Friday, August 6, 2010

What's in a Name?

From the files of 'way too cute not to share' comes this little trinket... earlier this week, I realised that we have as yet no set name or even a shortlist really for our unborn bebe. This didn't seem such a problem a few weeks ago... but suddenly I flipped the calendar and it said AUGUST and I realised I was having a baby this month and a tiny bit of panic set in.

You know you're in trouble when you read an entire naming book and find not a single name you like.

Naming Fern was pretty easy. For starters, we found out we were having a girl pretty early on, which narrowed our decision down straight away! Secondly, the name Fern had been in the back of my mind for years, I first encountered it as the character of the little girl in the children's story Charlottes Web, and fell in love with it straight away. I pretended to consider other names, but really the minute I knew it was a girl, it was Fern thereafter. I just had to convince my husband! He liked Lucinda - we both did actually - and so that became Fern's middle name. Fern Lucinda. And would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?

It's different this time around. Our shortlist is way too short at this late stage and I'm beginning to fear I will be one of those awful and annoying indecisive types who waits until days after the birth to name their child. And I've had 10 months to think about it! The easy solution is of course to go back to the 'B' list from the first time around... and we have! But those names all seem so boringly 2 years ago now, and we're pretty much over all of them!

But perhaps all is not lost... explaining our predicament over a bit of burnt self-saucing chocolate pud the other night to our friend and Fern's godfather, Crawford, he offered the services of his slightly eccentric and agreeably adorable 10 year old Charlotte to assist. He got her on the phone and she agreed to draw up a shortlist... and true to her word, she did. Bless. I'm sure she won't mind my sharing it with you:
What do you think - any contenders? I kind of like 'Goobie' or maybe 'Chippie' for a boy and 'Lolly' for a girl! Out of the mouths of babes!
What was on YOUR 'B' list... anything I might like and be able to steal?
Have a great weekend x

17 comments:

  1. That's so cute! I like her cat drawing too.
    One of my husbands fav boys names was Kip. I really loved Algenon (just joking). Jxx

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  2. Emily was our back up name for my daughter. And Poppy, Molly, Georgia, Daisy, Edith and Stella.

    Boys we liked Thomas, Scott, John, David, Spencer, Angus.

    If I had to pick off that list, I'd go with Daffy ;)

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  3. Oh my goodness...how hilarious that she came up with names for a hermaphrodite child. That is just so funny.

    We have settled on our names for boy and girl. We never really had back-up girls names as we just loved ours right away, but for boys we had:

    Harlan
    Isaiah
    Harwin
    Xander

    I also love Eldine (girl), Elne (girl...pronounced El-nay) and Marley.

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  4. That list is too cute :)

    Have you tried visiting some naming forums? I frequently visit


    http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/index.php?showforum=46

    You can either just browse through other peoples lists or post your own topic and remain anonymous!

    I wish I was kind enough to hand over our list but sorry my dear, I am not :P

    Goodluck and happy Friday! x

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  5. All the best with this...we found out with our little boy and it made it so much easier. Not sure what we would do next time. Have fun and enjoy your Friday.

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  6. I was so indecisive about names in my second pregnancy too (turned out her name was Jemima Rose!), but for Caleb (our first) and my baby girl due in September, the name kind of took hold very early on.

    Try www.nymbler.com which is my favourite baby naming website.

    You'll come up with a great name when the time comes, I have no doubt!

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  7. I still very much vote for Pipper or Grey for a girl, and Hamish or Roghan for a boy.

    Though I'm loving LJ's ideas of Harwin and Xander.

    OR (cause you've got me thinking):Fennel, Emma, Hannah, Jasper, Seth, Beth, Dillon, Hayden, Chad, Zack, Zackeriah, Jebadiah, George, Gabrielle (boy), Violet

    And, in keeping with Fern...some plant names...

    Violet, Ammi, Cadia, Callisia, Olive...

    Also, don't discount Louise, Lou, Louis, Loui, Louisiana...:-)

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  8. That is just too cute.. Hasle for a boy.. interesting!

    How exciting that you are due this month :o) I cant wait to see some piccies of your new little bubba.

    I only have girls names in mind for our bub ;o) and they are:

    Edie
    Ayla
    Ruby
    Maeve

    I actually love them all so its going to be tough to nut out over the next 5 months or so.

    For boys I love: Harvey, Hugo, Luca, Finn and Avi (My sister called her boy Avi)

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  9. My sister wanted to call her daughter Fern and ended up calling her Saige! So there's Saige, or Paige, Cassidy, Camille, Brooke, Scarlett, Bailey, Reagan, Connor, Morgan, Juliette, Sienna.......aaaah what the heck....I don't know. I'm due in Dec with a little girl and don't have slightest idea of a name for her. Although I do have a bit more time than you to think about it. Good luck...this name picking is quite a job!

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  10. That is so funny - love Nicole No2 :) And I love how Hazel is 'recommended' for blue eyes and brown hair!! We struggled with choosing boys names (very difficult when you're a teacher and lots of names conjure up memories of naughty boys!!) Our second choice for a girl was Isla which became Grace's middle name - we'd said Grace from the start and it's what we ended up sticking with. I did what Sonja suggested above and visited forums and that Nymbler site Bek suggested above was a fun one too - good luck!! x

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  11. Our back up names for girls were Violet and Inez. I also like Abigail. I think boys names are hard. I like Hugo and Miles. Love the list for hermaphrodites.

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  12. such a cute list!
    my all time favourite girls name, like you I'd had it for years, is AMelie and was happy to have had a girl :)
    2nd time round i didn't have a girls choice & the only boys name I LOVED was Aidan. luckly had a boy.
    goodluck, it'll come when you least expect it.

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  13. What a fab list of names...Like you, I'm loving Lolly for a girls name haha.

    We are planning children in the next few years and one name I love for a boy is Felix (but a family friend went for it before us...what are the chances!). For a girl, the name Callista is also starting to grow on me (admittedly it is my own name, but I've never met another one of us, so I'd say it's definitely under utilised haha)...Best of luck...

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  14. Hey Cal, don't discount Callista Flockhart for making your name all famous-like ;-)

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  15. That is the cutest thing! My boy name was always "Luca" but the Mr hated it so we don't have that name. I loved Stella for a girl too but the Bebito's name starts with S so the Mr won't let me choose that if we have a girl next. Like Bek, I love Nymbler. I'm looking forward to hearing what you choose. :)

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  16. If you like the idea of another name drawn from nature: lily, iris, poppy, or for boys: zephyr, jarrah ...

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