Least dorky name for a baby girl:

[BlueIris]

[BlueIris]

1. One vote for Vianca so far. Excellent.

That's...kinda what I'm hoping any female child I shall have the opportunity to name will want as her name.

[MissHoneychurch]

2. That was my vote

the first name ... Arline. The first time I read "Airline". Not good. Anise sounds like the spice. Not good either. I like the sound of Viance Nicole.

[smtpgirl]

38. I know a girl named Tai, that's a cool name

[idgiehkt]

26. awfully close to Viagra

people will wonder if that is what she is named for.

[Lilith Velkor]

3. Ariel Sharon!

:spray:

(Well, it *is* a pretty name...)

[idgiehkt]

33. actually, that is very pretty

I like it, lol.

[Benfea]

4. I vote for "Quasielemental Existentialism"! -NT

[datasuspect]

5. no option for verona snickerdoodle?

[MissMillie]

6. I don't like any of them

I don't know whether or not you fall into this category, but I think a lot of parents these days are trying to name their kids something unusual. I think if you ask kids with unusual names, they'd say they wish they had a more common name.

Kids hate to stick out like a sore thumb. They may feel differently when they get older, but while they're in school, they want to be Jane, Alyssa, Kailyn or Jessica.

[BlueIris]

8. I was the opposite. I'm one of ten million Jennifers, and I hated it.

What I'm going for is, unusual, even unique, but not bizarre, ultra-bizarre, or stigmatizing.

But there will be more choices later this week, if you cannot even pick a "least dorky" option from among this batch.

[Midlodemocrat]

12. Speaking as an ex-teacher, I loved when parents named their

children 'Jennifer' or Michael or Robert or Susan.

I had so many kids with androgynous names, the first day of school was quite a challenge sometimes. You'd be looking for Taylor to raise her hand, and lo and behold, there he was.

[MissMillie]

19. I wouldn't want to be one of ten million of the same name either

and I don't imagine any kid would.... but there's a middle spectrum between being one in ten million Jennifers and being the only Vianca or Nerrissa.

My son is Tim. There was one other Tim in his graduating class, so he wasn't one is ten million Michaels. But his name didn't stick out either. He doesn't have to explain to anyone how to pronounce it or to spell it.

A lot of people are going back to the old-fashioned names these days, so there's a lot of Hannahs, Emmas and Graces. But there are some great names that were very popular in the 70s that no one uses anymore: Carol, Jacqueline, Janet, Diane,... even Mary. I'll bet if you named your kid Carol, she'd be the only one.

[antigone382]

39. Well, I have a pretty unusual name, and I like it...

But then, it's one of the old-fashioned names like you mentioned downthread. I've only met one girl with the same name/same pronunciation as me.

My brothers have odd names, too, for the most part, but not so odd no one's ever heard them before.

[tjwmason]

7. Not sure its quite the right adjective

but using the one given, they all strike me as somewhat dorky...but I'm very old-school in that regard.

[Deep13]

9. Um, no, none of those look good at the top of a resume.

[likesmountains 52]

10. I think they all look like you're trying too hard to be unique...sorry

[arwalden]

11. Creative And Exotic-Sounding Names Are Okay, But I Wonder...

... what it must be like for a child (or even an adult) to have to go through their ENTIRE life spelling-out their unusual name for people (teachers, banks, phone orders, cable company, etc etc.)

I imagine the folks with multi-syllable unique names will spend extra time repeating and re-pronouncing their name as they S-L-O-W-L-Y walk/train others in the correct pronunciation of their name.

Creativity is one thing, but burdening the child like that is another. If you need to be creative, why not limit it to just the child's middle name?

I seem to recall some study or survey about names that suggested folks with common and ordinary names (Kim, Michelle, Eric, Nathan) were more likely to be hired over equally qualified folks who had unusual names (Ja'Mondalina, Hy'Majesty, etc.)



edit: clarity

[Midlodemocrat]

13. I TOTALLY agree with you.

We named our three kids with their adult hood in mind. I had a friend named 'Rocky', (no kidding) in high school, but can you imagine cooing to a baby 'Rocky'?

