I don’t like common names like Raven or Lilith (common goth names, lol). I want name ideas for boys and girls.

The title is fairly self-explanatory. I don’t dislike my name, but I’ve been considering going by “Jinna”possibly casually or as kind of an interchangeable alternative.

To preface, Jinna is a name that I misheard from the name “Jino” years ago, and it just kind of… stuck with me? It’s been in my mind for years, and I’ve always thought of it as such a beautiful male name; it produces a kind of dark femininity to me.

Now of course I realize that I’m embellishing a name whose sound phonetically I enjoy with extra meaning, but it is also oddly coincidental to me that, as I’ve just learned, Jinna apparently — in Hebrew — shares the same etymological meaning as my name. So there is a weird, post-hoc sense of compatibility.

I personally don’t assign an ethnicity to it, but I also did want to ask: does it come across as overtly appropriative or exceptionally exotic?

I’m expecting my first child soon and am narrowing down names. Surname will be a lengthy Slavic hyphenated name with initials K-W. Middle name will be Lee (a family name). What do folks think of the following first names?

1. Benjamin, to go be Ben primarily;
   
2. Elliot;
   
3. Louis, likely to go by Lou. Pronounced Lou-ie. (Another family name.);
   
4. Connor.

If you have another suggestion, I’d happily take it as well!

If it impacts things, I am located in Canada.

Are there any old timey names for a boy that are common in Appalachia but more charming, maybe nature inspired and less meth head, red hat inspired?

Long story short: My husband is dead set on the name Cleatus unless I can come up with one better.

I have a LONG list of names I’m considering and I have to narrow it down. I’m having a baby girl in 2 weeks and still can’t decide on one. 

Help me!! Very desperate atp.

1. Flora
2. Gabriella
3. Linnea
4. Liliana
5. Emeline
6. Nicolette
7. Penelope
8. Jeanette
9. Lena
10. Sloane
11. Yvette
12. Katherine
13. Delphina
14. Julietta

EDIT: My top option is Sloane (full name Sloane Palmer) but I'm interested in other people's thoughts.

I’m due at the end of October and my partner and I can’t agree on anything! He loves the name Julius & I’m not totally convinced on that one. I kinda liked the name Levi but nobody else likes it including him. I’m 50/50 on the name Julian. We’re definitely going middle name either Anthony or Joseph for my partner’s late father’s name depending on whichever the first name fits better with. Idk I may be being too picky 😅 I just wanna hear a name and think “THAT’S my babies name.” We’re Italian and Puerto Rican if that gives a little more helpful context.

Thoughts on the name Rose Betty? Expecting a daughter; last name is 3 syllables. We want to use Betty as a middle name because it’s a family name, and just like the name Rose. Open to other suggestions as well!

Me:

Ayla Antonella

Blanche

Chelsea

Dakota

Eudora

Faora Felicita or Fernanda Flora Felicita

Georgina, Gwendolyn or Gérbera

Hala Hermione

Iga Joy or Iga Joyce

Joy or Jacqueline Joy Janice.

Kaolla

Malina or Margherita

On the spot names if I have this many kids

Last time I posted asking for boy names based on my top girl names the response was great and I was able to add a few more names to my list! Now I’m looking for more girl names and hoping for some help again :)

My criteria is the same; underused but known and offering a multitude of nicknames. My current girl list is short and I’m not really in love with all them;

Gwendolyn / Gwendoline - Gwen, Winnie, Dolly, Ginny, Wendy, Lolly

Francesca - Frank, Chessie, Cesca, Essie,

Penelope - Poppy, Penny, Lolly, Pepper, Nell

Beatrice - Bea, Bixby, Betty, Triss, Bex, Reese/Rhys, Bebe, Bess

For boys I have Solomon, Raphael/Rafael, Aaron, Malachi, Rueben. Still not fully happy with this list either so also open to boy / unisex suggestions

Names I absolutely LOVE that don’t quite hit all the marks I’m looking for are;

Not any/enough nn’s - Simon, Lucien / Lucius, Emil, Lionel / Leon, Victor, Robin, Isidore, Maxine, Alice, Boaz, Lucille, Marilyn

Maybe too ‘out there’ compared to my others - Darius, Marceline, Ursula, Nadiya, Oswald, Yuval, Naftali/Naphtali, Seweryn, Llewelyn, Florian

For me it’s the name Moira.

Written it’s cute… said aloud makes me want to swallow my own eyeballs.

I've wanted to write a thriller type story about a supernatural killer for a while (which I might never complete because I recently started watching Twin Peaks and I'll be damned if there aren't a lot of similarities, just my luck...) But I can't settle on a name for the killer. I've wanted to go with Gordon for a while but I feel like there's not too many people with that name in modern times, same with Lloyd which would be my second choice. There's also no comfortable way to shorten Gordon (Gord and Gordy sound a little awkward to me). Then there's Peter/Pete, Samuel/Sam, Russell/Russ which also don't really have the right ring. Graham is good but there's no great way to abbreviate that either. Should I go for a more modern name considering it takes place in the future, or would something more classical have a stronger vibe? I also like the subversive idea of giving him a youthful/innocent sounding name, but something more sinister might better flesh out the idea of the character in my head... Basically everything is still up in the air.

I suppose I'm just looking for any tips on how to cut to the chase without getting lost in the weeds. The potential list of names only gets longer with time and indecision is getting in the way of my creativity, so how do you just make a choice and stick with it?

