“Amy felt deeply the want of a Grecian nose, and drew whole sheets of handsome ones to console herself.”
~ Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Welcome to my naming blog! My name is Emily, and I’ve been interested in names ever since I was a little girl. I love my name, and I think it suits me perfectly, but I don’t like how common it has become. I’ve noticed that a lot of us name nerds have monikers like Emily, Katherine, Elizabeth, Laura, Sarah, or Amy. I think part of what draws us to names is that we wish to atone for the commonness of ours. Just as Amy from Little Women dreamed of aquiline noses, we dream of naming our children Lysander or Persephone, Julius or Anastasia.
This name blog is my own “Grecian nose.” You’ll find lists of names I find interesting plus advice (which I hope you’ll find useful) on how to choose a good name.
I’ve just bookmarked your blog under my favoirtes!
I must be weird; I have a slightly unusual name and am quite happy with it, yet I’m a total name nerd. I did want something more exotic when I was younger (I tried to get people to call me Eulalia for the longest time), and that is when my obsession started. Even though I’ve come to appreciate my name for it’s dignified beauty and distinctive, yet familiar quality, my obsession is still lingering from those early days. 😛
Hi Emmy Jo ! I just found your site. Awesome. I have been in France for the past two months visiting family. It’s so good to be back. I love it that you have a name blog. I think I’ll be visiting often. I will never forget that you are the one to bring me “Bellisant”. Nothing compares to her now.
It’s good to hear from you again, Colette! I had been wondering what had happened to you. I hope you had a great time in France.
Look for Bellisant in an upcoming post on Isabella substitutes. How do you like to pronounce it? BEL-ih-sint (with the same rhythm as Millicent) or bel-ih-SAHNT (with the same rhythm as Melisande)?
Emmy Jo, I like Bellisant to rhyme with Melisande. Which is of course another favorite.
Middle names seem to be a challenge for me with Bellisant. So far I’ve come up with nothing.
I look forward to your Isabella post.
I am a complete name nerd as well, and we share a name! My full name is Emily Katherine, I had to get both of those nerd names in their. I am only 14, but I am a complete sucker for the traditional names. I am bookmarking this page. I adore it!
Thanks Emily! Your middle name is one of my favorites. I always thought I’d name my first daughter Katherine. My husband isn’t too fond of it, so we have it on our list as a potential middle name.
I love my middle name as well. Thanks! Maybe you can persuade him to use it as a first!
Emmy Jo,
I often read this blog and love it! I have added you to our very short blogroll.
I also LOVE the description above. Little Women is one of my favouite books.
I think you have visited our blog before. Hope you enjoyed you visit and will come back for more!
Laura.
Yes, Laura. I have visited your blog, and I really enjoy it. Thanks for adding me — I’ll add you to my blogroll, too.
Hi Emmy Jo! Great blog, this one’s definitely going under my Bookmarks! =)
Hi Emmy Jo,
Just want to thanks to you for these writeups, going to spread the word as much as we can. We have added your blog to our links page as well.
Regards,
Alex C.
Hi Emmy Jo, I just wanted to say thanks for this fantastic blog 🙂 It’s on my bookmarks. My husband and I recently found out we are expecting our first child in November, so we are looking for names. We found out just last week its a girl.
Your website has really been an inspiration for names! Growing up, my siblings and I had what you call “common” names;Alexandra,Emily,James,and Laura..! So we are looking for something a little more “unique.” I have seen the name “Celia” or “Cecelia” on here, and we love them 🙂 If you have any name idea’s, they would be greatly appreciated!
Thank You!
Alexandra
That’s interesting that you say name nerds have names like that, because I’m only twelve, but I’m a total name nerd and my name is Sarah! And the reason you said why, is totally true about me, at least, which is a little freaky lol.
I remember when I was three, I tried to get people to call me Jessica, because I didn’t like my name lol. Then when I was about seven I wanted people to call me Roxi, then when I was ten (okay, that was only two years ago lol), I wanted people to call me Maddie, and then now people just call me Sarah. Weird how that all works out…..
When I was about seven, I went through a phase where I wanted to be called Catherine. It’s still one of my favorite girls’ names.
Sarah is really a lovely name. There’s something to be said for having a good classic name (like Sarah, Elizabeth, or Emily). And Sarah has the added bonus of having always been reasonably popular, so no one will be able to tell what generation you belong to just by hearing your name. (That’s not the case for names like Jessica or Maddie. Most Jessicas are around my age — born in the 80’s — and most Maddies are in elementary school right now.)
Hi, Emmy Jo. I absolutely love your name blog. It is one of my favorites. I was a name nerd when I was little, as well. I still am! And most of the names I liked when I was a little girl I still like today. I also have a common name, Amanda. I go by the nickname Mandi, though. I thought the ‘i’ at the end instead of the ‘y’ might make the name a little unique!
Love this! came across it on yahoo answers.
I’m such a name nerd and I’m glad there’s a blog to read regarding names.
I think the name Emily is timeless unlike names like Madison, Stacy, Jessica, etc. However I’m not too fond of my name, Marian. Growing up I wanted everyone to call me Cecilia.
What do you think.
I love the name Marian. It’s very romantic — reminds me of Robin Hood. Cecilia is lovely as well, of course, but I think I’d personally prefer to be a Marian.
Hey! I saw this on Yahoo Answers. This is such a great blog, much more so than mine, which I just started. When I was 13, I had my name officially changed, so thats how I got obsessed with names. I hated my name, Lucinda Elizabeth, but now I think its ok. I still use it as my middle name, but Tayler suits me better. And not Taylor with an “o”, but with an “e”.
Visit my name blog too!
http://taytaysnames.blogspot.com/
thx 😀
Hey just thought i would say a little something about my name… Deborah Susan Manson McDowall , the Deborah was given to me by my father he was a big Debbie Harry fan lol Susan after my aunts first born which she lost in childbirth, Manson was my grandmothers maiden name. All my family have 2 middle names as does my son his name in full is Lennon James Christopher Tait but my daughter has 1 middle name her name is Ellie Kathleen.
i didnt like my name growing up n would have liked the name my mom had chosen for me which was Jessica but i have learned to love my name and i am currently pregnant with twins a boy and girl which i am naming Tyrese and Maresea no middle names yet lol.
I just found this blog while looking for information on the name Junia. Love it, love it!
I so much disliked my plain name that I named my children more “complex” traditional names so that they could have choices throughout their lives:
My son, Nathaniel, can choose to be Nat, Nate, Nathan, or Nathaniel.
My daughter, Eleanor, can decide to be Ellie, Elle, Ellen, or Eleanor.