By the same token, your child needs a name that they aren't embarrassed by as an adult. One of my neighbors just changed her name from Divinity to Diane because she couldn't get a job. (I think everyone thought she was an exotic dancer)

[zanne]

15. Whenever I think of baby names....

I put "president" in front of it to see if it passes the "respectable" test. If more people did that, there wouldn't be so many "Tiffany's" around!

[arwalden]

29. Also... Weird Spellings Of Ordinary Names

...don't make the name special. It's just more confusing and something that a child (or an adult) should not be burdened with.

Kim, not Kym.
Kimberly, not Kymburlee.
Jennifer, not Ginifyr.
Tyler, not Thyler.
Jason, not Jayson.
Eric or Erik, not Errick.

[MissMillie]

16. I think this was is part of the point I wanted to make too

thanks!

[liontamer]

24. it's annoying as hell

but my name wasn't really "exotic-sounding" it was actually from another culture. And while I really respect my parents' anti-assimilationism, once we moved out of their home country having my name become some kind of game to people was really annoying.

However, if they had just made up a random stupid long name just to make themselves seem cool I would be really angry. A child isn't some kind of toy to feed your ego. If you can't give them a name with meaning, then just give them simple names.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

28. My name is not really common at all, especially in the US.

(It's quite common in its country of origin.)

It's pronounced phonetically, but it is so similar to another, much more common name that people always seem to revert to the more common name out of habit. Therefore, I am always correcting people about my name, and I always have to spell it for people on the phone, etc. My last name is quite common in the US, but is long, like my first name, and viable for many misprouncings, since it can be spelled in so many ways--even though, like with my first name, it is phonetical!

Explaining my name to people gets annoying sometimes, but I don't really mind. I've long since gotten used to it, and unusual though it may be, it is not easily made fun of. :D

[Deja Q]

14. Mercedes Binaca

:spray:

[smtpgirl]

40. Not Binaca Spray??

I would have chosen that!!

What kinds of names are these anyway?

I could pick Peat Moss, Rose Bush, but, children have enough to worry about, why give them a name like that?

My Family:

Elmer Henry (wasn't my choice, my dad, but he answers to Junie)
Nancy Noel
Betsy Ellen
Ellen Victoria
Thomas Jay
Drew Michael
Victoria Noel
Noel Grace

Not at all odd, but kind of different

[Phillycat]

17. I'm sorry, but they are all horrendous.

Why not name your baby something that she won't have to spell and explain for the rest of her life? "Oh, my mom wanted to give me an unusual name." *rolls eyes*

What's wrong with a nice name that she could use in any career? If she wants to be a rock star, a senator, or anything in between? Why saddle her with something that she's going to have to lug around like a rock in her pocket for the rest of her life? That, frankly, strikes me as really selfish on your part. Because of your own desires, you're going to make a life decision for your kid that is going to hurt her. The idea of parenting is doing what's best for your kid, right?

[last_texas_dem]

18. Liora is one of my favorite girls' names

I prefer it spelled "Leora", though, probably just 'cause that's the way it was spelled in Sinclair Lewis's Arrowsmith, which was the book featuring the character who made me partial to the name. I don't really care for the name you have it paired with, though, so I guess I'll cheat and pair it with another one... "Leora Sharon" maybe? :-)

[femmocrat]

20. I think you would be saddling the child with a name that she would

have to spell out for the rest of her life. "No, it's VEE-anca, with a V"!!!

Anise is an herb that tastes like licorice.

[NewWaveChick1981]

21. I worked with college students for twenty years in an individual

capacity, and I have to tell you that I saw LOTS of students dissatisfied with their names if they were unusual or made up. True examples of names I have seen are Mystery, Bubble, Precious Jade, Rotunda, Jerusalem, a girl named Douglas, and many, many more. A young man whose last name was Rape had it legally changed to Reid, and he was thrilled to bring me the court document for the legal name change. I went to high school with a girl whose last name was Tiddy, and her family unofficially changed it to Teddy because of the hell they got.

