Being Pregnant
The Strangest Baby Name Rules
We all know the families where all their children’s names start with the same initial (even if there is 19 of them) but that name rule is modest compared to some.
I knew a family that named all of their children after US presidents: Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson and Reagan. I also knew a family where all of their children’s names had to start with ‘Mar’ – Marcus, Marcella, Marissa, Marshall. But these rules still seem modest compared to the strangest one I’ve heard yet from my cousin (warning: it sounds made up but it’s not). Her friend had three children and was pregnant with her fourth. The name restriction?
The first name had to be an animal and five letters and the middle name had to be five letters and start with a ‘J.’ Her three kids were already named Tyger James, Raven Jayne, and Hawke Jaxon. They were considering Saber or Fenix for the fourth. I’m not sure what they decided to go with but I’m glad I don’t put such tough restrictions on myself. Naming a baby is hard enough as it is.
What are some slightly strange baby name rules that you have or have heard from somebody else? I want to hear.
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14 Comments
erniebufflo commented on Jan 11 12 at 12:18 pmMy only rules for my twin girls: 1) actual names, not just random words, 2) Clear, logical spellings, 3) No matching initials or rhyming first names, 4) They had to be either family names or have some sort of special meaning to us.
Nicole commented on Jan 11 12 at 2:51 pmI had a swim coach who had 3 boys and she had to name them something with a ‘sss’ sound in it: Chris, Travis, and Chase. So random!
Karen Petersen commented on Jan 11 12 at 9:52 pmI don’t like when people do that. I think it is annoying.
Gina commented on Jan 11 12 at 11:34 pmMy only rule was I didn’t want unisex names.
Jackie commented on Jan 12 12 at 4:05 amWe decided to stick with names with our initials for our first daughter ( D from daddy’s name and J from mine).. We named her DeAndra Julia… And when we found out we were expecting another girl, I wanted to keep the D & J… So we named her Jennavieve Daria. :)
Amie commented on Jan 12 12 at 6:57 amOur rule that accidentally came about was that we went somewhat in order, starting with J. My daughter is my youngest and when I was pregnant with my first son when we still didn’t know it was a boy, my girl name was and was always going to be Amaya Leola and she would have my initials, well by the third kid we had realized what we did ( j k and named number three L) by number four the amaya was no longer an option. So she’s my sweet little Maiya. And her middle name is not named after my mom she got a middle name after my great grandmother. And the spelling and M we also take into account my grandmother who was full Japanese and passed away two days before I found out I was surprise pregnant with my little girl. Her name and her hold a special place for me.
Emily G. commented on Jan 12 12 at 3:11 pmAs a middle school teacher for eight years, I would like to beg all parents to go with a logical spelling for their child’s name. I can’t tell you how hard it is to look at “Jeordyn” and think “Jordan” or “K’ielie” and think “Kylie”.
For my own kids, we went Biblical with our twin girls, Hannah and Leah. And for our son, Lucas, we just went with what we liked. Simple enough and we love them!
Marla commented on Jan 13 12 at 11:34 pmI knew a family that had to have everyone’s middle names be the same. So, then they had to find first names that “fit” with the middle names. I’m with Emily G, though on the spellings. Those poor kids!
Sweet P Gifts commented on Jan 14 12 at 2:07 amI agree with Emily G and Marla as well. We have seen some really unusual spellings doing our personalised name posters. Michaela is a good example. Alternatives have been: Michela, Michaele, Micaela, Magaly, Mikala, Mykala and Mikayla. The poor children will be spelling their names for the rest of their lives. I know many of us want to be original but sometimes the common spelling makes sense as they all end up being pronounced the most common way.
nancy commented on Jan 15 12 at 10:04 amMy husband, the 4th grade teacher, set the rules:
1. no unisex names
2. one common spelling
3. nothing that could form a set of initials that would lead to mocking
4. one common pronunciationfrom his years of experience, this would make our baby’s life easier (and his!).
Kayt commented on Jan 15 12 at 5:25 pmI wanted no K first names, since my husband and I both are K’s. I didn’t want a super unisex name, or super common, and I didn’t want any creative spellings (Kayt is a pain, people!) We ended up with James Kenneth. I clearly lost on the ‘too common’ thing. We’re trying for a second child now, and we’re set for a girl, lost for a boy. I want Rhys or Ezra, he wants Dexter. I kind of like the idea of have ends in S names for boys, because it would make a lot of different names sound more like siblings to me. Plus, I like a lot of them! I wouldn’t force the pattern at all, though.
Linda Laine commented on Jan 15 12 at 10:59 pmMy in-laws named their sons after the archangels Gabriel and Rafael.
Ellen commented on Jan 17 12 at 2:01 pmMy husband grew up with a family whose mom was named Ginger, and whose daughters were spices: Cinnamon and Pepper. He used to joke if they had a brother, he’d have to be named Dil.
Anna commented on Jan 18 12 at 7:36 pmOur first has a Z middle name, and we are thinking of going with that for this baby and any subsequent babies, too.
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