Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed.
We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight!
Steph writes:
We have a daughter named Julia Mae, and our second daughter is due early in 2024. We have a long list of names but nothing feels like The One.
Here are our criteria:
- Nothing too trendy/too 2020s – We’re Steph and Matt. It’s like our names are stamped “made in the 80s.”
- One spelling/pronunciation – My nephew is Aydin. It’s a thing and his mom now says she wishes they’d gone with Aiden.
- Not too popular, not too weird – We’re boring! Traditional is our jam. If this baby was a boy, we liked Andrew.
- Nothing too long/probably no nicknames – Trying to avoid a lifetime of “please call me Steph” because Stephanie makes me feel like I’m going to the principal’s office. Plus our last name is Czech and starts with Sv, so it’s complicated already.
