MetaChat - Wanna play Name The Sprog?

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18 October 2006

Wanna play Name The Sprog? It's the funnest part of the whole baby thing!→[More:]We won't find out the sex beforehand, so we need to plan for either. So far the frontrunners are Eleanor (Nell), Beatrice (Bea), Charles (Charlie) and Theodore (Theo). Do you hate 'em? Can you think of something better?

post by: jrossi4r at: 10:53 | 41 comments

Handsome Dick. Whether it's a boy or a girl.

posted by jonmc 18 October | 10:55

Hmmm...I dunno, jon. my usual metric is "Can you be Secretary of State with that name?" (Although I would have failed Condileeza on that, so what the hell do I know.)

posted by jrossi4r 18 October | 11:05

my usual metric is "Can you be Secretary of State with that name?"

Did somebody leak my Punk Rock Cabinet plan to you?

posted by jonmc 18 October | 11:08

I like 'em, especially Nell and Theo. I've always been partial to Isabelle/Isobel, myself. Also, woo! Congratulations! Again!

posted by elizard 18 October | 11:10

I love love love the long versions of all the names. I like the nicknames less, but I also just tend not to like nicknames all that much in general, so you should disregard my opinion on that count.

"Eleanor" is one of those great F. Scott Fitzgerald names. I really adore it.

posted by occhiblu 18 October | 11:11

"Eleanor" is one of those great F. Scott Fitzgerald names.

and everyone will think she's swell and really does them well. She'll be her parents' pride & joy, et cetera.

posted by jonmc 18 October | 11:12

Sprog, hee hee!

I like Nell and Charles.

May I suggest a few? I like Satchel and Jasper and Jake for boys. I also like Gabriel but would call him Abe instead of Gabe. I also like Henry (Hank).

For girls I like Lily, Zoe (although that's way too popular these days), and Moxie. Huh, they all end in "ee".

Whatever the gender, give them a middle name that really does something interesting. My sister, for example, is seriously considering changing her middle name to Danger.

posted by Specklet 18 October | 11:13

yes on Eleanor and Beatrice, no on Charlie and Theo. How about Aloysius?

posted by Lipstick Thespian 18 October | 11:14

Maybe I should switch to the rock star test. Does it sound as cool as: "Nigel Tufnel, Lead Guitar!"

Thanks, elizard. I love Isobel, too. Believe it or not, we've already got two Isobels in the family.

I agree that the long versions are better, occhiblu. I consider the nicknames almost an inevitably, so it's a pre-emptive strike. I'd rather have a Theo than a Ted. (Yes I would. If I only coooould, I surely woooouuuld. Mmmm Hmmmm....)

I've already got a Lily, Specklet. And there's a Zoe in the family, too. I love Henry, though. (Adds to list.)

posted by jrossi4r 18 October | 11:20

Elanore is really beautiful. My vote's for that one. Theo makes me think of Cosby though.

BTW I thought it was typically spelled Isabel, and the other was a Bjork variant.

posted by pieisexactlythree 18 October | 11:23

I like Theodore, because Teddy is adorable for toddlers (but probably not a good idea in this day and age).

Ever since I read the Anne of Green Gables series, I've been enamoured with Bertha (as a middle name!)

An old friend of mine was named Beatrice - her nickname was "Bee", which is a bit cooler than "Bea".

posted by muddgirl 18 October | 11:27

which is a bit cooler than "Bea"

No way, man! Who's cooler than Bea Arthur? She's my favorite Golden Girl. And then there's Maude...

It's spelled Isobel in our family, pie. Maybe that's the Hungarian variant?

posted by jrossi4r 18 October | 11:32

Isobel is also the Scottish spelling, IIRC.

posted by elizard 18 October | 11:40

I love the name Edith, I think it's very feminine and, although kind of old-fashioned, I think that she would stand out as an Edith amongst a classroom sea of Britneys, Chelseas, Kellys, etc. Eleanor would be beautiful too and probably unique in the same way amongst her peers.

For a boy, I like both names you've chosen.

Here is my Worst Ever Child's Name story.

posted by essexjan 18 October | 11:46

I'm not crazy about "Theo" but love all the rest.

