Last week I announced I'm having a girl. The only problem with this (besides Mike casually asking me if I would ever consider a third) is that I already used my girl name.
The name 'Mazzy' was established long before I met the man I wanted to marry, headlining the baby name list I've had hidden in a folder within a folder within a folder on my computer for the past fifteen years.
It was the first name I suggested to Mike when I got pregnant and it was the only name he liked from that point forward.
Easiest process ever.
This time around, naming our baby is proving to be a bit more difficult. Every name I bring up connotes some sort of odd association for Mike. His response is usually quick and brutal, with a shake of the head that says, "There is nothing you can do to change my mind".
Our conversations (pre-gender determination) have gone something like this:
ME: What do you think of Rowan?
MIKE: RO-WAN?
ME: Yes, Rowan.
MIKE: No.
ME: What's wrong with Rowan? Rowan is a cool kid!
MIKE: No, he's not. He's a skinny mime who wears his pants too short.
ME: What? What are you talking about?
MIKE: He thinks he's funny but he's just annoying and British.
ME: WHAT????
MIKE: You know, Rowan Atkinson.
ME: Mr. Bean???
MIKE: Yeah, I'm not naming my kid Mr. Bean.
ME: Nobody associates Rowan with Mr. Bean.
MIKE: I DO.
ME: Alright, what to do you think of Lennon for a girl?
MIKE: No.
ME: Why not?
MIKE: Everybody's gonna think we're huge Beatles fans and start asking music questions we're not going to know the answer to.
ME: This is coming from the guy who suggested Hendrix for a boy?
MIKE: Hendrix is an awesome name.
ME: You know NOTHING about Jimmy Hendrix. What about Lennox instead of Lennon?
MIKE: Lennox is a stripper.
ME: Really?
MIKE: Yes. What else you got?
ME: How about Violet?
ObMIKE: Tell me one person who is happy with the name Violet.
ME: I don't know any Violets.
MIKE: Exactly.
ME: What about Archer for a boy?
MIKE: (long pause) Archer is cool.
ME: And then we can call him Archie for short!
MIKE: You just ruined it for me.
ME: Okay, we'll never call him Archie…
MIKE: No. Next.
ME: Sebastian?
MIKE: Sebastian is a cat.
ME: Jasper?
MIKE: Jasper is a ghost.
ME: That's Casper.
MIKE: Same thing.
ME: Allegra?
MIKE: Allegra is an allergy medication.
ME: Alexa?
MIKE: I like Alexa.
ME: No, I'm not naming my kid Alexa.
MIKE: You just said Alexa.
ME: I know. Forget that ever happened. Isadora?
MIKE: No.
ME: I LOVE ISADORA!!!!
MIKE: Everyone is going to call her Izzy and then we'll have Mazzy and Izzy and that just sounds stupid.
ME: Alright, you have a point. You come up with something.
MIKE: Indiana.
ME: Huh. That's pretty.
MIKE: Indiana Jones Wiles.
ME: YOU SUCK.
—————————————-
Obviously, Mike and I need help. What should Mazzy's sister's name be? (And just for fun, I'm going to answer as Mike in the comment section.)
Since we're on the topic, I thought it was finally time to share my 'tale of baby name regret' over on Babble today. For a brief period after Mazzy was born, I experienced the baby naming equivalent of "buyer's remorse". It was awful and took me over two years before I could write about it. But don't worry— it has a happy ending.
Marla. It’s pretty, goes well with Mazzy (Mazzy and Marla), can’t be shortened (not sure if that is imporatant to you but Mazzy can’t and neither can Ilona so figured maybe), and is another “M” name. Though then I feel bad that there would be three “M”‘s and only one “I”, but there are three girls and only one boy and Ilona is “Mommy” so that can still work. And it isn’t Dolores or Mulva, so the rhyming lady should have no issues with it 🙂
Ketel One Wiles would be great for a boy.
Darth Vadar would have been much more sane than naming your brother after the serial killer in Halloween. Poor guy.
congrats on the baby news.
and best of luck naming your child – I would never disclose that until the baby was born after the crap we took the first time around.
and to think I prefaced the conversations with this is our child’s name if you make a comment I’ll punch you in the face… I still got comments – I guess my mom knew I wouldnt punch her in the face.
I love your blog and i’ve been reading for over a year, but have never commented. I always love your posts! Anyway, the names I like are
Finley
Abella (but Bella is way overused)
Emerson/Emery
Harlow
I also know a Kynsi (pronounced Kin-Z) which is unique but cute like Mazzy’s name.
