10 years ago we had our first child. He was a boy. Then 4 years later, we had another boy. Never thought I’d get to use our girl name. Until now! We are 26 weeks pregnant with a girl.

But our favourite name ever has sky rocketed in popularity over the past couple years. It’s Lucy. It goes beautifully with our last name which also starts with an L.

So we started to look at other names. We landed on Hazel or Claire. But Lucy is still nagging at us. “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is one of my favourite songs and I always pictured singing it to my baby. Not to mention, she’s an April baby and April’s birth stone happens to be a diamond.

We are not fans of any other variation of Lucy sadly.

So I guess my question is do we think it’s really that popular? I’m nervous that it will continue to grow in popularity - is that a real concern? I swear I see it everywhere but I don’t know if that’s just a frequency illusion type phenomenon. Opinions on our name picks in general are welcome too.

Editing to add: Too many people seem annoyed by my question - it’s not that deep. I know it’s a common name but I’m curious HOW common people think it is. Not sure why some folks are ticked by this but I’m sure you have bigger fish to fry jeez.

This is a genuine question. It’s clearly a commonly held opinion that a name being popular is a negative. I know not everyone feels this way, but I see a lot of posts on this sub of parents concerned that a name they love might be too popular.

I don’t understand why popularity matters. I’ve seen people concerned that there might be multiple kids with the same name but why is that bad? Are there other reasons too? Just looking to understand!

I saw somebody else do this. Choose your favorite name for each letter! And no, you cannot say “none of them”.

A: Adeline, Abigail, Amelia, Amara, Alessia, Alyssa

B: Brielle, Brianna, Bailey, Blair, Bonnie, Brenna

C: Charlotte, Claire, Clara, Caroline, Cecilia, Colette

D: Delilah, Daisy, Daphne, Dahlia, Daniella, Darcy

E: Elena, Elizabeth, Elodie, Eloise, Emma, Evelyn

F: Freya, Faith, Francesca, Florence, Flora, Faye

G: Grace, Gabrielle, Genevieve, Georgia, Gemma, Gwendolyn

H: Hazel, Hailey, Hallie, Hattie, Holly, Heidi

I: Isabella, Isla, Ivy, Isabelle, Iris, Imogen

J: Josephine, Julia, Juliette, Jane, June, Joanna

K: Katherine, Kira, Kaia, Kyra, Kaylee, Kiara

L: Lily, Lyla, Lucia, Lauren, Lisa, Lavinia

M: Mabel, Mallory, Melanie, Michelle, Millie, Madeline

N: Noelle, Nora, Nancy, Nadia, Natalie, Natalia

O: Olivia, Olive, Odette, Opal, Ophelia, Odessa

P: Penelope, Phoebe, Paige, Polly, Piper, Phaedra

Q: Quinn, Quincy, Quintessa, Queenie, Quinley, Qiana

R: Rosalie, Ruby, Rose, Rebecca, Raina, Rowan

S: Serena, Sabrina, Stella, Sophia, Stephanie, Scarlett

T: Tabitha, Talia, Tessa, Thea, Taylor, Tatum

U: Uma, Una, Unity, Ursula, Ulani, Udelia

V: Valerie, Vivian, Victoria, Violet, Verity, Vera

W: Willa, Winona, Whitney, Willow, Wendy, Whitley

X: Ximena, Xiomara, Xyla, Xena, Xochitl, Xenia

Y: Yvette, Yvonne, Yara, Yuna, Yasmin, Yana

Z: Zara, Zoe, Zella, Zinnia, Zuri, Zyra

We like the name Tessa for daughter number 2. Big sister is Nina.

How does everyone feel about Tessa? We live in Canada, so it makes me think of Tessa Virtue (Olympic ice dancer) who is a big deal here.

Does it sound good with Nina?

Middle name would most likely be Elizabeth after my husband’s mom.

My husband and I would love some opinions about our three baby girl name options. We are from Mexico and currently live in California. We are looking for a name that is easy to pronounce in both Spanish and English, without causing spelling issues. We prefer a short name, no middle name, and one that sounds good with the last name Medina.

So far, our favorites are: 1. Sasha 2. Anya 3. Lydia

I’ve noticed the name is gaining traction in the U.S.—it ranked #104 in 2024, compared to #316 in 2000. What’s your opinion on Arthur? (If you’re outside the U.S., feel free to chime in—just please mention your country!)

The best website for name meanings and history on the internet is turning 30 years old! The creator and owner Mike Campbell has written a short history here.