My only suggestions are Ava or Ellison (Ellison Rossi? Are you kidding me? He he will totally be a famous novelist).

posted by taz 18 October | 11:46

I'm not fond of any of them, I'm sorry to say. Which isn't to say that I don't like classic names. I just think they might be too classic.

My test is "Will he/she be teased and/or beaten up for that name?" Anything with Rs or S's might be out, because if your kid has a lisp, that's the end of it for them. Wemembew the thene in "Life of Bwian"? Yeah, like that.

Of course, the names I'd picked out with my first boyfriend were:

Kathryn Damia
Emily Starr (another Lucy Maud Montgomery fan here)
Raven Akasha
Zane
Troy Alexander

And I don't know if any of them would pass my own test.

posted by TrishaLynn 18 October | 11:58

I kinda like:

Wade, Monte, Buzz, Frank, and Mitch.

for girls:

Laurel Anne, Veronica, Tessie, Jackie

if all else fails there's always Elvis.

posted by jonmc 18 October | 12:04

Ha, essexjan! That story reminds me of the Nemesis Hair Salon. I always thought it was a really odd name for a business. Then I found out it was named for the owner.

Ava, Kathryn (and its variants)and especially Emily are spectacularly popular in these parts.

We've got a Tess in the fam, jonmc. But if I were going to go with Tessie, I'd have to with Olivia as a middle name just for the Vigoda reference. ("It was the smart move. Tessie O. was always smarter.")

posted by jrossi4r 18 October | 12:14

But if I were going to go with Tessie, I'd have to with Olivia as a middle name just for the Vigoda reference. ("It was the smart move. Tessie O. was always smarter.")

*doffs cap*

posted by jonmc 18 October | 12:28

I really like Grace Victoria.

posted by mike9322 18 October | 12:34

You could call Charles "Chaz" which is one of my all time favorite nick names. I like Eleanor and Charles quite a bit better than Bea and Thee, but I'm just one bunny. You could always wait and meet the kid first, then decide, or do they hound you in the hospital to fill out paperwork RIGHT AWAY or they call them Baby Girl Last Name?

posted by rainbaby 18 October | 12:35

I have soft spots for these 'classics':
Sebastian, Benjamin and Webster - Felicia (happy/lucky), Joséphine and Chantal (a song).

Names that made it to the top of my naming list: Saga ("she who sees"), Reidun (home & love), Thora, Tyra (female forms of Thor the thunder god and Tyr Odins son) and a few more I can't recall right now that made Perle's father Miklas laugh - which should give yo a good indication on how exotic they were. ;) Had Perle been a boy her name would be Tor Otto Toste.

Remember, "Nomen atque Omen". So look up what the name you choose means too!

posted by dabitch 18 October | 12:45

Oh, I love Sebastian.

posted by occhiblu 18 October | 12:48

Yeah, Sebastian works great in several languages too - that's always a plus! Say it with me in French Sebastian, now in Swedish Sebastain. See?

posted by dabitch 18 October | 12:55

Shoot, that joke would have been funnier had I not misspelled...

posted by dabitch 18 October | 12:56

My friends just had a kid called Theodore Jasper. Which rocks.

Eleanor is one of the names we have picked out for our putative future kid, so I can get behind that.

Also Annika, Charlotte, Eva, Alexandra, Charles, Lucas, Edgar.

posted by gaspode 18 October | 13:37

I like the names you've picked, jrossi. I like the idea of "Bee" as a nickname for Beatrice, but I'm a wee bit prejudiced.

The other suggestions I liked:
Henry (but I'd go with Harry)
Grace
Jasper
Jacob (Jake)
Zane
Catherine (the spelling I prefer, Cat as a nickname)
Sebastian

My suggestions:
Abraham
Liam (or William using Liam as a nickname)
Tabitha (Tabi)
Micah
Elizabeth (Elli or Ella)
Alice
Nathaniel (Nat or Nate)

posted by deborah 18 October | 13:42

Little old lady names are the business for girls - cute as children, without being silly when they grow up, and lots have nice abbreviations: Florence (Flo), Doreen (Do), Irene (Rene), Ethel, Thora, Violet (Vi), Agnes (which in Scotland is 'shortened' to Senga)...

posted by jack_mo 18 October | 13:42

I'm going to need you to go ahead and reproduce, gaspode. I need to know more cool moms. Especially ones with excellent taste in baby names.