Your husband sounds EXACTLY like my husband when it comes to choosing names! We’re expecting our first child (a girl) in August, and her name (Marleigh) came really easily to us, with no argument at all! Then we started discussing runner-ups, and I fell in love with the name Eloise, only to be shut down HARD with the same “British” argument! haha. My husband said she would be prissy with a British accent. So ridiculous.
Anyway… I still love the name Eloise, and I’ve also recently taken a liking to the name Harper for a girl (although it’s becoming a little bit commonplace).
Good luck!!
Isha
Merika
May
Risa
We struggled with names. I think we came up with William’s name somewhere in the 7th month. We didn’t know the sex and thank goodness he was a boy because I didn’t like any of the girls names we came up with. My hubs lobbied hard for “Caroline” but Neil Diamond ruined that for me long ago. We struggled with baby number two but thankfully had that narrowed down to one sex, and we literally settled on it the week before he was born.
I am partial to Ada. I could not coerce the hubs to go with that name, he hated it (actually invoked the stripper reference). But I’ve loved it ever since I read “Cold Mountain”. Plus, you can’t fuck up the spelling.
My husband and I had zero problem naming our son. We had it narrowed down to 2 names, and when he was born, poof…he looked like a Lukasz.
Our daughter on the other hand??? IMPOSSIBLE! She didn’t have a name until she was almost 48 hours old! He had 2 or 3 he loved, but I hated and vice versa. I finally caved and she became Julia. Which now I love…feminine, but not overly girly (like me!). But every now and I then I look at her think she would’ve made an awesome Aleksandra…
So how about Alexsandra/Alexandra? Alex Wiles sounds great!
FYI – Bialy means ‘white’ in Polish!
Oh, and we also considered Alexis (a la your Alexa), until my BIL pointed out a huge future problem…teenage boys saying, “I wanna go for a ride in Alexis.” (A Lexus) And this is why girls are so much harder to name!
I guess I’m awful and just told my husband that he didn’t get an opinion when it came to baby naming as I was doing all of the hard labor(ahem). So we never had a debate.
In the end though – we let Eloise choose her baby sister’s name. Eloise, now seven years later, LOVES to tell everyone that she named her baby sister and I do believe it’s a special bond between them.
Now thank goodness baby Esther was born during Purim and Eloise was learning about Queen Esther in preschool. We pretty much lucked out at the timing.
When I was pregnant with my son we could think of lots of girls names we agreed on but no boys names for first names. My husband was planning on calling him by his middle name which was chosen right after I found out I was pregnant, but the first name was a stumper! When we found out we were having a boy I actually made a list of close to 30 names and my husband shot down every single one, so I know what you are going through! We finally couldn’t decide between Zachary and Caleb and it wasn’t till one of the nurses asked my husband after our son was born what his name would be that he said Zachary! Sometimes it is best to have 2 names because one may not fit as our son is definitely not a Caleb. Oh, and that middle name that was chosen right away, my husband has never called our son by that name! LOL
Sharon
Mayla if you want to stick with M names – Kendell, Quinn, Rose, all good names.
Wait – I meant MYLA – stupid keyboard. Pronounced like you think my then la.
The name Malia is ruined for me now. ; ) Totally kidding. Oooh, never thought about the Beckham factor. Yep, that’s ruined now too. Good thing I am done having kids! : D
BTW, I think you take penicillin to overcome Malia.
My daughter is named Skylar. My SO picked the name before we found out the gender and I liked it. We never could agree on a boy name but I was convinced it was a girl. We weren’t actively looking for a boy name until we found out the gender. And we couldn’t find out at the usual anatomy scan, she was shy!
Our unused girl names were Audrey and Charlotte, and Lilah. Though Mazzy’s sister probably needs her own unique and beautiful name. Good Luck!
I wanted to name my daughter Emery but my husband wouldn’t have it. My second choice was Charlotte. Hit me.
With Maddie we didn’t name her until the day we were discharged from the hospital. We debated between Madeline, Kaitlyn and Emma. I wanted to name her Reagan but my husband thought that people would call her Ronald. Ideas for your new one would be Reagan, Annabelle or Molly (those were all vetoed but I still love them!)
Allyson Catherine. And when you shorten it… Ally Cat!
We ended up with Hailey Faith. She was without a name for a day and a half though.
haha me too!
these are some different ones i’ve heard over the last few years.
