We went with what we feel are “classic” first names (Elijah, Gideon and Lukas–alternative spelling as it’s a family name) and “off-beat” middle names (Harrison, Hendrix and Hawkeye, respectively). I think “Elijah” and “Harrison” though, are the only names that ever make it into the top 100 lists.

My son is James. Classic, simple, and while it ranks high, we’ve never met another James under ten.

My much younger sister has a trendy name, and I’ve noticed in trying to speak different languages with her, it doesn’t translate. You get this beautiful stream of Spanish or French and then you have to pause to say her very American name. It really breaks it up, which sucks because she has a great aptitude and flawless accent otherwise. With that in mind, I gave my kids names I like that have a version in just about every language. If you name your son some translation of John James Alexander Peter Paul Charles or Mark, he’s pretty solid. The same names for girls seem to be Mary Susan Christina Anne and Margaret. Imagine “me llamo Cayden” “te quiero, Madison” etc.

Oooh, the first two yeah. But before the third was a twinkle in the eye, in a moment of loving drunkenness, I agreed to let my husband pick the next baby’s name. Hawkeye is actually one of DHs favorite comic book characters, not a M*A*S*H reference.

@ jenny – I actually hate that, to be honest. I had a French teacher who insisted on changing students names to be more francophone and it was a little appalling. For example, Craig should not become Craigoire, because that’s not a name in any language. Call the child by their name, period. (to turn your example around, do you anglophonize Spanish names? Juan becomes John, just because you’re speaking English?) Maybe that’s just me, though. Every Olympics it annoys me that we don’t call nations what they call themselves, but use an English (or French, or whathaveyou) name instead. Why do we say Germany when they say Deutschland?

hmmmm…come to think of it, I do adapt my first name (Anna) to the language I’m speaking, but since that is primarily Spanish, it isn’t much of switch from Ann-uh to AH-nu. My brothers, Marcus and Thomas always were Marcos and Tomas (toe-MOSS) with relatives who spoke Spanish, too, and I never thought of it as changing the name. But, we grew up in an area where most people are bilingual, so it just never was much of an issue, I guess. But try introducing little Jaydyn around, and it’s a little stickier.

We went with old classic names – Simon & Malcolm. I’m not much interested in what is popular, nor am I interested in changing the spelling of pretty much anything.