Town Hall Thread

So we picked Penelope just because we loved it, but she almost exclusively goes by Pepper, which was an organic and unplanned nickname. We picked Calliope because it flowed with Penelope (and honestly felt like a way to keep a similar name in my since Pepper hates Penelope 🤫) and because Calliope is the Greek muse of epic poetry, art, and music. We're an artsy family and it felt right! Calliope just goes by her full first name, but we're open to nicknames if anyone has any! Now we're pregnant with baby #3 and not finding out the sex until birth. We didn't MEAN to have a Greek theme but we kind of do now. Any ideas for additional sibling names that flow with the others? Greek or otherwise? The middle name, regardless of sex, will be Hart. Thanks for any help!

So, this was dumb of me, but I digress.

I had a classmate named Niamh. Really neat name, and everyone around us pronounced it as “Neeve”, which from my understanding is the correct way to pronounce it. However, I saw her name written down one day, and I immediately doubted everything I had ever heard. Niamh? How was that pronounced Neeve? (I was a bit of a sheltered kid, very white town, etc) I must have been mishearing everyone. So I started calling her “Neem”. She corrected me pretty quickly (thank god) but I was so incredibly embarrassed. Lesson learned, look up the pronunciation of names before you assume 😔 sorry Niamh!!

I always liked stars and universe. I was looking at all the planets, moons, and satellites and I particularly like Jupiter’s moon Io. My partner loves it too for different reasons (Peter Gabriel’s album).

I am unsure though because it’s 2 letters. What do you think? Thanks!

I've always loved plant/flower names and I think Clover is beautiful, but I've never heard it on an actual human and it never seems to be suggested when there are requests for nature-inspired names. In my view, it's a strong name: easy to pronounce and spell, feminine but not frilly, has nice associations with luck etc.

What do you think, and what middle names would you pair with it?

ETA: people, I am not having a baby, hence the discussion flair and not the baby name flair, so please don't panic for my non-existent child. I was interested in why the name is not as popular as other flower/plant names for girls... to which the overwhelming answer seems to be "cows".

I’m really want to change my surname to my mum’s maiden name, but it’s Catherine and I’m a guy, so I’d be Andrew Catherine. Is that weird?

Found out some weeks ago that our baby is a boy, we have narrowed it down to Joel, how is the name to you all? Our last name ends in a gy.

Edit :

I am glad that the the comments are in favor of the name, we wanted to hold off on telling family the name because some didn't like what we named our other son, which is Samuel. So we wanted to wait till after he was born to disclose this ones name. We also have a daughter whose name is Liliana and is very excited to have 2 younger brothers.

Thank you all for your honest feedback. It seems like Honor is not as practical as we thought. It does have some possible problematic nicknames and bullying scenarios that might arise, so that's fair enough. We are actually not Christian or anything, we just thought the name combo sounded very solemn and "royal", if that makes sense.

We are most likely keeping Grace, though, so here are some other possible combos we have in mind:

-Monica Grace -Valentina Grace or Grace Valentine(Grace Valentina? IDK) -Alessandra Grace -Michaela Grace -Emma Grace -Azalea Grace -Rebecca Grace -Ophelia Grace or Grace Ophelia -Alicia Grace -Adriana Grace -Helena Grace

Thoughts?

We welcomed our beautiful baby boy yesterday, 2 months earlier than we expected. He’s a fighter but likely going to be in NICU for quite some time.

As everything was so unexpected, we haven’t really decided on a name yet. But I do want a name with meaning, particularly with essence of “fight”, “warrior”, “resilience” or “light”.

Any ideas?

Hey everyone,

I'm hoping to get some advice or insight from others who may have been in a similar situation. My daughter’s name is Leona, and while I chose it with love, I’ve been feeling really torn about it, especially since giving birth two months ago.

Some days, I absolutely love the name—it's strong, elegant, and I feel it suits her so well. But other days, I just don’t feel like it fits, and I question if I made the right choice. It’s like I’m experiencing a kind of name regret, and it’s been really hard to settle my feelings. I keep wondering if I should have picked something else, or if this is just part of the postpartum experience.

Has anyone else gone through this kind of "name regression" where you love a name one day and dislike it the next? Did you ever come to peace with your choice, or make a change? Any advice or reassurance would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your support!

She’s my little chunky girl. She’s feisty and I can already tell she’s gonna be a handful.

Her dad has a letter A middle name so we decided to go with Adeline. We are not native speakers. I know its already too late but just throwing out there to see how people feel/ think about this name.

Maisie Adeline [last name]

I’m due in 10 weeks, but I’m so stuck on a name. I’ve nailed it down to 3. What does everyone like better?

• 𝐴𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑎 𝐾𝑎𝑡𝑒 • 𝐸𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑟𝑎 𝑀𝑎𝑦 • 𝐼𝑦𝑙𝑎 𝐴𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠

Halpppp please.