Diem
Wryly (just a really ODD way of spelling Reily)
Wakeli
Greenly
Selah
Lmao!
We have a 2 year old named mazzy too! Our second girl is elodie. Again we are correcting people on pronunciation, but I love our girls names.
Personally, I think an Izzy and a Mazzy would be adorable. That being said, if you do go with Isodora, everyone will think you’re just a really avid JKRowling fan.
I can give you the name that I will one day name my baby girl, only because I don’t really know you, so this won’t turn into a Monica vs. Rachel fight…
Hadley!
This all reminds me of that hilarious baby-naming SNL skit with Nicolas Cage. He keeps shooting down all his pregnant wife’s name suggestions, coming up with rhyming nicknames, saying kids are so cruel, etc.
Then we find out his name is Aswipe (“As-WEEP-ay”) and the pizza delivery guy calls him Ass Wipe.
I tried to post a link but couldn’t find it.
Naming is one of those things that you think will be fun then becomes the hardest thing ever. Since I didn’t get to use my girl names, I will share them with you.
Adena
Laurel
Ruby
I can’t wait to see what you name her – you really did set the bar stupidly high with Mazzy!
I never have any stories to tell but I think your stuff is just so funny – you make me lol (seriously)!!
My brother and sis-in-law are expecting in September. They’ve had baby names set since before they even got married–they’re having a boy, and naming him Chandler Stephen(which I have no complaints about, because I really do love the name Chandler), but when/if they have a girl, they’re going to name her Eisley. As in Mos Eisley from Star Wars. My nieces and nephews are destined to get whoopin’s from other kids on the playground, guaranteed.
Charlotte is awesome. Especially because she can be “charlie” – Sassy! Fun! Just enough tough! Or Lotte – Smart! Thoughtful! Surprisingly sarcastic!
Remember the Austin Powers movie where he says, “Danger is my middle name.”? Well, I have a friend who gave her son the middle name Danger because of that movie…so, my advice would be get creative!
I’m currently fighting with my husband for the name Noelle, which probably doesn’t really work for those of Jewish faith.
She was pretty awesome though.
If it weren’t for all the L’s in our last name, my daughter might have been Willow after the same character. I also kept trying to make the P names work, but didn’t like any.
Hattie is my favorite girl name of all time
Brynn? Only because i can’t use it. Kitchen is closed.
Whatever you choose, please don’t go nutty with some alternative spelling. A kid who’s constantly saying “no, you spell it gynneffer, not Jennifer” will not be a happy kid.
What about Cora, Ivy, Neri, Dalia, or Shayna?
I can only imagine what responses Mike might have, but the two names I like for girls are:
Spencer
Sydney
Good luck! Our little one wasn’t named until 3 days after being born!
How about Sophia, or Grace? Both were names I had chosen for our 2nd child who everyone thought was going to be a girl, but surprise surprise she turned out to be a he!
Or if you’re a car guy – Shelby
Texasissance? WIN. I’m sorry, but I refuse to continue to read this blog if you guys pass on the name Texasissance.
I am having a boy in October, before baby gender was reveled we had a girl name now I can’t come up with a boy name to save my life!
What about Margot with alternate spelling as Margo.
Mazzy and Margo? I like!
ps? I totally said Mazzy correctly in my head since the day I read it.
So proud of myself.
So far I haven’t seen either of these…my daughter is Erin, I love her name. She was born back when we didn’t know the sex unless it was an emergency so she was either Aaron or Erin for five months.
I also helped my daughter name my granddaughter, twice! I suggested Dora so she would be named afterme but no go…:D. Kidding! Anyhow her husband did not like anything his wife suggested, ever. Finally he agreed on Genevieve. Until birth-day. One hour before she went in to get her C-section he said, I don’t like Genevieve. OMG. So Erin threw her list of names at him and said PICK ONE! He came up with Kaia. I like Kaia (Ky-ah) he says. Really?….three months ago you hated Kaia!! It was mine and my daughter’s top choice all along so we pretended to go along with his suggestion. Hehehe. Kaia Rose. Love it.
