Another name question

[lmh2402]

Do you think certain names have a "look"?

I gave DH a list of names I liked, with four that I liked/loved best.

Of these, he said he likes all four, but has the "oral" issue with Orla...plus he thinks Orla , Isla, and one other sound "blonde." and he thinks the odds of us having another fair child are slim at best.

I have fair skin, blue eyes and dark blonde/light brown hair - my whole family is similar. But DH is olive toned with v dark hair and eyes, as is his whole immediate family. DS is a carbon of my family, so clearly there must have been a recessive gene somewhere in his pool. But I agree that odds are that baby 2 will be darker.

But I don't think that means a name or names shouldn't be potential bc they "mean" golden or "sound like" a lighter haired person.

Thoughts?

[JBaxter]

I guess some would. Naming a blonde Raven or Ginger?

[AnnieW625]

We are guilty as charged of this:). Yes I think certain names have certain looks, and DH thought so too. We also had to throw out names I liked like Monica, Chelsea, and Jocelyn because they all had ties to the Democratic party that my DH was afraid my ILs would pick up on (they are hard core consertatives). Never in a million years I would have thought he would have vetoed Jocelyn, but he did because she was surgeon general in the first part of the Clinton admin.; still a stretch IMHO though.

With DD1 we had two names picked out, Elisa and Jenna. We had decided that if she had come out with a full head of blond hair and my lighter features she'd be a Jenna, if she had a full head of dark hair and dark features she'd be an Elisa. Elisa is named for DH's maternal Grandma who is Mexican of Spanish decent. We chose Elisa from the minute she was born because she just looked like an Elisa, plus DH had said if we had a girl he wanted to name her after his grandma. Jenna would have been a major stretch for DD1 had we decided we did not wanted to name her Elisa. Maybe because the only other Jennas I knew of at the time (a friends daughter, and Jenna Bush) were blondes and had lighter non olive skin tone.

To me Isla sounds like it would work for someone with olive coloring and a more ethnic European vs. Scandanavian or Western European descent. I like Isla more than Orla. If you like O names what about Ottilie? That was my great grandma's name and she was of Jewish descent on her mother's side and Catholic on her father's side. My grandma wanted to name my mom this in 1952, but they settled on Elizabeth.

With DD2 we had to look at her before we picked out a name for her. She has med. dark hair, fair skin, and brown eyes and Lauren seems to suit her, but really any name would suit her. That is just her overall personality, very easy going and such.

[BabyBearsMom]

We also had to throw out names I liked like Monica, Chelsea, and Jocelyn because they all had ties to the Democratic party that my DH was afraid my ILs would pick up on (they are hard core consertatives). Never in a million years I would have thought he would have vetoed Jocelyn, but he did because she was surgeon general in the first part of the Clinton admin.; still a stretch IMHO though.


It's funny you say this because I always tease my DH's (Republican) family that if we had a boy we would name him Clinton (DH is the only liberal in his family and Bill Clinton is considered evil in his house). I actually do like the name Clinton but DH through it off the list because he thinks it would give his grandfather a heart attack :rotflmao: I still like to tease my FIL that we will call DD2 Hillary!

To answer the OP's question though, I don't think certain names have a "look" except for the examples that PP gave about raven or ginger. I don't think that Isla is a blonde necessarily (isn't Isla Fischer a red head?). What I have discovered with DD is that they come to embody that name. Now, whenever I look at DD I think about how she so perfectly suits her name. But really, no matter what we had named her, I am sure I would have the same though.

[123LuckyMom]

I certainly do think some names conjure up a "look" when people think about them out of thin air. Still, I wouldn't let that limit you at all. Even a blonde named Raven wouldn't be out of place. Once you met her, you'd forget about the dark hair associations and think about other characteristics of the name. I dislike mismatched ethnicity naming, though. I think it's odd when people choose very Irish names, for example, when there's absolutely no Irish ancestry in their family. That's just my opinion. I think your names are lovely, and I wouldn't worry about them not matching your baby's looks, but if you have no Scandanavian heritage, I might choose a name more in line with your own ancestral background.

[lizzywednesday]

I wouldn't say that some names have a "look" but there are some names that kind of have a "feel" to them.

One of the names my DH suggested when we were expecting DD just screamed "stripper" or "romance novelist" to me and I just didn't want that connotation.

