THANK YOU!!! I agree COMPLETELY with you. I don't have a problem with people being creative with their child's name...it burns me when they do so THOUGHTLESSLY without considering the consequences. I don't have a problem with unusual names, as long as there is a reason, a thought process behind the selection that you can tell your kid why you picked the name you did. As someone with a unusual first name, I can tell you from experience that it's disappointing being told by your parents that your first name was just a whim of letters. (My middle name, Chanel, was from the French designer of the same name). I'd rather have a common name and be told that I was named for someone that was admired/loved/noteworthy than have a name that was just conjured up on a whim.

My first name is completely made-up. It's unusual, but not all that bad...at least in India, where it means "star." :D (my parents never knew that...I found that out when an Indian coworker told me last year) Some of my very good friends have confessed to me that when they first heard my first name, they immediately assumed I was ghetto. :rolleyes: Luckily, they got to find out the REAL Ladyjag, but I sometimes wonder about those folks with more unusual names than mine. It's hard enough to be black and discriminated against without giving people a reason to discriminate us BEFORE they even meet us.

A lot of the names mentioned on this thread sound beautiful, but is there a purpose to them? Are they names of people you admire/respect/love (relatives or not)? Do their names mean something significant to you or translate into something in another language? Is there a specific reason why you selected it? You need to be able to answer that question, but one day your children WILL ask where their names came from...please have something better than "I just liked the way the letters looked together." That worked in Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" but I doubt your kids will see it that way. :)

Just my $19.13

These are the names I'm thinking of lately:


Morgan Kalani
Chaniya Monique
Coral Briatiyona
Lauren Jadiyah
Chare Makayla
Ryan Nathaniel
Christian Antonio
Aubrey Donovan
Joshua Mikel

I have had my children's names picked out since I was very young! Here they go:

Girls
Ashlin Blake
Marte Naki
Iyana Kristina (my mother and my middle name)
Devin Michael

Boys
First son will be a Jr.
Desmond Ishon

i just have a few:

for girls:
numa amarin (numa means strength)
muhlen (combination of my name and boyfriends)
sahar (his mom and sister's name)
for boys:
raja (boyfriend likes that)
but i have always liked: nathaniel gregory
musa ramadan (boyfriend's name)

i just think that your child's name should have some meaning: whether its a combination of you and your husband's names; a family member's name; or it has its own meaning, ie. characteristic that you hope your child grows up to have... just don't be creative and excessively long with a name just to be... i can't stand that. and dont be cruel.

it took me a long time to like my name: enjoli (rhymes with bonjovi)

Yep
 

Hey, I'm with you. My name is afro-arab and people always tell me it's soooo different. I know it's not because I have met other people with my name. Pretty maybe. But not unusual. :p

It was actually picked for it's meaning first, THEN it's sound. That means alot to me.

Perhaps I should have mentioned the fact that they names on my list were geared towards people that randomly name their baby something with no meaning or thought behind it.

Baby Names
 

I've always been fond of Chauncey for a boy or girl.:)

These are the names I've been feeling lately:

Girls:
Beautiful Maria-Annette (Meaning: Who wouldn't think their child is beautiful? Maria-Annette are the middle names of my mother and my guy's mother)

Thaienece Shantel

Rukia Shanee'(The first name is a combination of my sister and my guy's sister's names. The middle name is mine!)


Boys:

Jackson

Jason

Joshua
(See a pattern...?;) )

Baby Names
 

I like unique names too, but my children names are plain White collar American names

My children names are Terrence Terrell and Forrest Lee, IV

But in high school my friends and I used to pick out of the ordinary names like

Keundrick Keshon, Zachary Antionne, Breanna Brenshay Simone, Kenyana Kenshay--this is the name I name my cousin's daughter. She wanted her name to be similar to her dad's name (Kenneth Kente)

Aprylle Lechelle, Ayanna Voyya, Raven Nicole, Nisa Monique.

I usually don't tell people my baby names because they'll steal them. Like my sister, she took one of the names that I had for one of my future daughters and changed it around to name my nephew. It's different, but it's still too close for me to use it as well.

Boys:

Isaiah
Grant
Forrest
Ariahn
Parris

Girls:

Trinity
Ariant (pronounced ARE-i-ahnt)
Aviance (pronounced AY-vi-ahnce)
Indira
India

I met a lady who named her daughter Nevaeh (pronounced Na-VAY-ah). I thought it was cute, it's heaven spelled backwards.

I met a lady who named her daughter Nevaeh (pronounced Na-VAY-ah). I thought it was cute, it's heaven spelled backwards.



aaaaaaawwwwhhhh!!!!!!!!!

OK I LOVE BRAD PITT! MY FAVORITE BRAD PITT MOVIE IS "LEGENDS OF THE FALL". IN THIS MOVIE HIS CHARACTER'S IS NAMED TRISTAN. I HAVE SEEN THIS MOVIE 20 TIMES. SO, IF I HAVE A SON HIS NAME WILL BE TRISTAN. :p

Girls:
Camryn Alise
Nia Gabrielle

Boys:
(My husband's name here) Jr.
I'm not that good of thinking of boy's names. I think of the first name and then I get stuck. :confused:

My outlook is this: If you have to tell somebody looking at the name how to pronounce it (not just tell 'em, but break it down in syllables), you may want to think again, for the sake of your child. But I guess to each his own.

HEY:p My nephew's name is TRISTAN DAKOTA.....

:D

I've always liked names that are suitable for either a boy or girl. Some of my favorites are:

KENDALL, LENNOX, XAVIER, JAYDEN (or JAYLEN), MORGAN

Traditional girl names:

CHRISTINA, NIA, SIMONE, ROBYN, MONICA

Traditional boy names:

MICHAEL, MATTHEW, JEFFREY, CHRISTOPHER, KEVIN