If my son had not been a son he would have been Elena (Alayna) which is probably too close to your name… My two daughters are Lilia (lily-uh) and Lacey. I had Lilia first, and it was fairly original for this region of the world (super common in Slavic countries though), so when I was pregnant with my second daughter, we were very concerned with “what name can stand on its own but also stand its own against Lilia? Lilia is just such a perfect name!” Eventually we found one we liked though. So, that being said, my names for Mike to VETO:
Lilia (Lily is too little girl, Lilian is too old lady)
Lacey
Starley
Sophie
Kayla
Renae (or Renee)
MY girl names: Rachael, Caroline,
I actually liked Lennon and Violet from your list.
coming after Mazzy will be hard, that’s a name. Although Indiana is kinda cool. 😉
Gwen, not gwenyth or gwendolyn, just Gwen. Gwen and Mazzy.
Has to be short and has to have a strong sound to it.
I do like Arianna because it reminds me of your name. My cousin’s name is Ariana, but prounounced in Spanish. Very nice.
Cory. Dalia. Damaris. Alyssa (girl name picked out for baby #2, but it was a boy. Name would have been Alyssa Maria.) Stella. Ella. Nora.
Bernadette or Mackenzie.
We just found out we’re having a boy, so I suggest my girl name – Adler. I don’t know why, but I’m obsessed with it.
When I was pregnant I knew I wanted something Gaelic in origin that started with a “D” and went well with “Evans”. I found Devlin on a website and that was it – husband loved it at first hearing. So we named our son “Devlin Mack”
A year later I found out a high school friend was naming his daughter Devlyn Elysse – which I think is just about the most beautiful name ever.
How about “Elysse” for the new baby – not overly popular, at 6 letters it is a good length, and with the E’s and S’s, learning to write it will giver her a good start with a couple of the most popular letters in English.
how about Riley?
Genevieve, nickname Genna
Charlotte
Makenna (though I generally don’t like when siblings start with same letter)
Francesca
Isla
Don’t even talk to me, second-trimester lady. I’m three days away from my due date and we still haven’t made a final decision. I will say that I think that parents get a lot more legroom (i.e., freedom to go “weirder”) with a girl’s name. With a boy, you just up his bullying potential if you go too crazy.
For a girl, I love Skye. Not Skylar, but Skye. I still also really like Layne (Aura’s middle) name. Also, and not to be stupid, it’s kind of helpful flipping through Edith Hamilton’s _Greek Mythology_. There are some verrry interesting and often pretty names in there.
I know a little girl named Aiyana (pron: I-on-a). Its different but not too weird.
My cousin’s name is Marinka and I’ve always loved that name. When I daydream about being a spy that’s my alter-ego. hahahahah
~Monique
Diem looks like you mispelled Demi, Wryly and Wakeli are just wrong, Greenly sounds like something Al Gore would name his kid and wasn’t Selah the evil religious albino who cut himself in the Da Vinci Code?
Perfect. We will name our child after a dead stranger.
Like Peyton Manning? I could be down with that.
Half of those sound like cars. Rich white cars that go to expensive colleges.
INDIANA JONES!!!! Sounds awesome.
Weren’t Phyllis, Dolores and Belinda a competing bridge team on The Golden Girls?
Poop is a terrible name. You should stop procreating.
Mazzy wants to name the baby, “Boy”. So do I.
Martha Stewart owns Martha. She could sue for copyright infringement.
I know it was a typo but Aster isn’t bad.
I’m glad you are suggesting names based on old WB shows. What better way to honor your child? “Was I named after a family member?” “No, you were named after a minor character on One Tree Hill.”
I am unqualified, as naming a cat is so difficult for my husband and me that now we have a 15-month-old “kitten.” But . . .
Boy names: Asher, Duncan, Henry
Girl names: Claire, Livia, Charlotte
my daughter is Odella, which i am insanely in love with but i also really liked Adara, Emelia, Eloise, and Evelian. i obviously have a thing for vowels…
good luck, it is in fact the hardest decision ever!
My mother wanted to name me Bonnie because of Gone with the Wind. She thought that little girl was the cutest thing, but my Dad refused since Bonnie in the movie didn’t live past 5 or so. Thanks for looking out Dad!!! I luckily, made it past 5! Even though I do agree with my Mom that Bonnie is a very nice name.
I know a 2 year old Lena and she is adorable–great name!
Lillian was my favorite name (since I was little!) that got vetoed by the husband. I’m still going to push for it if we have a second. And I used a similar tactic–if you veto you have to offer a new one.
We ended up with Mary 🙂
I have three girls: Parker, Finley and Quinn. We still get crap from people about them having boy names. I did give more feminine middle names – Parker Rose, Finley Sarah (after my mom, doesn’t really go) and Quinn Noelle. Best of luck, it IS hard!
