Irish you would read my post!

Haha, that was a good one, right? ... right? ...ahem.. moving on.

I couldn't let this sunny St. Patrick's Day slide on by without a post on some of my most favorite names, Irish names! I've got Irish music playing (channel 933 if you have Comcast, sounds of the season channel!) and Irish Soda Bread right out of the oven (I hope someday for smell-o-vision, I could share how heavenly is smells in here!)  So lets talk Irish. Conas ata tu? Ok, that's all I know how to say in Irish, it means "how are you?" I'll get back to names.

Some Irish names are ones we hear all the time these days, very popular in the US. Here are a few of those, maybe you didn't know they were Irish?

Aidan                                                Eileen

Sean                                                  Erin

Owen                                                Neve

Keegan                                             Quinn

Desmond                                          Kelly 

Brian

Connor

So those are some nice Irish names, but I'm kind of a name nerd (ya think?) and I like love the more, well, interesting ones. Not all of these are suited for first first names here in the US, because no one will ever know how to pronounce or spell them, and you don't want that sort of trouble for your kiddo. But that doesn't mean they are super cool names! Here's my faves:

Brennan                                        Ainsley

Ciaran                                           Caoimhe

Declan                                          Ciara

Donovan                                       Deirdre

Doran                                            Fiona

Einri                                               Kiera

Finnegan                                      Liadan

Finley                                            Maeve

Keane                                            Maire

Kelan                                             Naomh

Kieran                                            Rowan

Riordan                                          Saoirse

Rory                                               Siobhan

Seamus                                           

Teague

So many good names! See what I mean though, some of those are pretty tricky to figure out how to pronounce! For example, Saoirse is "seer-sha" and Maire is "My-ree." Both beautiful names, but maybe as a middle name, yes?

Did I miss any of your favorite Irish names? Let me know!

It's National Middle Name Pride Day!

Now here's my kind of national holiday! Let's celebrate names, and why not the middle one? It's so overlooked by the world, but many parents agonize over the perfect one. It just sorta hangs out there, waiting to be needed or noticed...

I love middle names. What a great way for a parent to throw a little pizazz into a child's name. Maybe you have the name you just love but worry it's too different or can be easily teased, so you don't want to use it as a first name. Bam, middle name! Maybe you want to honor a family member who's so very close to you, but the name just really isn't your style? Bam, middle name! Or maybe you just like the sound of the name sandwiched between the first and last, that's fine too. You can do just about anything with a middle name.

One thing I found myself worried about for a very short while with my daughter's middle name (Wren) is that I found it on a middle name list someone referred to as "filler names." I was like what? Wren is a filler? Since when? I don't think it is, but then I realized that "fillers" are ok! There is absolutely nothing wrong with using "filler" names like James, Marie, Rose, William. Those are all solid names, and if you love how they flow with your child's first and last name, then go ahead! Don't let people convince you that they're boring names. If you love it, it's not boring, it's perfect :)

So take some time to think about your middle name today. Where did it come from? How is it special? Tell me about in the comments if you'd like! Do you love it or hate it?

Why Y? I'll tell you why... not!

I just don't quite understand the fascination with the letter Y. Is it a vowel, is it a consonant? Why can't it just make up it's mind? Jerk...

But anyway, in the world of baby naming, the letter Y is one of the hottest trends. I don't want you all to think that I hate the letter Y, cuz that's not true. In the right spot, it works. My own daughter's name for example, Jocelyn. The Y works perfectly, nestled between the L and the N, all cozy like. Lovely.

No, I don't have a problem with the letter Y being where it's supposed to be- I have a problem when people just start sticking it into names where it has no business being! Replacing perfectly good vowel like I and A and E, vowels that have earned their right to be in that name. But why put a Y in place of another vowel?

Are you ready?

Now it looks cooler.

Or maybe...

Now it's unique (we'll save "unique" names for another post!)

Or my personal fave...

Now I can use this boy name as a girl name cuz it looks more feminine.

Let's talk about that last one. This is happening all the time and someone needs to make it STAHP. Taking the name Camden (a nice little boy name) and spelling it Camdyn does not make it a girl's name. It makes it a boy's name spelled wrong. When a teacher looks are their roll call sheet and sees little Carsyn, their gonna still assume it's a boy. Same with Declyn, Damyn, and the oh so fabulous double Y in Gryffyn. I"m not making this stuff up, I've seen it. Truly all you're doing is making so everyone ever will spell your kid's name wrong every single time.

So please, think of the children before you haphazardly throw a few Y's into their name!

Family Names: do I haaaaave to use one?

Many families have names that have been passed down over the generations, it's a pretty common thing. Maybe you want to honor someone in your family who you were very close to, or maybe a family member that passed recently. 

Some of you out there may really like the idea of naming your little girl after your cherished grandmother. But do you really want to name her Beverly? Or your little boy after your favorite uncle... Uncle Lester? Ewwww. Can't there be a better way?

I think you have a few options.

First option- use it in the middle name! Ta-da! Easy peasy. It's tried, it's true. It works. Nuff said.

Another option- use a variation of the name, or something similar.

