Hi Duana,
We are expecting our second baby and I don't think we are going to find out the sex. Our first baby is named Veronica and I am at a loss for baby girl and boy names. I would like a girl name that is equally strong and classic like Veronica - we've floated around Natalie, Alexandra, Naomi but nothing really feels right, nor can we agree. As for boy names - I've got nothing. Everything either seems too boring or too out there. I personally like Daniel/Danny but my husband hates it. Also I would like to avoid another V name and nothing that ends in a hard "k" sound. High maintenance enough for you? Would live to hear your opinions! Thanks!
___
Okay, before we begin: Is it a little bit of a trend thing that people are going back to not knowing what they’re having? Or, as I suspect, is it a choice confined specifically to Name Nerds? If you know what you’re having, you cut out half the names automatically, which for some people is a treat but for a name nerd means half your options are already eliminated.
Okay, so with Veronica you want off the beat. Nothing too popular right now. So fitting in but standing out is the key. Ursula. Evangeline. Celeste. Jessamine. Maybe Carolina would hit the right spot for you? Nothing that anyone has any trouble knowing or pronouncing, but at the same time, not remotely three-girls-on-the-block. Harriet? Ooh, Cordelia? You could go Anastasia, you could go Millicent. I’m actually jealous of you right now. I want a Millicent.
For boys, this is both easier and harder. Easier because there’s loads and loads of these familiar but unused names, and harder because everyone hates them. Like Edwin or Wallace or Benedict, if you’re feeling a push toward the same sort of Catholicism nod that makes Veronica so great-yet-antique.
If some of those feel a little fancy, how about Louis? Isaiah? Think about Veronica and Isaiah. Totally different and totally similar all at once. I might be proud of myself for that one. Jonah? Edgar? I’m really into the Ed-alternatives, it seems. You could always nickname him Gar, instead of Ed. (Wait, can I digress for a second? My cousin in Ireland married a man named Gar. Which is short for Gearoid. Which you pronounce “GaROAD” and it’s Gaelic for Garrett or Gerald. But come on! Gar! I asked him his name six times when I met him.)
What you want not to do is fall back on options that are nice but that are mostly in your head because they’re common. Like Henry and James. I can’t get mad at Jeremiah, though, if you want that. Or Augustus. Veronica and Augustus!
Incidentally, someone told me to hush up about the name Veronica. But I swear this letter writer sent this to me all by herself!