I love my name now but it was not easy being a Camille in the 80s when everyone was Tiffany, Amy, etc.
Camille
Other names I like: Cora, Clara, Zoe (though becoming pretty common), Blaine, Sloane, Fiona, Daphne, Elle, Everly, Delaney, Tabitha, Lena, Syndey and Piper.
Also one of Mariah Carey’s twins is named Monroe.
I forgot about that. Name is OFF the list.
That is my husband’s favorite name!
I really like Aster. It’s a really pretty flower too.
My granddaughter’s name is unique … Banx Andolyn.
What about Meadow? My hubby said no repeating initials so it was taken out of the running but Meadow is an awesome name (especially since you live in NYC, not too many meadows there)
My name suggestions would be: Lena, Nico, Poppy, Ani, Jonni, Zora, Naomi, Ruby, Avalon, Nina, Vivi, Cora… they we all vetoed by my Husband, so maybe you’ll have better luck?
How about a jewel of some sort? I know girls named Emerald and Ruby. 🙂
My husband vetoed Scarlett. I love that name but he said he’s always be thinking of Scarlett Johansson. Whatever.
We had a hard time naming our daughter. 2 mom family though, so fewer “that sounds like ointment” comments. We both love the name we settled on though- Georgia Roxann. You can borrow it if you like 🙂 I like the name Winter, and Hazel.
We have a Mazzy and I went through the same thing with my hubby. We finally agreed on Fiona Harper. I loved Fiona from the start, but DH had to come around.
Sorry I’m late to the party!
I’m going with Ayla (like Kayla without the K)
Luella! That’s so pretty!
I read your post yesterday and then today a FB friend posted the following link. Thought you might enjoy it if you haven’t run across it already…
http://deadspin.com/5924827/american-baby-names-are-somehow-getting-even-worse
Zadie!
This sounds exactly like my house. We’re stuck on a girl name. We had a name for several months. I decided I didn’t want it and here we are, with less than a month to go and no name for this baby girl. I think of tons of names only to be shot down by the husband, endlessly. The usual comments are, “Isn’t that a last name?” or “No, I knew a girl back…blah blah blah” or just simply, “Ugh, no.” It’s exhausting.
I DO know a Violet! And she is the sweetest, coolest, smartest, prettiest little thing! 🙂
What about Ruby or McKenna or Lulu? I know great kids by those names, too!
This is EVERY conversation I have with Man Dude about names! Every single one! We’ve decided on Violet for a girl, I think it’s pretty too, and I like that no one else has that name anymore. And we’ve come to an agreement on Harrison for a boy.
Man Dude thinks Shaba-doo is an appropriate suggestion. I however feel like throwing water in his face. Good luck with the name game!
I like the idea of calling a girl Indy.
I’ve always liked Morgan for a girl’s name. Then you’d have Mazzy & Morgan.
Anya, Amira, Moira, Ashlynn, Caden…Most of my names end in A or N. It’s just our thang, chicken whang.
*We had to have #1 and #2 decide on #3’s name. We went through everything in the book and on my list, and HE hated everything halfway decent. I’m not naming my kid after a state, gun, or motorcycle. Period. Thankfully, the boys sided with me, and we got Gavin Alexander to go with Aidan Joseph and Logan Boyd. Though he is the only one without a family name in the middle!
Sophia or Emma Good Name for baby girl.as the name of my first and second
I have a niece named Willa. Love the name. Also current faves are Stella & Lucy
My teacher friends have the hardest time with names because they seem to know a terrible kid for every one. Have you been to Nameberry.com? They have a lot of great lists you can scan (ex: if you like Charlotte, you might like _____.) That’s how I discovered our daughter’s name (Eliana). It’s no Mazzy though!
I will share my #1 name, but don’t bash it too much- Hadley Camille. That is my daughter, if I ever have one!
I’m done having kids, so let me open the computer folder within a folder, within a locked folder, within an actual pee chee folder …
Holden for a boy (take it, take it — it’s yours)
Davey for a girl. Yes. Davey. Ever since I read Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume in the 7th grade.
My own kids are named Noah and Eva — don’t take those names, they belong to me (along with millions of other children around the world).
My husband insisted on the name Zoey for our daughter. His name is Joey. We’re discussing boy names for our second child and he will not let go of the name Joseph. So basically I’m going to have a Joey, Zoey, and Little Joey living in the house with me- Tracie. We sound ridiculous.