The funny thing is that these suggestions read like a list of friends and family. Would you believe I know two wee Sebastians?

posted by jrossi4r 18 October | 14:24

I love Beatrice and Elanor. Very beautiful, both. My favorite girls' name is Grace so I'm recommending that. I always recommend that for girls because we need more Graces in this world. Lily is also a favorite of mine. Put 'em together and you get Lily Grace, one of the prettiest names in the world (to me). For boys, I've always been fond of Isaac.

posted by LeeJay 18 October | 14:45

I'm fond of Elijah for a boy. Or Jonah (I'm feeling biblical). Garrrett and Wade are nice, too. And I love Sadie, Tess, or Audrey for a girl. As well as Abigail (Abby). Or maybe Sydney (also for a girl, though it was my father's name).

One of my favorite things is flipping through name books... usually for picking out names for characters in a story, but a gal can dream...

(We should definitely go with "Elvis" for a middle name, if we ever have a little one, jack. : )

posted by Pips 18 October | 14:48

Oh yeah, Pips. Audrey. Love that name!

posted by LeeJay 18 October | 14:57

I love Tabitha! Great name.

posted by dabitch 18 October | 16:31

Eileen (always wanted a child w/ that name so i could have an excuse to sing "come on eileen...")
Julianna (pronounced Joo-lee-ahnna) love it
Madeline

Justin
Joshua
Julian (that one could go either way, no?)

i personally prefer nickname-less names....perhaps because my "real" name is so nicknamey, little girl-ish...and i love Beatrice, Elenore. those are names of people i would take seriously.

friend of mine just had a baby...Simon Gray, ahh...just love that!

have fun :)

posted by karim satasha 18 October | 17:09

Well, our daughter's name is Abigail (Abby), and people are always commenting on how much they like that name, though I think we were on the leading edge of it's popularity -- it's quite common around here now.

I really really wanted to name her Fenway if she was a boy (yes, after the baseball park), but the wife was having none of it. My other choice for a boy is Finnegan (Finn), but we have a cat with that name, so that wouldn't really work.

And it's a BIT geeky, but I love the name Anakin (Anni) for a little boy.

posted by Rock Steady 18 October | 17:51

Eileen (always wanted a child w/ that name so i could have an excuse to sing "come on eileen...")

my college girlfriend was named Eileen and she grew to really hate that song.

posted by jonmc 18 October | 18:03

I love Veronica, or Ronnie for short if you like nicknames. I've always wanted to name a girl Kayla Rae, but I was blessed with boys instead. We have an Isabelle in the family, and unfortunatly it's getting too popular these days. Caitlyn Elizabeth is nice, too. Emma, or Emily, and I like Sydney for a girl, too.
Boys can be harder. Logan is nice, Connor, Owen (my cousin named his son Owen Zane), even Zane alone is different. Alexander has always been one of my favorites. My son Kevin has not yet had another Kevin in his class in school. Philip, Jason, and Lucas are also cool names. I waited until my second son was a couple of days old to name him. I just couldn't decide! And my husband's youngest brother went home with "Baby Boy" on his birth certificate as his parents couldn't decide, either.

posted by redvixen 18 October | 18:32

OHHH! I love Rose as a middle name, because it's kinda a verb. _____ Rose ______.

Partial to Gray and Grayson, but that may be because of guys I've known with those names.

posted by rainbaby 18 October | 19:32

The babies my friends have had recently have been named Finnegan, Quinn, and Abe.

posted by pickles 19 October | 01:39

Fun random name trivia - in Ghana there was/is a practice of naming children after the day they are born. So my Perle is Abona. Girl born on a Tuesday.
I have a list in a book at my moms house.

posted by dabitch 19 October | 10:09

I have always liked Adelle, Jane, &/or Emily for girl names.

I pray with every fiber of my being that if I ever have kids that I never have a boy so I don't have any boy names to offer.

Rainbaby: My friend and all 4 of her sisters ALL share ROSE as their middle name.

posted by getoffmylawn 19 October | 13:14

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