I'm also with BabyBearsMom in that some kids just "become" their names.

[KLD313]

There are a couple names I associate with blondes but Isla isn't one of them. Some names make me think of people I've known and don't like so they have a negative connotation for me.

[AnnieW625]

One of the names my DH suggested when we were expecting DD just screamed "stripper" or "romance novelist" to me and I just didn't want that connotation.

I'm also with BabyBearsMom in that some kids just "become" their names.

DH's cousin said we shouldn't name our child Jenna because of porn star Jenna Jamison who for some reason was in the spotlight a lot in 2004-2006.

It took a while but DD2 is becoming a Lauren. As much as I liked that name it wasn't one of those that when you just looked at her you knew that would be her name. Christina was probably that name but DH already has a cousin Kristina and DH thought it would be too egotistical to name his daughter the female version of his name. Christine ended up being her middle name, which is mine too.

[Tondi G]

well we chose Aidan "fiery" for DS2 and when he was born and had a head full of RED hair we knew it was the right name for him! He is definitely an Aidan!

You could always go into the hospital with a few names on hold and see what suits your baby best!

I do think there are some names that just suit a particular hair color or skin tone more than others.

[amldaley]

I beleive names have a look or feel, but moreover, I believe a name has to just sit well with Mom and Dad.

I agree with your DH that a name can appeal to a certain look.

DD2 was named F. from the beginning, but I had this nagging feeling I wanted to name her M. When I saw her 4D at 30 something weeks...I knew instantly she was not a M. It just did not fit. And sure enough, here she is, a F.

With DD1, I was not certain of her middle name until I saw her...I called out to DH in the OR..."E! Her middle name is E.!"

There are names I wouldn't give my kid b/c the "bastardization of the name" results in something I wouldn't find acceptable. Orla is one of those, no matter how pretty it is.

[scrooks]

Christine ended up being her middle name, which is mine too.

Love the middle name choice! My DD and I (and my mom) all share that same middle name!;)

[Mopey]

I definitely agree that some names remind you of porn stars, people you hate etc.

As for a "look".......the one thing that comes to my mind is when I hear of a little boy with a super "cool" name (think Hawk, Hunter, etc.) all I can think is he'd better grow up to be darn handsome :)

[american_mama]

Of course, names have associations, including things that are somewhat visual like nerdy, stripper, preppy, etc. But if you are asking if some names suggest a certain physical appearnce, I'd say a small handful of names do that for me. "Summer" in a girl, for instance, is hard to imagine as anything other than a blond, blue-eyed, upbeat girl. (Then again, there is a recent movie called 500 Days of Summer, and the Summer character there is a brunette played by Zooey Deschanel, and it never seemed odd to me).

I can think of a few similar girl names that I think of as very blonde, very happy... Sunshine, Savannah, possibly Daisy. Not sure I can think of as many brunette girl names or boy names that, to me, bring to mind a certain physical look.

[PunkyBoo]

There are some names that bring to mind a "look" for me - like Bertha is probably not very pretty (my apologies to anyone here named Bertha). Sometimes it's just association to people I've met though, not necessarily something everyone else would think of.

I also would think of Summer as a blonde, but I do know a brunette Summer. I would think of Autumn as a redhead. My name is Erin, and I have red hair, and my whole life people have commented on the Irish connection between the red hair and my name (I'm actually only half Irish). So seeing other women named Erin that aren't redheaded (or blonde - I grew up with another Erin who was blonde) seems odd to me.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We didn't use Jacob with ds2 because in my mind, I picture the character Jake Ryan from 16 Candles. Ds2 just didn't give off that vibe. He also didn't give off a Simon vibe (nerdy...yes, I decided my 10 minute old baby didn't look nerdy :P).

[Mopey]

We didn't use Jacob with ds2 because in my mind, I picture the character Jake Ryan from 16 Candles.