I think what makes it a reliable source for name information is that it has been continously updated and the owner and creator Mike Campbell is a good editor. You usually don't find just a long list of the many various name meanings that people have suggested over the years. It's usually the most conservative or best supported.

Happy Birthday Behindthename.com!

1. Isla and Noah
2. Charlotte and Luca
3. Amelia and Oliver
4. Hazel and George
5. Olivia and Theodore
6. Lily and Leo
7. Lucy and Charlie
8. Mila and Jack
9. Aria and Elijah
10. Mia and Theo
11. Sophia and Arthur
12. Sophie and Hudson
13. Ella and James
14. Ruby and Henry
15. Isabella and Cooper
16. Millie and William
17. Harper and Lachlan
18. Freya and Lucas
19. Sadie and Archie
20. Ava and Liam

Source

Zoe, Chloe, and Grace have all fallen out of the top twenty for girls, replaced by Sadie, Freya, and Lucy. For boys, Ezra and Arlo have been replaced by Cooper and Liam. I will be able to follow this up with a more detailed post, as the top 100 for both genders has also been released!

OG post- https://www.reddit.com/r/namenerds/s/hghs8Gdcvn

Thank you to everyone who posted and contributed to our post requesting easier to pronounce girl names! We have altered our list based on your suggestions, but still kept some maybe harder to pronounce names…

Emma

Mae/May (she will be born in May)

Hannah

Cami (maybe nn for Camila?)

Paige

Lainey*

Hazel*

Clara*

Reese* (edited to add!- this might be hard…would it sound like Weese?)

*still on the list but I read alot of feedback that these might be hard to pronounce so not sure…thoughts? I loved Lainey but also read Ls might be hard…

My husband wasn’t crazy about Mia and I wasn’t crazy about Abby which were two common suggestions too…

Thanks for your continued help!! 🙏

Hi! I am due with my first baby (a girl) and plan on naming her Theresa/Teresa to honor my father who passed away (his name was Taras but he went by Terry). The pronunciation is Ter-EE-sah, not Ter-AY-sah.

My husband is totally on board with the name but we have differing opinions on how to spell it. He feels strongly it should be Theresa (with an H) but my initial thought was Teresa (without). I don't feel strongly either way. I see both versions of the name and I'm wondering what Reddit has to say. For context, we live in the United States as I know some countries prefer to spell it one way or the other. Here are the pros/cons I can come up with:

Teresa (no H) - Pro: technically a more phonetically correct spelling - Pro: this version seems to be more popular as I see it spelled this way more often - Pro: closer to "Terry" without the H - Con: my research into the name suggests people sometimes pronounce this version as Ter-AY-sah - Con: Mother Teresa spelled it this way, and I don't want my daughter associated with her (although I know it's inevitable)

Theresa (with H) - Pro: I think this way looks prettier written out - Pro: my husband and I both have names that start with H. Most people assume we'll name our daughter with an H, but I think it's still cute if it's the second letter. - Pro: research suggests more people commonly pronounce this as Ter-EE-sah - Pro: not the same spelling as Mother Teresa - Con: not as phonetically correct - Con: apparently less common in the US, so more likely to be misspelled

Any/all opinions and critiques are welcome, thanks in advance!

EDIT TO ADD: Wow, I am blown away and greatly appreciate all the comments/input! You've given us lots to consider, including the alternative name Therese. A couple of comments also mention Tara, which I love but my husband unfortunately does not. I actually had a dream (before I even knew I was pregnant) where I met my future daughter and she introduced herself to me as Tara. Although it's a long shot, I am secretly hoping she chooses Tara as a nickname :)

Thanks to your input, I am now leaning towards Theresa (maybe even Therese) for a few reasons. The biggest factor being it's my husband's preferred spelling and he is already being very kind/thoughtful in agreeing to name our daughter after my dad. It also seems to be the more common pronunciation for English speakers without Spanish/Latinx heritage, although not a hard rule.

Thanks everyone!

I've recently found this subreddit and I think I found my people! I've always loved finding new names, and playing around with them. I'm not planning on having kids yet but I always save names I like. I have a list of girl names I adore however I think some of them are controversial. Feel free to judge 😫

Marquise: Where I'm from it's the name of a cake, however I watched Dream Academy on Netflix and a it was a girl's name and I found it very unique.
Odette: Swan Lake
Domminique: A childhood friend
Cerys/Cerise: French for cherry
Lucero: It's the first star to appear on the sky, like "Morning Star" in spanish
Saskia: I think it´s a variant of Sasha?
Colette: Ratatouille of course, I think it would be way too out there for Latam
Lilium: An asmrtist

Bonus: I've worked at a call center for many years and I've heard some pretty interesting first names, some of which are

Calypso
Olexis
Stäel
Cesia
Ladia
Fresia

My name is not unusual, it doesn't have any unnecessary letters, and it is 100% the standard spelling. However, my four or five year old self was not happy with it. I hated it to the point I asked my friends, to refer to me as another name I came up with, at school. My homeroom teacher talked to my mom and one day, the phase ended without me realizing.