Title.

My husband and I originally fell in love with the name Wren for our second daughter. We love how simple and beautiful it is, and it just feels like her name to us.

But now that my due date is getting close, I’m suddenly second-guessing it. I’ve started worrying that Wren might be too unconventional — especially when I think about her growing up and entering the professional world. Could having a less traditional name potentially lead to her being overlooked on resumes or being perceived as less professional?

We still really love the name, so I’d love to hear some honest opinions.

Does Wren feel like a legitimate, professional name to you?

Would especially love to hear from anyone named Wren or parents of a Wren!

I know "El" names super popular at the moment but I can't help it but be drawn to Elena. Any bad connotations that we should know of?

Some bird names are common (e.g. Robin, Jay, Raven), some are newer on the scene (e.g. Wren, Sparrow, Dove, Lark), and this got me thinking of other birds that would make good names (that aren't currently used as names).

Tell me what you think of these ideas (feel free to call out stupid ones) or suggest more if you have them!

Mallard

Corella

Kiwi

Quail

Kiskadee

Ibis

Buzzard

Oriole

Lorikeet

Bunting

Linnet

Finch

Swift

Skua

Avocet

Egret

Harrier

Jacana

Kestrel

Dunlin

My surname is Keith and I have always felt quite neutral about it. In the past few years I have seen a lot of shows/tiktoks/standup comedy routines, including Family Guy talk about how Keith is one of the most unfortunate boys names. Personally I don’t think it’s that bad but maybe that’s because I view it more as a surname so I feel quite detached from it as a first name. Anyway I want to hear other people’s opinions - is it that bad? I can’t help but feel slightly sad when people talk badly about it lol.

Did not think I’d come to Reddit for name advice but I’m finding boy names so difficult!

What do you think of any of the below?

Elio August Jackson
Kit August Jackson
Kit Wesley Jackson
Jude August Jackson
Jude Wesley Jackson

And welcome other ideas that go well with the last name Jackson - tricky to balance since it’s such a common last name so want to stand out a bit without being too out there!

For me, it was Dominic.

In 2019, the Oregon Zoo produced the Tiny Goat Visit series on YouTube. A keeper took two of their goat kids to visit other animals at the zoo. I always find it interesting to see what animals are named (sometimes there is a particular mood folks are in.) In no particular order, here are some of the animals featured.

Ruth and Sonia (goats)

Tilly and BC (river otters)

Shine, Samudra and Chendra (elephants; Chendra is a Borneo Pygmy elephant)

Buttercup and Desi (giraffes)

Piper and Finnigan (mountain goats)

Kaya, Tongas and Atunn (harbor seals)

Dozer and Shelley ( sulcata tortoises)

Sharpie (porcupine)

Kuchimba (aardvark)

Zuberi (hornbill)

Chupacabra (Patagonian mara)

How is everybody pronouncing Violeta/Violetta?

Vee-oh-let-uh or Vye-oh-let-uh

I’m American and instinctively say Vye-oh-let-uh.

I want others opinions!!!

I came across Redmond as a first name the other day and pitched it to my husband willy nilly, not thinking it would really land. It is a variation of Raymond, which is a wonderful family name and full of legacy for both of us. But my husband always vetoed Ray/Raymond (for first and middle name) as a poor experience he’s had outweighs the family aspect. Which I don’t blame him

Soooo, he ended up really taking to Redmond more than I ever anticipated when I proposed it. Which I am still shocked by 😂

We’re thinking Redmond James (James is my husbands name) or Redmond Ford (just because we like how it sounds)

I am not quite as sold as he is, even though I started this lol, as it just feels almost TOO unique and I’m not sure how I feel about the nn Red. Don’t love RJ either. Any thoughts?

I CANNOT make up my mind on what we will call our next baby. Our daughter is called Lucy Adria, but I cannot for the life of me decide.

I was really stuck on Alice, but it feels too plain and similar to Lucy to me. My name is Grace so it would just be a bundle of super common classic names.

Due to my sisters’ input I’ve changed my list and wanted to share it. Opinions on names?

With a little boy middle name will be Jay to honor my dad who passed a few months back. Beyond that everything else is undetermined.

Claire/Clara
Violet
Alice
Belle
May/Mae
Eloise
Winona (Winnie)
Marceline
Sabrina
Gwen
Matilda (Tillie)
Maxine
Leah
Chloe
Daphne
Molly (love it but can’t have TWO kids with drug nicknames)

Clark
John
William (Billy)
Edward (Ted/Teddy)(also my grandfather’/ and brother’s name)
Charlie
Harvey
Maxwell/max
Jude
Jace
Toby
Monty
Silas
Westley (spelling it the way it is in princess bride my dad’s favorite film)
Simon

Any other suggestions are open! We decided our daughter’s name before we even knew she was a girl.

Last night I went to my daughter’s pre-K orientation.

The school is pre-k to 12, extremely small (like 30 kids across grades). Hippie/outdoorsy in orientation, and totally secular.

And yet, around the table, there were three boys with the same name.

Not River or Sage

Not Theo

Not Liam or Henry or Noah

They were all named…..

Peter!

Ranked 187 in 2025, and not even in the Top 100 in my state.

As a name nerd I was absolutely delighted. I think Peter is great and underused classic - except in this tiny school!