Jake is another "handsome" name! And it's all Jake Ryan's fault! :rotflmao:

[SnuggleBuggles]

Jake is another "handsome" name! And it's all Jake Ryan's fault! :rotflmao:

And it wasn't that ds2 wasn't good looking- he was/ is! But, he wasn't dark hair, rugged and strong jawed. :)

[Mopey]

And it wasn't that ds2 wasn't good looking- he was/ is! But, he wasn't dark hair, rugged and strong jawed. :)

I know EXACTLY what you mean! Some names DO conjure up images! Jake cannot be blonde! ;)

:rotflmao:

[ha98ed14]

I certainly do think some names conjure up a "look" when people think about them out of thin air. Still, I wouldn't let that limit you at all. Even a blonde named Raven wouldn't be out of place. Once you met her, you'd forget about the dark hair associations and think about other characteristics of the name. I dislike mismatched ethnicity naming, though. I think it's odd when people choose very Irish names, for example, when there's absolutely no Irish ancestry in their family. That's just my opinion. I think your names are lovely, and I wouldn't worry about them not matching your baby's looks, but if you have no Scandanavian heritage, I might choose a name more in line with your own ancestral background.

I agree with most of this. I would say that a blonde haired, blue eyed "Raven" would be out of place. Again, this is all opinion.

BUT, OP, FWIW, I don't think that those names, Orla or Ilsa, say "Blonde & Blue". If anything I think that sound pretty unusual with a mysterious tone to them which *I* think would be very well suited to a girl/woman with dark features. No matter what she looks like, those are very nice names that could be used for anyone IMO.

[ha98ed14]

There are names I wouldn't give my kid b/c the "bastardization of the name" results in something I wouldn't find acceptable. Orla is one of those, no matter how pretty it is.

Call me stupid. How can you mess up Orla? Or and La, Orla, right?

[hellbennt]

You never know- the 2nd could end up like you ;)
ds1 came out as a minni-me & I thought for sure ds2 would be darker...nope. even more of a ghost-boy than ds1:ROTFLMAO:
poor dh...he's darker then both of them & I often wonder if/what people (who don't know me) think when they seem him out & about w/ them:)

I love the name Odalys (odalis or odaliz or odalyz = Ohdallas)...

[JoyNChrist]

I don't think certain names have a certain look, but I do think some people don't match their names (does that even make sense?).

DD was Abigail until she was born. I loved that name, and still do, but DD came out and she just was NOT an Abigail. I don't know what an Abby is supposed to look like, but DD wasn't it. I immediately recognized her as a Sadie, and it totally fits her today.

[amldaley]

Call me stupid. How can you mess up Orla? Or and La, Orla, right?

As OP stated..."oral" "Orla"...it is not necessariily how it can be mistaken, it is what some people will purposely do with it.

[AnnieW625]

We didn't use Jacob with ds2 because in my mind, I picture the character Jake Ryan from 16 Candles. Ds2 just didn't give off that vibe. He also didn't give off a Simon vibe (nerdy...yes, I decided my 10 minute old baby didn't look nerdy :P).

See when I was pregnant with DD2 one of the top names for boys I had was Jacob, and we would have called him Jake and I was connected to it because Jake is my dad's nick name, but then DH mentioned Jake the Snake Roberts from WWF in the 80s and said he just couldn't do it. Deep down though I really wanted a little Jake Ryan!

[trales]

Totally wrong thread. Oops

[mom3boys]

I was reading some story about first names of NFL quarterbacks . . . and I realized all three of my sons have first names of current NFL quarterbacks. I guess that's some high hopes we had!

And my first son was going to be a Jake--and he could totally be one. But my MIL named her dog Jake while I was pregnant, so, bye-bye Jake. The dog looks nothing like Jake Ryan.

[BayGirl2]

You never know- the 2nd could end up like you ;)
ds1 came out as a minni-me & I thought for sure ds2 would be darker...nope. even more of a ghost-boy than ds1:ROTFLMAO:
poor dh...he's darker then both of them & I often wonder if/what people (who don't know me) think when they seem him out & about w/ them:)

I love the name Odalys (odalis or odaliz or odalyz = Ohdallas)...

Agree. DH and I could not look any more different - I am tall, light and Caucasian, he is short, dark and Asian. We had NO IDEA what either of our kids would look like, they could be a total potpourri of our features. Turns out both have his eyes and my mouth. Their baby pictures at the same ages look almost exactly alike, DD just has a pointier chin. DD is starting to look like she'll have lighter hair, but she's 5 months now and we're just guessing. So you could have very similar looking kids, or maybe you just won't know at birth.

I agree there can be "a look" to a name, but I think how you like the name is most important.

Funny about the political issues. We named DD Kennedy because we like it, no deeper meaning than that. But I'm sure my conservative parents think there we did it to be rebellious and ultra liberal.