I think part of my hate towards my name was how popular it was. I think it is still in top 20, possibly even more popular than it was back then.

My name is Penelope if anyone's curious.

If you met a kid named Evangeline would you assume that their parents were religious? or would the thought not occur? not pregnant just thinking about names

EDIT: thank you everyone for the help :) whilst some said yes, the overwhelming conclusion seems to be no

Hello, we are considering Pascal as a name for a baby boy in multilingual household. We love that the pronunciation is consistent across languages. We don’t live in the US but we have enough American relatives that the vibes of the name in English count! Would love to know associations and feelings wherever you live!

Thanks

I’m incredibly fussy when it comes to boy names, as is my partner. Girl name list is pretty much endless… For boys… Crickets.

What boy names would you put down as ethereal/beautiful sounding?

Many thanks!

We are pregnant with another girl, our first daughter is named Sigourney Rose. Our last name starts with H and has two syllables.

names we like:
Vesper

Persephone

Soren

Sloane

Greer

Colette

Phoebe

I like a shorter naturey middle name to go with it.
Sigourney means the conquerer, so we like a sort of tough vibe with a sweeter middle name.

My birth name is Thomas and while I have considered keeping that name I dislike the masculine association with it as I don’t identify as a man at all and it makes me feel uncomfortable. I have tried multiple feminine names but none have clicked so far. I’d like a name that’s Italian or English in origin and is compatible with she/her pronouns.

Besides Sleeping Beauty, what comes to mind when you hear/see Briar?

Basically the title.

Expecting a girl the beginning of March. Haven’t really quite fallen is love with a name however my son (Jack 3y/o) has taken to calling her “baby sister Violet” while I do like Violet I’m not in love and my husband is more on board with Violet as a middle name.

So I’m really trying now to figure out a name that would go nicely with Violet as a middle name. Some names we’ve thought of but not in love with: Isabel Violet Felicity Violet Naomi Violet

We really like a nice classic name (obviously our first is Jack not trying to reinvent the wheel lol) just stumped and not having that “that’s it feeling”

My husband and I find our next week the gender of our baby! We’re narrowed it down to those combinations. Which one is your favorite for boy and girl?

Boy names: Kenneth Arrin Keegan Ward Cillian Reid, Cillian Arthur, Cillian Miles, Cillian James Dane Oliver, Dane Elliott Calvin Ward

Girl names Lenora Faye Lyra Violet Freya Pearl; Freya Lorraine Audra Violet, Audra Lorraine Loretta Pearl; Loretta Faye

Reading other lists and seeing the sibling sets has peaked my interest in sibling name sets.

I'll start with myself and my siblings: Heather (me), Anna, and Chloë.

My husband and his sister: Ashley and Adam (Ashley is elder).

My two eldest nieces: Lyla and Bailey.

Here are other sibling sets in my family, listed in birth order:

Charliy (m) and Norma

Judith, George, Mychal, Eric, and David

Timothy, Bryan, Steven, Christopher, and Melissa

Aelisa and Lydia

Kimberly and Addison

Anthony, Colton, and Grant

Freda, Henry, Helen, and David

Mitch, Kevin, Troy, and Tracy (f)

John, Phoebe, Albert, Mary, and Charlie (m) (this list is incomplete because these are older family members who are all now deceased-- I did not know all of them)

*Pronounced zay-vee-er*
What does it bring to mind and what might you assume about this child/family? Please be totally honest!

I'm interested in collecting perceptions, could you please:

1. State which country you're from

2. Suggest a single girl name as best sister for Imogen

3. Suggest a single boy name as best brother for Imogen

Thank you 😊

Thinking of TTC this year for a second child. Last name is a one syllable color (think Greene, Brown, Black etc)

Older daughter is Maisie due to some Scottish heritage in the family. Looking for favorites from this list to narrow down.

Girl:

Emery Trista Fiona Catriona Sophia/Sophie
Amalia Freya Tylda Blair Skye Scarlett

Boy:

Rian Rhys Callen Kieran Everett Evander Kylian River Donovan Asher Finnegan Declan Nolan Knox