Don't care for Lester? Maybe Alastair. Not a fan of Beverly? Try Everly. So close, but much more fresh and  trendy.

Here's a few common family names and ways you can vary them.

Rose--> Rosalie

James--> Jameson

Theodore--> Thaddeus

Ann--> Annalise

Eleanor--> Elise

Mary--> Marielle

Michael--> Malachi

William--> Liam

One more option- give them an entirely different name, but using the same nick name!

Maybe your great aunt was Evelyn, but went by Evie. You could use Genevieve, and still call her Evie!

This works in reverse as well. You could name your son after your grandpa Alexander (who went by Alex) but your could call him Xander. Yay!

The list could go on and on... There are so many options out there for you! So don't feel saddled down by a family name- there is a way to work it and still have a name that you love and honors that special family member as well.

Fandom Friday: J.R.R. Tolkien

Sometimes we draw inspiration for names from our favorite movies, TV shows, and books! I will try to talk about a different fandom once a month- Fandom Fridays!

Today's Fandom Friday is brought to you by one of my all-time faves- Lord of the Rings! I finally saw The Hobbit this last week (LOVED IT) and was of course inspired to watch the LotR trilogy this week. So of course, I got to thinking about names, as I do, so here's some thoughts I have.

One thing to be careful of when using names from a source as iconic as Tolkien's works- most people will be  very aware of where the name came from. If you wish to avoid too much teasing or harassment, then names like Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf, should probably be left unused. However, I do think that there is a little more wiggle room in the middle name department! I think this may the best use of your favorite fandom name, and who knows, maybe they will love it and choose to go by it later in life!

So here's a list of my personal faves:

GIRLS:                                                          BOYS:

Galadriel                                                    Theoden (first name potential)

Arwen                                                          Elessar

Lorien (could be a  first name)         Meriadoc

Eowyn                                                          Peregrin

Amaranthe                                                 Thorin

Amarie

Rosie (first name for sure!)

If your a fan of more unusual first name, that's fine. Just be aware that going TOO unusual will only make things more difficult for your kiddo in life.

I have just but one favor... please don't name your kid Frodo. Or Shadowfax. Or Saruman. It's just rude.

Baby Name Consultation: It Doesn't Make You a Bad Parent!

I decided to Google "baby name consultation" just to see what's out there... seems people think it's a terrible, terrible thing. I saw one blogger call it the end of the world as we know it! That's bit much, dontchya think?
I think it's a pretty cool thing! Not just because I like to do it, but I think it's an awesome service that would really help many parents.

Here's how I see it... Ladies. You just got engaged, yay! OMG you need a wedding dress now... where to start? You have some ideas of what you might like, or maybe even a certain dress you've always loved. You scour the internet for ideas, but it's just so overwhelming, there's so many options. So you make an appointment at a nice little dress boutique. You talk to the nice lady, the nice lady that loves dresses and knows what exactly they have in the store, you tell her your hopes and dreams. You know, your specific guidelines of "something romantic" or "I don't know, I like things that are flowy, maybe some lace." She goes out and pulls several dresses that seem to fit what you think you like. You try those ones out, maybe you strike gold, maybe you hate them all. So on and so forth.

Moral of the story is this: the baby name world is vast. You're pregnant, you're tired, overwhelmed with the 100 kabillion things you need to do and think about and deal with preparing for a child in your life. What's the harm in enlisting a little help from someone who makes a hobby (or maybe even a living) of researching and knowing and loving names? Whether you have a vague idea of things you like, or even very specific ideas but nothing has stuck a chord just yet, or no idea at all, baby name consultants can help you at least narrow it down. Maybe even find the one? Besides, what does it matter where you found, or who helped you find, the perfect name? Your baby will have that name the rest of their life. There's no shame in getting a little help to make sure it's the one!

Really? Another baby name blog?

Yes! Another one! But mine is going to be the best. Just sayin'.

Also, Euphorium isn't a real word, I made it up. (For the record, I don't condone made up names, just made up words.) I accidentally said euphorium today, but was trying to think of the the word compendium, or emporium, not sure. So this blog is a collection of something I'm passionate about, names. Bam! Euphorium! A happy accident, just like many of children I want to help name! *cough* hmm... moving on.

I love names. I've been pretty fascinated by names for a very long time, particularly why people choose the name that they do for their child. There are so many options to choose from, how does one even begin to look for a name? The process can be so intimidating... I'd like to see if I can make it a bit easier for you! 

You won't find name meanings or popularity lists in this blog- that information is super easy to find online. In fact, I recommend my favorite name site Behind the Name. Very fun site to look up meanings and popularity! My blog is going to be about helping you with the process of finding a name. I'm looking forward to diving in to the world of baby naming (even more so than I have, if that's possible!) and I hope you'll join me on this adventure. I would like to remind everyone that I will be expressing my opinion, regularly. I know,  duh, it's a blog. But I'm pointing it out because I don't want people to be offended if I dislike a name they love, or even used for their child. Names are all about personal preference, so I understand many people may not care for my choices or what I have to say... but I hope everyone enjoys my exploration of different naming topics.

Yay!