for me.

 August – is on my list because I like his literal meaning ” marked by majestic dignity or grandeur” and in a roundabout way, he honors my Mom, Frances,  who was born in August.  I think he’s got a crisp, clear sound and spiffy looks too. And Gus? Gus is charming while Augie’s jazzy cool.  Two great options for nicknames and a great long form too.

Lucius – I loved him before HP showed up and while yes, he’s a nasty character, they completely ruined his evilness with the yummy Jason Isaacs. Nah, can’t hate Lucius Malfoy for nothing.  And his sound is just awesome. What’s not to like? I’ve noticed Lucius is starting to show up in movies too. Three movies I’ve watched recently have a Lucius in it somewhere (Today’s better: “The Dark Knight”, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”[for a specific one] and “The Incredibles” ).  And I could probably name a few more, if pressed: ” Talledega Nights” , “The Village”, and we just got “The Planet of the Apes” set on DVD and there’s a Lucius there too.    So again, what’s not to like? 😀

 

There’s my favorite of the -us enders, what are yours? 🙂

 Updated to add the few Lucius filled movies I have watched recently!)

and just a note for those of yoou who dislike my “snow” When it finally snows here, it’ll go!