I vote for giving the child a pretty name that is easy to spell and pronounce. :) Jennifer, Emily, Susan, Lisa, etc., are all very pretty, and a child with those names won't have to endure endless spelling and pronunciation lessons for those around them.

Just my opinion. :D

[yellowdogintexas]

37. my niece is named Douglas, it is actually her middle name,

but it just sort of seemed to fit her. Her name is Mary Douglas and she is named for her grandfather, and a favorite aunt. Sometimes she goes by both names together in the great Southern tradition of double naming but the family just calls her Douglas.
With her flaming red curly hair, it suits her.

[NNadir]

22. How about Elizabeth?

It's a beautiful name, and, with the increasing trend towards exotic names, it is likely to be unusual.

Ruth is a beautiful name too.

I named my son with what used to be a common name. He is the only person with that name who we know.

[Gormy Cuss]

23. The least dorky name on your list is Iris.

I have uncommon first and middle names --neither are unique, just a bit unusual-- and it can be a pain in the neck. Not only are there two equally acceptable ways to spell my first name but there several other variants. I've known women with 3 other spellings and have seen 2 more. That's 7 ways to spell the same name before counting the phonetic and inventive misspellings by people who try to guess at it.

The other experience that I've had is that people have a tendency to remember it as a more common and similar sounding name. On your list, I predict Nerissa will become Marisa, Liora will become Lora.

Having said all that, I'm a fan of names off the Top 100 most common list but I think that either the first or the middle name should be something that doesn't require explanation. I think all your names are great as single names but I don't like any of the combos for this reason.

[Ellen Forradalom]

25. Have you been consulting the PDF

for baby names again? Those are all erectile-dysfunction drugs.

[hippiechick]

27. Keep in mind this child may need to go to school some day ...

... and deal with other kids (who love to pick on kids with strange names) and teachers (who will butcher an unfamiliar name for 12 years) ... not to mention at some point probably have to publish a resume or CV in an attempt to get a job of some kind.

Sometimes tamer is better.

Jus' sayin' ....

[warrens]

30. They're all awful

I got a kick out of one I heard the other day, though. Codiena. What's next, Methamphetamina?

[jakefrep]

31. All sound dorky...

Are we naming babies or prescription drugs here?

[Flaxbee]

32. not really taken with any of them, honestly.

maybe think of rarer, though standard, names. I'm a Jane Austen groupie, so there's always Elinor or Marianne or Lydia ... pretty, feminine names with different (old-fashioned) spellings, both of which could be shortened into nicknames if the child wishes... "Ellie" or "Mary" or even "Annie" or whatever.

My first name was not terribly common when I was a kid, but well-known enough to save me the hassle of spelling it all the time (unless the person didn't realize there were different spellings for male vs. female). My last name was a total mouthful, and I always had to spell it, and it was always mangled. I'm just thankful my first name wasn't such a pain in the butt.

[BlueIris]

34. ...nice. Thanks, guys.

[smtpgirl]

35. Noel Grace, Victoria Noel,

Ellen Victoria,

Jamie Michelle, are good picks

[smtpgirl]

36. I want to name my daughter Binaca Spray

[Richard Steele]

41. You took them all at once again, didn't you?

[LeFleur1]

42. Name

Go to the front door.
Open it. Stand there and yell the names in your very best loud voice.
That experiment will tell you if the name is okay for everyday use.
Then Choose.

[deadparrot]

43. I think you can tread a middle ground,

and choose a name that's unique, but not strange. My name was more popular 15-20 years ago, and even then, it was more popular in Europe, especially the UK (in my high school, there were about three of us in a school of about 500+).

People seem to believe that giving the child a name that no one else has will somehow give them a unique personality, and I just don't think that's true. I'm sure kids don't want to be one of five Madisons in their class. Then again, I'm not sure they'd want to be the only Vianca in the world, either.

My parents picked my name because they could imagine a baby/child, an adult, and an old woman with my name, and it didn't seem strange. Sure, naming trends come and go, but it's still hard to imagine an 85 year old Brytnee or a five month old Thelma.

I know I didn't really comtribute anything productive to your choice of names, but those are just my general "baby naming" thoughts.