How long should you just look for names?
Call it browsing, maybe. That phase when you’re open to anything that fits your broadest requirements. Your kid could be Alaia or Sloane or Loretta. Maybe you’d name a boy after your father … but then again, maybe not.
I suspect very few of us spend much time in this phase at all. We quickly jump to making yes/no/maybe lists, letting evaluation begin. And, since most of us name with a partner, negotiation quickly follows.
There is a moment when adding more names to your list won’t really help. Maybe you’re days away from your due date and pretty sure that he’s going to be either William Hayes or Hayes William … and so looking at new lists is more of a distraction than anything else.
But maybe there’s a moment when rushing to discuss ideas and narrow down your lists is too soon?
I’m not sure yet, but that’s what I’m turning around in my head right now. (And I’ve been reading about decision-making lately, so I have an intriguing theory to test in this Friday’s Patreon letter.)
But I think it’s a step we might all skip over in our eagerness to get to the good part.
ELSEWHERE ONLINE:
Speaking of just looking, have you tried Naimbot? It’s new from BabyNames.com, and yes, it’s AI-powered. When I tried it with my personal favorites, I found the suggestions maybe a little lacking. But when I tried with slightly more conventional, Top 1000-style lists, it seemed to be much better at coming up with reasonable and helpful suggestions.
While there’s no official popularity list for Germany, Nancy has the details on the two next-best things. They both conclude that Emilia is the #1 name for girls, and Noah tops for boys. But their actual Top Tens vary slightly.
Are we heading for an age of extravagant names with maybe three middles? There are hints in British Baby Names’ birth announcement lists. A recent one featured Wolfgang Montagu Robin de Grey, a brother for Tinúviel Joanna Margaret Vyner. That’s uncommon, of course – but then again, two middle names used to feel excessive, too …
My cousin’s name is Tuesday. No, not my cousin. Comedian Nate Bargatze. Not sure why I find this so funny …
While we’re watching Facebook Reels, I love it when expectant parents share their lists! This one really caught my attention because I’ve been thinking about the name Wade lately. It feels like it could be big …
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The Niambot was so fun! I put in Rosemary, Ophelia, Anastasia, Annabel, and Felicity as names I liked and got Beatrix, Adelaide, Penelope, Juniper, Magnolia, Clementine, Seraphina, Genevieve, Matilda, and Vivienne. I love this!
It is likely the third middle name in the birth announcement you mentioned is actually a surname from the family tree, I suggest this because the little boy’s older sister also has a very peculiar ‘third middle’. It’s important to note that in the UK (especially in wealthier families) it’s relatively common for a surname from the family tree to be used as a middle name, I believe it is far more common in the U.S for a family ‘name’ (first or sur) to be given as a first name.