This time the show is a Jewish family sitcom working-titled Who Knows One? (basically intended to be to the Jewish experience what Black-ish is to the black experience but I couldn't call it Jew-ish since they made -ish the franchise signifier with Mixed-ish and Grown-ish) and set in the Detroit metro area.

Anyway I thought it'd be cool if the dad in this sitcom was in a band since Detroit is known for its music and the sadly-short-lived Wonder Years reboot proved a parent on a family sitcom could be a non-A-list musician and not have that basically "take over the plot". However, because not just the dad but all the members of this band would be Jewish I thought it'd be cool for some kind of Jewish allusion/theme in the band name. It's just I'm having trouble coming up with Jew-ish band names that don't sound too hit-you-over-the-head-with-it, y'know, these guys are trying to make it in the secular music industry (they just might put out a Hanukkah album etc.) not do the Jewish equivalent of Contemporary Christian Music

I'm Having an Identity Crisis About My Name

My name is Chad, which I dislike. It sounds good when combined with my surname, but the name Chad on its own makes me cringe whenever I see it or hear it. And there’s such a negative stigma attached to it, and I just don’t feel like it represents me.

I’ve been thinking about changing my name and have come up with a list of first and last names I like. Some of them feel interchangeable, meaning they could work as either a first or last name. I’m hoping to find a combination of a first name and last name that feels elegant, but still strong and has a nice ring to it.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

First names: Kristoff, Damon, Graham, Julian, Chandler
Last names: Damon, Graham, Carrington, Harrington

Is there  a  combination that stand out to you? Or do you have other suggestions that might fit the vibe I’m going for?

Personally my favorites are: Cherry, Clementine, Primrose, Juniper, Strawberry, Cedar, Basil, Meadow, Daisy, and Saffrin

I’m pregnant with a girl and we’ve almost certainly settled on Ximena/Jimena. We also have a son named Javier “Javi”.

But I am totally stuck on how to spell the name! I’d love to get any and all feedback.

Our considerations: - Ximena is the more popular spelling in our area (California), but we do see Jimena’s too. Ximena was #158 in the US (#46 in California) last year, while Jimena was #477 (not in top 100 in California). I generally prefer more common spellings of names.

• Is it better to be “matchy” with the J’s in Javier and Jimena, or is that tacky? If we have a third, it wouldn’t be another J name.

• The X looks cool!

• But the J might be easier for non-Spanish speaking family?

Thank you for any feedback!!

Hi again 👋🏻

You all helped me a bunch with a past Baby Naming Battle ("which do you like better, a or b?") and my commitment phobic butt is back with one more contender!!!

Ding ding ding Entering the ring is Sylvie!!!

We are due with a baby girl in a couple months, and we've narrowed it down to 2-ish names. Right now our top contenders are Imogen and Sylvie. Her middle name would be Day, it's a family name and we love it.

Which do you prefer?

Imogen Day or Sylvie Day

If you're into sib sets (I'm not particularly), her brothers names are Reid and Wes. Also, I'm based in the US.

If you had to choose Imogen or Sylvie, which would you pick? 😊

Did you guys take your husband’s last name after marriage? Why/why not?

We found out recently that we're having a girl - and I was really excited in terms of names as we found boy names impossible to agree on. The baby's last name will start with "Sym" and I'm starting to spiral over the names we liked. Basically - our top runner was always Violet, with runner-up being Phoebe. But now that we KNOW it's a girl, I find myself unable to commit and find neither of them sit right. We ended up ruling out Phoebe, but husband still loves Violet and keeps referring to the baby as Violet.

I find myself wanting to explore other names, specifically some that have a "Y" in them to match the beginning of the last name. Ie. Ivy, Lucy, Lily... But still, none feel right! For reference, we do know her middle name will be Eleanor. I am just having the HARDEST time committing to a name or finding one that feels like a perfect match.

I am desperate for opinions!!!! I don't want to ask family as I hate the idea of them saying anything against a name we love lol but I don't mind if strangers do. Many TIA!

We are having our third baby and stuck on names. We have a daughter called Eilley Marigold (pronounced eye-lee) and a son called River James. We are looking for a boy first and middle name to go with his siblings. Our last name starts with a hard C and ends in the long ee sound. I love Milo Jude, but hubby think it reminds him too much of an iconic 90s chocolate drink here in NZ called Milo. Any other good suggestions that work with our current names? Thanks!

so ever since i was a child people have always pronounced my name wrong. it’s spelt Jada, but pronounced Jayda, now people almost always call me Ja-da and it’s the most annoying thing ever, so i decided to just got by Jade & for the first time ever someone called me Ja-de😭😭 i’m tryna love my name but people make it so hard lmaoo😂

I have 2 boys already so I’m running out of names ! My husband is Dominican and I am American, I do love latino names, we have a Roman and Camilo. I thought the nickname Jamie is cute but not sure if it’s odd for a boy, the only name I could come up with to go with it would Jamiel (jah- mi- el) or (jah-my-el) but I’m not so sure about it. I want a name that is nice and unique but not far out there! It doesn’t have to be from a specific culture

Hello, I am an university student in Eastern part of Canada who came from Korea.

I want to make my new English name because of some convenience issues.

I have English name given by my grandparents, but I don't like it and I heard that it's bit old.

So I want to ask some opinions, especially from native English speakers.

I am definetly not an out-going person, so I don't want my name to be stand out too strong among others.

Also it will be good if the name starts with either "E", "L" or "I", but not necessarily.

I want my English name to be easy to read.

Which (female) names will be fit for me? Do you have any recommendations?

My wife is pregnant with our second child, a girl, and I’m hoping to get some opinions on the name we’ve chosen - Robin Camellia. Our last name starts with a G and is 2 syllables.

We both like nature names, but we want to make sure that having a nature themed name for both the first and middle isn’t over the top. We want the name to come across as classy, not overly themed or tacky. Honest opinions please!

It's that time again! The top baby names of New Zealand in 2024 are out. The top 10s are as follows:

Girls

Girls' names that move up into the top 100 despite missing the list last year include Lucia, Leah, Jasmine, Imogen, Rosie and Eloise (all present in 2022), Sarah (last included in 2019) and Amara, which was last included in 2016. Lyla, Nora, Asees, Elodie and Mabel¹ all join the list for the first time, with Elodie never having previously been in the top 200.

Piper, Skylar, Molly, Marley, Maddison, Harlow, Amber, Manaia, Tilly, Clara, Faith, Rehmat and Cleo drop out of the top 100, with Molly the highest rated last year at #69. Maddison was the longest mainstay in the list, last missing the top 100 in 1996 and peaking at #27 in 2008. Piper is out for the first year since 2011 and Harlow since 2018.

We also have all-time high positions for Eliana (#73), Maya (#58), Kiara (#57), Elsie (#46), Sofia (#44), Billie (#37), Kaia (#34), Margot (#33), Amaia (#30), Daisy (#24), Violet (#22), Hazel (#7) and Lily (#4) - the word-name trend is clear with the latter four, as well as the pop culture influence of Billie Eilish and Margot Robbie.

Boys

Boys' names moving back into the list after missing it last year include Aiden², Frederick, Kai, Ollie and Tobias (all present in 2022), John (last included in 2021), David and Dylan (last included in 2020), and Reuben (last included in 2019). Koa, Kai, Mateo and Muhammad make their debut appearances on the chart, with Kai moving up 80 places to #92.

Names dropping out of the top 100 include Blake, Nikau, Toby, Nathan, Gabriel, Ari, Harley, Myles, Niko, Braxton, Michael and Matthew. The biggest fall from peak here is Michael, a 14-time #1 boys name here that didn't leave the top 10 until 1998 had never been outside of the top 100 before. Nathan joined the list in 1972, peaking at #14 in 1995 and dropping out now after 52 years. Blake had been on the list consistently since 1993, peaking at #15 in 2012 - perhaps helped by the exploits and subsequent demise of national hero Sir Peter Blake. Toby held a position in the list since 2002, Ari and Nikau had last missed the list in 2019, and Matthew and Niko had most recently been absent in 2021.

Billy (#79), Atlas (#78), Malakai (#72), Enzo (#70), Miles (#63), Oakley (#59), Zorawar (#55), Sebastian (#51), Harvey (#49), Elias (#46), Austin (#37), Louie (#32), Finn (#22), Ezra (#21), Arthur (#10), Theo (#9), Elijah (#8), and George (#4) reach their highest position ever on this chart. One notable trend is an increase in Biblical names, despite fewer than a third of New Zealanders identifying as Christian, a decrease from 37% five years ago. Another is the increasing ethnic and cultural diversity here - Zorawar is Persian, Enzo is Italian and Spanish, Malakai is Tongan, Miles is American (we use kilometres)...

The full lists are here: for boys and for girls. Here is the official Government press release, and here is the SmartStart info page (I don't know what this is either).

¹ This data only goes back as far as 1954 - I would be unsurprised if Mabel had been on the chart before then.

² Aiden was reported as being in 100th place in 2023, but for some reason that list excludes Oakley, which according to the full release was actually 71st last year.

I’m thinking about getting a cat but I don’t have a creative bone in my body.

I think Sir Isaac Mewton is hilarious and cute but I don’t love it.

I am looking for cat names that are not people names.

My family has had 2 black cats: Ebony and Sadie. Then an OC (orange cat) and GC (gray cat) that were siblings. Puddles (white with black ‘puddles’/patches), and Shiloh (brown/black mixed color and liked to hiss and it sounded like “Shhhh”.

I like all of those and feel like they fit so well but I just don’t have any ideas of my own.